The Beaverton Beaver’s home opener for this varsity football season was scheduled for a Thursday. That was not supposed to happen. The roster of officials has been stretched thin since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, and this has led to schedule oddities such as the Thursday night games. This official shortage also led to games at the freshman and junior varsity level being canceled.
There are currently around 2,400 officials statewide, across the seven sports that the Oregon Athletic Officials Association (OAOA) oversees. A steep decline from the 2013-14 seasons, where there were around 3,400 officials. Varsity level officials often have 2-5 years of experience, making them the most experienced officials in the state. They are the ones who lead officiate varsity games, so when over 750 officials quit during the 2021-22 season, that disproportionately affected the amount of varsity level officials.
To solve the problem, the OAOA is working to train more officials. Executive Director of the OAOA, Jack Folliard, stated that the training to become an official usually takes around a month. That combined with a low turnover rate should see the official counts rise in the near future. The OAOA allows people under the age of 18 to officiate certain games. These youth officials are allowed to officiate non-varsity games. Youth officials are also not allowed to officiate games being played by a high school in which the official is currently enrolled. When asked about the impact of youth officials, Folliard stated that he strongly encouraged young people to get involved in the program.
“I had a wonderful career and made lifelong friends,” said Folliard of his own officiating experience.
There is hope for future seasons. Associate Director of the OAOA, Debi Hanson, stated that official counts are trending upwards. In addition to that, she said that once the official counts return to normal levels, the Thursday night games, and other schedule oddities will be gone.
