Help Wanted: High School Officials
“This is a very greying industry. That’s very concerning. That hasn’t just happened now. It’s
been going on.”
Barry Mano, president of the National Sports Officials Association
It’s the middle of September. Basketball season is a few months away. But the people who are looking to recruit new basketball officials for Central Connecticut Board 6 are a little worried. Only six applicants have signed up so far. Training starts at the end of the month. Normally the board, which is responsible for officiating basketball games from Enfield to Deep River, has 25-30 applicants.
“It’s a problem, locally and nationally,” Board 6 president Bill Tatelman said. “I like to think when the economy is going good and people are working, they’re not looking to make money officiating.
“One could argue officiating sports is not necessarily attractive. The abuse by fans, spectators and coaches has become more difficult. It’s one of those things people aren’t exactly banging the door down to get into.”
Recruiting and retaining officials for high school sports has been a problem for years, but as the current group of officials ages — the average age nationally is 53 — there will be a need for new officials. And the numbers just aren’t there, for a variety of reasons.
“We’re not able to bring in enough warm bodies to become officials,” said Barry Mano, the founder and president of the National Sports Officials Association. “This is a very greying industry. That’s very concerning. That hasn’t just happened now. It’s been going on. It’s gotten exacerbated over recent years.”
Last year, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school sports, conducted a survey of the 54 officials’ boards around the state. Of the boards that responded, seven stated their membership was increasing slightly, 21 stated their membership was the same, and 22 said that their membership was decreasing.
“We’re kind of going in a direction we’re not wanting to go,” said Dan Scavone, a former athletic director and official who is a member of the CIAC officials advisory board and the commissioner of the Central Connecticut Conference.
“If you compared our state to other states, we’re not in as fast of a decline. But it’s prompted people to start talking about easing the shortage. We’re kind of out in front of it before things get to a point we are in a tough situation.”
Concerns regarding fan and spectator behavior persist. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Sports Officials last year — over 17,000 officials responded — almost half of the male respondents said they felt unsafe or feared for their safety because of administrator, coach, spectator or player behavior, and 44 percent of the females felt that way. Over half the respondents said sportsmanship is declining and 36 percent believed that sportsmanship is the worst at youth competitive sports, with high school sports only getting 14 percent of the vote. Thirty-nine percent said parents had the most sportsmanship problems, followed by coaches (29 percent).
“The behavior has generally gotten worse,” said Tatelman, 62, who has umpired baseball for 45 years and officiated basketball for 21. “They’re making efforts to rein in the coaches and players. But with the spectators — although not all spectators — the general tone has gotten worse. Especially in AAU or travel ball. At a school, it can be controlled more. When you get away from that, it’s harder to control.”
Still, there are people who have been involved in sports who want to stay involved but playing is not an option, and neither is coaching, and officiating fits.
Years ago, teachers used to be officials, as their school schedule matched the athletic schedule, and they could use the extra money. But now, much like coaching, officials are likely to come from outside of the schools. Therein lies the recruiting problem.
The CIAC has worked with officials boards to develop recruiting strategies. The organization set up a table at the basketball finals at Mohegan Sun last spring; they are reaching out to retired military personnel.
And boards are becoming creative: one offered a gift card to a restaurant as incentive to apply. Others are making an effort to recruit college students.
Then there’s the retention of officials. Several people interviewed said if they can keep officials past three years, they’re usually hooked. But some who sign up and go through the training struggle to find a balance with their full-time job and families. It’s also difficult to get new officials to officiate middle school, freshman and junior varsity games where they should be learning if they have a day job, because the games are mainly in the afternoon.
Good training and mentoring programs are critical to retaining officials. At the sub-varsity level, coaches, fans and players have to understand that the new officials are learning and will make mistakes, just as the coaches and players who are learning at that level.
Also exacerbating the problem is the proliferation of youth sports with many sports played in multiple seasons, which spreads the pool of officials even thinner.
On average, in Connecticut, officials make a little over $90 for a varsity game. The pay varies from sport to sport, with a varsity hockey ref making the most money, $100 a game.
“You really feel like you’re contributing to order, and you’re emphasizing fairness and safety,” Mano said. “You go out and work a tough game, that’s the most physical income you can get. It tests you. When you do it and do it well, it engages you and you get addicted to it.”
Joe Tonelli, the director of the CIAC officials association, said it’s a problem that everybody involved in athletics needs to care about.
“Recruiting of officials is everybody’s responsibility — coaches, athletic directors, schools — with all the games being played,” Tonelli said.
“Someone once said that games without officials is called recess.”
For more information on becoming an official, go to http://www.casciac.org/pdfs/getinthegame.pdf or to www.HighSchoolOfficials.com.