A referee holds the ball in the quarterfinals of the OSAA 6A Boys Basketball Championships between Grant High School and West Salem High School at the Chiles Center in Portland, Oregon, Thursday, March 8, 2018.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
Oregon is among many states in the country experiencing an acute shortage of referees for high school sports. Their numbers have been declining steadily over the last decade or so, athletic officials say, but it accelerated with the pandemic, in large part because of a rise in abuse refs have had to take from parents and fans. Those recruiting for new officials say it’s not unusual for games to be rescheduled based on ref availability, but many of the refs that remain are getting burned out. Jack Folliard, Executive Director of the Oregon Athletic Officials Association joins us, as well as the head of the Portland Basketball Officials Association, Camron Rust.
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