High School sports officials needed for upcoming season

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) -

The high school sports season is about a month away from kicking off, and this year, like most years in recent memory, there is a need for officials ahead of the season starting.

For 2022, the process for training new officials is more accessible than in previous years. According to the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission, 15 hours of the 30 training process can be completed remotely, while the remaining hours will be in-person training.

In football, for example, the W.V.S.S.A.C. would be comfortable having over 600 registered football officials, and the number in 2021 was 523.

W.V.S.S.A.C. Football Clinician, Larry McCoyle, says that anyone can be an official as long as they have the passion and the knowledge for sports.

“I’ve always said, anyone that thought they wanted to be an official should come out and give it a try,” McCoyle says. “There are so many positives in what we do. We can’t teach someone to officiate football, which is very complex, over a 30 hour period. So all the training is is just the introduction to some of the rules, some of the terminology and philosophies that we as officials use.”

Rex Foster has been an official for sports in the Mid-Ohio Valley for the better part of 20 years, and he says that becoming an official has given him many things in his life he did not have before.

“You have that bond, and you just create some great relationships with people,” said Foster. “If you’re a sports person and you enjoy that part of it, you’re involved with the game. There are so many positives that outweigh any negatives that you might encounter.”

Anyone interested in becoming an official can visit the officials page on the W.V.S.S.A.C. website.

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