After School Matters ...
 

Interesting story. Well worth the read.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/03/chi...ll-officiating

Che been doing this for years. Known him for a rather long time when he was the President of another association.

Peace

Inspiring ...
 

With all the negative sports stories that seem to float around, it's nice to see a positive one such as this -- more so for Che and his efforts to teach teens the art of officiating.

That's an awesome story. I wonder why there are no junior officials programs yet in the DMV, or process to get teenagers approved as VHSL, DCSAA, or MPSSAA officials. This might be very useful for kids living in DC or Baltimore.

I think that a question better answered by your folks locally than a national forum of anonymous officials.

1. You can't officiate VHSL contests until you are 18 and graduate HS.

2. The various youth clubs in NoVA have in-house refs. When I was a kid, it was my first job starting at age 13. It's keeping them interested that's the problem.

As I said in point 2, I started real young. I liked it, because getting chewed out didn't faze me, so long as I got paid. Yet by the time I was 18, only 1 other kid from my class of 40 was still reffing. No one likes the abuse they get from coaches and spectators, especially when you're 15 and you got a bunch of middle-aged folks flipping out cause their kid tripped and you didn't hit the whistle.

It's a great idea, and youth soccer depends on teens to ref games, but the issue, just as it is with HS associations, is retention.

I read the VHSL officials' guide, and it says there that officials can register with the VHSL and their local associations starting at age 16. 16 and 17 year old officials pay a $15 fee per sport (this might have been raised since the last edition of the guide), and are allowed to officiate middle school contests (and recreational contests, although those are outside VHSL's purview). These junior officials would also have their years of experience before turning 18 count once they turned 18 and became full members of their association s.

A Few Extra Bucks ...
 

My daughter was officiating recreation games when she was a high school student. Many of the girls on the high school basketball team did this to earn a few bucks. It was hard to play high school sports and hold onto "real" part time jobs.

I'm sure I'm not the first on this forum to find www.stoprefabuse.com and https://www.facebook.com/youreoffside/, but it's still worth sharing in case others haven't seen it. It's a great referee abuse awareness program that soccer referee Brian Barlow has started. As a basketball and soccer ref, youth soccer club administrator, and father of two daughters (12 & 13) who ref soccer and 10-year-old son who just expressed interest in learning how to ref basketball, I fully support his mission.