Jake Wolf and Thomas Orr
It is almost time for the big game. Both teams have taken infield and the pitchers are throwing their last warm-up pitches in the bullpens. Both coaches are standing in front of their dugouts anxiously waiting to meet and go over the ground rules. The fans sit in anticipation, some excited to cheer on their son in the championship game, some just excited it is the last of six games of another long summer weekend. The starting pitchers are finished now and are walking back to the dugout. The coaches look at their watches and then they look at each other, it’s game time. There is only one problem, there are no umpires on the field. The coaches talk, they hope the umpires are just running late. Then, the site supervisor appears from behind the backstop and approaches the coaches. They are told one umpire was supposed to be here, but that his game on another field is in extra innings and he will be here when he can. They ask if any other umpires are available. “No,” said the supervisor. The coaches look at each other, then look at the crowd, can anyone help? They look at their players, their innocent faces, they are excited and ready to go. Will the game go on?
This situation is unfortunately not uncommon in today’s landscape of all youth sports. Whether it’s baseball, softball, basketball, soccer or hockey it does not matter. The shortage of officials for youth and high school sports across this country has hit crisis levels. A recent survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) indicates that approximately 50,000 individuals have stopped officiating since the 2018-2019 season. In Nebraska, the state has seen a decline of 15-20% in high school officials since the 2020 season. New sports in the state like female wrestling are unable to find officials as there is not enough officials for the traditional boys season let alone the many new female teams. The shortage of officials across the nation is due to a number of causes and has resulted in an unstable youth sports landscape. The recruitment and retainment of new officials has never been more important.
The officiating shortage is not new, the trend has been going on since prior to the 2020 pandemic. As an older generation of officials has slowly begun to retire, the younger generation is not seeing the same numbers of newer officials. In 2020, the average age of an official in the United States was 53 years old (Niehoff, 2020). In the state of Kansas, the average age of a softball umpire is 60 years old (Ohio University, 2018). The numbers are not sustainable, older officials will undoubtedly retire as the physical demands of officiating catch up to them, and with nobody to take their place the landscape of youth and high school sports is in trouble.
The Covid 19 pandemic, like so many aspects of our lives, has had a negative impact on the world of sports officiating. In the spring of 2020, the sports world was shut down due to the pandemic. With no sporting events at any level that spring and a drastic decline in the year that followed depending on the state in which you lived, many officials were left without any games to officiate. Now, with restrictions lifted and games coming back and seasons being played in full, we are seeing many officials decide not to come back. According to Dana Pappas, the director of officiating services for the National Federation of State High School Sports, from 2018-2021, an estimated 50,000 high school referees quit.
One of the major reasons for officials quitting and not coming back after the pandemic is the verbal and sometimes physical abuse they take during contests. A survey conducted by NASO (National Association of Sports Officials) in 2020, the largest survey of its kind in the officiating industry, found that 57% of respondents feel that sportsmanship is getting worse. Those respondents indicated that parents (40%) and coaches (30%) are the ones who cause the most problems with sportsmanship. According to Jon Dolliver of the NSAA (Nebraska School Activities Association), “We’ve noticed a decline in how our officials are treated. Not only in basketball but in all activities that have officials or umpires.” Another survey, this one done by Officially Human, an organization that promotes the respectful treatment of officials, conducted a survey of 19,000 officials in 2019, when asked what would likely make them quit, 60% responded with verbal abuse from parents and fans.
Why such abusive behavior towards officials? Has it really gotten worse over the years? According to Dr. Jerry Reynolds, a Ball State professor of social work, “the problem is that, as parents spend more time and money on children’s sports, families are coming to these events with professional-level expectations.” A Harris Poll in 2019 found that one in four parents reported spending $500 a month on youth sports. That same poll found that youth sport expenses impacted 74% of parent’s ability to save and invest for retirement. Parents are spending big money and sacrificing a great deal of time for their children to participate in youth sports, so their expectations for everything, including officials, are unrealistic. Reynolds believes this has a negative impact on the retention of officials and has led to a cycle of new referees getting yelled at and quitting. That referee then quits, a new referee comes in and gets yelled at and that official quits as well. It’s a cycle that is unfortunately playing out all across the United States.
So, what are the effects of the nationwide shortage? Around the country games in all sports and at all levels from high school on down are being moved, postponed and even canceled in some cases. You don’t have to look very far to see schools from across the state having to adjust schedules simply so they can have officials. This fall, schools around the state of Nebraska are having to play games on Thursday night, Friday afternoons and even on Saturdays just so they can have officials. Some schools are increasing pay as a way to ensure officials will choose to work their games on Friday nights. “I’m not against paying them what they're worth, but it does cut into our budget,” said Bruning-Davenport-Shickley Activities Director Ruth Kowalski. NSAA Assistant Director Nate Neuhaus summed it up when he said “Who is going to be the victim of all of this? The student athletes in high school who don’t get to play their games on Friday night, or at all, because of the lack of officials.”
So, what can we do to help solve this problem? To start, think about this stat for a moment. According to the NFHS, an average of only two of every ten officials return for their third year of officiating (USA Today, 2017). This means that the sports world is having a very difficult time retaining officials. Yes, large numbers of older officials are retiring, but we are losing way too many younger or newer officials who only have a year or two of experience and decide not to continue officiating. If we want to keep with the ever-growing landscape of youth sports in this country, we must focus on the recruitment and retainment of officials in all sports.
The NFHS started a campaign a few years ago called the #BecomeAnOfficial program. Its goal is to help recruit and retain sports officials in an effort to help keep the pipeline for high school officials strong. The program has seen some positive results on the recruiting side as about 70,000 individuals have expressed interest in officiating in the last four years. Dana Pappas, the NFHS director of officiating services said this past April the NFHS helped orchestrate the first ever National Officials Consortium Summit in Indianapolis. In attendance were 60 leaders from 30 national level sports organizations that included youth, high school, college and professional sports organizations. Leaders spoke and shared ideas on ways to combat the declining numbers of officials. One key theme emerged from the summit and that is the treatment and respect for officials must improve if we are to reverse the current referee shortage. More specifically, most at the summit expressed concerns that unsporting behavior by fans at all levels of sports is becoming normalized. What used to be good-natured heckling has turned personal, vulgar and in many cases violent.
Do a quick google or YouTube search and you can find dozens of recent physical attacks towards officials by coaches, fans and players. Surveys have shown that nearly one of every two officials have been threatened after a game. The plan coming out of the summit is a broad-scale campaign that addresses behavior and respect towards officials. It is vital that everyone involved including players, coaches, parents, administrators and the media do their part in changing the normalized negative behavior directed at officials. This change will not happen overnight, but stakeholders are confident that change can happen and that positive and respectful behavior towards officials can become the norm once again.
The shortage of officials across the nation has many causes and has resulted in an unstable youth sports landscape, the recruitment and retainment of new officials has never been more important that right now. This shortage has been happening for years and the pandemic only accelerated the problem. Couple that with the increased amount of verbal and physical abuse directed at officials and it is easy to see why we are in crisis mode at the moment. In every state across the country games at all levels and in all sports are being moved, postponed and even canceled due to the shortage of officials. Now, more than ever we must recruit and retain new officials. We need parents, teachers, coaches and athletes who are finished with their playing careers. Anyone with a passion for sports and a desire to give back to our youth will make a great candidate to be an official. The time is now, the game must go on.
Works Cited
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