PEORIA, Ill. – It likely won’t be a problem for the baseball and softball tournaments going on this weekend at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex, but it’s otherwise been a problem pretty much all year round.
That’s the continued shortage of umpires and referees for youth athletic events.
“I see declining numbers. I don’t see much improvement,” says Ron King, a local official, to 25 News. “I don’t see lot of guys getting determined to want to get involved in the sport. I see more guys wanting to get out of the sport.
“The decline in officials is because…fan behavior is horrible. It’s just horrible. It’s way out of control.”
King says when fans get rude or rowdy, many school districts want the refs to handle it, instead of addressing it themselves, which he says is what should happen.
The shortages have gotten so band that officiating crews often pull double duty on game nights, or have to work more often.
“A lot of times, in the conference, they’ll work two games on a Friday night, and we would have ten officials — five freshmen, and five varsity. Now, the freshman officials have to work both games. that tells you right there there’s a shortage,” said King.
Plus, because of the shortage, while IHSA football schedules haven’t been out long, we’re already hearing reports of some Friday night football games being moved to Thursday because of the referee shortage.
The Illinois High School Association wants more officials, and you can CLICK HERE to learn how you can become one.
