NEA Basketball Officials a Dying Profession?

By: Ryan Fletcher

            Over the course of the last several years we have seen more and more high school basketball officials either retire or simply leave the profession.  It is an issue that many local officiating veterans have expressed concern about for quite some time.  As the veterans get older, Northeast Arkansas (and really the entire state) isn’t seeing younger guys step in to the role of being a referee.          This past season, KAIT’s former sports director Jason Hurst did a segment called “Out of Bounds.”  He did an excellent job and brought an interesting perspective to the table in regard to why high school officiating in Northeast Arkansas might be a dying breed.  The main focus was on poor sportsmanship being shown by our local fans.  Additionally, he added that the newest aspect of poor sportsmanship carries over on to social media after a game. 

            While I thought it was a great segment, I agreed with about 25% of it.  Bad sportsmanship, angry parents, irate coaches, and your typical crazy fans that are “well known” have been around forever.  Absolutely nothing has changed in that regard.  For every bad, unsportsmanlike event that an official can bring to the table from this past season, I can assure you that I can find a similar story from previous decades.  As the old saying goes, “you can’t fix ignorance.”  

            I did partially agree with the portion about the added aspect of social media.  Facebook has become a way for fans to continue to bash officials after a game has ended.  With that being said, it is typically the same people every night that are doing the bashing.  For those specific individuals, if their team loses, it is always the officials fault and after they have berated the officials during the game you can make a sure bet they will head to social media when they get home.  I can always expect that to be the case around 10:00 p.m. when I have heard a certain team has lost.  While I do agree that it is ridiculous that folks want to bash officials online, again you can’t change the unchangeable.  However, Facebook Co-Founder Mark Zuckerburg created the block button for a reason.  On top of that, online bashing has been going on for years.  Fearless Friday and Topix are places that folks have gone to in the past to wreak online havoc.  I agree Facebook is more accessible and far more instant than the online technology of old, but it is still the same thing that has been around for quite some time.  

            So, if I disagreed with K8’s reasoning for a lack of local officials, then what is the real problem?  To me that answer is very simple.  It is the pay!  Should a local high school referee be able to quit their day job because officiating night games is that lucrative? No, I am not saying that.  However, something is wrong when baseball, softball, volleyball, and football pay better.  Additionally, something is even more wrong when you can earn more money officiating three elementary basketball games in one night than you can a junior and senior high basketball game.  By the way, in both instances I know of multiple officials that either referee elementary games or officiate the other sports but refuse to do junior and senior high basketball.  There are some great officials out there that we are missing out on.

For the record, I have spoken to officials, coaches, and athletic directors around the area.  The pay scale for officiating a junior high basketball game is typically $35 with some schools paying $40.  Senior high games paid between $40 and $50.  The typical number I kept hearing was $35 for junior high and $45 for senior high which led to an amount of $80 per night.  That is simply not nearly enough to put up with what these guys endure on a nightly basis. 

            Let’s start with the pay in the other sports.  Softball pays anywhere between $100-$110 if an umpire works a seven-inning game followed by a three-inning junior varsity contest.  A seven-inning double header would pay around $135.  Volleyball pays anywhere between $115-$135 dollars per night depending on the number of matches.  It should be noted that there could be 5 matches in a night but the dollar value is still higher.  In football our local officials make anywhere between $85 to $110 per evening.  Every local sport pays more!  Might you spend an extra 30-60 minutes calling volleyball or football games?  It’s possible.  Then again you might get out quicker because there are certain nights when basketball officials are at the gym from 5:30 to 9:30 depending on the type of game they have called. 

            What I find even more laughable is that a guy that purchases an Arkansas Officials Association card can referee three elementary basketball games at $30 per game and make more than the licensed high school official that has been to training camps in the summer and has been in the business for years.  Am I saying elementary officials should be paid less? Heck no! They put up with all kinds of stuff.  However, they are typically out of the gym quicker, have a much smaller crowd, and typically don’t face the ridicule that our high school officials face.  

            So, if I am a young guy wanting to get into he officiating business, why would I pick junior and senior high basketball?  Or if I’m going to officiate basketball why would I not pick elementary over the higher levels?  In either scenario you get paid better!  It is simple arithmetic.  What’s the answer to get younger and even better officials on the court?  To me the answer is obvious.  It is time to pay up! Whether that means raising the price of admission (hello Arkansas Activities Association) or our athletic programs profiting a little less, it’s time to make a change because the bottom line is that if you don’t have referee’s then you won’t have a basketball game to play.