If you’ve attended a sporting event recently, you have undoubtedly seen and heard that when the whistle blows and play stops, the yelling at and berating of officials begins.
Ironically, this conditioned response has become akin to the salivating of Pavlov‘s dogs.
However, instead of getting food, the fans that are yelling may get something quite different, they may get the cancellation of the games they love.
The total number of sport officials across the country has been shrinking, and new entrants to the field are becoming less and less, meaning that the population of officials is getting older, and many are nearing retirement.
A recent survey was conducted by Officially Human: Behind the Stripes. The survey, which attracted nearly 19,000 responses from youth and high school sport officials in 14 states, indicates that the problem is only getting worse. For the most part, fans, many of which do not know the rules of the sports they watch (according to survey respondents), are the main culprit.
In communities across the country, games are being canceled due to the shortage of officials. It is at the point that all constituents bear the responsibility of fixing this problem, and it starts with everyone becoming, or being held, accountable for their own behavior, whether they are parents, fans, coaches, school administrators, or even television commentators.
The men and women that officiate do so due to their love of sport, and they want to give back to their community. They also want to stay in shape. Money is not the top priority.
Unfortunately, the increasing abuse that they receive is diminishing their love of sport to the point that they no longer want to work the games.
The time is now for all of us to realize that officials are human and their existence and hard work at sporting events allows all of us to enjoy the games that we love. We must start to humanize officials now, before the whistles fall silent.
Brenda Hilton founded Officially Human: Behind the Stripes in January 2019 with the mission of humanizing sport officials and restoring respect to officials on the fields and the courts where they work. Please help fund the Mission at https://officiallyhuman.com/donations/support-the-mission/
I hope this gets off the ground! I am the person you have written about, it is NOT the MONEY!
Robert Bertrand
Thank you Robert!
All the best, and have a great week!