West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission football clinician Larry McCloy was speaking on the need for officials back in May at the Coalfield Awards Banquet and noted that the state was one of two that did not have any games moved off its original date due lack of officials.
Then he added the key word. Yet.
“It’s getting close,” McCloy said recently at the WVSSAC officials golf outing at Glade last month, when asked about the remark.
“I don’t know the average age of a football official in the state of West Virginia, but I would guess it’s in the mid-50s. We need to get younger people into it.”
In that vein, the SSAC instituted an on-line training program last year and McCloy said that has helped. But the WVSSAC is still looking for a few good men and women.
And the time could be perfect, with the state office temporarily waving the $37.50 registration fee. The cost for new officials is now $27.
Notably, officials can also collect a nice payday for a night’s work.
“I tell people don’t officiate for the money, and a lot of guys just do it for the love of the game,” McCloy said.
“But the money does come in handy. Some officials can make and anywhere between $2,500 and $5,000 over a three, three-and-a-half-month period. Whether it be for Christmas, vacations, home improvements, whatever you want to use it for. You can make some money officiating, especially if you do baseball or basketball where there are games almost every day. That’s good for any age group, especially for people who are younger.”
For more information on becoming a WVSSAC officials, contact the WVSSAC office or visit these sites:
https://learn.refreps.com/explore/e5953e86-92a2-4d1c-b3ec-8382d71d76b7