Quote:

Hurst:
Great questions. I understand the shortage issue. That said, you don't RETAIN lousy officials because of a shortage. You evaluate, mentor, certify, disciple, etc. Then, you cut out the bad ones who refuse, or are incapable of, improvement.
A few weeks back, I asked referee backers here to name 10 good ones in our state. They responded, sort of. And that's good.
Now I ask, if we all know the good ones, don't we also know the "bad" ones ... the serial lousy refs? Why don't we find something else for THEM to do?
It's kind of like balancing a budget. You don't just tax, OR cut spending. You do BOTH. With referees, you identify, reward and retain the best, and weed out the very worst. You go for the proverbial low-hanging fruit.
That's a start.



Backscreen,

We both realize we have a referee shortage. We can eliminate the bad ones through evaluation. We can improve the mediocre/average ones through training (takes a little time an money).

We still haven't figured out how to recruit new ones to cover an even greater shortage?

Kids play sports because they find it fun. Eliminate the fun and soon you eliminate the kid.