With his whistle between pursed lips, Mac Parfet, an official for the Northern California Football Officials Association, concentrates intently on the play unfolding from the sidelines of the game. 
A player from Terra Nova intercepts the ball inside the end zone. Parfet prepares to blow his whistle, but to the surprise of the crowd, the Terra Nova player tries to run the ball out instead of taking a knee and starting fresh from the 20-yard line. The player is hit, and the ball slips out of his hands. The offensive team swiftly clutches the ball and pounces on their newfound opportunity. Touchdown.
Parfet had resisted the urge to blow his whistle early during a time of crucial decision-making, and ultimately made the right call by letting the play finish. While the Terra Nova crowd erupted in anger, a smile brimmed on Parfet’s face as he silently celebrated his successful efforts as a first-year official.
Officials are facing a daunting time of uncertainty with the United States facing a national referee shortage. According to the Sports Policy Center, there have been 50,000 retired referees between 2018-2021. A leading cause of leaving officials has been the verbal and physical abuse.
Parfet said he started officiating when his children’s youth sports leagues needed referees.
“I enjoyed getting out on the field and running around, and part of officiating was giving back to the sport,” Parfet said. “I enjoyed the mental challenge of understanding the rules well enough to be a very good official at a high school level.”
But along with the benefits of being an official, dealing with difficult spectators, players and coaches is an all-too-familiar part of the job. In fact, President and Official at Silicon Valley Sport Officials Association Michael Adam said furious spectators have been increasingly vocal.
“It’s one thing to root for your team, but it’s been getting more personal over the years,” Adam said. “It’s driving away a lot of the officials that may not have the thickest of skin.”
Parfet agrees and said many high school football fans, players and coaches expect the same calls on the field as they see in college and professional football, even though high school football follows a different rulebook. 
“The issue is that we’ve put professional sports upon such a high pedestal that when they come down and see a high school game, the expectation is the same, and it’s not,” Parfet said. “The fans are not really yelling at you. They are yelling because the call didn’t go their way. So our society needs to be able to handle perceived negative criticism, and the other side of the equation is the fan base needs to lighten up and not be so intense.”
In order to deal with issues like these, Tom Emery, a retired official and President of Peninsula Sports Incorporated, an organization that trains and assigns officials, said the United States Soccer Federation has created a structured guideline for its officials for diffusing tense situations and preventing escalation. 
“You use various techniques and communication, staying calm,” Emery said. “You don’t want to go face to face with a coach or a spectator, you always stand shoulder to shoulder. We’ve learned to teach our referees to never engage with fans or spectators because you can never win.” 
Emery also said his organization trains its officials to deal with inappropriate behavior from coaches who try to convince officials to reconsider a call. 
“We have a really good message that we print on a card, and we give it out to officials to kind of use as a reminder of how you want to handle the situation,” Emery said. “The card says, ‘Coach, your behavior is not appropriate. Please stop. If you continue, we’re going to have to ask you to leave. Do you understand? Thank you.’”
Adam said disagreements between fans, players, coaches and officials are expected and said officials are open to dialogue and will treat people with respect as respect is reciprocated.
“I always have a discussion with the coaches during pregame,” Adam said. “I tell them that my doors open, and when I get a quick chance, I’ll come over and answer any question you have, as long as you don’t get personal.”
Adam also said perfect games are nearly impossible to call because officials are human and will inevitably make mistakes. He said when this happens, officials have to learn from their mistakes and keep moving forward.
“There’s never been an egregious foul that I think cost the game that I either called or didn’t call,” Adam said. “Over 30 years, there have been a ton of calls I’ve missed. I don’t take them lightly. I review game film of myself all the time because I’m probably my own harshest critic.”
To prevent invalid calls, Emery said California mandates 20 hours per season of training hours including quizzes, exams on the field, scrimmages and evaluations throughout the season. He also said he always retains the mindset that there is more to learn while officiating. 
“In my first year there were a couple times when I just had a really rough game, and I would end up calling a mentor to talk things over,” Emery said. “I can still remember a lot of calls where I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Speaking about Paly’s athletic community in particular, Adam said he is impressed by the caliber of our players and programs.
“You guys have great coaches,” Adam said. “You treat the officials very well. It’s always been respectful. Your administration has been great. You guys do it the right way.”
But Parfet said that for every four officials retiring, only one new official steps onto the field. He also said he encourages students to consider becoming student officials by contacting the athletic director.
“Anybody in the business knows that the game is not sustainable with this kind of reduction in officials,” Parfet said. “We need your help and support for all of the youth sports in high school. By becoming an official, you can demonstrate to an employer that you have a job that has accountability. At the end of the day, if we don’t get officials out there on the field or on the court, the games won’t be played.”