Referee shortage prominent in Regina according to sporting officials' organizations

Sporting organizations in Regina are combating issues related to a shortage of registered officials.

Both Queen City Box Lacrosse (QCMBL) and the Regina Football Officials Association (RFOA) said they have yet to return to pre-pandemic numbers, while Hockey Saskatchewan is seeing those numbers start to bounce back.

Heather Wenarchuk, treasurer for the QCMBL, is tasked with scheduling the referees.

She said the QCMBL was down to around a dozen officials this past season from the 28 they had prior to the pandemic.

The big issue is in retention, especially when it comes to younger referees.

“I think there’s a huge lack of respect for officials,” Wenarchuk said.

“When you’re being yelled at by an adult and you’re 14 or 15-years-old it’s pretty hard to swallow and it’s hard to deal with.”

She said heading into next season they have to do what they can in the hopes of attracting officials back, whether it be with the appeal of the mentorship program they offer or the pay.

On the gridiron, the RFOA is facing similar challenges.

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The association provides officials for all levels of football around the city, including Regina Minor Football, high school and the University of Regina Rams, as well as helping out in the surrounding rural communities.

Gabor Jerkovits, president of the RFOA, said there has been a few cases this season where games in those nearby communities had to be moved due to limited resources.

“On a Friday night, for instance, we might have a Rams game, well that will take up probably a dozen of our officials right there,” Jerkovits said.

Prior to the pandemic, the association was working with close to 50 officials, a number that dropped to 33 last year. For this year's season, the number of officials is shy of 40.

While it has increased, it is still not where the RFOA would like it to be.

“Some of our members decided not to come back because of COVID, others just got busy with family, kids, whatever else,” Jerkovits explained, adding he doesn’t think abuse of officials is a big issue.

The RFOA has been trying various recruitment tactics with a focus on trying to get new officials to join, working with the Regina High School Association and trying to connect with the Riot to encourage more female officials.

On the ice, Hockey Saskatchewan said COVID-19also had an impact on officials.

According to Hockey Saskatchewan, there was about a thousand less officials last year than before the pandemic.

Kelly McClintock, general manager at Hockey Saskatchewan, said the organization is about a third of the way through the official’s registration period and this year is trending towards pre-COVID-19 levels.

While the numbers are increasing, the organization is still very focused on recruitment.

They have posted ads on social media, lowered rates for registration and increased on-ice training, McClintock explained.

“We wanted to try and get more people back into officiating so we had to do something to encourage people to come back into the game and experience it in that way.”

McClintock said the organization could use some more senior officials, those over the age of 20, who are able to officiate senior games.

He explained each year there is a 30 to 40 per cent turnover, primarily in the younger ages.

However, the pandemic led to some of the more senior officials hanging up their whistle for good.