Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While there's still one more week left of summer vacation for high school students across Western New York, many student athletes have already been back on the practice fields readying for the upcoming fall season of high school sports.
While the athletes have been gearing up for the 2024-25 season of sports, officials in all parts of Western New York are just as eager to get back to work.
"I think all our officials are excited to be back out there with the student athletes and the coaches of Western New York," said Chris Hope, a representative with Section VI officials. "I know our soccer officials, our volleyball officials, I talked to the head of the football officials, field hockey, we're all excited to be out there this year again with the student athletes."
It has been two years since high school athletics in Section VI were nearly delayed due to the potential of sports officials not taking the fields and courts without an increase in pay. Now officials are entering Year 3 of their five-year contract ratified in August 2022 , and Hope believes it's been smooth sailing between officials and Section VI.
"Our groups have been working really hard with the Section and the leagues to work out any issues that they have, minor bumps in the road," Hope said during an interview with WBEN. "But overall, I think it's been going well because we've been trying to keep the lines of communication open with both the officials groups and the leagues, and the officials groups in Section VI."
One issue in high school sports that could soon turn into a significant problem is students possibly being unable to compete due to a lack of referees available to officiate games.
A survey last year from the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) shows that the national average age of sports officials is increasing (56.68-years-old), sportsmanship has gotten worse, and the impacts of the shortage of sports officials due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt.
The national survey, generating responses from 35,813 sports officials from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, asked officials about the current shortage, asking respondents, "Have you taken more officiating assignments due to the shortage of officials?" 79% of those officials responded, "Yes."
When it comes to the number of officials in Western New York and Section VI this upcoming fall season of sports, Hope says there's always a concern with a shortage of officials, especially when it comes to certain sporting events.
"Some of our sports this year did very well recruiting. Soccer, for instance, is up to 170 officials from somewhere around the 140 number. Some sports - girls lacrosse, field hockey - they struggle in numbers, and it becomes challenging for the leagues to prioritize games and make sure that, especially the varsity games, are covered with officials, because there's just not enough numbers," Hope noted. "We're always looking for officials in the specific groups."
Hope adds the concerns with officiating shortages also varies depending on the season of high school sports in the region.
"Winter seems to be pretty strong, in terms of being able to cover games. I think that's just because there's less sports in the winter. Fall, we seem to be OK, we hold our own. It's the spring sports that seem to be the difficult ones covering, because we need so many officials for such a short period of time," Hope explained. "Really our baseball, softball in Western New York really starts to get going around April 15, and all league play has got to be done by May 15. You really have to have a very condensed schedule, which means you need a lot of officials to cover those games."
When it comes to other concerns among officials across Section VI, Hope says it's the safety and well-being of not just officials, but also the student athletes at certain sporting events every season.
"I think the Section has done a good job of trying to promote safety and the safe environment for both the students and the officials, and trying to have enough security at our games," he said. "That seems to always be a concern of safety, but I do believe they've been trying hard to make sure that there's adequate security at the games to both protect the student athletes and the officials."
What is the overlying message Hope is passing along to student athletes and parents as the upcoming season of high school sports is about to begin?
"Our officials try the best they can. Our officials love being out there and working with the student athletes. I know it's difficult at times because parents are always just looking out for the concerns of the team that their child's on, but our officials do the very best they can out there," Hope said. "I can't say enough good things about the officials and the leadership of the individual sports organizations."
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