The Ohio Valley is in major need of basketball officials.
It’s certainly not a localized issue and it’s not one that’s just now come about. News outlets in the Ohio Valley detailed similar stories and pleas on multiple occasions in the last decade. But the lack of availability for officials is starting to affect scheduling.
Where a game being postponed because of no officials was previously a one-off per season, is starting to become commonplace. No, it’s not an everyday occurrence. The local boards are doing the best they can, spreading their number of officials around as best they can.
But the postponements are starting to pop up more and more, and people are noticing.
River athletics director Mark Romick relayed on Twitter early Wednesday afternoon that the night’s freshman game against St. Clairsville was canceled because of a lack of officials.
The week prior, Barnesville’s Brad Hannahs made a similar tweet, noting that a junior high boys game between River and his Shamrocks had to postpone for a similar reason.
While no varsity or junior varsity contest has been affected yet according to Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Basketball Commissioner Doug Costain, the junior high and parochial leagues are stretched thin—too thin.
“Each board has its own people that do the scheduling and it’s a constant puzzle,” Costain admitted. “Everything slides downhill, so if someone is off that does varsity games, we may take a jayvee guy, and then the junior varsity schedule will take a guy that’s doing junior high games.
“And at that level, you need the most fill-ins and that’s where we’re seeing games get canceled?”
Martins Ferry AD Greg Harkness noted that Wednesday night was the first time his programs had to cancel a game. Others aren’t as lucky.
One principal noted that there have been six games canceled already for that district at the junior high level, along with 2-3 freshman games.
“It’s near a quarter of their season,” the administrator noted, wishing to remain anonymous. “At the junior high level, it’s been a big issue.”
St. John Central Academy, which brought back junior high boys’ basketball for the first time since transitioning to Academy status, had to improvise Wednesday to get its game in.
In order to play, the academy’s AD, Bubba Kapral, along with Bridgeport varsity boys’ basketball coach Donnie Cash, officiated the game. Cash is a licensed official, as is Kapral, the longtime successful Fighting Irish girls’ basketball coach. But neither initially planned on officiating that evening.
Coaches and administrators are doing what they have to in order to get games in and schools.
Harkness noted he’ll try to double up a freshman game with either the junior high level or with the varsity and junior varsity, allowing officials to double and if possible, triple up games for the evening.
Why the Shortage?
There is a multitude of reasons why there’s an official shortage, and not just in basketball. One of the first reasons most point too is the behavior of fans and parents at basketball games. While that is part of it, it’s not the only reason.
What’s for certain, is there’s definitely a shortage and this profession needs an infusion of new blood, because the current crop of men and women wearing the uniform isn’t getting any younger.
The National Federation of State High School Associations took a closer look at this very issue back during the height of COVID.
In her article, Dr. Karissa Niehoff, the executive director of the NFHS, noted that the average age of officials back in 2020 was 53 years of age. There are also plenty of officials working four and five nights a week well into their 60s.
Costain believes there are a lot of other options available for people to spend their time doing and not as many are coming to officiating.
“There’s a lot available for young people, a lot of distractions,” Costain said. “We had 16 people in our training class this year, but it just seems being a referee—and not just in basketball as there’s a need in every sport—is not high on the list of things to do.
“A lot of people want to point to fan behavior, and that can be part of it.”
While not the only reason people are wary about officiating, parent and fan behavior is likely a big deterrent.
It doesn’t take an exhaustive search of social media, or YouTube, to find a video of some fan or parent becoming unruly at a youth sporting event—not even just high school, but even little league.
You can probably count on one hand the number of seconds it takes after tip-off for someone to utter the old standby “call it both ways” in any high school gymnasium.
“If you’d sit and make a checklist of the pros and cons of becoming an official if you referee, it can take time away from your family, you get yelled at by the fans, someone might blister you on social media, and if there’s a broadcast team, they may do it to,” Costain said. “It can be detrimental to officiating and it creates the perfect storm.
“We are trying to work together to provide a positive environment for officials.”
Admittedly, the younger levels are where a lot of the negative experiences for officials, especially new ones to the profession, are happening.
Once an official receives his or her license and registers with a board, they can be assigned games to work. Generally, newbies are hitting the parochial league and junior high circuits out of the game to get their feet wet and gain experience before moving up to the high school levels.
“We had a meeting last Saturday, the OVAC met with one of the local boards along with 3-4 athletic directors,” Costain said. “Again, it’s a perfect storm, because when you are at 5th and 6th, or junior high games, you have new players, but also sometimes newer or younger coaches, and referees, and for that matter, a lot of time it’s new or younger parents and it’s their first time really getting involved with competitive sports.
“No one wants to see a kid fall that they believe gets fouled, but there’s so much judgment in basketball officiating. People see things in different ways and will comment.
“We’re working to come up with a couple of ideas, but one is to better educate the fans on the rules of the game. Sometimes a rule at the NBA or college level isn’t the same as here.”
Replenishing the Ranks
Costain and his brothers and sisters in officiating are trying different ways to swell the ranks and get more people involved in officiating.
He’s been to high schools in the Ohio Valley and talked to physical education classes. He’s set up information booths in the lunch room to talk to people and get them excited and involved with officiating.
“Honestly, it’s a great part-time job. I don’t like to sell people just on the money, but you can make some money doing it, spending a couple of hours getting paid doing something you enjoy,” Costain said.
While the junior high and high school seasons offer plenty of officiating opportunities, the potential for even more numerous earning opportunities exists in the offseason. As the AAU and travel circuits continue to grow, there are seemingly tournaments every weekend in the Tri-State area where officials can work in both boys’ and girls’ basketball.
You don’t have to wait until reaching adulthood either. Kids ages 16 and up can officiate, too.
In fact, Edison High School in Richmond offers a sports officiating class, taught by former athletics director Joanne Stagani.
“It’s done through the OHSAA and they do everything required to get licensed, along with some extra training like concussion training, how to handle an injury.”
Costain said a move to make these types of classes accredited in West Virginia is in discussion at the state board of education level.
Another potential boon to getting more people involved is it’s easier to take the classes and get certified than previously.
“A lot of the training can be done online,” Costain said. “There are x number of hours mandated in person, but you can do a lot of it remotely.”
There’s actually a local class starting up soon, put on by longtime basketball official Donnie Giffin. Participants can register now. Costain encourages anyone interested to contact Giffin via email at giffindonnie@gmail.com to get signed up.
Considering Giffin is an OHSAA Hall of Fame basketball official, prospective new officials are certain to learn much.
This isn’t a call to just young or interested men, either. The OVAC has a growing number of female officials and last January, had its first all-female crew officiate a game when Gina Hicks, Maclaine Murad, and Meghan Scott worked an OVAC Class 4A semifinal.
“We have a great contingent of female officials and women are increasingly being very productive in sports officiating,” Costain said. “They are working in the NBA, Division I men’s and women’s basketball, even in the NFL.”
