Fruit Belt 'Interacts' to Recruit Officials
August 27, 2014
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
The MHSAA always is seeking creative ideas for recruiting some of the most important people in high school athletics – officials to preside over the games.
The Fruit Belt Officials Association once again hosted an interactive recruitment booth at the Berrien County Youth Fair, staffed by volunteers from the membership.
Freddy Krieger, who coordinated the project for the FBOA, says the outreach effort enabled the group to connect with people outside the athletic community who otherwise likely wouldn’t have known the organization existed.
“There are a lot of people in our area who said, ‘I always wanted to (officiate), but I didn’t know how to start,’” he said. “I heard it from people when I manned the booth myself.”
A longtime basketball official, Krieger, who has also worked soccer and baseball, believes it’s vital that officials associations actively search for new members, rather than waiting for prospects to come to them.
“The average age of officials in the state of Michigan is 48,” he says. “There are a number of us in the association who say, ‘We’ve got to replace ourselves.’”
The display includes flat screen TV monitors with video loop of games in a variety of sports, “Ask the Official” opportunities for the public to find answers to their rules questions, FBOA and MHSAA logos, and an “interest box” where prospective officials can leave contact information.
The booth attracted 43 individuals who totaled 71 officiating preferences in six sports. Krieger reported that a year ago the booth cultivated 108 prospective officials – 23 interested for basketball, 22 baseball, 17 softball, 16 football, 13 volleyball, seven wrestling and 10 soccer prospects.
All prospects are invited to the FBOA general meeting in September, and contact information is forwarded to sport-specific trainers and contact people who diligently follow up to involve them in orientation, training, and integration as officials in various sports.
Individuals from previous years also are re-invited.
“Sometimes it takes a year or two – or even three – to get someone to make the kind of commitment it takes to become integrated into our avocation and submit to the required training,” Krieger said.
Be the Referee: Recruiting Officials
February 16, 2017
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl discusses the recruitment of officials and why the avocation is rewarding.
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 – Recruiting Officials - Listen
One of the most challenging tasks for the MHSAA is the recruitment and retention of game officials and referees. In many cases, the job of the referee can be a thankless one. It’s an avocation where others expect an official to be perfect on their very first day on the job, and then improve on that performance.
Officials must be fit, knowledgeable on the rules, decisive and most importantly, have good people skills in handling competitive situations with emotional players, coaches and fans. While this can be a great challenge, many of our officials find this experience to be incredibly rewarding. There is no better feeling than to officiate a game where the rules are fairly enforced, judgment calls are made decisively and the teams involved determine the outcome of the game.
If you are interested in becoming a part of this great team, go to MHSAA.com to learn more about officiating and how to get started in this rewarding avocation.
Past editions
Feb. 9: Ejections - Listen
Feb. 2: Wrestling & Technology - Listen
Jan. 26: Post Play - Listen
Jan. 19: Ice Hockey Overtime - Listen
Jan. 12: Free Throw Change - Listen
Jan. 5: Ratings - Listen
Dec. 22: Video Review - Part 2 - Listen
Dec. 15: Video Review - Part 1 - Listen
Dec. 8: Registration - Part 2 - Listen
Dec. 1: Registration - Part 1 - Listen
Nov. 24: You Make the Call - Sleeper Play - Listen
Nov. 17: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Nov. 10: Uncatchable Pass - Listen
Nov. 3: The Goal Line - Listen
Oct. 27: Help Us Retain Officials - Listen
Oct. 20: Point After Touchdown - Listen
Oct. 13: Untimed Down - Listen
Oct. 6: Soccer Penalty Kick Change - Listen
Sept. 29: Preparation for Officials - Listen
Sept 22: You Make the Call: Returning Kickoffs - Listen
Sept. 15: Concussions - Listen
Sept 8: Equipment Covering the Knees - Listen
Sept. 1: Play Clock Experiment - Listen
Aug. 25: Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen