[crosscountry55]

Setting: Wisconsin. Heard a PSA on ESPN radio this evening. It was the WIAA encouraging prior student-athletes to "stay connected to the game!" and "become a high school sports official." Maybe this ad has been around for a while, or maybe it's new....I have no idea. Regardless, a bunch of thoughts immediately entered my head:

1. Does the target audience realize that in most sports, you're not going to immediately get on a high school field/floor? Obviously there needs to be a year or two of tuning at the youth/middle school level. This is like when the Navy runs ads that show planes taking off from aircraft carriers and submarines breaching on an emergency blow.....but they never show sailors carrying trash bags down the pier or conducting maintenance on fire hoses.

2. I had a D1 Boys Varsity game last night with a full gym, a somewhat hostile crowd, an ignoramus coach and two player technicals for dumb stuff. For my 3 hours of active fight prevention efforts I received.....$50. So, does the target audience realize that, when making it to the varsity level in Wisconsin, the varsity compensation is only in the 8th percentile nationwide? I think only some areas in SC and LA may be worse.

3. Does the target audience believe that the increase in spectator harassment of officials in recent years is being addressed by schools, game managers, and the state office? Because I sure don't.

There's a shortage of officials here, so the PSA was no surprise. But as in most areas with shortages, the issue isn't so much about getting new officials as it is about keeping them once they try it out. Transparent expectations, a reasonable evaluation system, equitable compensation vis-à-vis other states, and a sportsmanship revival would go a lot farther, IMHO, than a radio advertisement. If we did all of these things, than word-of-mouth would easily supplant the need for advertising.