SAN ANTONIO – The Texas high school football season kicks off this weekend but one team often overlooked are the officials. There’s a shortage of referees across the San Antonio area and the state.
Dave Maxwell, vice president of the San Antonio Chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials or TASO, said there are currently 398 football officials in San Antonio chapter, but a total of 500 are needed to adequately cover games.
“We have 5,600 members of the TASO Football Organization and we need that to be closer to 6,500, so 900 short across the state, 100 short in San Antonio,” said Maxwell.
Many officials have left for a variety of reasons including many that did not return after COVID-19, but Maxell said the primary reason officials leave is due to increased verbal abuse from fans, coaching staffs and the players in some cases.
“I’m not talking about, ‘hey come on ref that was a hold.’ It’s the prolonged threats of violence, calling into question someones character or ethics. Players kind of in-your-face versus having a conversation,” said Maxwell. “We all want to be fans at some point, but yelling that you think that was a holding call in the stands versus following the officials to their car is crossing a line. It’s become uncomfortable at times.”
Retaining new officials has also been a challenge, but the state is making more efforts to recruit younger officials and more women. The average age of officials in the San Antonio Chapter was 50 years old as of 2019.
“It’s actually closer to 60 than it is 50 and so we would love to get younger. The players are getting faster and stronger,” said Maxwell. “We need anyone and everyone, including females. There is a program the state office has put together called WOW or Women Officials Working. We also have a task force for recruiting and retention at the state level.”
The growth of the San Antonio area and addition of new high schools has also added to the shortage of officials.
The TASO San Antonio chapter serves 116 schools from Del Rio to Buda. That includes up to 50 different 11-man varsity games on a Friday night and 65 more games with 6-man,Thursday and Saturday varsity games.
“It’s made it tough sometimes. The numbers of officials that we will send to each game goes down. We’ve also worked with our partners here locally to move some games off of Friday night,” Maxwell said. “Everybody wants to have that Friday night lights experience, but when we’re short officials, we can’t cover everything that’s out there.”
Maxwell is entering his 30th season as a high school football official. He still enjoys the experience and loves the game. He understands that fans and the teams are passionate, but just wants them to be respectful as well.
“Being part of a team is a big part of the officiating. It’s a brotherhood and the reason at the end of the day, I do it because the other guys on the field with me,” said Maxwell. " There doesn’t need to be threats of violence. This is our first varsity game of the season, but my crews started working football back in March.”