As high schools begin a third school year of sports and other activities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a familiar issue continues to challenge administrators nationwide: finding enough individuals to officiate all scheduled contests.

In some states, Friday Night Lights have become Thursday or Saturday Night Lights as teams consider playing on alternate dates to accommodate the lack of individuals to officiate games.

The shortage of officials in high school – and middle school – sports has been a growing concern for several years – in large part due to unsportsmanlike behavior by parents and other adult fans. Now, additional sports officials are electing to stay on the sidelines because of health concerns related to COVID-19, or they are uncomfortable wearing a mask during games.

The challenge for schools and state associations remains two-fold: how to recruit more individuals to become officials and how to retain those people currently serving as officials. Short of unexpected events like the coronavirus, if a new official remains active after the first three to five years, the outlook for a long-term career is pretty good.

Although there was a hope that the post-pandemic behavior of parents and other fans would be improved, Pappas said the jury is definitely still out as sportsmanship issues have continued to exist.

While the loss of officials because of the pandemic is understandable and uncontrollable, losing individuals from the officiating ranks due to the boorish behavior of parents and other adults is unacceptable.

The NFHS has been actively recruiting officials for four years through its #BecomeAnOfficial campaign. More than 50,000 individuals have expressed an interest in officiating through this national effort at www.highschoolofficials.com.

Most recently, the NFHS has been targeting high school coaches to consider officiating another sport in their off-season after previous campaigns directed to other groups. Assisting state associations and schools in recruiting more officials is also on Pappas’ To-Do list.

“Kids coming out of high school think they have two options – to play sports or to coach sports. They forget about the people who are officiating their games! So, how do we make officiating something that is at the forefront of their minds? When they are leaving high school or leaving college, they need to understand that there is an entire career path they could follow in the world of high school officiating.”

As fall high school sports swing into full action this month, let’s respect the men and women who are giving of their free time so that once-in-a-lifetime opportunities of high school activities can continue for our nation’s youth.