KSHSAA, local schools note shortage of available officials

Middle and high school sports programs in Kansas, it has been reported, continue to face an ongoing shortage of one important element that could postpone or even cancel games — a lack of available officials.

That’s why athletic directors at local schools are joining with Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) officials in putting out the call for middle and high school sports fans who would like to give back to their favorite games — and enable those games to continue.

“It’s a way to make an impact with kids and sports without committing every day as a coach,” said David Schooler, athletic director and assistant principal at Royal Valley High School.

Fran Martin, KSHSAA assistant executive director, agreed.

“Being able to see that the work we’re doing is giving kids an opportunity to participate — for me, as a current official, that’s the biggest reward that I know,” Martin said.

Schooler and Cassie Geis, athletic director and assistant principal at Holton High School, both noted that officials within the Big Seven League, of which their respective schools are members, do their best to find good referees and officials for games, but that many of those who are involved in officiating are often spread thin.

“I have had a few officials tell me that they are feeling the pressure of working every event and would like to see the number of officials increase,” Geis said.

Others, as Schooler noted, have had to contend with officiating games “four nights a week during certain seasons” and find themselves unable to keep up.

“Some of these officials have been doing it for many years and are trying to do less but there just aren’t enough younger officials coming up to replace them,” he said. “The Big Seven League has increased pay for officials this year and worked on policies regarding spectator behavior as we work to keep the officials we have.”

“Spectator behavior,” Martin noted — particularly “poor displays of sportsmanship by fans and coaches” — has been “the biggest reason” that officials are quitting.

“The referees don’t indicate that they have a lot of challenges with the players, but they do indicate that in particular, the fans and some coaches are verbally abusive or derogatory in almost everything that they say or do,” Martin said. “They don’t make people feel like they want to spend their Tuesday or Friday nights or whatever night out on the court or the field.”

That’s especially true in basketball, which has seen the number of available officials dropping over the past decade, Martin said. During the 2011-12 school year, KSHSAA had a total of 2,013 registered basketball officials, she said; this year, the number has dwindled down to 1,410.

Basketball isn’t the only sport that’s seeing the number of available officials declining in the past 10 years. Martin said the available number of football officials has dropped from 1,312 in 2011 to 1,123 at present, while registered volleyball officials, totaling 853 a decade ago, is now at 714.

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