NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — There’s a nationwide shortage of officials on the prep and lower levels.
A shortage the Greater New Orleans Football Officials Association is working to address throughout the metro area.
“We’re getting older and the age of officials is going up and we’re not getting the younger crowd in to fill those needs, to fill those demands. So, we’ll get 40 officials signed up in year one. By the time we get to year three, we probably have five or six left and they’re leaving for various reasons. It’s, you know, time-consuming,” says GNOFOA Regional Coordinator of Officials Eddie Allemore.
The time-consuming nature of the position starts with meetings on Monday nights. High school football games, ranging from junior varsity to varsity levels, are played Wednesday-Saturday in the fall. On lower levels, Allemore says parents have also been an issue.
The consequences of the heavy workload include injuries and burnout.
“You’re asked to do two games in a day and it takes a toll on you,” says Allemore.
When you combine that demand with the limited number of bodies available, football schedules are impacted.
“Last year we had to move some game times, push them back so I can get a crew from a 3:30 p.m. game to a 7:00 p.m. game in time and around the state, you know, coordinators of officials, they’re asking schools to go play on Thursdays and go play on Saturdays. I’ve asked out of all the schools we serve in the New Orleans area and some schools on the Northshore, and a few of them have moved games, which helps us out a lot on coverage on Friday nights,” says Allemore.
The shortage is present, but so is the work to fix it.
This year’s class started with 50 interested applicants. So far, 30 have actively been involved in the training process.
“We’ve done a big push on recruiting. We’ve gone out and, ‘Hey, bring a friend,'” Allemore says. “Our membership has taken head to that because we have to survive for the next three to four years by bringing in 40 or 50 at a time to make up for more than what’s leaving.”
Anyone interested in joining can do so by clicking here.
Saturday at St. Paul’s, the officials just wrapped up the first of two fall camps with nearly 200 in attendance.
A dozen clinicians from major college conferences, all graduates of GNOFOA, were at the event to help new and tenured officials grow their craft ahead of the 2023 season.
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