Officials are the lifeblood of high school athletics and a broad coalition of representatives in the New Jersey football community made it their goal to try to increase the number – and diversity – of incoming football referees in the state.
With help of a $50,000 grant through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs secured by New Jersey state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, who is also a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s executive committee, 77 men and women from all regions of the state were able to complete the cadet course and pass the test required for certification. They are now eligible to work sub-varsity games this fall.
The grant money reimburses the new officials for their coursework, removing any cost obstacle for new members.
“I am super pleased with the response we have received on our work attracting new officials from diverse backgrounds,” Sarlo said. “New Jersey high school sports couldn’t function without the men and women who serve as officials to keep order and maintain the rules of fair play. It’s our hope that we piggyback off of this success and expand it to other sports through the work of the NJSIAA.”
New officials have a mandated period in which they can only work sub-varsity games before moving up to varsity, but the influx of new candidates will help ease the crunch of not enough officials and too many games. In recent years, local conferences have been asked to shift games off of Friday nights to accommodate the referee shortage.
“The entire football officials’ community is so pleased and inspired by this effort,” NJSIAA football coordinator Greg Bailey said. “We hope that football can serve as an example in what can happen in other sports to address the shortage of high school officials nationwide.”
There are five high school football leagues in New Jersey. They partnered with the New Jersey Football Officials Association and New Jersey Football Coaches Association to increase visibility and recruit new officials. The program then added the New Jersey Minority Coaches Association to promote the belief that improving the diversity among high school football officials should be a major thrust.
Pre-COVID-19, only 21 cadets completed the course, so 77 is almost a quadrupling of the number. The new recruits went through classwork and also worked 7-on-7 girls flag football competitions hosted by the New York Jets this past spring.
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Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
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