Breaking news (<sarcasm) from the NFHS

I

innoshape

Active member
From April 28, 2021
The NFHS Voice article:
"More Officials, Better fan behavior needed in High School Sports"

Basically, the article says the despite the pandemic as a reason for officials to opt-out, the pandemic was secondary to the verbal abuse officials receive from fans, mostly parents.

The NFHS recommended the following:
"Schools across the country need two things: 1) more individuals to consider officiating high school sports and 2) an improvement in fan behavior so that officials don’t have to deal with verbal abuse and can feel good about continuing to officiate. Despite the fun and rewards that come with officiating high school sports, no one wants to continue if they are continually berated by fans."
 
 
innoshape said:
From April 28, 2021
The NFHS Voice article:
"More Officials, Better fan behavior needed in High School Sports"

Basically, the article says the despite the pandemic as a reason for officials to opt-out, the pandemic was secondary to the verbal abuse officials receive from fans, mostly parents.

The NFHS recommended the following:
"Schools across the country need two things: 1) more individuals to consider officiating high school sports and 2) an improvement in fan behavior so that officials don’t have to deal with verbal abuse and can feel good about continuing to officiate. Despite the fun and rewards that come with officiating high school sports, no one wants to continue if they are continually berated by fans."
Click to expand...

Stories like this started to appear a couple of years ago and prior to the Covid issues.
Since I am pretty much in the front of this in assigning and being an officer in my Association, I see the issues up close.
I have to say that when I first read about verbal abuse of officials, my first thought was, "where"? I simply do not see it in the HS wrestling world. Are there differences in opinion? Sure but that is just the nature of the beast. In all my years I can not think of a single case where I felt like anyone tried to abuse me.
I would have to guess that the the biggest problem in wrestling is in youth wrestling. Very little to no control over parents/coaches. I haven't done too many youth events in recent years, not because I am above them (which I am not) but, because I simply got tired of dealing with idiots who think because they are Johnny's father they really know the rules of the sport. Like I care if red or green wins a match?
I have long believed that it takes a "different" type of personality to be an official in any field. It is NOT for everyone.
Since I do not officiate other sports, I can not address whether it is a problem for those officials or not. I have not witnessed any problems in the contests I have attended but that is a very small slice of scholastic sports.
There is no doubt that the numbers of officials needs to be increased. I suspect this is true in most sports.
I recently sent emails out to all the coaches and AD's in my directory asking them to give my contact info to anyone they thought might be interested in officiating. So far I have 10 new candidates. However, my offer goes out to all of you. If you think you would like to be an official, PM me and I can get you pointed in the right direction. Even in other parts of the state, I have the contacts needed.
Ready to step up?
 
I agree Jim, it may not be for everyone, you gotta be able to maintain your cool under pressure at times, but it is rewarding. Like any hobby, it can be a bit frustrating at times. The focus is on the wresters, not yourself as the ref.
If I had one of my wishes granted for wrestling:
At least for wrestling, It may help both officials and fans (fan behavior) by attempting to simplifying or eliminating certain rules in the rule book.
Why do fans yell or berate officials? Not every call is a "Bad call" per the rule book. The ref may have applied the rule correctly, but the rule had so many nuances that the fans (or even some coaches) lose their minds.
For example:
The casual fan sees a mat with an out-of-bounds circle.
The casual fan probably thinks that "out-of-bounds" boundary line means wrestling stops if it is crossed.
Now insert the near-fall & fall criteria rules that refs must apply now in the heat of battle.
Were the offensive wrestler's knees on or above the boundary line?
Was an arm encircled at or above the elbow with that headlock?
Was a part of the defensive wrestler's shoulder or scapula on the boundary line or inbounds?
Now add the ref having to watch for hands to the face, biting, etc.
Now add the ref is also trying to determine criteria & swipe/count near-fall and look for the fall.
Ref smacks the mat for the fall.
All of this took place in a few seconds.
Boobirds come out of the stands- "he was out of bounds ref." "That's just terrible- you stink"

Sometimes people get upset and express emotion by yelling at somebody and cast blame when they simply don't understand something like complex rules. Just my 2c.
 
