The Alabama High School Athletic Association is working hard to recruit and retain officials in all sports after losing more than 1,000 after the COVID-19 shutdown in the spring of 2020.
“I don’t think people realize officials are human,” AHSAA Assistant Director Ken Washington, who coordinates officials statewide, said today at the governing body’s annual media day in Montgomery. Washington said officials face scrutiny and abuse long after games end, saying they can be “harassed by a parent at Wal-Mart.”
AHSAA Executive Director Alvin Briggs said Washington has “the toughest job in this office” because of how difficult it can be to recruit officials and provide proper training.
I can’t blame them. I sure wouldn’t want to do it.
As much as they pay coaches, I guess their only choice is to increase pay to officials. That is about the only variable they have much chance of controlling.