We have seen a major referee shortage over the past few years. According to CBS News the number of officials that are working sporting contests have dropped over 1,000 from a high of 5,800 before the pandemic. Why is the number dropping, and what can we do to stop it from dropping?
Most times, people referee as a side job just to make a few extra dollars for whatever reasons. However, this may be someone’s income and full time job. According to the MIAA, ice hockey refs make $97 per varsity game, and they want to push it to $126. 52% of high school hockey’s referees are not planning to referee this year due to the low amount of pay.
The MIAA made a statement talking about how it is not okay to support an increase in fees when not all schools have money in their budget to be able to pay. But if this is someone’s full time job, even if they officiated every single day, they are making a little over $35,000 a year. If they got paid $126 dollars, they would make almost $46,000 . This may not seem like a difference to some people, but 11k more money can do a lot for a person who may need it.
Another side to this is how rude fans can be to the referees. As an athlete I have played many sports such as soccer, gymnastics and basketball when I was a kid. I play softball now. At every game there is always at least that one person who does not agree with a certain call or something that the referee or umpire may have done. They think it is a good idea to start yelling or arguing with the official about the call, which causes them to get thrown out.
I truly believe that yelling is so unnecessary. The person made the call they thought was right, and if you do not agree with them you can utter something but maybe at a low volume. Just because you think it’s wrong, they do not. They are not gonna change the call just because one random person in the stands thinks it’s the “wrong call.” People are sick of this and that is another reason they do not want to call a game. They don’t want to be yelled at for making a call that people disagree with. Referees have also been attacked and physically abused by parents.
A poll taken by the Boston Globe shows the different polls taken on who causes the most problems with sportsmanship. 81.62% of people said spectators cause the most problems with sportsmanship in games. The next highest people who cause the most problems are coaches with 69.25% of people saying they cause a lot of problems.
I interviewed a teacher at my school, Mr. Wandyes, because he referees basketball and here’s what he had to say about the matter: “People are definitely dropping out of it due to the rude fans in the stands. I have been lucky to only have had a couple of rude people that were not that bad. I like doing it so I keep doing it. I think young people should take advantage of this opportunity, just to make more money.” I definitely agree with him. I have started to umpire youth softball games to make a few extra dollars, and I have been lucky enough to not have any bad fans yet.
Without officials, we cannot have sports games. So what can we do to stop the problem of referees quitting, to keep our games going? For one, we can start showing them more respect. If you do not agree with something, keep it to yourself. After all, the officials are there to help call a game that your kid loves so much. Without them, there would be no games.
