Survey: Number of high school officials up six percent

INDIANAPOLIS — The number of registered high school sports officials remains above pre-pandemic levels, and grew by six percent during the last school year. This is according to a follow-up survey of 36 National Federation High School member state associations that originated in 2018-19. Data compiled by the NFHS from the 36 associations showed the total number of officials' registrations at 237,811 during the 2024-25 school year. That is up 14,432 from the previous year, and an eight percent increase from pre-pandemic numbers (220,340) reported in 2018-19. The growth in officiating continues despite an estimated loss of 50,000 officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. After dipping as low as 189,140 officials in 2019-20, participation has increased each year since the 2021-22 school year. For the past two school years, officiating totals have surpassed those from 2018-19. All sports except field hockey and water polo saw a year-over-year increase in official registrations in 2024-25. Eleven sports were above their pre-pandemic levels at the end of the most recent school year. That list included baseball (1 percent), basketball (4 percent), football (10 percent), ice hockey (6 percent), boys lacrosse (4 percent), girls lacrosse (28 percent), soccer (13 percent), swimming and diving (10 percent), track and field and cross country (53 percent), volleyball (18 percent) and wrestling (22 percent) In addition, 27 states reported they were back above their pre-pandemic levels in 2024-25. "With the steady increase of officials' registrations over the past couple of years, the NFHS is not only focusing on how we can bring more officials into the avocation, but we are working to ensure that we are doing enough to retain the officials who have been with us for years," said Dana Pappas, NFHS director of officiating services. "The emphasis on retention is as important as ever and we are stressing the need for support, training, recognition, education, advocacy and mentorship for officials and are collaborating with state associations and other organizations that are mission-aligned to be able to accomplish this." The NFHS has made a concentrated effort to improve the retention and recruitment of officials. The NFHS organized two consortiums to address the drop in officials during the pandemic, and the BecomeAnOfficial and BenchBadBehavior campaigns continue to make an impact nationwide, among other initiatives. While the number of officials is rising overall, there remains a significant nationwide need. Anyone can apply to become a high school official at highschoolofficials.com.