One new official at a time, referees try to bridge shortage in high school sports

Dec. 22—MITCHELL — Officiating can be a thankless job, one that fewer individuals are taking on.

But the Mitchell region has always been a hotbed for officials that do the job well and garner respect, and more young officials are helping to address a shortage on the court and field and interpreting rules.

Cade Schmitt and Tate Schoenfelder are two of those officials. Schmitt is a graduate of DWU back in 2021 and is currently working as a loan officer at CorTrust Bank. Schoenfelder is a social studies teacher at Hanson High School.

Their paths into officiating followed similar trajectories, as Schmitt and Schoenfelder each had connections to the profession, and they both view officiating as a way to give back to the community and to stay involved in sports.

"I wanted to stay involved in the small communities in South Dakota," Schmitt said. "They're very tight-knit, and it's important to have a fresh face out on the court to interact with the players, coaches, and even the fans."

Schmitt's entrance into the officiating trade was through veteran official Jim Johnston, of Mitchell. Listening to Johnston's stories of the games he officiated while working for him during college influenced Schmitt's decision to become an official.

For Schoenfelder, he was looking for a way to stay involved in high school sports. He was also influenced by his father who's also an official, and still officiates games to this day. Schoenfelder, who's been an official himself for eight years, always strives to do the best job he can.

"The goal as an official is to be out there and control chaos to some extent," Schoenfelder said, "and allow high school athletes to play the sport. It's a way to give back and also stay involved in sports, and I try to do the best job I can."

Looking to help solve the ongoing officiating shortage in high school sports, Schmitt and Schoenfelder have joined veteran officials in recruiting prospective officials into the fold, bringing them to games, and giving them pointers to improve their skills. The hope is to retain officials for years to come, especially in rural areas.

"A lot of kids don't really want to stay in the rural areas anymore," Schmitt said. "That's kind of where the majority of these guys officiate. It's important for officials to get the word out there and take younger officials out to games and get them acclimated with the game."

The University of South Dakota announced a partnership with the South Dakota High School Activities Association Nov. 27, offering training courses in officiating both football and volleyball through its Kinesiology and Sport Management (KSM) division in the upcoming spring semester. USD is the only university in the state to partner with the SDHSAA to address the officiating shortage, but attempts to recruit younger adults into the officiating pool have gone on for much longer.

Dakota Wesleyan University has offered an officiating course to its students for several years. Former area official and current Mitchell High School activities director Cory Aadland taught the course in its current format from the fall of 2021 until this past spring.

Appreciative of the attention the shortage has received, Aadland believes the issue has received attention of late because it's now at the point of being a crisis.

"We talked about the point where we don't have enough officials," he said. "We're there right now where it's truly a crisis (regarding the shortage), so it has the attention of a lot of people and organizations who hope to have some influence. There's a lot of eyes on it in a good way."

A November survey conducted by the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) found 30.82% of officials who responded to its questionnaire were taught how to officiate either from a class or a clinic. Though the classes do a good job of getting people into the profession, Aadland isn't sure how many of his students remain reffing.

"It's hard to know," Aadland said. "Those people when they were college students were here and they officiated games, but then they graduated and moved on to wherever they relocated."

Despite losing touch with those who went through his class, Aadland was glad it opened student's eyes to the job and for his connections with others to provide a perspective to the students.

"I'm fortunate to have those relationships that I was able to bring them in," he said, "and to provide some really good content and context to what officiating can be and where it can really go. They give some really good perspective to what officiating means and how to be involved with sports for a long time."

Many of the issues surrounding the officiating shortage continue to persist. A big reason why younger people are hesitant to pursue officiating is the criticism.

Veteran official Brian Whetham has been working games for 28 years, having making calls in basketball, football, and baseball games. He says being able to take feedback or criticism from everyone is essential to making it as an official.

"If you're a person who doesn't like being criticized or being yelled at, you're not going to make it in officiating very long," he said. "I understand why some young people would not want to do that. Sometimes, the younger the kids are, the worse the parents are."

