GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The struggle was real, but the struggle is no more — for the most part. A chronic shortage of referees and officials for high school athletics in Michigan is finally trending in the right direction just in time for the upcoming 2024–25 school year.
When it comes to a Friday night in the fall, there's no place Jayson Dibble would rather be.
“Under the lights, when you get in that moment where the teams are at that fever pitch, they're all excited; they're ready to kick off, and I'm the referee," he said. "I get to blow in that whistle. That's what I do it for.”
Dibble's been doing it for two decades.
On the field, he's earned recognition for his work after being named 2023–24 Football Official of the Year by the West Michigan Officials Association.
“I enjoy the nuances of the rules," he said. "I enjoy studying why ... writers wrote the rules the way they did.”
Dibble also works hard outside the lanes as the WMOA Football Program chair helping to reverse the referee shortage.
Dibble said West Michigan has been fortunate to not experience the same struggles other areas in the state — and country — have been dealing with for years.
Michigan High School Athletic Association Communications Director Geoff Kimmerly said the southeastern or southwestern parts of Michigan have been hit the hardest.
“Because we saw a lot of games that were being moved around to different dates and being moved around because of weather and some unpredictability," he told FOX 17.
Kimmerly said the pandemic, combined with frustration over heckling parents, kept the numbers low.
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He said, in an ideal situation, MHSAA would typically see 10,000 officials across all sports over the course of a school year.
That number sank to around 8,000 during the pandemic, he said. Last year ended around 9,000.
“That was 400–500 more than the year before. So, we are moving in the right direction, but, obviously, not as quickly as anybody would like," Kimmerly said.
Dibble told FOX 17 pay also played a factor. Fortunately, he said, the OK Conference kicked in a pay increase ahead of the 2023–24 athletic calendar, putting football officials up over $100 a game.
That helps with recruiting, but retention is the hard part.
“We don't want to rest on our laurels because our average age still is going up," Dibble said. "We are always on the hunt to try and, at least, replace the officials who are going to be retiring toward the top of that age scale.”
To do that, they're turning to the younger generation, looking at high schoolers and college students or recent graduates to secure a future of officiating in Michigan.
In the meantime, the shortage seems to be short-lived.
“I'm not saying we're going to blow away last year's total by any means, but we're at least going to meet that, and I think probably surpass that," Kimmerly said.
If you'd like to register to be an official through MHSAA, click here.
To register through the WMOA, click here.
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