TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - It is not the most glorious jobs in sports, but without referees, there would be no sports period.
WTOL reported in February the number of referees are dwindling due to abuse from fans.
Beginning in the summer, OHSAA is putting forth an effort to recruit referees with classes beginning in July from the youth level up to high school football.
"Definitely need guys to come out. And retaining guys is another big problem," said OHSAA official Mark Kuhn. "We've had decent sized classes: 14,15, 16 guys, but we then retain about half of them."
"Just not a lot of younger people getting into it," said official Steve Miller. "I don't know if it has to with crowds, if it has to do with parents yelling at you, it has to do with rules studies. Everything's on our microscope now, everything's got a cell phone, everybody's a video camera, and they are always looking at things. Officials make mistake. We do. But we're out here working
Although, officials only earn between $30 to $75 per game, many agree it is a fulfilling hobby.
