PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The East Coast Umpire Association (ECUA) has been in operation for more than 20 years, providing referees and umpires to countless games across Palm Beach County.
But this year, representatives of the ECUA said they're in need of at least 100 to 200 additional officials to provide the necessary assistance for all sporting events.
WATCH BELOW: How you can help meet the growing demand for referees and umpires
"We have a lot of officials who do multiple sports. So we have to trade off, and sometimes we have to move games and move times. I know with football, they're usually on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Now they're running on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because we just don't have enough officials," said Cindi Brunot, ECUA's president and assigner.
The ECUA caters to middle school and high school sports and, at the college level, assigns officials to Division II, NAIA and junior college sports.
With an organization catering to so many sports, you might wonder how or why they need help.
"Some of it is parents or fans because once you're starting out, you're green, you don’t know all of the calls and where you should be and shouldn't be," Brunot said.
She added that the environment can overwhelm new refs learning the game, leading to high turnover, burnout and more stress for their already limited crews.
"Right now we're looking at 45 (officials) that actually work all the time, and we try not to cancel, but if we do, it's about one or two a week just because of a lack of officials," Brunot said.
As it stands, ECUA needs about 100 to 200 more officials to help cover the sporting events in the area. Representatives with the organization say pay is about $90 per game, providing a nice extra source of income.
"Specifically in basketball, it's such a growing sport and volleyball as well, so we're always challenged with meeting the demand for those sports," said Erik Benz, the president of East Coast Basketball Officials Association.
With few crews available, refs on duty have a big workload every day.
"Many of our officials are not doing one or two games a day and going home, but they're stretching all day and weekend and then turning around and refereeing all night at the high school level," said Benz.
He said they’re looking for hungry officials who are passionate about sports.
"You've got to love the game that you're officiating, and you've got to be a part of it. I started playing basketball when I was four, now I'm here half a century later," Benz said.
Click here if you or anyone you know might be interested in becoming an official.