Whetham also points to social media as another platform where people can criticize officials, already adding to the pressures of calling a game. A particular ruling by an official or crew can be easily shared with the push of a button by someone who doesn't agree with the call.

"I'd always like to say, 'Half of those people in attendance will disagree with a call, even if it's the right call,'" Schmitt said. "We're all human. Every official has missed a call or made a mental mistake. I think that's why young people don't want to face criticism."

The same NASO survey found about 70% of its respondents say the sportsmanship at the games are getting worse, and a combination of parents, coaches, and fans account for almost 90% of the sportsmanship problems officials reported.

The findings fall in line with Aadland's own view on how to solve the officiating shortage, especially in the lower levels. Although recruiting younger officials to replace the aging officiating pool and offering classes to students who are interested help, impactful change will come if the behaviors of the parents and spectators can learn how to treat officials respectfully.

"At the end of the day, the thing that can have the greatest impact is our stakeholder behavior," Aadland said. "We can't think that it's okay to treat officials the way they are (right now). They're trying to do the best they can, and the reality is that they're going to make mistakes along the way. And we have to be okay with that."

It's always been the officials' goal to call games to the best of their abilities through their mistakes, even if those in attendance fail to recognize the job they have done.

"We want to give the players, coaches, and fans the best game called possible," Schmitt said. "In my opinion, we've done our jobs as officials when no one remembers who worked the game."

Along with the fact prospective officials don't want to face criticism, the time and commitment required to work games means less time elsewhere or doing something.

In addition to his 36-year football coaching career at Hanson, Jim Haskamp has officiated basketball during the winter season for roughly the same amount of time. Though he's cut back on the number of games he works on a weekly basis, it wasn't the case when Haskamp first started as an official.

"There was a time where I was gone five nights a week refereeing," Haskamp said. "Depending on where you're traveling too, and with guys who have families, that's a lot of time away from them."

On the basketball side, traveling to and from a venue where games are being held can take upwards of an hour for officials to arrive. Although the games themselves don't take long at the prep level, officials work multiple games when schools have doubleheader varsity and sub-varsity games scheduled.

There's also the commitment of having to learn the rules of each sport on offer in the state. While officials who've played high school sports in the past have a bit of an advantage, it doesn't mean all officials are former prep athletes.

"For most officials, the majority of them want to stay involved in high school sports," said Schmitt, who won a Class B state title as the starting center for Bridgewater-Emery in 2017.

"Being successful in basketball and kind of knowing the game helps. But you don't need to play basketball to know the game. A lot of officials didn't play basketball, and they're heckuva officials."

The officiating pool have also formed close bonds with one another along with the schools' coaches. A lot of the negativity surrounding the profession gives way to a mutual respect for what each group is trying to do and the quick connections formed throughout their travels.

"They're out there trying to do the best job they can," Haskamp said from a coaching perspective. "One thing I always try to do at the end of a game is to thank the officials and tell them, 'Good job. I appreciate the effort they did.'"

Most officiating crews travel together in carpools to the venue for the games. The rides sometimes can be long, but any talk about the upcoming contests quickly changes into the officials catching up with each other about other things going on in their lives.

The instances of officials being criticized by the coaches and spectators during games don't happen as often as people believe, as they work together to create the best experience possible. Being able to do so with the rest of your officiating crew makes the job more enjoyable.

"You enjoy spending time with the guys that you officiate with," Schoenfelder said. "I think once you get into it, it's what attracts and keeps guys in the officiating world. That camaraderie is there and we can always bounce stuff off each other. The sense of family is one of the benefits of officiating."

For the veteran officials, they wanted to be involved in sports and give back to the communities they travel to. They do so developing some of their best friends along the way.

"My best friends are officials," Whetham said. "We have a tight-knit community and camaraderie. I wouldn't know what I have done with all my time if I wasn't officiating."