Ref Shortage

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Basketball 24.4 million participants
Baseball/Softball 23.3 million participants
Soccer 13.6 million participants
Football 8.9 million participants
Ice hockey 3.1 million participants

You need to cut the numbers roughly in half for some of these to account for boys and girls participating. This would provide a truer picture of the relative popularity of these activities at the youth/HS level.

Basketball = 12.2M each
Baseball/Softball = 11.6M each
Football = 8.9M basically just boys
Soccer = 6.8M each
Ice hockey = 3.1M guessing that it's mostly boys

[Freddy]

I'm not saying I've made this shift in thinking yet, but I'm considering it.
Let me preface this comment on the topic by saying there's hardly anyone around here who does more for recruitment of officials than me. I spend more money, my own and our association's, and marshal more resources and manpower to recruit candidates for all sports we sponsor than any neighboring association in our part of the state. Not braggin', just sayin'. Now, that being said . . .
I'm wondering why I and my association are in the recruitment business at all. We don't need more of us. Coaches need more of us. AD's need more of us. The schools need more of us. We don't need more of us.
Our state's Officials Guidebook clarifies that the chief purpose of local association is training. Up until it was added several years ago, our association didn't include recruitment in its bylaws purpose and objectives. Of course, I worked to have it added. Duh.
I have not taken steps to actuate this shift in thinking and effort, but I'm wondering if it would be better to strive to put recruitment on the agenda of the coaches, AD's, and schools. Let them do the recruiting, let them send us who they get, and we'll do our best to train them and retain them as officials.
That would instill a sense of gratitute for serving officials that is lacking on the part of coaches at this time. They're the ones chasing off the candidates I'm spending my and our money and time and effort on. If they're dissatisfied with the officials they get, let them throw their own money and time and work down the drain when they abuse them and cause them to quit.
I'm just about to give up the recruiting business. It's actually counterproductive because it has fostered more an "us vs. them", adversational mentality. It's been all us doing everything to get candidates and then train them and then retain them. The other stakesholders in the equation are doing just about zero, if that. I'm wondering if there'd be more of an "we're in this together" mindset if the coaches and AD's and schools played a role in this whole issue.
They recruit 'em. We'll train 'em. Together we'll be better at retaining 'em.
Just a thought at this time.
You think?

[Camron Rust]

How many other businesses recruit competitors to join the industry? If there were fewer people coming in, it would force the schools to do something...like treating officials better. That could either be by behavioral changes or pay increases or perhaps even other changes.