Lack Of Soccer Officials Could Kill Sport In Heartland

The Avon Park, Sebring and Hardee County high school soccer programs are in sudden-death overtime in their search for referees, and all three Heartland schools could see their programs go extinct next season if local officials are not found.

The Central Florida Ridge Soccer Officials Association, based out of Lakeland, no longer has the manpower to accommodate both Polk and Highlands County, according association president Sam Morton, and as of Fall 2008, the CFRSOA will not send officials to cover games at Avon Park, Sebring or Hardee high schools.

The final whistle, however, hasn't blown just yet: A minimum of nine local officials are needed to keep the sport alive in the Heartland, and local athletic directors are hoping to get referees in place by the fall.

"The bottom line is, if this countydoesn't step up, we won't have any more soccer programs," said Sebring High School athletic director Terry Quarles. "We're in emergency-mode."

With new high schools and programs opening in and around Lakeland, Morton said his 54-member staff is stretched too thin and simply doesn't have the numbers it needs to oversee both counties. Add that to the Florida High School Activities Association's decision to drop fall soccer and push all action on the pitch to the winter, and the demand for officials is even larger.

"Officials are scarce as it is," Morton said, noting 70 percent of soccer officials don't return after their first season. "The dilemma is, we don't have enough bodies to help us out. The community has to step up if they want their kids to play."

Morton said his organization is more than willing to do its part to keep high school soccer alive in the Heartland: The CFRSOA has offered to help train and certify Highlands County's officials and bring them into the fold for the first season. After that, Morton said, he'd be happy to help those officials and administrators start a Highlands County officials association, which he said the CFRSOA would support.

"We'll do everything we can to help these children continue to play," Morton said.

Quarles said she's known of the issue the past two seasons, and that the CFRSOA had nearly stopped traveling to Sebring before the 2007 season. She noted she was only able to wrangle two prospective refs last year, but that each school - Avon Park, Sebring and Hardee - will need at least three officials each before the fall if soccer is to continue.

"There's a shortage of high school officials in every sport," said Quarles, who refs volleyball during the winter. "They haven't given us a drop-dead date yet, but I can tell you we need officials by September."

Avon Park athletic director Mort Jackson, who is currently without coaches for each of his soccer programs, said schools can't afford to pay associations to travel hundreds of miles to officiate, and that both his boys and girls teams are in trouble without community intervention.

"The bottom line is, if we don't get officials, our soccer programs are in jeop-ardy," Jackson said.

The cost to become a soccer official, which includes a state-mandated fingerprint background check, FHSAA certification and price of uniforms and shoes, is around $225, according to Morton. Officials earn about $90 per night if they ref both JV and varsity games.

"Sebring was the first out-of-county school we had," Morton said, noting the relationship dates back 12 years. "And they have two great programs - the boys team this year was the best I've seen play.

"We don't want to see them lose that."

For more information on how to become a certified official, contact Morton at 863-965-0444.