Small Town News

Lack of officials getting serious

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Last week The Star ran an announcement asking for individuals interested in becoming an official for high school sports. Most of the other papers in the state ran similar announcements in the last couple of weeks. The Tacoma Association (one of the largest in the state) budgeted and spent $2,000 for advertising in an effort to get new officials. You would think that a concerted effort like that would get a reasonable response.

Locally, in the Columbia Basin Association, we got no responses; in Tacoma where they spent the extra money, they received no responses. State-wide, only a handful of potential new officials responded. No new officials, combined with an aging group of current officials, are becoming a major problem that could ultimately end some or all high school sports.

I have been an umpire or official off and on since I was in high school, and like many of my contemporaries we are ready to let others take over. If you think about officials you see at Raider games, there are very few in their 20s or 30s or 40s.

Three-man mechanics in basketball, for instance, gives better coverage -- but really, it saves the legs of the crew. They have to do two games and sometimes three in a night due to the shortage of officials. Volleyball is supposed to have two officials but I only did two matches last year with a partner. The rest were by myself.

The working officials do the best they can, but if two referees or umpires are deemed needed for an event by the rules, then they should be supplied. The Big Nine League for instance will not allow a match or game to be held without the correct number of officials. Look for the gray hair on the football officials next week when they take their hats off. The schools' athletes and coaches want and deserve to have the best possible officiating for their events. With that in mind, why won't people become officials?

Things today revolve around the almighty dollar, so maybe that is the problem. It doesn't pay enough. Last year I received a nice check that made Christmas much nicer for my family. It certainly pays more than it used to, and pay depends on the level of the game -- varsity, JV, C, middle school all pay different amounts. Different sports pay different amounts, and in some sports, like football, different positions, such as referee, get a tad more, I believe.

Contact your local association and find out how much exactly the job pays. Your mileage is paid at government rate and you do have to buy your own uniforms and equipment, which are tax deductible. Pay used to be a check at the end of the event, but now it is a check at mid-season and the end of the season, due to the IRS getting involved. All in all, it is a nice bit of extra money made doing something you enjoy, while helping kids.

Maybe people don't feel qualified or knowledgeable enough to be an official. Every association has an education program to help you learn the intricacies of the job. They hold semi-weekly meetings to discuss situations. They put you with senior officials and let you work your way into the game. You usually start with JV or. C Squad games and work your way up. Every sport has online classes and requires you to take a rules test online. Senior officials watch you work and evaluate and discuss with you things they observe.

I have been officiating for a long time, and I just had an observation done on me last week. You don't even need to have played the game. Sometimes, the best officials, like coaches, were not star players, so they have a better understanding of the game. The association's assigning secretary will not put you in a position for which you are not prepared.

If it is not money or knowledge, maybe it is politics that keeps people out. Years ago there wero politics involved in post-season assignments, but nowadays officials are evaluated and rated for post season assignments. If you are good enough, you will get one. The other political issue is harassment. Maybe they don't want to be harassed, yelled at or booed. The sooner an official realizes that they cannot please everyone and lets the negative comments coming from the peanut gallery behind second guess row roll off his or her back, the better official he or she will be.

Every official that I have ever been around as a coach or fellow official attempts to do the best job they possibly can. That is all that can be asked of them. The standard line is, if you don't like the job they are doing, get a whistle and get out there. Unfortunately, nobody will.



Copyright 2009 The Star, Grand Coulee, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2009 The Star Grand Coulee, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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