Amateur sports across Colorado are in a state of emergency because of a shortage of officials.
That has led to a mass rescheduling of games and games played with too few officials – and could eventually mean cancellations.
And the problem largely is blamed on abusive coaches and fans, including parents, although pay and the time commitment also are cited.
“In 27 years of being on the court, I’ve seen young officials come in and why they leave,” said Craig Coutlee, an Area 17 basketball officials representative. “The No. 1 comment is, ‘you can’t pay men enough to take this abuse.’”
This week, current and former athletic directors from the region met with leaders of officiation associations, and Tom Robinson, the associate commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association, joined in on the phone. The meeting came one week after a similar statewide conference call to discuss a shortfall in referees across all sports for high school and middle school games.
Recruiting new officials is the highest priority with school sports seasons now well underway, but it’s not easy. Robinson registers an average of 5,000 officials per year through CHSAA. But numbers have continued to decrease around the state, a trend Robinson sees nationwide.
“It’s a phenomenon that kind of crept up on everybody,” he said. “It speaks to something that is the cause of it. At some point, we dropped the ball in aggressively recruiting, and that’s on officials associations and schools. There also needs to be an awareness piece that takes place to let parents and players know the officials are there so the kids can play. Without them, the games don’t happen.”
Officials in Southwestern Colorado cover games from Pagosa Springs to Cortez and as far as Dove Creek. Covering that large of a geographical area makes staffing multiple games at all the schools a nightmare.
Varsity football games have been rescheduled from Friday nights to Saturday afternoons and even some Thursday nights, something the schools have reluctantly agreed upon. Refereeing more games in a week is leading to burnout from the older generation of officials. Rick O’Block, the area director for the Durango Football Officials Association, said he worked four games in six days last week.
“We’ve had to reschedule a lot of games, and it is an impact on people’s schedule,” he said. “I’m not a young guy any more, and it’s very challenging for me to work that many games. When it means schools are moving games off of Friday night, it also impacts their gate receipts.”
Varsity soccer matches are supposed to have three referees, but there are three games on the schedule where Jack Rauen, the Four Corners assignor and a referee, said he only has two officials. “It’s bad for everybody,” he said. “It’s bad for referees, it’s bad for coaches and it’s bad for the players. You do not get a good game on a two-man system.”
But varsity sports are the least of the problem. Sub-varsity and middle school games are routinely understaffed, and the best short-term solution for school administrators is to enlist uncertified volunteers to help games continue.
Erin Dunavant, head of the volleyball officials association, said she has only eight officials this year and often has eight gyms hosting games, and that’s just at the middle school level. She is excited to see an increase of student participation in sports, but she said it strains resources.
That makes the need for a younger generation of officials crucial before the older generation hangs up their whistles.
Some organizations have had success recruiting new officials, such as Kenneth Monger, who has been able to get high school players to umpire youth games through the Colorado High School Baseball Umpires Association. He has seen umpires continue through college and become varsity umpires. Robinson said more officials like Monger must actively recruit. Fort Lewis College also offers courses in officiating, led by people such as Dunavant and Bayfield varsity volleyball head coach Terene Foutz. Still, those programs aren’t seeing the number of recruitments needed to sustain amateur sports competitions going forward.
Rauen has lost three referees in the past four years because of coach abuse. Others leave after being verbally assaulted or even at times physically accosted after games. Young athletes watch as coaches and parents berate officials, and when they are approached about chipping in, they don’t entertain the idea of being subjected to such treatment.
To be a quality referee, it also takes a large time commitment outside of live game action to master the craft.
“As the years have progressed, we’ve been asked to be better and better,” Dunavant said. “You have to take your offseason, go to a camp and study the rules. That scares people away.”
Dunavant said there are going to be calls officials miss every game, but the added criticism has been magnified by technology and parents and teams recording every game and sending in footage any time a penalty is missed or called incorrectly.
“There is a disconnect there,” she said. “Before you stand on the bleachers and scream at a guy on the field, have the realization that the guy put in a lot of time and effort and they’re gonna miss it sometimes and have the realization that I’m here for your kid, too.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
