Stephen Hofbauer blows his whistle Oct. 17 as Elijah Robinson looks on during Hermiston High School's football officiating class.

HERMISTON — Haylee Mercer had to cut a hole in her official’s cap for her ponytail, but other than that, she’s just one of the guys in Hermiston High School’s sports officiating class.

The physical education elective class, taught by Kevin Moore, has seven students this fall, and all have passed their first level of certification and have been working middle school and Columbia Basin Youth Football games.

“We need to get young people involved in officiating,” Moore said. “We only have 19 football officials who are certified to do high school games. When you have to have five guys a game, that’s why games get moved to Thursdays and Saturdays.”

The class is helping to fill a need at the local level. Oregon has lost nearly 1,000 officials over the past few years.

In 2022, the OSAA had a pool of 2,400 officials for seven sports. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Oregon School Activities Association had more than 3,300 officials.

That decrease has affected sports from the youth level to high school.

The lack of officials is not limited to Oregon and Washington. It’s a nationwide issue. The National Federation of State High School Associations said a survey of states indicates a loss of 50,000 officials since the 2018-19 season.

Reasons for officials leaving range from abuse from fans to age. The median age in the Blue Mountain Football Officials Association is 54 ½ years old.

The pay per game for officials differs for each area, but the young officials in the Hermiston class make $50 a game, and can work more than one game a day.

“They money is nice,” senior Elijah Robinson said. “It’s a nice way to make a little extra cash.”

Aside from the money, Robinson said the class has made him more aware of situations on the field, where he is a two-way lineman for the Bulldogs.

“I have asked why they threw a flag,” he said. “They are great at explaining it to me. What we learn in class and on the field helps when I ref a game.”

Mercer said she saw the class was being offered, and was encouraged by others to take the class.

“I probably know more about football than any girl in the school,” Mercer said. “I’m glad I did it. Now, I can look at a football game and wonder why they didn’t call a penalty on a certain play.”

Because of her cross-country schedule, Mercer has only worked a few games, and admits she was nervous her first time out.

Friday, Oct. 20, she shadowed Moore at the Heppner-Weston-McEwen game in Athena.

Moore, who officiates football in the Blue Mountain Football Officials Association, said he has heard positive remarks from fellow officials.

“They (students) are asking questions, and that helps them out as players and officials,” he said.

Having Mercer in the class is a positive, according to Moore.

“Officiating football isn’t just for the guys,” he said. “The women are coming in. They want a diverse amount of people officiating, and that’s for all sports. The first time they throw a flag and can explain to the coach why, they earn their respect.”

Filling a needHermiston Athletic Director Larry Usher said he saw a presentation by Tumwater High School at an athletic directors conference last spring, and brought the idea back.

“We had been flirting with the idea for years,” Usher said. “After I saw it, I talked to (Superintendent Tricia Mooney) and (Principal) Tom Spoo. We had the perfect person to do it.”

Tumwater had a curriculum set up, which they shared with Hermiston.

“I follow that curriculum,” Moore said. “We watch a lot of videos, and the OSAA sends us clips of good and bad calls that we need to watch. We talk about which official is responsible to make which calls.”

Between certification, registration and uniform costs, each student would have been out more than $200, but part of the program is the Hermiston School District covers the costs for the students.

“It is cost prohibitive for kids to do that,” Usher said. “Through Dr. Mooney and the school board support, our kids do not pay fees for anything. We absorb the cost so our kids get the best experience they can.”

While Hermiston competes in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, most of the games the students officiate are in Oregon, which means they have to pay a fee to the OSAA to work.

OSAA Assistant Executive Director Kris Welch said he is happy to see the Hermiston program in place. He said it helps take the pressure off veteran officials in having to work youth games on top of high school events.

“I hope the community people aren’t abusing the youth like they do the older guys,” Welch said. “We need to keep the retention. They need to keep with it.”

Welch noted Eastern Oregon University also offers an officials class, and Kennedy High School has a program, but not to the level of Hermiston.

Kennedy Athletic Director Kevin Moffatt teaches the class, and has 10 students this semester.

“Most are playing the sport they are officiating,” Moffatt said. “We don’t all do the certification, but some do. We have a broad spectrum of sports. We have football, volleyball and basketball. We do about five weeks with each sport.”

Moffatt said he doesn’t have any females in his class, but hopes that changes in the near future.

Mercer said she already has plans to take the basketball course in the winter, and that she plans to continue officiating past high school.

“I see myself doing this in college,” she said.