Love Football? Become an Official

[MaxyJR1]

The shortage of officials is starting to cause states to have teams schedule games on other nights than Friday. Colorado is down nearly 200 varsity officials since 2013 and is asking all teams to schedule at least 1 non-Friday game.

How can you become an official? http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/sofficials/becomenewofficial.asp

Here is a sample of potential experience.

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[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Hello no. I've seen how folks treat them, and coaches, and etc.

 

[Ski U Mah 55]

Hello no. I've seen how folks treat them, and coaches, and etc.

This is why I got out of officiating. Not paid nearly enough to get cussed out by parents after working all day at my regular job.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

Hello no. I've seen how folks treat them, and coaches, and etc.

Agree. I was on our youth baseball board. We kept raising the pay for umps just to get someone to do it, and even then we had problems getting enough people to agree to do it. They all said the same thing...having to deal with the behavior of the parents in the stands was not worth it. And these games were for grade-school age kids. Sad.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Agree. I was on our youth baseball board. We kept raising the pay for umps just to get someone to do it, and even then we had problems getting enough people to agree to do it. They all said the same thing...having to deal with the behavior of the parents in the stands was not worth it. And these games were for grade-school age kids. Sad.

If you have the ability, personality, and desire, you can often just work the 9th grade and up levels. Exponentially less problems with coaches and parents. I agree that youth sports are a huge turn off for most officials

 

[1983]

Do not know who runs the Mshsl now but 10, 11 years ago it was the most disorganized and political organization I ever dealt with. On the officials side, it was a mess.

 

[MNVCGUY]

If you have the ability, personality, and desire, you can often just work the 9th grade and up levels. Exponentially less problems with coaches and parents. I agree that youth sports are a huge turn off for most officials

I do a lot of youth sports coaching and have heard some true horror stories from officials about things parents have said and done during and after games. It is a problem across all sports and it is really a shame.

Our traveling baseball association had a number of games this past season where coaches had to serve as umps because they couldn't find anyone to fill the game.

Just stinks for everyone because you don't get new umps/refs in because they don't want to take the abuse and you have the bad ones stick around because they just want the pay check and with the shortages there is always work to be found.

I don't get the wiring that causes a parent or coach to confront or threaten a ref (especially when most refs anymore are kids just slightly older then the kids they are reffing) but unfortunately the problem just seems to be getting worse each year.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Agree. I was on our youth baseball board. We kept raising the pay for umps just to get someone to do it, and even then we had problems getting enough people to agree to do it. They all said the same thing...having to deal with the behavior of the parents in the stands was not worth it. And these games were for grade-school age kids. Sad.

A jr high basketball coach I knew for a small school started having games with no audience allowed. Just the kids.

The saddest thing was .... the kids all said they liked it better that way without their family there for the same reason they kicked out audience members in the first place, their behavior.

 

[t-docious]

Hello no. I've seen how folks treat them, and coaches, and etc.

This,

It is bad enough in hockey where I officiate.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

Agree. I was on our youth baseball board. We kept raising the pay for umps just to get someone to do it, and even then we had problems getting enough people to agree to do it. They all said the same thing...having to deal with the behavior of the parents in the stands was not worth it. And these games were for grade-school age kids. Sad.

That’s why you threaten to call the game if the parents don’t keep their mouths shut in regards to the officials. I guarantee you you call a game a few times the parents will learn to shut their mouths.


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[vinko bogataj]

This,

It is bad enough in hockey where I officiate.

Yep- I coached 10 years, was on board for 6 and 3 as Prez of a AA metro hockey association. Still have one playing PW. The abuse and crap refs take from parents is crazy. The stuff I had parents do was unreal. 95% of people are awesome. The other 5%? Not so much. My brother reffed for years and finally said enough. Sad, the kids are the ones who lose out. Refs have my complete respect doing a hard job at the youth and HS levels.

 

[MNVCGUY]

That’s why you threaten to call the game if the parents don’t keep their mouths shut in regards to the officials. I guarantee you you call a game a few times the parents will learn to shut their mouths.


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Easier said then done in a lot of cases. Many times the ref is just a kid as well and it is tough to put them in that position of trying to dictate to a large number of adults.

I know the Eastview Athletic Association is putting a lot of emphasis on working with officials and getting the word out to the parents and coaches that this behavior has to stop or there won't be people left that want to ref anymore. I feel like we are doing a solid job at least in the sports I am involved with but obviously this is a huge problem nationwide.

The best way to stop this would be for parents to police each other but as always it is easier said than done. When associations stop having refs for games maybe then parents will figure out that they need to shut the heck up and let it be about the kids not them.

The issues include youth coaches as well, even in in-house programs you see coaches with the win at all costs mentality. Save the cut throat competition for high school, let the kids have fun.

 

[Word]

I coach my son's traveling soccer team and I always make a point to talk to parents at the beginning of the season about them not speaking to the officials. I used to ref elementary school and middle school basketball when I was in high school and most of the times parents were fine, but when they were bad, they were bad. And it doesn't take too many of those bad experiences to make a ref want to quit.

 

[t-docious]

Yep- I coached 10 years, was on board for 6 and 3 as Prez of a AA metro hockey association. Still have one playing PW. The abuse and crap refs take from parents is crazy. The stuff I had parents do was unreal. 95% of people are awesome. The other 5%? Not so much. My brother reffed for years and finally said enough. Sad, the kids are the ones who lose out. Refs have my complete respect doing a hard job at the youth and HS levels.

