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It’s official: Shortage of refs a concern in several high school sports

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Official Clem Wandrisco raises the hand of Canon-McMillan’s Logan Macri after an overtime victory against Waynesburg’s Caleb Morris last month.

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The lack of officials might force some high school football games to be played on Thursday nights.

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Referees restrain Clairton's Donald Alexander (24) as he reacts at the end of the PIAA Class A championship high school football game against Bishop Guilfoyle in Hershey, Pa., Friday, Dec. 12, 2014. Bishop Guilfoyle won 19-18. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

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Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter ¬ The officials check the ball placement after prodding from Fort Cherry coaches ruling a first down in honor of Fort Cherry. The officials originally ruled it short. After the first down, Fort Cherry went on to score their first touchdown of the game during the possession.

Larry Maggi is a typical wrestling official: dedicated to the job, knowledgeable about the rules and worried about the future of his sport.

Actually, he considers officiating more a labor of love than a job.

Though he is a Washington County Commissioner, the 64-year-old Maggi has found time to officiate wrestling matches since Frank Vulcano Sr., recruited him into the profession out of California University in 1971.

He still gets great satisfaction from officiating but realizes a problem is on the horizon: There might not be enough officials to fill the needs of the sport.

“We just don’t have the numbers,” said Maggi, who also is president of the Washington County Wrestling Officials Association and a rules interpreter for PIAA District 7. “Part of the reason why is that it’s so difficult, especially in wrestling.”

The numbers of officials in most sports are either rising only slightly, stagnant or falling. Wrestling in particular has had problems attracting officials.

Maggi thinks the nature of the sport is one reason why it’s so difficult.

“A lot of the decisions a wrestling official makes are judgment calls,” said Maggi. “On the mat, an official is close to the coaches and spectators. Fans are constantly encouraging you to make calls because they are so – how should I say this? – passionate about the sport.”

Membership in the chapter Maggi has headed since 1985 has slowly declined. At its nadir in the 1980s, the chapter had close to 60 members. Now, the number is down to 23.

“An official goes out on the mat and he realizes that it’s more than just the application of the rules,” Maggi said. “He has to be tone deaf. Coaches want you to make a certain call and some aren’t going to like the ones you make. In wrestling, there are three people on the mat, an official and two wrestlers. When they lose, coaches tend to blame the official rather than the wrestler.”

When Kurt Kesneck is not attending to his duties as athletic director at Chartiers-Houston High School, he officiates wrestling matches. Kesneck is a fellow member of Maggi’s chapter and has been an official for 21 years.

Interestingly, one of Kesneck’s duties – as well as other athletic directors – is to make sure each one of the athletic events is properly staffed with an official or officials. Most athletic directors work with an assigner, who is the conduit to the officials chapter.

“Right now, we are going through a hard time getting officials,” said Kesneck. “Our chapter hasn’t grown. I don’t know the reason why, but we are getting to the age now where it’s more difficult. The question is: Are there enough officials ready to step into our place when we can’t do it any more?”

Kesneck said wrestling is different from other sports because the rules are constantly changing.

“You have to continually look at the evolution of the sport with all the different moves coming in,” he said. “Kids are bigger and stronger and it can be tough sometimes. If you are doing a Connellsville-Belle Vernon match for example, you are out there by yourself. Sometimes, officials get tortured because of their calls. I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Boy, I wouldn’t want to do your job.'”

The two districts in Southwestern Pennsylvania are the WPIAL (District 7) and City League (District 8). According to Bill Sinning, the District 7 Male Officials Representative for the WPIAL, there are about 320 officials in District 8 and nearly 2,300 in District 7 who fill up 87 chapters and it’s still a struggle sometimes to cover all the sports.

“You see people who stay longer than they should,” said the 66-year-old Sinning, who has been a basketball official for 35 years.

“The average age of our officials is mid-40s, which is pretty high.”

Sinning said the sport that has the most difficulty in staffing is baseball.

“Games start at 3 p.m. for most schools, so a lot of them can’t get off work early to go,” Sinning said.

The first round of the WPIAL football playoffs require nearly 200 officials and the first round of the basketball playoff require just over 100.

“Football and basketball are the most abundant (for officials),” WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said. “It’s not difficult to recruit people for that. Where you do see decline is in other sports. Everyone wants to work our tournaments, but we need them for the other levels, too.”

The WPIAL comes under PIAA rules so any official must be PIAA certified and join one of the numerous chapters in the area. He or she also must attend six chapter meetings and one state meeting to keep their certification. The PIAA requires an official to attend at least one officials convention every five years. They are normally held in Harrisburg.

“You are certified by the sport,” Sinning said. “If you pass the basketball test and also want to officiate football, you have to take that test.”

In order to become an official, a person must complete an application online, pay the fee and take a test for the desired sport. Sinning said there are centralized testing venues for Districts 7 and 8 three times a year. Candidates are sent a rule book and study material.

Those who pass the test must join a chapter and pass a background check. Their work is observed and rated by an observer, normally a former official in the sport. Chapters can nominate certain officials for playoff events, but the final call is made by the WPIAL.

“I think it’s a safe assumption that the interest is not what it used to be years ago,” O’Malley said. “In some sports, you see older rather than younger officials. It can become problematic. It’s a matter of supply and demand.”

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