Hey Ref!

By: Mark Rerick, CMAA - North Dakota

I've read in several places that there are four roles within any game being played: athletes, coaches, fans (including parents), and officials. With the continued expansion of organized youth sports into younger and younger ages, the numbers of athletes (and parents/fans) continues to rise as does the number of coaches, often volunteer, working with those team. However, we have a huge problem on our hands with the four roles in youth sports: an extreme shortage of officials.

It really doesn't take much effort to find out why we're losing officials. Take a few minutes on YouTube to search for crazy sports parents, and you can find a ton of examples of parents yelling at officials. For a more personal experience, stop by almost any court/field/rink/diamond in your area, and you're likely to see at least one coach yelling at officials for the duration of a game. I've seen a clip of a hockey dad yelling at an official and banging on the glass so hard that he broke the glass; I've seen clips of coaches chasing officials off fields after games; I've seen a wrestling mom run onto the mat in mid-bout to yell at an official; and on and on and on. It's an epidemic that's been worsening for over a decade with no signs of vast improvement.

Let's get a couple specifics out of the way first:

1. It's difficult to officiate. Officiating requires quick thinking, quick decision making, and the ability to move at the speed of the athletes being officiated…or at least as close as possible.
2. The higher the level, the higher the wage for officiating.
3. The higher the level, the easier it can be to officiate the game: better player skill, more efficient movement, "cleaner" games, etc.
4. However, the higher the level, the more difficult it can be to officiate the game: higher stakes, more pressure, quicker players, etc.
5. Officials usually start at the lower levels and work their way up to the higher levels – typically meaning that younger, less experienced officials are working at the lower levels.

There are several realities within the athletic world that we're facing because of our declining officials' pool.

• Game pay for officials continues to climb. While the additional $2/game isn't a large increase for the officials, that small amount multiplied by all our home games in a year makes a difference in the yearly budget.
• Many schools have had to reschedule games based on availability of officials. We've started playing some of our middle school games on Wednesday afternoons, traditionally an "off-limits" day, to avoid the high school nights of Tuesday/Thursday because we can't find middle school officials.
• I've had afternoons where I've sprinted out of the office at the end of the work day to ump some games for other schools in order to free up enough umpires for my schools' games. Similarly, we've had officials work games for one school in town during the late afternoon then hustle over to the other side of town to work some night games.

We're all aware of what's causing the shortage:

• Even though officials get paid well, it's not enough money to justify listening to coaches and fans yell at their effort for a couple hours.
• Because of that, officials who have worked for a while decide they're done putting up with the criticism, so they stop working. Younger officials often take so much abuse at the lower levels that they find another way to make a couple bucks where people won't yell at them for an hour. Put that together, and we're losing both tenured and beginning officials at an alarming rate.
• Often, the criticism yelled during games is meant to demean an official – as if the official is on a lower pedestal than the coach or the fan. In all reality, the officials are as necessary - if not more so - as coaches for a well-run game.
• Coaches who think they need to "work the officials" make it difficult for officials to do their jobs.

It's a tough fix, but I do have a handful of suggestions.

For Athletic Directors:

Hold your coaches accountable for their sideline behavior toward officials. This will mean different things for different schools but find an effective mechanism for holding coaches to a standard of acceptable interactions with officials.

Make sure your officials know that their efforts are appreciated. This can often be accomplished by providing lots of little things for them: greet them in the lobby and escort them to their dressing room, provide water during contests, provide an escort to and from the playing surface so they feel safe from negative fan interaction, and say "Thank you" before they leave for the night.

For Youth Clubs:

Often, clubs require parents to serve volunteer hours doing things such as working concessions, running the score clock, coaching, and managing events for the club. At the younger youth levels where officials do not need to be sanctioned, include officiating in those tasks for parent volunteer hours. I often see older kids in the club officiating the younger level games, but just one unruly fan during one game could sour the officiating experience for a teenager. Instead of placing older kids in a position to have a bad first-time officiating, require the parents to fill those roles.

For Coaches:

Stop working the officials. I know you think you're advocating for your players or coaching for a call, but you very rarely even change an official's mind in your favor. In fact, continued complaints often work against you and your team. Coach your players to adjust to the game, something they'll have to do in the adult world later in life.

In a time when officials are needed, the power to select games is almost entirely in the hands of those officials. If your sideline behavior as a coach becomes too undesirable, officials can, and will, avoid working your games. There are so many contests available to the dwindling pool of officials that it's becoming easier and easier to avoid abusive coaches.

Relate your work as a coach to the work the officials are doing. Officials don't like your yelling at them about how to do their jobs any more than you like fans yelling at you about how to do yours. Just like you find it easier to coach your team when surrounded by supportive fans, officials find it easier to work the game when surrounded by supportive coaches and players.

More importantly, you should thank the officials after every game. If we ever get to the point where we no longer have officials, the only way to play games will be for coaches to officiate. Since officials often try to leave the playing surface quickly after a contest, try to find a time just before the end of the contest to offer a thank you.

For Parents/Fans:

You only need to say one thing to officials if you happen to see them after a game. If you believe they have been working hard, say "I appreciate your effort and dedication for our kids' sports." If you don't think they worked very hard throughout the game, just say, "Thank you for using your time to work with our kids' sports today." That's it; nothing else.

Try to refrain from yelling comments that indirectly criticize officiating. Not only is it demeaning to officials, you're also sending the wrong message to your kids. Part of youth sports is teaching kids how to deal with adversity and uncontrollable circumstances. When you criticize the officials, you're sending the athletes the message that their performance results are in someone else's hands. We want the athletes to take responsibility for their own performances, good or bad, and to learn how to adjust for obstacles and deal with adversity.

More importantly, you should be thanking the officials for allowing you to just be a fan. Remember that everybody at the contest can only fill one of those four roles: athlete, coach, fan, or official. You don't have to officiate because other people are doing it for you. Officials are out there working because they enjoy the game, enjoy the athletes, and/or enjoy the exercise. Most umpires don't enter a game with a plan to be biased against any one team. Most umpires are genuinely trying to do the best job possible for the athletes at play. Officials are serving their part of the game so the students can perform their part. Just leave the stripes alone!