‘I love it’: Shoemaker High addresses statewide referee shortage by helping students become certified sports officials
KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - As schools across Central Texas and throughout the state deal with referee shortages, one high school in Killeen is helping students become referees.
At Shoemaker High School, located at 3302 Clear Creek Road in Killeen, they offer a sports officiating class for students. It has already helped two students become certified football officials.
When Israel Caruthers and Jaylen Benning first signed up for a sports officiating class, neither were expecting anything to come from it.
Bennings, a senior at Shoemaker, says “I didn’t really know what it meant, I just knew it was something with sports and I play sports so I knew I’d probably like the class.”
“My counselor just felt it was the easiest class for me and I just took it,” said Caruthers, who’s also a senior at Shoemaker.
Now both of them are helping officiate football games, while still in school and being athletes.
“I’ve been officially officiating since August,” Caruthers said. Bennings adding that he started in September. “I love it,” he shared.
Coach Eule Ford, who teaches this class, says it all started when the district came to him about starting a sports officiating class.
“I didn’t know how to go about it and I didn’t want to just halfway do it, cause I also talked to some officials and they said like we need help… we need help, we want some younger kids. And so I just did some research and then I came across RefReps,” he recalled.
RefReps is a referee program that offers curriculums for college or high school classes with everything from football, basketball, soccer and more.
“They have videos, they have instructions, they have video captures where the camera’s in the official’s hat and you’re watching the video and the video stops and you have to make a decision,” Coach Ford explained.
Throughout the semester each student will complete a series of modules for the sport of their choice, while also getting volunteer hours.
“During our sub-varsity games they work the chains,” he explained, “while they work the chains they get to talk with the officials. They also get to see, being on the sideline with coaches and kids, how intense it can be.”
And once they finish all of that, Coach Ford says they can choose to get their certification.
“I have them fill out the TASO form and they pay their fee, and when they do that they do a background check, and then they get with a chapter,” Coach Ford said.
What most don’t realize, including Israel and Jaylen at first, is that officiating is a great option for students.
“It’s good for like… you get paid for the class, you start off young, it’s easy, and Coach Ford told me that someone used it for college one time,” Bennings explained.
But it’s also a fun and rewarding job. “I just saw like some kids that… they didn’t play the first week, but after like two or three more weeks I saw them on the field, so it was good to see,” Caruthers shared.
Helping students like them while also filling referee chapters across Central Texas.
Coach Ford adds that students who go and get their certification with TASO’s Central Texas chapter will get all of their dues waived the first year.
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