MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As the Mid-South is knee-deep in high school football season, and while fun, they are getting harder to staff.
Local members with the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, the group in charge of staffing sports games with referees, tell ABC24, they have seen more refs bow out or retire than sign up. Local supervisor Paul Holt says this is an issue that has been growing over the past decade.
“We have 110 on roll, we used to have 180,” said Holt, adding it would take an additional 40 referees for the local TSSAA to be comfortable.
Put simply, if a game does not have a referee, the game cannot happen. While Holt says the situation has not gotten to that point yet, it may not be far off.
Part of the reason behind the shortage has been the pay. Though it has increased over the years, organizers say the money is not as much compared to what young people could be making in another job.
A bigger concern however, according to TSSAA assigner Don Williams, is the safety and behavior at sports games today.
“Coaches, fans, etcetera are yelling and acting a fool I call it against officials more than they used to, and so people don’t want to do that,” said Williams.
To fight the shortage, the local TSSAA has been working with schools in Shelby, Tipton, and Fayette Counties to move games to Thursdays or Saturdays, just so there would be enough referees to go around.
“We’re going to have to go multiple days, and or double and triple headers in order to have enough officials to do that,” said Williams.
Meanwhile, Williams and the TSSAA have approached area schools to see if any graduating athletes would like to stay involved with their former sport, however not as a player, but as a referee.
“They don’t have the time to become a coach, which takes more time, but they still want to be involved with the game,” said Williams.
To sign up to be a referee, you can follow THIS LINK to TSSAA's website. Qualifications include being 18-years-old and passing a background check.