Angry fans partly to blame for referee shortage
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.co
HENDERSON — Scottie Richardson’s 46th victory as the men’s basketball coach at Crossroads Christian last Tuesday, which moved him past Joseph Cooper as the program’s all-time winningest coach, came with an unexpected caveat.
Both varsity matchups with Southside Christian were delayed from their normal start times to 6:45 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively after Richardson struggled in preceding days with finding an referee crew in North Carolina that would be available for the games.
Richardson said that dealing with a scarcity of referees has been a problem since the start of the winter sports season that remains facing all of Crossroads’ teams, including those that are actively pursuing championships.
“Our middle-school girls are the top team in the conference,” Richardson said. “They are undefeated and they have not had any games closer than a 17-point win this season. The conference championship game scheduled for [Feb. 8] has to be moved to Feb. 10 because there are no middle school officials in our area. They are all working high school games.”
Referee assignments and compensation for high school sporting events across North Carolina are handled by regional supervisors through a system known as ArbiterSports.
Under normal circumstances, Richardson would know who would be officiating Crossroads’ games a week in advance, but he said that constant rescheduling due to inclement weather and COVID-19 postponements has strained the system and required him to check ArbiterSports every day.
The shortage of referees around the entire country have only compounded the scheduling issues Crossroads and other schools are already facing, with Richardson adding that his regional supervisor, Ronald Edwards, struggled to find any officials for middle school games on Tuesday.
When Richardson first heard about the referee shortages, he initially attributed the problem to the pandemic and concerns about being exposed to COVID-19, until a conversation with Edwards revealed that fan behavior has been the primary catalyst.
“Angry fans are the top reason why referees are saying it’s not worth it anymore,” Richardson said. “A lot of these referees work real jobs and the games are more of a side job to them. I thought the cancelations would have messed up their work schedules, but they don’t want to get berated by irate fans while not making a whole bunch of money.”
Of the referees who officiate high school sports in the United States, 70% end up leaving the profession after three years. Another 57% believed that sportsmanship has been gradually deteriorating, particularly when it comes to the behavior of coaches and spectators in youth sports.
Henderson Collegiate Athletic Director George Marshall said that the vitriol being directed towards referees is becoming a concerning trend in high school sports. He has heavily emphasized maintaining a professional, courteous relationship with officials and actively encourages students and parents to do the same.
“This season, I have tried to improve significantly after hearing the news about there being a shortage of officials,” Marshall said. “They are an essential part of the learning process for our student athletes and as a sports community, we need to treat them with respect. We may disagree with their decisions, but we have to do better to support them so they feel comfortable in our facilities and can help our teams grow.”
Vance County Athletic Director Joe Sharrow added that low pay has become an issue with officiating as the country continues to rebound economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, but he commended the N.C. High School Athletic Association for taking steps to increase the compensation of referees.
Despite this, Sharrow understands why those efforts may not be enough for referees who have grown tired of comments aimed at them during sporting events. He emphasized that more needs to be done to make them feel comfortable while on the job.
“They’re getting burned out,” Sharrow said. “It’s not nice when you have someone yelling at you, judging you or threatening you. Athletic directors are trying to mitigate that and we have no tolerance for people who verbally assault officials. Crowd control is one part of our job, and we need to make athletic events safe and welcoming for referees.”
Sharrow believes that the NCHSAA increasing the pay for referees was a step in the right direction towards promoting a more positive atmosphere at high school events, along with more schools taking proactive measures when dealing with spectators who choose to harass referees.
He added that taking extra steps to care for referees during and after games is an important part of his mindset as an athletic director.
“At Vance County football games, we make sure referees are escorted to their vehicles by police officers,” Sharrow said. “We take that extra step to make sure they feel safe just in case there aren’t people out there waiting for them if there are any controversial calls. Sometimes fans can take things a little too far, but people need to remember that referees are people who have families to go home to.”
Richardson is hoping that the referee shortage ends up getting resolved sooner rather than later, as the scramble to find a crew for last Tuesday’s games with Southside Christian before settling on a group that had officiated two games in Wilson earlier that day resulted in a financial hit for Crossroads.
As with Sharrow and Marshall, Richardson makes sure that proper code of conduct is applied at Crossroads in every single sporting event, while simultaneously maintaining daily communication with Edwards and booking agents on referee assignments for the school’s events.
Richardson believes a long-term approach is needed to bring in more referees, as opposed to temporary measures like lowering the required age for officiating.
“There needs to be a significant effort made towards figuring out how to get more people involved with officiating,” Richardson said. “We had 16-year-olds officiating soccer games at the high-school level and it’s not good when angry parents are going after them. This is going to be a cycle, and I don’t know what the correct solution is.”
Creating the best possible competitive environment for all parties is something that Richardson knows will be imperative for all athletic directors, as the referee shortage is expected to continue into the spring sports season.
