High school class offers path for students to become sports officials

Key Highlights

• “You never really realize how much referees do for the game until you’re on the other side of the ball.”Conemaugh Valley has offered the officials class for roughly two years, high school Principal Brian Randall said. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe first cohort had about five students enrolled, with nearly the same number last year.
• For the 2025-26 academic term, nine students are signed up to learn how to officiate. Students enrolled in the class are met with a relaxed atmosphere more akin to college.
• They meet in the lobby of the high school building and study the Ref Reps curriculum, which is primarily video-based. Each student then picks at least three sports they want to train in.
• For example, Emily Shetler is studying wrestling, softball, track and field, and girls’ lacrosse.“Our goal is to have one fall sport, one winter sport and one spring sport,” Randall said. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementShetler, an 11th-grade wrestler in the school’s cooperative agreement with Central Cambria High School, is signed up for the class this year and has earned her certification to officiate her sport.
• When she got her schedule this year and saw the officiating class, she was intrigued.“This could be fun,” Shetler recalled thinking. Since engaging with the course, she has enjoyed it and even has referee jobs lined up for December.