OUR PURPOSE

For as long as many can remember, our ability to practice our profession as an official at the high school level has been controlled by each state association. State associations often run and administered by athletic directors or school administrators. Officials have long been a necessary evil and an afterthought.

While the system has long worked and been, at times, the best system for the circumstances, we believe now is the time for change.

Our goal is to create an alternate registration method for officials across the country for states that belong to the NFHS. What we would deem to be a successful venture would not eliminate the option to register with a state as a sports official; it would just provide an alternate path to work sanctioned games in those states.

What is the NFCSO?

The NFCSO is a non-profit corporation organized with the intent of working on behalf of officials.

What is the purpose of the NFCSO?

The goal of the NFCSO is to work with each state's governing body for high school athletics to recognize the NFCSO as an alternative licensing body for officials and work together to create a system that provides solutions that will benefit the official and the game.

What will this mean for me?

It depends; if you like the way things work for you now, then nothing will change. After the NFCSO works an agreement with the state you can choose to alternatively register with the NFCSO instead of your state organization. Your certification would then be issued by the NFCSO and your only obligation to maintain the certification would be set by the NFCSO. Once agreements have been made with multiple states, an official registered with the NFCSO would be allowed to work contest in any state for which the NFCSO has an agreement.

Why Now?

Our profession is at a fever pitch right now. With many entering retirement and not enough new officials coming in, we feel it is important that we take action to ensure that quality officials are available to protect the sports we love. We believe today's technology can be leveraged to help take administrative burdens off of officials and better prepare younger officials. Unfortunately, in most states, officials are an afterthought and therefore are slow to adapt to work in the best interest of the official.

Why Change?

Change is needed because the current system does not work. If it did we would not be in the crisis we are in. The intent of the NFCSO is not to replace one ineffective system with another, but to provide alternate options to officials. However, we do feel with a system built by officials for officials we will become the preferred choice.

Who is the NFCSO?

The NFCSO is and will always be comprised of active or former officials. It is an organization intended to promote excellence in officiating, preserve the integrity of officiating and to be an advocate for officials.

Is this a Union?

Unequivocally, No!

Don't we have NASO?

Yes, and we are of the opinion that NASO in an exceptional organization that produces great content and offers excellent services and resources to officials. It is not our intent to be either a competitor or alternate to NASO, and we hope NASO will support us in our mission. Our primary goal is to provide a single alternate registration accepted by state governing bodies for officials in states that use NFHS rules. This is a task that NASO has not pursued.

I'm a registered professional in my day job, so what's the difference?

Doctors, lawyers, engineers, insurance agents, real estate agents all have to register with each state so what's the difference? This would be a logical insight. If you want to practice certain professions in a state you have to register with that state, so why should officials be different? The key here is that the state body that issues licensure in all other situations is not also sanctioning the clients. Imagine if you would a medical board issuing licenses and then requiring all patients to come to them for assignment to doctors. It would allow the medical board to pick which doctors do and don't get clients, punish those who don't cooperate, and puts at a disadvantage both clients and professionals which creates an inherently flawed system. We believe this more accurately reflects how officials licensing is more currently handled.

Is this just a pipe-dream?

This has been our most common comment to date. The answer is we hope not. The fact that the state associations have us believe something like this is a pipe-dream is all the more proof it is time for change. While the battle for recognition and acceptance by the state organizations will be neither an easy or popular battle, we do believe the facts are on our side. Even more, the internal battle between officials against misinformation may be the most difficult challenge ahead.

Regardless we believe this time for change is now and this is a battle that is worth fighting to preserve both our profession and the sports we love.

But why?

Admittedly, the shortage of officials is not our problem. It is a problem created by the years of neglect and inefficient systems created by the state bodies. This inherently gives officials the upper hand in pay and other negotiations. So why go through the effort of bailing the bodies out of a problem that they have created when it doesn't appear to help us? Simply put, it's the right thing to do. We also believe it is a necessary step to preserve the games and profession that we dedicate our lives to.

If this is such a great idea, then why the struggle?

As is with most things in life it comes down to two things; money and power. State associations would have to willingly give up control of both of these things for this project to work. Some states profit greatly from the registration of officials. A state with 20,000 officials who have an average total registration of $100 per year will generate $2,000,000 in revenue for the year before other fees and fines. While we admit that there is still a substantial cost attributed to keeping an accurate record and providing resources, we do not believe they come close to revenue generated.

Power is a slightly more difficult problem to face as it may come not only from the state organization but the local levels as well. States want to have the ability to exercise full control over their programs. While this is understandable, it provides a poor basis for consistency in our profession. States are not going to easily give up this control to a system they are unfamiliar with. The other reality that must be addressed is the local board level organizations that exist. While the majority of local boards and board members are upstanding, there always lies a few bad apples so to speak. Whether it is a local president who sought power to get the best schedule or executive board that only lets their friends get promoted, all are equally a threat to the purity and integrity that is demanded by this profession.

For all of these reasons a threat to the current way of doing things will be unwelcome.

While the NFCSO will encourage local meetings, it will not require nor recognize the existence of local geographic boards. Instead, we will leverage technology to create a more broad and consistent training across the country.

Every action taken by this organization is to promote transparency, consistency, and growth in officiating.