Jake's Take: High school official shortage a cause for concern

There is a growing concern in high school sports — and it has nothing to do with participation or the athletes themselves.

High school athletics are running out of officials. As more and more retire, fewer and fewer of the younger generation of officials are signing up. While it may sound like a problem years down the road, it couldn't be further from the truth. It is happening and happening now.

I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with 42-year veteran high school official Russ Pitts, a Mansfield resident who was inducted into the Ohio High School Officials Hall of Fame in 2017. It was interesting to pick his mind about why we are facing the dilemma in high school sports.

He was officiating an Ohio Cardinal Conference championship match between Ashland and Lexington and took time between the JV and varsity match to answer a few questions.

"I think volleyball, basketball and football are the ones really suffering right now," Pitts said. "As we retire, I don't think the younger officials are willing to put up with the stuff we put up with."

'You have to have a desire and love for the sport'

Pitts is right. Volleyball is one of the sports that has seen some cancellations due to a shortage of officials. It is mainly at the junior high level. Lucas High School has canceled two middle school volleyball games this season because there were no officials available. That is a problem.

But why has it come to this?

"It is combination of a couple of things," Pitts said. "A lot of us are contracted out two years in advance. People who want the better officials schedule those as soon as they possibly can. The ones who are left are ones whose reputation may not be very good. Also, people are just not that interested.

"You have to have a desire and love for the sport. No matter the weather, you have to be willing to travel and show up. Also, you have to have the temperament to be in front of anywhere from 50 to a couple hundred people and you hear one parent over everyone; you just have to deal with it. A lot of officials do not want to put up with that."

Empathizing with the officials

Would you want to put up with that at your place of employment? I can tell you first-hand, it is not fun being yelled at or sent a nasty email based on the job you are doing. Go to a tournament basketball game with two area rivals facing off against each other. Sit there for 20 minutes of the game and tell me if you would want to put yourself through that night in and night out for what little pay officials receive.

One sport that is suffering right now is soccer. Crestview High School competed in the Mid-Buckeye Conference girls soccer tournament a few weeks ago. The Lady Cougars were the top seed in the tournament and were supposed to host their own games, but thanks to an official shortage, they had to move all of their games to Mansfield Christian High School so the same officiating crew that covered the MC game could also do Crestview's game. 

"In fact, all the game that were scheduled for Oct. 4 had to be moved to Mansfield Christian in order for one officiating crew to do all of the games that day," Crestview Athletic Director Tim Kuhn said. "I would say in the past five years, we have had to either adjust times or dates to help combat the official shortage.

"The crews that are out there are not getting any younger. The problem I see is that these crews retire and we are not seeing the younger generation step up."

Imagine how tough that is on a high school soccer official, to do four tournament games in one day. No wonder there is a shortage.

Over at Clear Fork High School, athletic director Jeff Gottfired has had to get very creative with his scheduling of high school soccer games. While he has been lucky enough to not have to cancel any games, he has to always change the start time on Saturday games so a crew covering a game in the morning nearby can swing by in the afternoon and cover a Clear Fork soccer match.

"We are having officials that have to work two games in the morning and then travel to Clear Fork and work again in the afternoon," Gottfried said. "Or we have to start earlier in the morning on Saturday to allow those officials to travel and go work someplace else in the afternoon."

A strain on schedules

That is a lot to ask of the members of an officiating crew, especially if they worked a game every night of the week, as most do. Gottfried has even had to get creative with scheduling Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games this season as well. With the Ohio Cardinal Conference and Mid-Buckeye Conference all needing officials, Gottfried went with scheduling league games on Mondays and Wednesdays, away from the OCC games on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"If we are all playing league games on the same day, there wouldn't be enough officials to go around," Gottfried said. "In the larger city areas, the pool of officials is bigger but here around Mansfield where the pool is much smaller, guys and ladies are harder to find."

Back at Lucas High School, athletic director Eric Teague had had to cancel a junior varsity football game while also playing many other athletic events with undermanned officiating crews. He has had to reach out to other athletic directors, assignors and official's organizations even on game day just to get games covered. The shortage forces him to hire lower-level officials and undermanned crews just so his teams have a chance to play.

"This is a major issue that will be facing school sports into the future," Teague said. "In the past five years, I have seen a tremendous increase in the number of quality officials leaving officiating. According to what I have heard from officials, these reasons include retirement, injury, career changes, poor treatment by fans, coaches and players, increased expenses (gas, uniforms, dues/fees), frustration with the OHSAA and ArbiterPay, conflict with assignors (especially due to the OHSAA's mandated use of Arbiter) and anger with the OHSAA's officials' rating/voting process as quality officials are being 'passed over.' In recent conversation with officials, crews and even trainers, those leaving officiating far outweighs those coming in."

Issues with assigning officials

Teague has also heard from many officials that one of the biggest reasons for giving up the profession is largely due to the Ohio High School Athletic Association's change in platforms when it comes to assigning officials. A few years ago, the OHSAA switched from MyOHSAA to Arbiter and, according to officials Teague as had conversations with, it became exponentially more difficult for athletic directors to find and assign officials to games. 

Teague is an athletic director who has to self-assigns officials instead of using long-term contracts like some bigger schools can. Teague admits when he assigns officials through Arbiter, he doesn't even know who the officials are or what level they are, whether it is Level I or II, or even if the officials are willing to work lower level games like middle school or JV football.

"Often, my pool of officials is small to begin with, then gets even smaller when officials feel a loyalty to a particular Conference of Assignor," Teague said. "It is a struggle to use the Arbiter system because of the limited amount of information it provides us, as it does not state who has the requisite certification to work a game and also gives inaccurate information about open dates for officials."

How can the system be fixed?

So, what is the solution? How can high school athletics dig out of the official shortage dilemma? The answer is about as clear as mud. It is simple to say to just schedule games on difference days of the week to better use the official pool available to the area. But you run into overworking those officials. You run into taking athletes and officials away from family time or church activities. Making officials work seven days a week is not going to work.

"The reality is that we are trying to get dozens of games scheduled over four to five days a week. Without a larger pool of quality officials, things will continue to get worse for interscholastic athletics," Teague added.

But there may be one hope for the future. Gottfried has heard of schools looking into offering officiating as a high school class in some of the sports suffering from the shortage. While the students wouldn't be able to officiate high school games right away, they could start at the middle school level, where the shortage is really felt the most. What better way to pay their way through college?

"We have always encouraged our student athletes to give back to the game," Gottfried said. "Whether that is through coaching once their playing careers are finished or officiating, there is always a need."

Yes, there is always a need. If you want to be part of the solution and love sports, become an official.

More sports stories from Mansfield: 

• Vote:Mansfield News Journal Week 9 Athlete of the Week Poll
• Vote:Mansfield News Journal Week 9 Football Player of the Week Poll
• Scoreboard:Cubs football, girls soccer, district volleyball

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11