Fans yell at them, players and coaches get irritated and the pay isn’t substantial, but officials are needed if sports are going to be played, and the shortage isn’t helping.
According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), in the past decade, the number of MHSAA officials has decreased from about 13,000 to around 7,700, leaving Athletic Directors and assigners to scramble for solutions.
In order to lower the turn-over rate, Athletic Director Pat Marsman, along with other Athletic Directors in the OK Conference, met a couple years ago to discuss what more could be done for officials. They agreed to give them all pay raises and two rounds of applause before every competition starts.
“We want them to know we value them,” Marsman said. “We try to be very gracious hosts. We want them to feel special because without them, our kids don’t play.”
In order to take one thing off an Athletic Director’s plate and to help game days run smoothly, the MHSAA hires “assigners” to connect referees to contests.
The job seems fairly simple. Most sports use a software called ArbiterSports, where assingers enter high school athletic schedules to then assign officials to certain games based on their availability, how far they’re willing to travel and their officiating abilities. But due to the dwindling numbers of officials across all sports, it’s caused some challenges.
“As has been the case in all sports, it has been very difficult to fill game assignments,” History teacher and baseball assigner Kevin Weber said. “I’ve been forced on several occasions to only have one umpire for freshmen games and there have been times when schools have had to move the games to a different date because no umpires were available.”
There are a variety of factors that go into the shortage, and most don’t even have to do with the pandemic.
For a lot of the sports, most of the officials are on the older side, so when they get to a point where they can’t keep up with the fast pace or want to enjoy retirement, they leave spots that potentially might not get filled.
“I know when I’m 65, I don’t want to be chasing kids like Tyran Thomas or EJ Ryans up and down the court, I don’t even think I could do it now,” Marsman said. “These kids aren’t getting slower, they’re getting faster and it can be hard to keep up with them.”
The passionate fans can also be a leading issue into why officials leave the profession.
“Some [officials] don’t care. They’re like ‘It’s whatever.’ But for others, they don’t like it and they learn that it isn’t for them,” Marsman said. “Some just can’t handle the pressure.”
While the long-term solution would be to recruit younger people, assigners and Athletic Directors have had to make some temporary solutions to the problem.
One instance was during the boys varsity basketball regular season. Usually when there are three levels playing on one night, a group of officials will call the freshman and JV game and then a new crew will come in for the varsity game. But when all three teams played at home vs Grand Rapids Christian on February 15, the same crew was used the entire night due to not having enough officials across the OK-White Conference that night.
Another instance is having to go with one less official for various competitions including baseball and basketball, causing some potential issues with the quality of the officiating.
“It’s unfortunately not going to be as good officiating because you have one less person and too many places to be,” Marsman said.
As for the long term solution, Marsman and Weber encourage those who are 18 or will be turning 18 soon to look into officiating, especially students who enjoy sports and are looking to make a little extra money.
“Northview students can help,” Weber said. “It’s a very rewarding avocation that can keep you active in sports when your playing days are over. Plus, you can make some extra money.”
Those who are interested in officiating can contact Marsman at pmarsman@nvps.net or visit the MHSAA website to help them get started.
