There is a referee shortage hitting high school sports in the state of Pennsylvania. The state’s interscholastic athletic association has created what they believe to be a solution to their problems. That solution? Let the students do it.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association announced Friday that it is starting a program for students to become referees for high school sports. Erie News Now reported on the story on Friday.
“Over the last handful of seasons, the number of officials across high school sports dropped significantly,” John Lydic, Erie News Now reported. “It has caused districts across the Commonwealth to shift gamedays to different parts of the week to properly staff each event. To increase numbers, the PIAA has launched a Junior Officials Program to try and get students interested at a younger age.”
The PIAA is also planning to lower costs by waiving the application fee for the students. Patrick Gebhart, the Assistant Executive Director of the PIAA, told Lydic they also were looking into doing away with clearances.
As detailed in the report, students eligible to become a referee in Pennsylvania must be at least 16 years old and would start by refereeing middle school sports.
Whatever you might think of this, the PIAA seems all in with it. And when it comes to cost-cutting measures, doing away with fees is a big victory.
If you’re a teenager in Pennsylvania and you aspire to be a referee? Now’s your best chance!
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022