The Coastal Mountain Officials Association is critically short of officials as the 2021 football season is set to begin Friday night with two games in the county — Ferndale at Clear Lake and St. Mary’s at Middletown. The CMOA can only count on seven or eight officials right now, which means it can’t fully staff more than one game at a time on a given night. The options are to send less-than-full crews to a game site or to move games to different nights, possibly Thursday, Saturday or even Monday. While neighboring officials associations often help each other out, the shortage is nationwide as older officials retire and younger ones walk away from the game because of low pay and verbal abuse directed at them by players, coaches and especially spectators. The CMOA welcomes new officials and will train them. Call Danny Williams at (707) 230-7508 if you are interested. (Brian Sumpter/Record-Bee)
