Referee shortage hits local fields

EPHRATA — Local communities have been feeling the impact of the nationwide officiating shortage which has had an impact on all sports.  

According to Bruce Shields, an officiant signer for Washington State, before COVID the area had over 100 umpires ready to officiate for baseball and as of last year that number had dropped down to 37. 

Ephrata School District Athletic Director Bryan Johnson, who is currently actively working to help recruit referees and umpires, helped shed light on the situation saying there has been a shortage for a while. Sports are having continued scheduling conflicts with people’s work schedules and the treatment that officiating receives from the public. 

“Getting yelled at by fans or coaches, that’s been a reason people get out of it,” said Johnson. 

Shields said in a survey conducted last year among 3,500 officials, it was found that most do not wish to become an official or quit due to the poor conduct displayed at the games. 

The cost of becoming an official has gone up as well. Simply getting the correct gear for certain sports costs up to $600. Some associations will pay for the gear, but for officials who must pay for their own it’s a heavy cost, Shields said. 

Officials do get paid for their work and have even been getting raises in recent years to try to keep people involved, said Johnson. 

Time plays a major factor in the declining number of umpires and referees and the effects on athletes. Officials often have a hard time getting time off work on weekdays to make it to games, said Johnson. 

“We have to move games as an athletic director. For example, next Tuesday we host Selah. It’s a Tuesday so typically we would play two games at 4:30,” he said. “They can only give us one crew because it’s a busy day in the area. They're trying to service several different high schools, so we’re switching it to a doubleheader.” 

Having to play games like this is a detriment to both the officials and the players. The young athletes will either get out of school earlier and miss instructional time or be home late. Officials and parents similarly lose out on time they may need to be elsewhere, Johnson said. 

One way they can work to increase the number of officials is through increasing recruitment, Johnson continued. Particularly, recruiting kids from high school to college who don’t play but want a job. 

“When I was in college, I officiated basketball in Spokane, and that was a great little money maker with flexible hours and you could make several thousand dollars in a season,” he said. “I enjoyed it, and I was involved in the game still and you know I think it can be rewarding.” 

According to Sheilds, getting the younger crowd involved can be difficult since they start working at the JV level or lower and that’s where the worst conduct is. People don’t want to be yelled at for making a call that one team doesn’t like, whether it was the right call or not.  

“Too many people think officials need to be perfect,” he said. “I’ve always said, ‘If you ever get perfect it’s time to quit.’”  

Shields has seen a lot of the retired community stepping up to the task. Older people have more flexible schedules and typically have had previous officiating experience.  

Shields and Johnson agree that creating an environment that is more open to officiating is a top priority in solving the shortage issue. 

“I think schools are doing a much better job controlling the environment and protecting officials as much as we can,” said Johnson. “[By] trying to promote good sportsmanship with our students and our fans and supervising things we can create a safe environment for all the teams, but the officials as well.”