Recrutiing and retention — The two R's

ere in Northwest Arkansas, home to Wal-Mart, JB Hunt Transport, and Tyson Foods, our football association faces recruiting and retention problems year in and year out. Every season we struggle to add new officials and retain those who should be kept.

In the past, a new football official would join the association, attend a meeting, attend a clinic, and go onto a list of officials not on a crew. Full-time white hats would then call these fill-ins to work as part of a junior high, jv, or — on rare occasions — a varsity crew. Inherent in that method is the requirement for the Referee to provide an assessment to the other white hats on the rookie’s capabilities.

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