Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As the summer season for youth sports approaches, there is a shortage of referees and umpires.
The reasons for the shortage range from younger athletes committing to high school or college teams to others having had it with abusive parents and coaches.
At the Lou Gehrig Youth Baseball League, umpire-in-chief Andrew Fish says there aren't the usual number of available umpires, but there is a lot of good open availability for some of these kids and it's making it very easy for him to fill the schedule. He says the main issue is most umpires are in high school, and they have their own commitments. "A lot of these kids are playing sports like baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and field," says Fish. He says that commitment has caused them to question if they'll be available to truly commit the time during the summer to umpire games.
When it comes to coach or parental abuse of umpires, Fish says at the house level it's not an issue. "When it comes to our travel level with teams visiting all over the area, that's where we usually get our most issues," says Fish. He notes teams from outside the organization are responsible.
There is an officials crisis at the high school level, and Section VI Executive Director Mark DiFilippo says it's evident when it comes to scheduling games. "When our schools try to reschedule a game, we can't schedule on certain days because there are no available officials for that given day," says DiFilippo. He says a number of sub-varsity level games have to be rescheduled, canceled or held as a scrimmage without officials present.
DiFilippo notes abuse of officials happens often in high school sports. "It certainly has taken its toll because these officials, they're not getting paid a lot of money to put up with the aggravation and headaches of people criticizing the decisions that they make," says DiFilippo. He says the officials give the kids a chance to play. "This isn't the NBA, the NFL, NHL," he notes, and all involved should be appreciative of those willing to call the games.
He says those who officiate are giving back to a sport that's been good to them, and it's a way for them to stay on the field.
