State high school organization taking other steps to support its on-field officials
The way Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director Dr. Robert Lombardi sees it, behavior that would get a student removed from a classroom for a week is worth having that same student-athlete miss more than one game.
The PIAA is taking steps to increase the punishment for unsportsmanlike behavior that leads to disqualification from a game. During its May Board of Directors meeting, conducted by videoconference, the PIAA passed the second reading of a supplemental disqualification rule that will increase the mandatory suspension from one to two games following ejections for certain actions, such as physical contact or vulgar language.
The rule change will need to pass a third reading at an upcoming PIAA meeting to become part of the rules for the state high school athletic association.
Under current rules, any ejection requires an automatic one-game suspension.
Soccer and football have been responsible for the largest number of ejections. If implemented, however, the rule change will be across all sports.
“It’s pretty difficult to get ejected,” said PIAA assistant executive director Pat Gebhart, whose duties include leading the officiating program. “You have to really act of character of someone who should be involved in athletics if you get ejected.”
With each ejection, game officials are required to file a report on the actions that led to the coach or player being ejected. Those reports may in the future include whether the offense meets the criteria of a one- or two-game suspension.
“The person that we’re targeting in this is so obscene in their actions and language,” Lombardi said. “ … When you see those reports come in, they have five straight swear words that you have a hard time spelling.”
In total, about 14,000 men and women are registered to officiate high school sports around the state, but the PIAA still runs into shortages at times, so retaining officials is an important issue.
Lombardi said abuse of officials is cited as the top reason people leave officiating.
“It has gotten to the point where people just yell to yell and it’s embarrassing,” said Lombardi, who says the person who yells about every call is the biggest problem. “We’re at a shortage, all states are, because of abuse.
“ … We want it to stop.”
The new rule would send a message to players and coaches that fighting, extremely foul language, following officials off the field after games and other actions have to stop. Lombardi hopes it sends a message in another direction.
“I hope our officials out there would take this as a sign that we are really behind you and we are going to support you,” he said.
There were more than 400 ejections in Pennsylvania high school soccer in 2019.
The Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association is against the two-game suspension in the sport because football plays less games and it, therefore, determines the suspension more punitive.
Lombardi said, however, that football has a growing discipline problem and the sport needs to “get its house in order.”
Football disqualifications reached a high of 255 in 2019. After there were 205 and 173 in 2015 and 2016, that number rose to 241, 236 and 255 the last three years.
Officiating notes
The most recent PIAA meeting included several other items that impacted officiating.
The 26th annual PIAA Officials Convention, scheduled for August in Harrisburg, has been canceled.
The largest convention of its type in the nation usually draws about 1,000 officials.
Officials need to have attended the convention within the last five years in order to work PIAA state tournament games. However, because of the cancellation, a waiver will be given so that any official eligible for state games in the 2019-20 school year will remain so for 2020-21.
Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation so that FBI clearances do not expire until Dec. 31, 2020. Therefore, officials who were cleared during the 2019-20 school year, but scheduled to expire during the 2020 calendar year, will have that clearance extended to Dec. 31. There are other clearances required by schools and the PIAA and officials will need to consult the PIAA website for information on those.
The PIAA has given its local officiating chapters permission to conduct online, virtual chapter and rules-interpretation meetings in order to help comply with state social distancing directives that may still be in place at the time of meetings.
Officials annual membership fees were scheduled for a $5 increase in 2021-22, but the PIAA has decided to forego that increase. Also, spring sports officials will be given a $20 credit toward their 2021 fees in part because the National Federation of State High School Sports Associations has decided not to print new rule and casebooks for the 2021 season.