Number of Officials Continues to Rise Across Country

After a major drop in numbers during the pandemic, more individuals nationwide are making the right call and joining the high school officiating ranks.

An annual NFHS survey of state high school associations indicates the number of registered high school officials has rebounded since 2020, as student-athlete participation has also soared past 8.2 million across the country.

The NFHS’ Officiating Services Department has conducted its survey for each of the past seven years, with 36 states providing complete data during that time. An estimated 50,000 officials left officiating during the pandemic, dipping to as low as 189,140 officials in 2019-20.

Officiating numbers steadily increased in 2021 and 2022 as more athletic contests were held before totals collectively surpassed the 2018-19 levels each of the last two school years. The 2024-25 survey showed 237,811 registered high school officials – an 8% increase from 2018-19 and up 6% year over year.

The officiating gains aren’t limited to a few states either, as 27 of the 36 associations reported higher officiating numbers than before the pandemic. All sports except field hockey and water polo saw a year-over-year increase in officials registrations in 2024-25.

While the increase in officials is a positive trend, any assigner or director of officiating will say there’s still challenges in recruiting and retaining officials.

The National Association of Sports Officials conducted a survey in 2023 that found the average age of high school officials is 56.68 years – up from 53.29 years in 2017. That same survey found 79% of the more than 35,000 respondents said they were taking on more assignments due to the shortage of officials.

Recruiting and retaining young officials has always been a challenge, with most new officials quitting within one to three years.

Among the states experiencing the highest growth in officiating numbers post-pandemic is Iowa. According to numbers provided by the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), the state has seen a 36% increase in registered high school officials when comparing the 2018-19 and 2024-25 school years.

IHSAA Assistant Director Todd Tharp, who as a part of his duties oversees officiating, said Iowa has found success in growing its numbers in a variety of ways.

The IHSAA is targeting high school students, college students, parents of former athletes and former coaches, among other groups.

Last year, Iowa rolled out RefReps in high schools to provide a new avenue for officiating, Tharp said. RefReps works with 46 NFHS member states, as well as groups in the Marshall Islands, South Korea, Germany, and Dubai, and as a part of its services provides online programming to help students get certified. Tharp said roughly 580 students viewed 1,000 courses on RefReps in its first year in Iowa.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association has partnered with RefReps to offer courses for the past few years, and Director of Officiating Services Scott Goodheart said it’s made a big difference.

Justin Seuser, athletic director at Buhler High School in Kansas, who is also the men’s basketball coordinator of officials for the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, agreed with Goodheart that RefReps has been a tremendous asset to new recruitment.

Since 2023, Buhler High has offered a class once per semester for its students interested in officiating. Seuser said there are usually a handful of students each year who stay active in officiating after taking the class, which uses RefReps’ curriculum.

For many states, the pandemic led to reimagining how to find officials. Now, there’s many more events hosted online – which has actually led to more total officials.

Jason Nickleby, Minnesota State High School League coordinator of officiating services, said the league hosts three officiating recruitment forums per year and around 100 people join the Zoom each time, with engagement continuing to increase. Of those 100, he estimated at least 10% or more went on to become officials.

While online offerings are important to reach more potential officials, Nickleby still emphasized how important in-person and grassroots efforts are to the cause.

“What I’ve tried to convey (to) ADs, principals, administrators and coaches, especially coaches, they know their communities,” Nickleby said. “They know them far better than me and me cold calling, so to speak, to get people to officiate is not going to be very effective. Officiating is very much a relationships business. …. We try to tell the schools, and administrators and coaches, you guys have relationships with people in your community like that we don’t have. They just know their communities and who would make great officials like we don’t. It’s a people business, and if they make that personal, reach out with that personal connection, we would be, from a recruitment standpoint, in a much different place.”

While new methods of gaining and retaining officials are important, Goodheart, Nickleby, Tharp and Seuser all said that simple gestures by schools – such as escorting officials to and from playing fields, providing clean towels in locker rooms, and offering cold drinks and food before and after games – make a huge impact on keeping officials in the game.

The greatest fear for new referees is abuse from fans (especially parents), but showing officials they are supported by their mentors, schools, coaches and players makes a tremendous difference.

“Officials are just as important as the bus driver, as the coach, as the custodian,” Goodheart said. “It takes everybody involved to do it.” Mentorship will play an important role in keeping young officials in the game, the four men said. In Iowa, Tharp said he hopes to start a formal mentoring program and is working with officiating associations around the state to help new officials get used equipment, making the start-up less cost-prohibitive.

The NFHS has made a concentrated effort to improve the retention and recruitment of officials. The focus of the NFHS Officiating Services Department has been in the areas of support, training, recognition, education, advocacy and mentorship (STREAM), all of which aid in getting officials into the avocation and keeping them.

The NFHS organized two consortiums to address the drop in officials during the pandemic, and the #BecomeAnOfficial and #BenchBadBehavior campaigns continue to make an impact nationwide, among other initiatives.

New in 2025-26, NFHS has partnered with five member associations to pilot “Battlefields to Ballfields” (B2B) mentorship programs. Finding a way to welcome individuals into officiating and to ensure they are properly mentored into the process is a proven way to retain officials. This mentorship program will pair new officials with military experience with veteran officials with military experience, so that the new official is fostered into the officiating family by someone who “speaks the same language as them.”

“We hope that the B2B Mentorship Pilot Program serves as a model for all 51 state associations to develop a mentorship program, both within and outside of the military community,” NFHS Director of Officiating Services Dana Pappas said. “We cannot stress enough to state and local associations the importance of mentorship of new officials from the first contact with them, throughout those critical first three years of their careers.”

B2B is a private nonprofit organization that provides military personnel with an opportunity to continue their spirit of service as sports officials, and the program is being piloted in Alabama, California, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. These states were selected based on the number of inquiries received through the NFHS #BecomeAnOfficial campaign from people who noted they were active or retired military.

Anyone from the public can also visit highschoolofficials.com and fill out a brief questionnaire that will help connect them with the correct parties to become an official in their state.

Jordan Morey is manager of communications and media relations at the NFHS.