STAT HOUND MEDIA
CENTRAL WASHINGTON DIGITAL PREP SPORTS
SHANE FULLER/Stat Hound contributor
Area official associations looking for new members for school year
Football, soccer and volleyball get the year started, as all sports could use more officials
STAT HOUND
Aug 2, 2026
Longtime Yakima Valley sports official Brad Cramer is putting out the annual plea – and he’s right to be asking.
Officials are needed across the board. And with football practice beginning in two and a half weeks, preparing new officials is underway.
The first football officials meeting is Monday, and football is the most complex sport to officiate and brings the most in-depth training. Officials go through 10 sessions, including two on-field training sessions.
“It’s very intensive,” Cramer said. “We have to teach officials not to be ball-watchers.”
Each member of the five-member crews is focused on different areas and positions on the field, often where the ball isn’t.
With five officials, it also means football has the biggest crews.
Cramer said that the Yakima Valley association, which spans from Cle Elum to Mabton, has about 55 football officials. That seems a good number, but can easily be taxed.
If they’re spread too thin, Cramer might have to reach out to neighboring associations/
“Sometimes we have to reach out and get help,” he said. “It’s a pain for everybody.”
When the schedules are set, the associations can see a congested Friday night, and if needed a lottery is held. But this lottery doesn’t necessarily have a winner, but could have its game moved to a Thursday or Saturday.
And while junior varsity games are usually, freshmen or C-team games might see fewer officials refereeing the contest.
Officials will cut their teeth with Grid Kids contests before moving into high school contests.
While football needs the most officials on game nights, other sports are in need, too. Girls soccer and volleyball in the fall, basketball and wrestling in the winter, and boys soccer, and the diamond sports – baseball and softball – in the spring, could use more officials.