Last edited:
innoshape said:
I agree Jim, it may not be for everyone, you gotta be able to maintain your cool under pressure at times, but it is rewarding. Like any hobby, it can be a bit frustrating at times. The focus is on the wresters, not yourself as the ref.
If I had one of my wishes granted for wrestling:
At least for wrestling, It may help both officials and fans (fan behavior) by attempting to simplifying or eliminating certain rules in the rule book.
Why do fans yell or berate officials? Not every call is a "Bad call" per the rule book. The ref may have applied the rule correctly, but the rule had so many nuances that the fans (or even some coaches) lose their minds.
For example:
The casual fan sees a mat with an out-of-bounds circle.
The casual fan probably thinks that "out-of-bounds" boundary line means wrestling stops if it is crossed....
Click to expand...

Therein lies the problem. Casual fan should probably when it comes to refereeing. :censored:
 
You have to have thick skin when officiating. I agree that its much worse in youth wrestling due to the lack of general knowledge on the part of fans and coaches/dads...with that said, the biggest part of coaches/fans dissatisfaction on the high school level is subjective calls such as stalling. Any time you interject subjectivity into the question, you are going to have frustration bubble to the surface.
 
Mr. Red said:
You have to have thick skin when officiating. I agree that its much worse in youth wrestling due to the lack of general knowledge on the part of fans and coaches/dads...with that said, the biggest part of coaches/fans dissatisfaction on the high school level is subjective calls such as stalling. Any time you interject subjectivity into the question, you are going to have frustration bubble to the surface.
Click to expand...

I want to repeat, and stress, that IMO the declining number of officials is NOT related to HS wrestling or any type of calls made on the mat.
Fans get into it, I get that and welcome it. NOTHING is worse than a silent crowd.
As a rule of thumb, wrestling fans are quite good at the HS level. Want to see worse, go to a BB game.

This is more indicative of bigger changes in society in general. The "instant gratification" syndrome.
 
As a multi-sport official (wrestling is NOT one of them), I can tell you the number of officials is stagnant to down over the last chunk of years (I would say more down than stagnant). The other thing I am seeing within the officiating base (both from being an official to following it from a coaching (not wrestling) and media perspective) is that the officiating pool is getting older or younger, the retention of middle-aged (i.e. those from around 30-to-50) is just not happening.

There's a whole litany of reasons for why this is the case. In terms of "abuse", I think true examples of assault and abuse are few and far between at the high school level across the sports since fans are more controlled than at the younger ages and there is some semblance of administrative presence/backing at the contests. What I think is more the case is that there is an "aggravation", which is where the "thick skin" comes into play - and those that leave officiating have decided that the balance between time commitment, aggravation, pay, enjoyment, et al has swung toward the side of choosing not to officiate.
 
bucksman said:
As a multi-sport official (wrestling is NOT one of them), I can tell you the number of officials is stagnant to down over the last chunk of years (I would say more down than stagnant). The other thing I am seeing within the officiating base (both from being an official to following it from a coaching (not wrestling) and media perspective) is that the officiating pool is getting older or younger, the retention of middle-aged (i.e. those from around 30-to-50) is just not happening.

There's a whole litany of reasons for why this is the case. In terms of "abuse", I think true examples of assault and abuse are few and far between at the high school level across the sports since fans are more controlled than at the younger ages and there is some semblance of administrative presence/backing at the contests. What I think is more the case is that there is an "aggravation", which is where the "thick skin" comes into play - and those that leave officiating have decided that the balance between time commitment, aggravation, pay, enjoyment, et al has swung toward the side of choosing not to officiate.
Click to expand...

At least you did not say 230 to 250. LOL and just kidding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top