USA hockey has finally adopted a zero tolerance policy that any abuse of officials is grounds for stopping the game and ejecting the abuser. Havent had to invoke it yet but it is a nice thing to have in your back pocket.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

USA hockey has finally adopted a zero tolerance policy that any abuse of officials is grounds for stopping the game and ejecting the abuser. Havent had to invoke it yet but it is a nice thing to have in your back pocket.

I like the idea but if the ref has to do it.... they're still on the spot for doing it. Not a bad rule, but I'm not sure it really makes life for the ref easier.

 

[t-docious]

I like the idea but if the ref has to do it.... they're still on the spot for doing it. Not a bad rule, but I'm not sure it really makes life for the ref easier.

Let me clarify, you are allowed to stop the game until the abuser has removed themselves from the rink and then can start back up. I have run into a few situations where I could have invoked, but it really is a nuclear option and best only used when absolutely necessary.

the truly scary moments are when a parent confronts you after the game in the parking lot...

 

[paulser21]

Officiating is one of the professions I will stay clear of. As a police officer I take enough verbal abuse to tide me over. My wife was a kindergarten teacher for many years before finally stepping away to take care of our 3 babes. Those are three professions I will definitely steer my kids away from.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Officiating is one of the professions I will stay clear of. As a police officer I take enough verbal abuse to tide me over. My wife was a kindergarten teacher for many years before finally stepping away to take care of our 3 babes. Those are three professions I will definitely steer my kids away from.

And the military, police, and teachers often make great officials.

 

[Panthadad2]

Of all the referee types, at least football puts the official a long way away from the fans...as would most field sports I suppose. I've watched hundreds of my daughter's youth softball games where parents/fans are usually a few feet away from the umpire. It can get bad, and especially at the younger ages like 10U-12U. Youth basketball can be terrible too...maybe the worst because some parents get really really riled up and they are right on top of the action. The best umpires are able to simply drown out all the comments and never react to fans other than to strike up a conversation. That would be really tough for me though. I truly applaud the people willing to umpire.

Most youth sports organizations try to take a hardline approach to parents abusing umpires but it's really tough to enforce. You can't expect the official to confront a parent/fan and eject them...it should really be up to a board member (or school official in HS sports) but there usually isn't enough coverage for that to happen. I've seen some experienced coaches who are willing address the unruly parent too.

Umpire costs comprise a big portion of many youth sports organizations budgets already… pretty sure those costs will continue escalate if the tough working conditions continue.

 

[bigyetti18]

I officiate HS basketball and college baseball. Sometimes I am just baffled by the behavior of parents and coaches out there. It does seem to be an overall small percentage. Dealing with conflict is probably what separates officials. The officials that are adept are the ones you see working the highest levels. Personally it usually never gets to me as I always remind myself why I choose to officiate, which is to give back to the sports that have given so much to me. It's a blast seeing kids do well, and there is nothing better then being on the court in a packed gym on a friday night.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Let me clarify, you are allowed to stop the game until the abuser has removed themselves from the rink and then can start back up. I have run into a few situations where I could have invoked, but it really is a nuclear option and best only used when absolutely necessary.

the truly scary moments are when a parent confronts you after the game in the parking lot...

I get that, but like you say it really doesn't fix the scary parts and leaves the whole confrontation on the refs shoulders.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

That’s why you threaten to call the game if the parents don’t keep their mouths shut in regards to the officials. I guarantee you you call a game a few times the parents will learn to shut their mouths.


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As someone mentioned earlier, that is easier said than done. We ended up using a lot of high school age kids and I think its too much to ask a 15-16 year old kid to get into it with a bunch of screaming 40-year-olds. We don’t want to put a kid into that position. We have a lot of games going on at once so the head of umpires can't be at every game all the time.

We had an issue once with a coach and some parents berating an ump (15 year old kid) so much that after the game he left in tears and never umped again. I wasn’t there but heard it was brutal.

As a board we disciplined the coach and sent out a mass message to all parents discussing the possibility of forfeits for bad behavior, etc., but being in a relatively small town social media here went ballistic. We did get a lot of support from the many parents, but it was the problem parents who were the most vocal. It created one more issue that a small town youth baseball board shouldn’t have to deal with.

 

[Gophers_4life]

Increase pay for refs, someone will do it. That in turn will drive up costs, and more parents will refuse to pay, so that will decrease the number of teams and games that need to be reffed.

 

[Panthadad2]

Circling back a little to the original post... Umpiring/reffing in youth sports, at least, can be a great part-time or summer job for high school or college aged varsity players. In softball, my daughter's main sport, even newer umpires can make $25-$40 per game which is darn good pay for a young person. Plus, the younger athletes coming straight from the sport often have a very sharp eye for the action and can relate to the kids playing. Some of the best umpiring teams I've seen pair a young athlete (who is sharp on the action) with an experienced older umpire who can help handle communication issues with adults and has experienced many unusual situations.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Circling back a little to the original post... Umpiring/reffing in youth sports, at least, can be a great part-time or summer job for high school or college aged varsity players. In softball, my daughter's main sport, even newer umpires can make $25-$40 per game which is darn good pay for a young person. Plus, the younger athletes coming straight from the sport often have a very sharp eye for the action and can relate to the kids playing. Some of the best umpiring teams I've seen pair a young athlete (who is sharp on the action) with an experienced older umpire who can help handle communication issues with adults and has experienced many unusual situations.

Correct and if you join a HS association of officials they will put you in situations to be successful. Many officials that do youth sports lack proper support and training. That is a recipe for failure.