Beaverton played McNary in its home opener on a Thursday night [Image courtesy of Jason Sarmiento].

The Beaverton Beavers’ 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 around 2,400 officials statewide across the seven sports that the Oregon Athletic Officials Association (OAOA) oversees. This is a steep decline from the 2013-14 season, where there were around 3,400 officials. Varsity-level officials often have 2-5 years of experience, making them the most experienced in the state. When over 750 officials quit during the 2021-22 season, that disproportionately affected the number of varsity-level staff. 

To solve the problem, the OAOA is training more officials. Executive Director of the OAOA, Jack Folliard, said that training usually takes a month. That, combined with a low turnover rate, should see the official counts rise in the near future.

The OAOA also allows individuals under the age of 18 to officiate non-varsity games. However, they are not allowed to officiate games played by a high school in which they are enrolled.

Folliard said he strongly encouraged young people to get involved in the program, recounting his own officiating experience. “I had a wonderful career and made lifelong friends.” 

There is hope for future seasons. Associate Director of the OAOA, Debi Hanson, said that official counts are trending upwards. Once the official counts return to normal levels, the Thursday night games and other schedule oddities will be gone.