What has black and white stripes and has become an endangered species?

No, it’s not the zebra.

The answer to the question is the men and women who officiate youth and school sporting events.

Their numbers have been declining steadily the past few years, and if this trend should continue, there might not be enough officials to enforce the rules for the thousands of recreational, middle and high school games that are scheduled each year.

Do the math

In an October article written for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mike White reported that the number of Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association certified officials has declined by over 1,000 in just the past few years.

Pat Gebhart, Assistant Executive of the PIAA and Supervisor of Officials, said, “We know that a lot of schools are realizing the crunch in the number of officials, especially for JV and subvarsity contests.”

This phenomenon is producing a step-laddered problem. For their first few years, officials gain experience at the youth and recreational levels, before many become certified by the PIAA and move on to officiate junior varsity and varsity events. Without a strong farm system in place at the lower levels, the big leagues of varsity sports may not have enough officials to cover their games in the next few years.

Dan Rossino has been a PIAA and NCAA official for football, basketball, and baseball for 29 years, as well as a game assigner for youth league officials that covers a span of seven counties. He has a growing concern with the current shortage and its future implications.

There are currently 277 officials sanctioned to work District 11 basketball games. Those officials are doing boys and girls games at the freshmen through varsity levels at 54 high schools across the district.

Based on those numbers, it’s easy to see why officials are in such high demand.

“We like to have three officials for regular season varsity basketball games, but that is not always possible now,” said Rossino. “We peaked in the number of our local officials back in 2008. Since then, there has been a steady decline for a multitude of reasons.”

Rossino cited the fact that PIAA officials have to pay rising association fees, attend four meetings a year, apply for clearances every five years, and buy their own uniforms, whistles, and shoes.

“Then there’s the rising gas prices,” he added. “Sometimes, officials have to drive 30 miles or more to the events they cover. All of these expenses cut into the money they are paid to officiate the games.”

He explained that it can be economically more prudent for officials to cover youth events that are nearer to where they live. “There is much less travel involved,” he said, “and one official can make good money if he officiates multiple games in one day.”

Is it worth it?

With costs on the rise, veteran officials are leaving the membership in droves, and new recruits have been difficult to attract because of a more distressing reason than money. The PIAA reports that the No. 1 issue is the verbal abuse officials take from fans and coaches. This problem is not just a local dilemma - it has become a nationwide problem. It’s the ugly side of interscholastic sports, according to the National Federation of State High Schools Association.

Despite the fact that announcements are made before high school events that unruly spectators will be removed from the sites for verbally berating the officials, unsportsmanlike behavior coming from the bleachers is making the men and women in stripes question whether what they have chosen to do on a part-time basis is really worth it.

“We had an official quit after doing just one JV football game,” said Rossino, referring to the harassment the young man received during the contest. “We know of others who quit because they get tired of dealing with the verbal abuse they take from the fans and coaches.”

Rossino added that the PIAA has had to step in and remove coaches because of chronic verbal abuse they had directed toward the officials.

Age and time issues

The average age of basketball referees is around 50 years old - with one official, a 52-year veteran, still doing games at age 72.

“The age factors into the running up and down the court they have to do,” said Rossino, “and the players are the same ages every year, but the officials get one year older.”

Football and basketball games are a little easier to schedule officials for because they’re played on almost exclusively weekends or at nights, but spring sports are another challenge.

“Baseball and softball start at 4 p.m. making it difficult to get umpires because most people work their regular jobs later than that,” said Rossino. “Another factor is how long it takes to play these games. Some would rather get certified to umpire softball rather than baseball because the games can be over in an hour-and-a-half, but baseball can go on for two hours or more.”

He added that some officials also leave the ranks to become coaches. They can make more money without the extra costs and problems they incurred when they were officiating.

Different sports ... same problems

Soccer and field hockey are also reeling from the decline in officials.

Jason Kleintop has been a PIAA soccer official for the past eight years, and is very concerned about how much longer the older veterans will be able to officiate the games.

“Many of our officials are in their late 50s, and some are in their 60s and early 70s.” he said. “They have difficulty keeping up with the speed of the game, and are often asked to cover doubleheaders of JV and varsity games on the same day. That can be more than two hours of running up and down the field, with just a 20-minute break in between.”

