Sign of the times...official shortage

[Pantherdreams]

I do not disagree with the sentiments expressed in the article. Fans need to be better behaved, officials need to be better supported, etc. All good stuff.

When it comes to whether or not an officials shortage if directly tied to this may need some deeper examination.

There are some basic demographic realities:

- Every year more and more leagues/divisions of adult run and organized sports of all kinds appear. The appearance of these leagues does not have the creation of officiating zones or groups attached to them unless at the highest levels. So we create a product that assumes the existing officials will be enough to cover.

- Most officials I know don't come to the sport directly from school. Young people tend to have more going on than giving back to the community, money and a need is relative to their life goals, they just aren't settled into jobs, houses, situations etc. Most officials I know come to it later on. So as everything gets pushed back (moving out, indpendence, maturity, brain development if you look at the latest research) the gap before most officials start may now be widening as more games are appearing.

- With access to work, school, and social groups now being carried around. The ideas around office hours, work hours, discretionary time is relative and being spent differently then it is in the past. Finding people who fit into the niche of officiating and the traditional mode of games/nights/evenings/weekends is now made even more complicated.

- As youth sports become an expectation and not a privilege or opportunity. How many people are leaving it looking to give back? Same, less, more.

My point is not that officials should be treated badly, but its probably a more complicated issue than people don't just want to put up with abuse.