[SC Official]

At my association's first meeting every season, the director gives us a detailed rundown of offseason chatter within the SCBOA and SCHSL.

-Reducing our certification exam (which we all have to drive to Columbia to take) from 100 to 50 questions.

-President of the Coaches' Association thinks that coaches' ratings should factor into the officials' rating formula, which it currently doesn't.

-Suspending officials for unprofessional conduct. Apparently we had an unusually high number of fan-official incidents last season.

-On the flip side, schools that do not deal with problematic fans may be subject to a $5000 fine.

-Suspending officials for not filling out ejection reports. I'm pretty sure we already have a clause like this in our bylaws. But, supposedly it will be enforced this year.

-The SCHSL is imploring officials to penalize unsporting behavior without regard to what the repercussions for the ejecting official and coach will be. Targeting the officials who won't take care of business because they don't want the coach to get fined or suspended.


Now, some of these topics are important issues and I'm glad they're being discussed. However, it's rather comical how much time we spend in SC talking about everything other than how to improve the statewide quality of officiating on the floor.

Welcome to another season.