Officially Short of Officials

The high school sports season is just weeks away and while the players and coaches are preparing for their seasons it s the officials or lack of them who may play the most important role Mike Elm has more Pat Mcnally MHS Athetic Director We have seen a decline in the number of referees and it s probably for a lot of different reasons Mike Elm Reporting The problem is a big one for high schools across the state a smaller pool of officials to cover more games McNally I think like in basketball we have enough referees but they re being worked to death and some are getting up in age they re working 2 3 4 nights a week now that the two seasons are together Some of our newer sports like soccer and softball we ve really suffered in finding officials last year for softball We had to get officials out of Fargo and Grand Forks because there just wasn t enough officials around here But words got to get out there We re in critical need of officials Blaine Deslauriers Football official Well I think in the football area there s a concern We have probably enough officials to cover this year but the growing concern is aging officials like myself that have been at it for 30 years What we d like to see is younger officials involved so we can replace what will be lost at some point in the near very near future Elm Current officials don t all agree on why it s so difficult to get new recruits but they all do agree that becoming an official has many benefits Jeff Risk Football Basketball official For the most part officiating can be very rewarding It allows you to stay involved with the activities that have been a part of your life for many years Deslauriers Well we always talk about that former athlete but you know it doesn t always have to be that former athlete either that actually played football there may be others that have an interest and know the game and that sort of thing that also would do a great job There s all kinds of opportunities if someone wants to step up and give it a try That was Mike Elm reporting