Youth sports officials fostering love for the game at Siouxland Sports Academy

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - It’s a tough but rewarding job for many and one that is seeing a shortage nationwide, but at Siouxland Sports Academy, officials are in high demand as the growth of youth sports continues.

“It’s just such a wonderful time to be a part of youth sports in our area, because it’s growing.”

At Siouxland Sports Academy, Executive Director Dustin Cooper says finding and keeping quality officials is an element to their success.

“I think that there is a nationwide shortage of officials for various reasons,” explained Cooper. “We saw that a couple of years ago, that hit us pretty hard, especially as in our market, we started to grow in our tournaments in our leagues. So we had to problem solve. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that.”

One way they do that, is competitive pay. With college athletes like Iowa’s own Caitlin Clark bring new interest into the arena, youth sports are growing at a rapid rate, meaning more officials are needed for games.

“We’ve increased our pay for officials,” Cooper explained, “we also have a zero tolerance rule inside of our facilities to try to limit the negative comments that are directed at officials because that becomes an issue as well.”

Cooper says they’ve increased official pay by 33% over the last two years and have worked to recruit college students to join the game. Young or new officials are partnered with seasoned referees to learn the game. “We went out and got those experts in basketball, in volleyball, in baseball, to try to foster that younger generation into becoming officials.”

The goal is to help young officials learn the responsibility of wearing the stripes, and also keep good officials in the game long term.

“The longer that they officiate, the better that they are going to become,” said Cooper. “And that’s the idea is to try to get them in our organization at a youthful age, so that when they are in their 40s and their 50s and still officiating, they have 20-25 years underneath of their belt.”

It’s not only an educational experience for officials, but also for kids learning to love the game. At the young levels, where kids are just learning how to play, officials take time to explain mistakes and how to improve.

“When athletes make a mistake during a game, and an official takes the time, especially at the early ages K through 5th, when the official takes the time to explain the rule, or explain what they did wrong, that’s an educational moment for that kid and that kid is learning something,” said Cooper. “It’s not just blowing the whistle, telling them what they did wrong and moving on.”

Cooper says the sports officials the have at Siouxland Sports Academy are making a name for themselves outside of the local courts.

“Our officials are not just known in Sioux City to be good. They’re known outside of Sioux City, too,” he said. “I think sometimes when our club teams travel to other towns, they really have an appreciation for how good our local officials are, and how good of a job they do with our kids. And they feel lucky, and they come back and I think that gives them a positive outlook on on our officials.”

At Siouxland Sports Academy, athletics is what makes the business run, but its a love for the game, and a passion to educate, build a community, and foster a new generation of athletes, coaches and officials, that keeps the team strong and the courts fully staffed each weekend.

“Youth sports doesn’t only provide opportunities for kids in our community, which is super important,” said Cooper. “It also provides jobs for our community as well. “We have anyone from school teachers to policemen to people who work from the city, all walks of life that come in here on the weekend and give back to their community and also make a little bit of extra cash for their family as well which, that’s a win-win for everybody.”

Officials with Siouxland Sports Academy need to be certified, but the organization also help facilitate that certification for anyone interested in putting on the stripes.

To learn more about the Siouxland Sports Academy or to see about becoming a youth sports official, visit their website here.

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