Be the Referee: Officials Demographics
October 29, 2015
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl discusses the importance of recruiting young officials so they may gain experience now and prepare to replace veterans wearing the whistle.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment - Officials Demographics - Listen
A daily activity of the MHSAA is to recruit more officials in all of our sports. There is an urgency to try and bring new, younger people into the game as the current average age of an MHSAA registered official is 51.86.
Young officials are needed now so they can gain experience and be ready to step into the varsity and tournament ranks when many of our aging officials are ready to hang up the whistle. With players getting bigger and faster all of the time, it is important that our officials keep up with the pace of play, and the more younger, athletic officials we can recruit, the better off all of our games will be.
Past editions:
Oct. 15: Make the Call: Intentional Grounding - Listen
Oct. 8: Playoff Selection - Listen
Oct. 1: Kick Returns - Listen
Sept. 24: Concussions - Listen
Sept. 17: Automatic First Downs - Listen
Sept. 10: Correcting a Down - Listen
Sept 3: Spearing - Listen
Aug. 27: Missed Field Goal - Listen
Be the Referee: The Survey Says
November 2, 2017
In this week's edition, assistant director Mark Uyl explains how a recently completed national survey will assist in the recruitment of officials.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – The Survey Says - Listen
Over the years, the officiating industry has really struggled with the fact that there’s been very little data out there to really understand who officials are. This kind of data would be very helpful as the MHSAA continues to recruit, retain and train our officials.
The National Association of Sports Officials just conducted a national survey in which nearly 20,000 amateur sports officials responded about who they are, their education level and where they’re from. It’s some of this national data that will now allow us to make better decisions as we continue to recruit and keep the officiating ranks in Michigan strong.
Past editions
October 26: Helmet Comes Off - Listen
October 19: Goal Line Rules - Listen
October 12: No 1st-Year Fee - Listen
October 5: Athletic Empty Nesters - Listen
September 28: Misunderstood Football Rules: Kicking - Listen
September 21: Preparation for Officials - Listen
September 14: Always Stay Registered - Listen
September 7: Other Football Rules Changes - Listen
August 31: Pop-Up Onside Kicks - Listen
August 24: Blindside Blocks - Listen