OHIO, USA — Over the last few years, Ohio has seen a decline in the number of sports officials, making it harder for teams and leagues to organize games. Last week, Ottawa Hills rescheduled their Friday night football game against Evergreen to Thursday in order to have officials for the contest.
Some around the state fear the lack of officials could lead to the cancellation of major contests.
"Nobody wants to see games changed or moved or going away," Mark Kuhn, a New Officials Instructor for the Northwest District Football Officials Association, said.
The officials association said it had about 130 referees a few years ago, but has since declined to about 90.
"We're thin," Kuhn said. "People are going out of their way to compensate for that."
Kuhn said Ohio high school football officials are, on average, about 55 years old and quickly retiring, either from age, the pandemic or harassment from fans.
"It's deteriorated our group of guys," Kuhn, a football official and baseball umpire, said.
Kuhn said getting booed by fans is a regular part of the job, but some have recently taken it too far.
"I don't ever want fans to be quiet," Kuhn said. "It's the crossing of the line that's the problem. We'll have guys come up to the front row hanging over the rail just screaming at us."
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has increased pay for officials and has sped up the training process with a five-week class that is available online.
Robert Hightower is a recent graduate of Kuhn's class. Hightower said he couldn't sit by anymore.
"I wanted to be a participant in sports instead of watching it on television," he said. "I'm pretty excited when I'm on the field watching the game action and giving a service to the young athletes."
Hightower said it's important that the states recruit officials who are younger in age and can dedicate more years to games.
"I'd like to get a lot more younger people involved because officiating is guys mostly in their 50s," Hightower said. "We need the young 18-40-year-old group to replace us in the very near future."
The Northwest Ohio Athletic League sent a release Monday encouraging senior student-athletes to consider officiating as a way to increase numbers.