As the high school basketball season gets rolling, a school district in Washington has already hit a snag after being forced to cancel a number of girls' basketball game due to a shortage of referees, as well as threats made against one of the schools.
According to My Edmond News, Edmonds School District had to rescheduled contests set to take place on Wednesday involving the girls basketball teams from Meadowdale, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace high schools. The Mavericks were to have traveled to Kamiak for a clash against the Knights while Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace were scheduled to host games against Jackson and Mariner respectively.
Emily Crum Smith, the Athletic Department secretary at Mountlake Terrace High School, sent out an email early Wednesday that simply stated “no game tonight; no refs at MLT.”
The Kamiak vs. Meadowdale game was canceled due to threats of violence made against Kamiak earlier in the day. According to Mukilteo police spokesperson Nathan Fabia, police searched the school but nothing suspicious was located.
Edmonds School District athletic director Angie McGuire expressed hope that the current dilemma to get all local prep girls basketball games played as scheduled would not carry over beyond this week.
”I’m hoping this is just a ‘this week’ issue,” McGuire said on Wednesday. “The SCBBO (Snohomish County Basketball Officials Association) is going through a lot of struggles right now, but they have new assignors in place, so hopefully we will be good to go the rest of the season.”
Referee associations have been calling on new recruits to join for years, in hopes they can get trained and start officiating in order to cover area basketball, football, volleyball and wrestling contests. While high school referees do get paid for their work in officiating games and matches, their ranks have dwindled over the past few years, according to My Edmonds News.
