Mike DiMauro: How long till kids officiate their own games?

Oct. 12—A partial list of endangered species, in no particular order: Black rhinos, drivers who actually use their signal lights, whooping cranes, blue whales and high school sports officials.

Hyperbole, you say? Read on: The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), for example, reports that approximately 50,000 high school officials have walked away in the last five years in all sports, citing spectator behavior as the primary reason.

And yet a recent story in the Boston Globe about a new officiating class at Taunton High School — aiming for kids to learn the specifics and perhaps begin to officiate their own games one day — merits further contemplation.

Per the Globe, sports officiating class meets daily at Taunton as a physical education elective (each student gets two wellness credits for the class) "to learn rules and regulations of each sport followed by practical demonstrations on the field." The Globe reported that the curriculum's base comes through RefReps, an officiating education system, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (the equivalent of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference).

"The MIAA and the NFHS are working together to improve the state of refereeing through initiatives like using social media to deliver messages of appropriate conduct, releasing videos that encourage parents and coaches to exercise constraint over their emotions, and introducing curriculum that trains students to officiate," the Globe reported.

I reached out to CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini earlier this week, asking if Connecticut had similar aspirations. It turns out we're ahead of the curve.

"The CIAC has been at the forefront of bringing officiating classes to high school students and has supported schools interested in offering officiating classes to students for several years," Lungarini wrote in an email. "For example, the CIAC supports a course offered at Torrington High School that provides students with a general understanding of sports officiating and connects interested students with their local sport-specific officiating board."

Lungarini wrote that the CIAC also supports the IAABO Jr. program, which provides high school basketball players with a deeper understanding of NFHS rules and promotes the field of officiating as well as collegiate intramural programs as a resource for exposing young athletes to the officiating.

Given the CIAC's interest and support, school systems throughout the state ought to give closer consideration to the classes in Taunton and Torrington, including school credit. The officiating shortage isn't going anywhere, at least not until civility begins to replace hostility at the games our kids play. (And good luck with that). The kids learning the rhythms of officiating and its tentacles — including harnessing one's emotions when some nincompoop in the stands is off his or her meds — is called practical education.

It's a leap, perilously so at this point, to suggest that a few classes would suddenly enable high school kids to help officiate varsity events. But this would be a sensible Step One.

"CIAC-supported programs seek to engage high school students in officiating younger levels, such as park and recreation youth leagues," Lungarini wrote. "If a student official is experienced, it may be appropriate for him/her to officiate at the middle school level, which will free up adult officials to work high school games.

"However, enlisting adolescents to officiate high school-level games as independent contractors, even at the sub-varsity level, presents a number of concerns. Where appropriate, for example, in the sport of volleyball, student-athletes may assist in calling lines during regular-season games, with the final call itself resting with the adult official. That practice in volleyball has been removed in many Connecticut leagues due to the pressure and criticism placed on kids."

Lungarini is correct. But if more school systems follow the Torrington/Taunton models, the genesis to stopping the officiating shortage could start soon. All local officials in every sport here in our corner of the world talk about the shortage and the need for creative scheduling among assigners. They should be on the phone to local athletic directors immediately. Officiating 101 should come to a high school near you.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro