Maybe you have what it takes to be one.
The Texas Association of Sports Officials has been around since the late 1970s. The organization has seen a decrease in its numbers in recent years. At the same time, more and more junior high and high schools have been built, creating more teams, more games and more problems.
“There just aren’t enough of us,” said Mike Atkinson, president of the TASO Houston chapter.
TASO is a nonprofit organization that trains and schedules officials in volleyball, football, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball.
The group needs its numbers to increase. Across the state, there are 155 chapters and approximately 14,000 members in the organization.
The problem? The organization isn’t adding members and many of the members aren’t getting any younger. The group has more members over 60 years old than it does under 30.
The retention rate in the Houston area is about 30 percent, Atkinson said.
So for every 100 new officials who sign up, only about 30 will stay on.
And for every high school built, the group needs just under 30 new officials to be able to cover the increase in sporting events.
Right now, the numbers aren’t adding up. There are plenty of reasons for it.
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The Houston area chapter is known as one of the state’s best. The group proved it by being asked to officiate more than 150 playoff games last season – more than the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin/San Antonio chapters.
Houston’s chapter would like to keep that going.
But it needs new officials.
The target this summer is 200, Atkinson said. The group could use more but could live with that. It would help with the increasing number of schools and the number of retiring officials.
The biggest benefit is obvious. Being an official lets you be a part of football in the state with the best football. Sorry, California and Florida.
Other benefits include exercise and extra money. The starting pay isn’t great. An official at a seventh-grade football game might make $50 plus a fee for mileage. But the top ones under the Friday night lights get a base of $65 plus a percentage of the gate.
And several move on to officiate college games after getting their start at the youth level.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, go here and fill out an application. You never know where it may lead you. I don’t know what TASO and its local affiliates have been doing to find more new officials, but I’d hope they see this as an opportunity to recruit and welcome more women into their ranks. Everyone needs to start somewhere, and TASO has an interest in broadening its base. It just makes sense.
And if you can’t be a ref, at least stop shouting at them when you go to your kid’s game.