Be Nice To The Zebras: Inside Florida’s Critical Referee Shortage

The MSOA is the locally sanctioned group responsible for appointing officials in Escambia, Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa Counties. It is one of approximately 130 of these organizations sanctioned by the FHSAA. Some of the responsibilities of these groups include official appointments, education and upfront paperwork and legal clearances for these officials.

How Did The Official’s Shortage Happen?

Both the FHSAA and local officials groups are doing everything they can to combat this issue. The organizations bring in new referees every season, but they simply cannot keep up with the rapid growth of athletics in the state.

“What we’re seeing is that the overall number of officials has increased each year,” said Associate Executive Director of Officials Services at FHSAA Justin Harrison. “However, the number of schools has increased, the number of programs has increased and the number of kids playing has increased. The number of officials is not increasing at the same rate as the number of schools and kids. That’s where our shortage is.”

It isn’t just one or even two reasons why the rate of officials appointed can’t stay on pace, but a multitude of issues.

Many think the pay is the number one reason for the lack of new refs. However, according to a survey given to officials by the FHSAA, sportsmanship came back as the most prevalent issue an official may face and have an issue with.

Verbal barrages and insults that come towards officials are unfortunately a frequent issue, not just at the high school level, but at all levels of play. It’s not just one party that delivers these blows, either, as both the players on the field and the fans in the stands have been known to contribute to this problem.

“You would think on a survey that pay would come back as the number one issue. Sportsmanship was,” said Harrison. “You can have 10 positive experiences; however, that one really negative experience sticks with you. Calls are going to be made, and you are not going to agree with every call. Screaming at that person doesn’t really add any solution.”

Another underground issue that faces official services is age.

Most referees are older. What’s worse, they get older every year. The lack of younger officials continues to contribute to the problem at hand. 

“The number of younger folks getting into officiating is not keeping up,” said Harrison. “Since the 60s, the average age of officials each year has always gone up. It hasn’t stopped. It hasn’t gone down. It has always gone up.”

Parks echoed a similar concern on a local scale for MSOA.

“Our guys leave because they get old, pretty much,” said Parks. “We get very, very few guys coming out of college.”

Pile on further issues, such as pay, physical demands, and the newfound spread of negativity on social media, and these shortages become not just a concern, but a concrete issue. As these trends continue, real repercussions are likely to be seen very soon. One of those includes what could be the end of traditional Friday night lights. 

South Florida schools have already begun to face those consequences.

“Down in Miami, it’s the officials and facilities as an issue to where they have to play their varsity games on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday afternoon, Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night,” said Harrison. “We have to get creative and try to work through these issues the best we can. That’s what we’re doing, and I think that’s what we’re going to have to do more of.”

The shortage has even put a cap on the number of games that can be hosted locally in Okaloosa and the surrounding counties under the MSOA.

“We can accept four varsity football games on any given Friday night,” Parks said of Miracle Strip Officials. “Body-wise, if I try to put out five crews, I’m going to spend an hour on the phone with two coaches Saturday morning.”

With quality officiating as the top priority, the number of officials on each crew rises. Thus, the number of games that can be hosted in the area falls.

Fixing the Problem

Now, the FHSAA and its official’s organizations are tasked with finding what seems to be an impossible solution. Although the answers may seem far away, numerous efforts are being made to combat these shortages.

Arguably, the most significant step taken so far was the FHSAA’s establishment of the Official Services department. The three-person department, overseen by Harrison, was established in 2024 to provide support tools to the officials who have been crucial to the FHSAA’s operation.

“Officials used to be under Athletic Services,” said Harrison. “With the issues of the shortages of officials and their vital role, Mr. Damon (Executive Director of FHSAA) wanted to make sure we’re providing as much as a service to them as we can, as well as recruiting and retaining them.”

In just under two years as a department, Officials Services has already seen growth and strides towards creating a more appealing environment for new officials. They have partnered with multiple sites and software to provide officials access to top-quality resources, training, and registration. One of those sites is Arbiter. On the main hub, officials can access all important documents, dates, recruitment and retention videos, forms and everything they need to become a successful referee. 

Another new partner with Officials Services, RefReps, is a new referee education tool that has big potential to help alleviate some of the issues that are being faced. One of the issues that it attempts to tackle is the median age of officials.

“RefReps is tremendous,” Harrison said. “Their first aspect is the work they do within a school. They get an official training course within a high school, and high school kids get credit for it. They do a handful of sports, and they have them actually officiate within the class.”

The hope for FHSAA is that some of the students who take these courses stick around to help officiate on a more permanent basis. Harrison recognized that it’s unlikely to see a huge increase in kids jumping at the opportunity to be a ref, but also highlighted the importance of just having one more person than before.

Parents of former athletes also become targets of the FHSAA’s efforts to find new referees. As their child’s high school career comes to an end, the argument is for them to stay involved.

“Parents of a high school kid are used to watching their son or daughter play all those years,” said Harrison. “They’re used to their nights and evenings being that. We try to grab them and tell them to stay in the game in some capacity, and jump into the world of officiating.”

Another aspect of RefReps is their unique game footage training courses. They take referee body camera footage to put trainees in the shoes of the officials on the field. This allows for game familiarity and confident calls before even picking up a whistle. FHSAA pays for this service and allows access to all officials under their banner.

The resources for officials are at an all-time high, but with schools and sports growing rapidly with no signs of decline, it seems the referee shortage will continue to be a problem to monitor as fall sports quickly approach.