Area Faces Challenge Of Referee Shortage

For many residents in Eastern Montana, winter means it’s the time for basketball. Sports, however, are facing the challenges of a lack of individuals willing to officiate the contest.

Last week, Culbertson switched its home games from Friday, Dec. 10, to Tuesday, Dec. 7, because of the referee shortage. Bainville, meanwhile, changed the starting time of junior high games so officials could be available for high school games.

“What we’re getting from the pools is they are encouraging us, when we have close opponents, to schedule the games on a week night if we can,” Culbertson Superintendent of Schools Larry Crowder said. “We’re trying to stay on Fridays and Saturdays for our games if we can.”

Wolf Point’s activities director Eric Peterson said the school district hasn’t been impacted yet by a shortage of basketball officials but it’s early in the season. He said that during football season, some area schools needed to reschedule games.

“We ran into situations where we couldn’t cover all the games with quality officials,” Peterson, who officiates football, said. “We had to reach out to the schools to see if they could move the game to a Thursday night or Saturday.”

Understanding the shortage of referees, Crowder started officiating games two years despite being in his 50s.

“I’m not smart for starting late, but I’m helping out where I can,” Crowder said.

He enjoys and feels comfortable helping by officiating JV and C squad games. He doesn’t want to work at the varsity level but might be pressed into that duty. “At some point, I anticipate being called for a varsity contest. Helping out is helping out,” he added.

Fairview Superintendent of Schools Luke Kloker, a former Montana High School Association executive board member, said because of the shortage some officials are working more games than they wish and some games are being covered with a mixture of pools such as Sidney and Plentywood officials working together.

“It’s fairly uncommon,” Kloker said of having a mixture of pools. “For schools, it’s paying more for travel expenses.”

Kloker, who is Fairview’s girls’ assistant coach, wasn’t planning to officiate many games this season but now does what he can because of the shortage.

“There’s less refs and as many games,” Kloker said.

He noted some individuals are officiating four nights a week. “Another concern is people getting burnt out,” he said.

As the problem worsens, some districts might need to consider holding their tournaments at different times than other districts.

Pay per game has increased from $60 to $65 and it’s anticipated to increase to $75 during the next few years.

“These guys are out there doing their best,” Kloker said, “Without them, we won’t have a game.”

School officials agree that recruiting younger people is a key in covering games.

In Culbertson, physical education teacher Brad Nielsen teaches a segment of officiating games. The goals are for the students to learn the rules and to attract them to become referees. Some of the students have officiated elementary and junior high school games.

“We’re hoping to teach that officiating is a good thing,” Crowder said. “We’re hoping it’s a possible other way for us to help out.”

Peterson said Wolf Point has discussed having such instruction in the past. He tells students going to college that they should officiate AAU volleyball or traveling basketball games to earn money.

“People are getting older. We need to find some kids to join in and train them,” Peterson said.

With some of the area’s referees now in their 60s and talking about retirement, recruiting is urgent to keep basketball games being properly handled.

“We need to continue recruiting,” Crowder said. “When you look at our pool, it’s not getting any younger.”

Peterson said, “We’re just going to have to recruit and recruit.”