TSSAA
As a result of a continuing decline in the number of the state’s high school athletic officials, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Board of Control voted Tuesday to form a committee to counter that trend.
The goal of the committee, which will be chaired by Hillwood principal and TSSAA board member Steve Chauncey, is to look at better ways to recruit, train and retain athletic officials.
“So far this year we’re down about 200 from where we were last year,” TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress said, noting that around 4,500 registered. “As older officials retire and come off the floor and the field, we’re just not getting younger officials like we used to.
“That trend can not continue.”
TSSAA assistant executive directors Gene Menees and Mark Reeves, basketball officials supervisor Brandon Pipkin, wrestling officials assigning officer Mike Parker, softball officials regional coordinator Sam Kerr, soccer officials supervisor Chip Fuller and Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association executive director Pat Swallows will also serve on the committee.
“The ultimate goal will be to come up with ways that we can better recruit, train and retain officials,” said Childress, who referred to the trend as a national problem. “We felt like we put administrators and officials on the committee that have been in it a long time, and we feel like they can give us some better ideas on how to recruit.”
And while Childress said that the state’s declining number of officials predates the November’s decision by the TSSAA to begin performing background checks on officials, the new procedure isn’t expected to help.
“What the other states that have implemented (background checks) have said is that there has been about a three percent drop in officials registering,” Childress said. “We haven’t even gotten to that point yet, but what we’re saying is this is the drop prior to us implementing them.”
The board voted to implement background check for officials after former football official Kyle Gill was suspended by the TSSAA for not fully disclosing his criminal history when being hired.
New members: Nashville’s STEM Academy was approved to become a TSSAA member beginning in 2016-17. The school, which has an enrollment of 260 in grades 9-10, plans to participate in cross country, track, soccer and junior varsity basketball during the 2016-17 school year. The school will be placed in District 10-A in basketball, A-AA (Middle Section) in track and 10 A-AA in cross country and soccer.
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-269-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports .