COLUMN | On Sports: Officiating numbers are on the rise

Published 9:55 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

A couple years ago, I wrote a column about what I perceived to be the resurgence of high school sports in their first full year of “normalcy” following the COVID-19 pandemic.

I noted instances of big crowds at various events and tied that to my perception that things were reverting to form, if slowly.

An email I got a couple days ago from the National Federation of State High School Associations is another marker in that progression.

Here’s some of what that email said.

“The number of registered high school sports officials remains above pre-pandemic levels and grew by six percent during the last school year, according to a follow-up survey of 36 NFHS member state associations that originated in 2018-19.

Data compiled by the NFHS from the 36 associations showed the total number of officials’ registrations at 237,811 during the 2024-25 school year, up 14,432 from the previous year, and an eight percent increase from pre-pandemic numbers (220,340) reported in 2018-19.”

Not only have officiating numbers surpassed those of the pre-pandemic era, they’ve gotten there after losses of approximately 50,000 officials during the pandemic.

The NFHS email continues:

“The growth in officiating continues despite an estimated loss of 50,000 officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. After dipping as low as 189,140 officials in 2019-20, participation has increased each year since the 2021-22 school year. For the past two school years, officiating totals have surpassed those from 2018-19.”

All but two sports (field hockey – not played in Oregon – and water polo) saw a year-over-year increase in official registrations in 2024-25. Eleven sports – baseball (1%), basketball (4%), football (10%), ice hockey (6%), boys lacrosse (4%), girls lacrosse (28%), soccer (13%), swimming and diving (10%), track and field and cross country (53%), volleyball (18%), and wrestling (22%) – reported numbers above their pre-pandemic levels at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

In total, 27 states reported that they had returned to their pre-pandemic levels by 2024-25.

“With the steady increase of officials’ registrations over the past couple of years, the NFHS is not only focusing on how we can bring more officials into the avocation, but we are working to ensure that we are doing enough to retain the officials who have been with us for years,” said Dana Pappas, NFHS director of officiating services. “The emphasis on retention is as important as ever and we are stressing the need for support, training, recognition, education, advocacy and mentorship for officials and are collaborating with state associations and other organizations that are mission-aligned to be able to accomplish this.”

The NFHS has made a concerted effort to improve the retention and recruitment of officials, organizing two consortia to address the drop in officials during the pandemic, as well as launching the BecomeAnOfficial and BenchBadBehavior campaigns.

While the number of officials is rising overall, there remains a significant need. Anyone can apply to become a high school official at highschoolofficials.com, or specific to Oregon, at: osaa.org/new-officials/index.html

Miles Vance is the sports editor for the Lake Oswego Review, West Linn Tidings and Wilsonville Spokesman. He has covered high school sports in Oregon for 37 years.