officials

Univ. of South Dakota, SDHSAA team up to train new officials
The University of South Dakota has teamed up with the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) to help train sports officials and combat the ongoing referee shortage. There are currently a little more than 1,600 officials in the st...

Efforts to create better relationships between coaches and officials
Even casual observers, and most definitely athletic administrators, should be aware that there is a national shortage of officials. More referees and umpires are leaving the profession than new individuals are joining the ranks. The most commonly giv...

NJSIAA Launches Referee Recruitment Initiative with $300 Rebates
All over the country, athletic departments are lamenting the pains of the referee shortage to officiate games. Although much has been said about what can be done to offset this shortage, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (N...

High school officials feeling impact of coronavirus sports stoppages
With many areas of the country on a virtual lockdown due to the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic, high school sports athletic associations have been forced to cancel or indefinitely suspend winter and spring sports. [caption id="a...

MHSAA dealing with potential high school officials shortage
[caption id="attachment_28864" align="alignright" width="300"] Image: David Sanborn / Creative Commons[/caption] In roughly a decade, the number of high school officials in the Michigan High School Athletic Association has dropped by 2,500 officia...

The importance of retaining quality officials
[caption id="attachment_26893" align="alignleft" width="125"] Michael Poploskie[/caption] As a baseball/softball official for more than 20 years, I have seen many officials come and go. Some leave because of the time constraints of their regular j...

Survey: 57% of referees say sportsmanship getting worse
A new survey conducted by the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) provides a glimpse into the minds of referees and some of the challenges they face on a regular basis. Among the findings, 57% of officials said they believed sportsmans...

New Jersey football refs walk off field over athlete protests
UPDATE: The two referees in the story below have been banned from working any more games for the remainder of the football season, according to NJ.com. One of the referees, Ernie Lunardelli, has hired an attorney and is unsure how he proceed. ...