Officials/Umpire Shortage.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

This article is from the April 30, 2022 issue of The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade:

https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/h...0-d29f86cc9a40

MTD, Sr.

[BillyMac]

Is there a way to get past the pay wall of this article?

We've been losing members since our membership spiked during the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 and 2008 causing the Great Recession that sent the unemployment rate up to 10%, more than double its pre-crisis rate. Guys needed officiating money to pay their mortgage, rent, car payments, groceries, insurance, utility, and other bills. It wasn't just about golf money, beer money, or poker night money any more.

As employment improved in later years, our membership suffered. Complaining players, coaches, and fans, with their verbal and physical assaults, and, of course, COVID, didn't help matters.

I hope that it improves locally next year. I'm getting too old, my arthritis is getting too severe, and I really don't need the money, for me to work five or six times a week. But if I'm needed, I'm needed, and I'll suck it up and heed the call once again. My local board has stood by and backed me for over forty years, I'll do the same for them to the best of my ability.

[so cal lurker]

The NY Times had an article a week or so ago about the growing ref shortage nd the impact of abuse on refs returning

[LRZ]

This just in: the first local cancellation for no officials--a middle school lacrosse game.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by LRZ

This just in: the first local cancellation for no officials--a middle school lacrosse game.

Tough to find officials who are available at 3:30 in the afternoon, even without COVID, for any sport.

Originally Posted by BillyMac

... our assigner had to ask many schools to reschedule games to dates when there were more available officials, including two school systems (half dozen middle schools each) that had to postpone their entire middle school seasons to start in late February.

Originally Posted by BillyMac

... my local board had to politely refuse to assign middle school officials in two major city school systems due to our lack of available afternoon officials, so these two cites postponed their middle school games until later in the season ...

Several years ago, not being able to get high school lacrosse (considered a "niche" sport in Connecticut) officials to work scrimmages was the impetuous for our state interscholastic sports governing body to mandate paid scrimmages for all high school sports.

Field hockey (another "niche" sport) was also problematic in Connecticut, and also had something to do with the paid scrimmage mandate.