As more than 800 basketball officials consider walking out, NCHSAA will vote on increasing pay for all officials
During Wednesday's N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors meeting, members of the board heard a presentation from Steve Schwartz, the chair of the ad hoc committee charged with studying the shortage of officials in North Carolina.
Schwartz, a basketball official in the Triangle, expressed his passion for officiating and high school sports in North Carolina. He noted that officials have a lot of concerns about the state of their job in North Carolina.
Among the concerns are compensation. Earlier this week, HighSchoolOT reported that some basketball officials were considering refusing to work Jan. 1-14, 2023, if the NCHSAA did not approve pay raises this week. Schwartz said over 800 basketball officials statewide are considering joining the protest, which would cause a significant disruption to the basketball schedule.
During the committee reports on Wednesday afternoon, the Review & Officiating Committee announced it would put forth a proposal to increase all officials fees for all sports by 10% rounded up to the nearest dollar. The proposal will also eliminate the double-header fee for all sports and instead pay for each individual game. Additionally, the policy would require an annual review of compensation for officials.
If the proposal from the Review & Officiating Committee is passed, the new pay structure would go into effect Jan. 1, 2023. The vote will take place on Thursday.
All payments for the officials are paid by the participating schools, not by the NCHSAA. Schools would be charged with paying the increased officials fees.
"We need to do everything we can for our officials but we also need to be aware of where the funding for that is coming from," NCHSAA Board of Directors President Rob Jackson said.
Compensation was only one of the issues Schwartz and his committee raised to the board of directors though. Sportsmanship was the top concern from officials, according to a survey of officials this summer. The Officiating & Review Committee said this is another issue it needs to tackle.
Schwartz said sportsmanship is the hardest problem to fix. However, the NCHSAA did share some promising statistics that ejections are down over a three-year period.
Officials are also concerned about their lack of representation in the NCHSAA.
"Administrators charged with making the best decisions for the schools are making decisions for officials ... Our relationship is transactional," Schwartz said. "Can we welcome officials in as full partners of the NCHSAA?"
Elbert Lassiter of the North State Football Officials Association represents the officials as an affiliate member of the NCHSAA Board of Directors, however he is not a voting member of the board. The board cannot vote to add a voting member though. A bylaws amendment must be proposed by member schools to add voting members to the board.
The ad hoc committee did not specifically request a voting position on the board. The ad hoc committee wants to create a standing committee of officials who can work with the NCHSAA on issues surrounding officiating. It would also like to see a position created within the NCHSAA that would work directly with officials on issues of retention and recruitment.
The survey conducted by Schwartz's committee found 53% of all officials across all sports considered quitting over the last two years, as the average age of officials continues to get higher. 77% of NCHSAA officials are over the age of 45, while 51% are over the age of 55.
"When we leave, who replaces us? What is your vibrant, forward-thinking recruitment strategy? Is there one?" Schwartz asked.
The survey found that sportsmanship and compensation were the top concerns of officials.
"One question we regret not asking on the survey: Do you believe the NCHSAA cares about you? My fear is it would be north of 70% that says no."
The NCHSAA is hoping to change that perception during its board meeting this week.
"Our board is very interested in doing right by our partners, the officials. Our board is very interested in the voice of officials," Jackson said.
