The Sports Official Shortage: how it’s being handled and how you can help.

Ohio, along with the rest of the nation, is experiencing an extreme official shortage for school sports. in 2019, an estimated 550 full-time officials were employed in Ohio with an estimated full-time 20,200 officials employed nationally. Now, roughly 140 full-time officials were accounted for in the state of Ohio alone, while around 9,600 full-time officials were accounted for nationwide in 2021. The data was collected by surveys from employers.

 

“Nationally, the key things that you see on why officials are quitting comes from the verbal and sometimes physical abuse from fans,” said Chris Pavlik, commissioner of the Metro Athletic Conference in Northeast Ohio. 

 

Students, parents, and even coaches and players voice their frustrations on the officials. Pavlik has seen such abuse and implemented a rule that any fighting between the officials, parents, and students at any game results in a one-year suspension from all school sports. 

 

“It’s a strict rule for sure,” he said, “but you have to understand the situation we’re in and how precious these officials are nowadays.”

 

Along with the abuse, the pay for calling a game isn’t enough for the time spent officiating. On average, a referee makes around $18 per hour, and officials make around $26 per hour, a difference of $8 per hour. This is the estimated national average and some leagues may have different numbers.

 

Schools everywhere are adjusting to the shortage, with one big adjustment being the increased fees for securing officials. Pavlik and Keith Waesch, athletic director of Rootstown City Schools in Ohio, both increased their fees hoping to draw more younger officials in. 

 

“We certainly want to bring in these officials and make their time worthwhile, but at the same time we have to make sure that we aren’t overdoing it with our budget expenses,” Waesch said.

 

Another adjustment being made is the scheduling of double header contests. Using the limited number of officials, schools are utilizing their remaining ones to officiate and call two games in one day, doubling their profits as they are paid per game. 

 

“One example is the scheduling of JV football games. One school would host on a Saturday morning against another school, and then they would have two different schools play on that same field after, even though it’s not either of those teams’ home field,” Waesch said.

 

One t is the push to recruit new officials. Waesch said that some officials in his league are in their 70s and 80s, and they can’t move up and down the playing field that well. One official is apparently in his 90s and is still officiating. 

 

“The average age of officials is getting up there, but these guys are out there because the game wouldn’t be played without them and most of them do it as a side job. I have nothing but respect for these older officials,” Waesch said.

 

The qualification process involves taking a class learning about the rules and regulations of a sport and then taking a test on those rules. The classes and tests are different for every sport, but Tim Hahn, a retired football official from the Cleveland Football Official Association in Ohio, knows the basic fundamentals about the football officiating course. 

 

Hahn described the class he took as a month-long, informational course about the basics of being an official. He said the test was difficult and the passing grade had to be 80%, or else the course had to be taken again. He also described how there were two parts to becoming a higher-level official, starting with officiating lower-level sports such as middle school and elementary school for two years and then taking another difficult test to move up to high school sports.

 

“Respect, integrity, and official safety–the officials are there to enforce the rules, that’s all,” Hahn said.

 

The shortage is prompting many associations and programs to take more direct action, including the National Association of School Officials, which launched the Say Yes To Officiating campaign. The campaign is geared toward helping people become officials, providing the tools and information required to succeed. 

 

Anyone who wants to be an official can click this link to start their officiating career today! 

 

“The shortage is very real, and we need to do everything we can to help these officials in order for them to be safe and comfortable with their profession,” Pavlik said. 

 

The school sports official shortage is real and schools are quickly adjusting and adapting to the situation. pic.twitter.com/0NCaUPeMSD

— Mason Jones (@mjo1717) December 16, 2022