This!
and this!
Both unions need an organized drive towards attracting young people towards officiating.
We've all sat through games this year with officials that can no longer make it up & down the floor. Many of them are being begged not to retire by AD's desperate to find refs, so give them a break
What needs to happen:
- Sponsor officiating camps in the summer. Run them concurrent with the big shoot-outs.
- Schools need to enforce the code of conduct on their own crowds.
- A lot (not all) of millennials need to develop thicker skin.
- Actively recruit potential officials. Lots of former athletes who like to be around the game. They're just intimidated by the perceived hoops you need to jump through to get certified, and are intimidated by the though of getting yelled at. The state can ease those fears
- Pay better and cover mileage.
- Every current official and coach/AD should seek out good candidates and encourage them to get certified.
These are some great ideas that you have.
There are some great officiating camps available to officials throughout the state. I know that Chuck Brittain (Northeast Iowa and IGHSAU playoff assignor) puts on a great one in Dubuque, Joel Oswald and Gordon Kratz (high school and collegiate assignors) put on one at Drake in the summer and then one at UNI. I heard that Terry Oglesby was at the Drake camp this past year and I wish I would've known because I would've paid to go to the camp just to hear him speak. Terry is a Final 4 official who worked the Michigan-Loyola game last year and is based somewhere within a few hours. I heard some great second-hand stories of working Bobby Knight and Bob Huggins games through guys that were there that I would've loved to have been there for. Both of those camps are $150 or less, which isn't a bad deal for 2 full days of instruction and games with a lot of high quality officials. Most of these camps are word of mouth things, these guys aren't really advertising them too much so I'm sure a lot of officials don't know about them.
I also saw on social media that Des Moines Official Association had a table set up at the girls' tournament trying to recruit officials. I think that is a great idea and would love to see some signs/flyers at AAU tourneys too. I've mentioned this a couple times here but if anyone is interested in officiating varsity games, it only takes a couple years to work your way into that with how short they are on officials and I'd love to point you in the right direction with how to get started and who to contact to get games.
I do think you're right that some people aren't cut out for it. Getting yelled at by coaches and fans of both schools on a nightly basis can wear on you. I rarely heard fans because I didn't pay attention to them, but I've had fans make comments about my appearance, my family, my faith, etc and by the end of the season it can get old. I won't go all in on the millennial hate but there are a lot of people with thin skin out there --as evidenced by some posters on this very board-- who can't handle that night in and night out.
I would also say that I saw the tolerance for what was considered appropriate from coaches and fans go way up in my final years. Society has gotten to a place where it's okay to say things to people in stripes that you'd never say to them if you were one-on-one or face-to-face. In my early years, fans were pretty respectful even when I had an off game. As the years went on, the level of inappropriate comments that were accepted by peers, athletic directors, and the state went way up. I'm not sure why that is okay, or why people expect officials to take abuse at the hands of adults but that's where we are. I saw another thread where people were complaining about a coach getting stuck for screaming on the court. Why people think coaches shouldn't be penalized for acting like children is beyond me but that's another conversation for another day.
I would also say that there are some in Boone who don't think there is a problem with a lack of officials. I've had conversations who have talked with administrators up there who have flat out told them that there is no shortage. That is just ignorance because it is pretty clear that there is a shortage when you talk to any of the regular season assignors who have a tough time filling games. Sure, it's no problem for Boone because when it comes to playoffs they always have enough guys. Until they recognize the need for some type of drive to draw in officials and make it a bit more attractive, I think we will continue to see the shortage.
That's my $.02 from an old guy who becomes more out of the loop with each passing year.
