Referee shortage nears crisis in Iowa

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CyHans

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Apr 28, 2010
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http://whotv.com/2017/02/23/referee-shortage-nears-crisis-in-iowa/

I think a lot of people's attitudes are that yelling at referees is just part of going to a game. We laugh at coaches like Bobby Knight or Larry Eustachy when they lose their minds and go off on the refs. I think a lot of refs take being yelled at from the stands in stride but when you hear stories of guys being followed out to their cars or being cornered in a gym and basically being assaulted it's no wonder there is a shortage. I've done a little refing at a youth level and didn't take much grief but it's hard not to take it somewhat personal. Who wants to put up with that crap and not get paid very much? People take sports waaaay too serious especially when they're kid is playing. Most of the time the kid is embarrassed by their parent but the worst part is the message they are sending their kids.
 

NoCreativity

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Nov 12, 2015
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Des Moines
http://whotv.com/2017/02/23/referee-shortage-nears-crisis-in-iowa/

I think a lot of people's attitudes are that yelling at referees is just part of going to a game. We laugh at coaches like Bobby Knight or Larry Eustachy when they lose their minds and go off on the refs. I think a lot of refs take being yelled at from the stands in stride but when you hear stories of guys being followed out to their cars or being cornered in a gym and basically being assaulted it's no wonder there is a shortage. I've done a little refing at a youth level and didn't take much grief but it's hard not to take it somewhat personal. Who wants to put up with that crap and not get paid very much? People take sports waaaay too serious especially when they're kid is playing. Most of the time the kid is embarrassed by their parent but the worst part is the message they are sending their kids.

You should watch "Trophy Kids" as an example why nobody wants that job anymore. Every parent thinks they have the next Jordan on their hands.
 
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ca4cy

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Dec 6, 2009
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North Central IA
A buddy of mine is a high school official. He was walking through the parking lot after a run of the mill conference game one night in January in a town about 40 minutes from where he lives. As he walked by one car a lady put it in park and proceeded to get out and rip him a new one about what a poor official he was because he called her son for too many fouls. You're the worst official I've ever seen blah blah blah. He laughed it off and kept on walking.

Fast forward a couple weeks and my buddy takes his daughter to the first practice of an AAU team she was asked to play on in a neighboring town. As the kids and parents are milling around this lady walks up to him and says something along the lines of, "I feel like I should know you but I can't figure out why. Have our daughters played together somewhere?" He looks her in the eye and said "I'm the official you made an ass out of yourself yelling at in the parking lot a couple weeks ago." Awkward.

It's high school sports in small town Iowa and there's about a 1000% chance that your kid's future is not dependent on an official's calls...count to 10 people....count to 10.
 

CloneinWDSM

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Aug 9, 2013
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I really enjoyed basketball officiating for intramurals at ISU. Lot of people hated it because of douschey college kids playing but I liked it.

If I didn't have a job that goes until 5 every night, I would think about doing it at the HS level.
 

stormchaser2014

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Mar 12, 2012
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Wisconsin
I really enjoyed basketball officiating for intramurals at ISU. Lot of people hated it because of douschey college kids playing but I liked it.

If I didn't have a job that goes until 5 every night, I would think about doing it at the HS level.

You'd probably have to start out doing freshman girls' games.
 

mdk2isu

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Jan 30, 2013
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You'd probably have to start out doing freshman girls' games.
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kingcy

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Sep 16, 2006
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In my 10 yo daughter's softball league the teams have to provide umps. I was umping 1st one game and had parents questioning my calls. As they get older is has to become a bigger nightmare for refs and umps. The other thing is parents like to ***** about the calls or even the coaching but when you ask them to step up and do it or help out they are no where to be found.
 

cyhawkdmb

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Jul 13, 2010
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Officials need to get better. There's been such a downhill slide in integrity and competence that the fans had to rise up and call BS on it. It's going to be a long road back to respectability for officials. Especially in basketball.


LOL
 

cyhiphopp

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Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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There aren't a lot of umpires available for little league games either. It's a thankless job and the pay isn't always enough to make it worth while.

I do it because I love doing it and enjoy it. You can make some money, but a lot of times the hassle of getting to the park and working games that take longer than they should gets to some people.

Luckily I haven't had a lot of run ins with terrible parents. The handful I have had to deal with I've usually just ignored. In the end I know I did the best I could and even if I know I missed a call, it's in the past.
 

IcSyU

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Nov 27, 2007
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Rochester, MN
It's not a job for most people. You get 100 people who complain to the one who says "I really thought you did a nice job" (and that guy is normally the host AD hoping you will come back because officials are hard to find).

People have this ridiculous belief that the official is out to screw their kid/team/etc. Most officials are out there because they legitimately enjoy the sport and are trying to give back and make a little money at the same time. There's a limit of **** most people are willing to take.
 

FarminCy

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Nov 14, 2009
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Football/ Basketball Official here.

Fans need to be better educated on the game.

I'm going to agree with you that fans need to be better educated about the game. Some people are just painful to watch a HS game with.

But I will also say that I will agree that reffing has gone downhill in Bball to an extent. I have no kids playing and the HS bball games I've watched have had some serious WTF stretches go both ways. Some glaring bad calls on fundamental rules, not fouls. I've seen great refs and bad refs, unfortunately the amount of bad core rule calls seem to be growing.

Edit. I wanted to clarify my statements. I'm not saying all refs are getting worse. It just seems that the frequency of having 1 of the 3 completely **** the bed is growing.
 
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1UNI2ISU

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Jan 30, 2013
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I do high school softball and it always amazes me that the parent sitting down the first or third base line past the dugout always seems to think they can call balls and strikes better than I can behind the plate. I've gotten to the point where I've cut my schedule way back and am now not afraid to have ADs/Principals remove parents. I thought by cutting the number of high school games and doing more youth tournaments that it would get better, but it's actually worse. Younger parents are worse and there's no 'authority figure' to tell people to calm down.

I started doing some slow pitch last year and drunk uber competitive guy is much easier to deal with than high school parents.
 

FarminCy

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Nov 14, 2009
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I do high school softball and it always amazes me that the parent sitting down the first or third base line past the dugout always seems to think they can call balls and strikes better than I can behind the plate. I've gotten to the point where I've cut my schedule way back and am now not afraid to have ADs/Principals remove parents. I thought by cutting the number of high school games and doing more youth tournaments that it would get better, but it's actually worse. Younger parents are worse and there's no 'authority figure' to tell people to calm down.

I started doing some slow pitch last year and drunk uber competitive guy is much easier to deal with than high school parents.

I will completely agree with this. My kids are at the age they are involved in youth sports and I'm amazed at how some parents act during these things.
 

fsanford

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Dec 22, 2007
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Los Angeles
Officials need to get better. There's been such a downhill slide in integrity and competence that the fans had to rise up and call BS on it. It's going to be a long road back to respectability for officials. Especially in basketball.

Disagree, there has always been the human element involved. But now with social media a call is so overly scrutinized people want to blame the refs more then ever for their teams failures. Ignoring the fact that if they made a lay up 2 minutes into the game may have prevented the out come of a game to fall on the official.

Its a crap job, and if people get to the point where the confront a high school ref in the parking lot maybe the parents should just be banned from attending games.

Heck the kids might appreciate not having their helicopter parents around too..