Contact Brandon White at bwhite@hendersondispatch.com or by phone at 252-436-2840
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.co
HENDERSON — Scottie Richardson’s 46th victory as the men’s basketball coach at Crossroads Christian last Tuesday, which moved him past Joseph Cooper as the program’s all-time winningest coach, came with an unexpected caveat.
Both varsity matchups with Southside Christian were delayed from their normal start times to 6:45 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively after Richardson struggled in preceding days with finding an referee crew in North Carolina that would be available for the games.
Richardson said that dealing with a scarcity of referees has been a problem since the start of the winter sports season that remains facing all of Crossroads’ teams, including those that are actively pursuing championships.
“Our middle-school girls are the top team in the conference,” Richardson said. “They are undefeated and they have not had any games closer than a 17-point win this season. The conference championship game scheduled for [Feb. 8] has to be moved to Feb. 10 because there are no middle school officials in our area. They are all working high school games.”
Referee assignments and compensation for high school sporting events across North Carolina are handled by regional supervisors through a system known as ArbiterSports.
Under normal circumstances, Richardson would know who would be officiating Crossroads’ games a week in advance, but he said that constant rescheduling due to inclement weather and COVID-19 postponements has strained the system and required him to check ArbiterSports every day.
The shortage of referees around the entire country have only compounded the scheduling issues Crossroads and other schools are already facing, with Richardson adding that his regional supervisor, Ronald Edwards, struggled to find any officials for middle school games on Tuesday.
When Richardson first heard about the referee shortages, he initially attributed the problem to the pandemic and concerns about being exposed to COVID-19, until a conversation with Edwards revealed that fan behavior has been the primary catalyst.
“Angry fans are the top reason why referees are saying it’s not worth it anymore,” Richardson said. “A lot of these referees work real jobs and the games are more of a side job to them. I thought the cancelations would have messed up their work schedules, but they don’t want to get berated by irate fans while not making a whole bunch of money.”
Of the referees who officiate high school sports in the United States, 70% end up leaving the profession after three years. Another 57% believed that sportsmanship has been gradually deteriorating, particularly when it comes to the behavior of coaches and spectators in youth sports.
Henderson Collegiate Athletic Director George Marshall said that the vitriol being directed towards referees is becoming a concerning trend in high school sports. He has heavily emphasized maintaining a professional, courteous relationship with officials and actively encourages students and parents to do the same.
“This season, I have tried to improve significantly after hearing the news about there being a shortage of officials,” Marshall said. “They are an essential part of the learning process for our student athletes and as a sports community, we need to treat them with respect. We may disagree with their decisions, but we have to do better to support them so they feel comfortable in our facilities and can help our teams grow.”
Vance County Athletic Director Joe Sharrow added that low pay has become an issue with officiating as the country continues to rebound economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, but he commended the N.C. High School Athletic Association for taking steps to increase the compensation of referees.
Despite this, Sharrow understands why those efforts may not be enough for referees who have grown tired of comments aimed at them during sporting events. He emphasized that more needs to be done to make them feel comfortable while on the job.
“They’re getting burned out,” Sharrow said. “It’s not nice when you have someone yelling at you, judging you or threatening you. Athletic directors are trying to mitigate that and we have no tolerance for people who verbally assault officials. Crowd control is one part of our job, and we need to make athletic events safe and welcoming for referees.”
Sharrow believes that the NCHSAA increasing the pay for referees was a step in the right direction towards promoting a more positive atmosphere at high school events, along with more schools taking proactive measures when dealing with spectators who choose to harass referees.
He added that taking extra steps to care for referees during and after games is an important part of his mindset as an athletic director.
“At Vance County football games, we make sure referees are escorted to their vehicles by police officers,” Sharrow said. “We take that extra step to make sure they feel safe just in case there aren’t people out there waiting for them if there are any controversial calls. Sometimes fans can take things a little too far, but people need to remember that referees are people who have families to go home to.”
Richardson is hoping that the referee shortage ends up getting resolved sooner rather than later, as the scramble to find a crew for last Tuesday’s games with Southside Christian before settling on a group that had officiated two games in Wilson earlier that day resulted in a financial hit for Crossroads.
As with Sharrow and Marshall, Richardson makes sure that proper code of conduct is applied at Crossroads in every single sporting event, while simultaneously maintaining daily communication with Edwards and booking agents on referee assignments for the school’s events.
Richardson believes a long-term approach is needed to bring in more referees, as opposed to temporary measures like lowering the required age for officiating.
“There needs to be a significant effort made towards figuring out how to get more people involved with officiating,” Richardson said. “We had 16-year-olds officiating soccer games at the high-school level and it’s not good when angry parents are going after them. This is going to be a cycle, and I don’t know what the correct solution is.”
Creating the best possible competitive environment for all parties is something that Richardson knows will be imperative for all athletic directors, as the referee shortage is expected to continue into the spring sports season.
Contact Brandon White at bwhite@hendersondispatch.com or by phone at 252-436-2840
