There is a shortage of high school sports officials in Colorado which could affect our sports programs. In an effort to combat the officials crisis, the Colorado High School Activities Association is launching the “You Look Good in Stripes” initiative.
CHSAA will cover costs for any new officials’ CHSAA dues, as well as the sport’s officials association dues, for the first year. These dues will cover each new official’s background check, insurance, testing, rule books, a membership to a sport-specific association and a membership to ArbiterSports.
CHSAA has also made it easier than ever to sign up. Anyone interested in becoming an official can simply follow this link and fill out the five-question form. The staff at CHSAA will send your contact information to sport-specific area directors, who will reach out with details of training, meetings, procedures and requirements. It’s that easy to get started.
“We are very excited to implement the ‘You Look Good In Stripes’ initiative,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Michael Book, who oversees officiating. “It is vital that we not only increase the number of officials across all sports, but develop a pipeline of new officials and retain them in this incredible profession. It can be expensive to begin as an official, so we are extremely grateful to be able to remove this barrier for new officials. Our officials associations have been instrumental in working with us in this process and I can’t thank them enough for their support.
“This is a full-circle process of creating an opportunity of bringing new officials on board to counteract those that leave the profession. It is one component in the process, but I believe it is an extremely important one. We will continue to work towards aiding in the halt of the officiating crisis in Colorado and we hope to have several hundred new officials by the end of the year.”
Uniforms and equipment are also expensive barriers to entry when becoming an official. As part of the “You Look Good in Stripes” initiative, CHSAA will also provide uniform and equipment grants for new officials once registration and testing are complete.
The link to the sign-up form can always be found on CHSAANow.com by clicking on the Officials tab at the top right of the page, and will be disseminated regularly via all CHSAA social media.
“We are beyond excited to get the ‘You Look Good in Stripes’ initiative off the ground as we do everything we can to make getting started in officiating easily accessible to any and all who are interested in becoming an official,” CHSAA commissioner Michael Krueger said. “The intent of this program is to remove any barriers that an individual might face and to simply make the process of getting involved easier. Officials are vital partners in fulfilling our mission to provide opportunities for our students, we simply cannot do this without them and we need more of them. We hope this program is a great start.”