Kleintop explained that officials are also judged by their performances.

“Coaches get to write evaluations about us, but we don’t get to do the same for them,” he said. “We would like to get recommended to officiate the district and state playoffs, but coaches whose teams are losing games and don’t like some calls we make can write bad reports, which might jeopardize our chances to cover games in the post season.”

When asked if fans verbally abusing soccer officials is the biggest reason for the diminishing numbers, Kleintop replied with one word -

“Absolutely.”

He went on to say that too many parents are trying to live their lives through their children so they complain when they think their kids and teams get bad calls.

“Officials are human just like the parents,” said Kleintop. “We don’t get all the calls right, but would anyone?”

The dearth of numbers has caused over-scheduling for those whose names remain on the call list. Kleintop said he officiates eight to 10 soccer games a week, and about 40 contests from early September until mid-October. The unavailability of officials for middle school games in the afternoon has resulted in the scheduling of nighttime doubleheaders, which neither coaches nor parents want for their young players.

Field hockey assigner and game official Patrick Frank has seen a significant drop in the numbers for his sport in the past three years. He echoed what Rossino and Kleintop had said about the advancing age of the officials.

“The age of field hockey officials is a critical issue with many now getting into their 60s and even 70s - and we don’t see enough younger replacements coming along anytime soon,” he said.

“It’s also very difficult to recruit new officials into a sport that is played only by girls,” said Frank, who is PIAA certified for football as well. When asked if field hockey fans abusing officials is reducing the numbers each year, Frank replied, “That is 100% correct, and most times the fans who are yelling at the officials don’t understand the rules of the game.”

Frank said the sport loses 10 to 12 officials every year, and that new recruits are not experienced enough to know how to put a stop to the disrespectful behavior of a coach, which then can lead to unsportsmanlike acts of the players, and that can domino into unruly behavior of the team’s fans.

Rossino stated that keeping coaches from losing control is not something you can always teach.

“You have to have good people skills,” Rossino said.

Measures and messages

Both Kleintop and Frank try to recruit current and former high school athletes by word-of-mouth and through friendly persuasion. Rossino holds a clinic every year at the Pyramid in Lehighton for all local PIAA officials and for anyone who might be thinking about becoming a certified official. This year’s clinic is scheduled for April 10, and he hopes the usually good attendance will bode well in the effort to attract new officials.

Rossino, Kleintop, and Frank all agree that the declining numbers of officials can be turned around. They say collaboration and cooperation are keys to growing a steady number of new officials. That requires the support from those on the sidelines who coach their teams, along with the respect from those in the bleachers who watch the games.

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IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME ... The Jim Thorpe boys not only handed Pottsville its first Schuylkill League loss on Tuesday, but the Olympians also ended a long losing streak against the Tide.

Before the 62-46 victory, Thorpe had dropped 25 consecutive games to Pottsville. Prior to Tuesday, the last time the Olympians had defeated the Schuylkill League powerhouse was Jan. 15, 2010. Rashid Epps scored 23 points and Sam Lux added 18 in a 59-47 victory over the Tide.

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NOTHING FREE FOR NL ... In last Tuesday’s game against Northwestern, the Northern Lehigh boys failed to score from the free-throw line. In fact, the Bulldogs never earned a trip to the foul line in the Colonial League contest.

The last time Nolehi failed to hit a free throw in a game was Jan. 8, 2016 against Palmerton - a span of 132 games.

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BULLDOG MILESTONE

… Last Tuesday, Northern Lehigh’s Emma Niebell added her name to the list of 1,000-point scorers in program history. Niebell surpassed the milestone with a 28-point performance in a loss to Northwestern

It was the 12th time this season that Niebell has hit or surpassed the 20-point mark in a game. She is currently leading the Times News area with an average of 21.85 points per game, and has scored 437 points this season.

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CENTURY MARK

... Jim Thorpe wrestler Gabe Heaney hit 100 career wins on Feb. 1 with another dominant performance in the Olympians’ match against Blue Mountain. Heaney pinned Sayyidakbar Akbarov in 1:00 to reach the milestone as Jim Thorpe went on to post a 42-31 victory. Heaney is currently 28-4 this season, and will now get ready for the District 11 Tournament, which begins Feb. 25. The senior was third at districts a year ago.