Temple — A shortage of area officials may mean trouble when high school basketball tips off in November.
Members of the Temple Basketball Officials Association, a member of the Texas High School Basketball Officials Association, said they're especially running low on younger referees.
"We have four officials in their 70's and six in their 20's," Chad Horton, a 12-year officiating veteran in his third season as the chapter's assigner, said. "So, the deficiency is definitely in the younger crowd."
Horton said as of Aug. 12, the chapter has 67 registered officials but needs 140 in order to cover a game load consisting of 31 high schools and 43 middle schools.
This could mean an intense workload for the officials who will be available.
"You could have guys on the floor with a nagging injury," Horton said. "Or, maybe they have to be on the floor or the court during an event for their family that they're going to have to miss."
That increased workload could amount to fatigue and potentially injuries among the officials.
It's something Nick Stock, a trainer entering his sixteenth year with the TBOA, said he's noticed.
Both Horton and Stock said the shortage boils down to two main reasons: Officials leaving and growth of schools.
Referee retention is difficult to maintain for a list of reasons. This includes age and deteriorating physical abilities, family concerns and some who just get burned out of verbal abuse taken during games.
Central Texas, especially in the areas the Temple chapter serves, has seen exponential grown which will lead to the addition of two high schools and two middle schools in the districts it serves by 2020.
"Seeing the way it is now and forecasting what it's going to be in three, four or five years, it's not going to get any better unless we can get some new people to come in," Stock said.
Those new officials would be gladly received - and not just by the officials searching for relief.
"If you're fatigued and you miss something, then you may not see a situation which has caused or could potentially cause injury to a player," Horton said.
The Temple chapter's fall training begins Sat., Aug. 18 at Belton HS. For more information on that training or the Temple Basketball Officials Association, click here.
For more information on the Waco chapter of the TBOA, click here.