A survey of state high school associations indicates that approximately 50,000 individuals have discontinued their service as high school officials since the 2018-19 season – the last full school year unaffected by the pandemic.
Several times in this column the past three years, the NFHS has shared concerns about the declining number of officials for high school sports. Last fall, in fact, the headline stated that the officiating shortage had reached a crisis level across the country. A recent survey now provides solid proof for those concerns.