Not all lifetime skills are meant to become the sole source of income for prospective employees. There are many occupations that are necessary for societal progress that don’t offer full-time employment.
Aside from Major League Baseball Umpires and those poor people who “officiate” (or don’t officiate) NBA games, the role of a sports official is part-time at best. But without them, we wouldn’t have youth, middle school, high school, or college athletics. We wouldn’t have National Football League games either, since every NFL official has another full-time position off the field.
There is a growing shortage of officials, especially for the often brutal conditions they endure from overzealous parents and fans during high school football, basketball, and occasionally wrestling matches.
Rather than continue to complain about the lack of quality officials, Shoshoni High School has stepped up to the plate and offers an officiating class as part of their regular school day.
Instructor Macey Mortimore is a WHSAA-certified basketball and volleyball official who has worked many regional and state tournaments. She brings knowledge, experience, and connections to the position as instructor at Shoshoni.
Class 1-A / 2-A Regional tournaments took place last weekend, with the West 1-A in Lander and the West 2-A in Riverton.
Officials work two games each day for these tournaments. That’s a step down from the workload many of them face during the regular season, when some weekends they work as many as seven basketball games in just 24 hours on a Friday night and then through Saturday. That’s indicative of the crisis level the shortage of basketball officials has become.
Basketball is the most intimate of sports with parents and fans within arm’s reach of officials throughout the game. The “me first” movement in America has reached epidemic levels and rather than putting up with increasingly rabid fan behavior, many officials have just walked away to spend a quiet weekend with their families rather than getting blasted by mob mentality.
If you don’t have officials, you won’t have sports; that’s the message many fans just don’t understand.
“As the assigner for over 10 years for the Fremont County area, we’ve always been short of officials. After volleyball season in 2023, I asked the state if there was anything we could do to help with the officiating,” Mortimore said. “There are some people who wanted to do something new. Is there anything the state can do to put together, a basic intro to officiating volleyball, basketball, etc…I asked them.”
The solution came in a non-credit officiating class taught two days a week by Mortimore at Shoshoni High School.
She had nine students enrolled in her original class. Breanna Metzler, Bransom Thompson, Trevor Williams, Camron Brown, Jordan Gilbertson, Brodie Shephard, Fynn Franks, Oakley Hicks, and Morgan Neal.
Interest was high, with some students very familiar with a sport since they were varsity athletes, and others who just wanted to learn how to officiate. Though these were high school athletes with one or more season remaining in their prep career, most officials get into it as a way of paying back the fun and excitement they had as athletes.
“The kids get so excited, it’s fun to watch them,” Mortimore said in a 2024 interview. Mortimore shared her thoughts on teaching the next generation of sports officials.
“Every assignor has said it at some point: ‘If only I could create officials out of thin air.’ At Shoshoni High School, that idea stopped being a joke and became a blueprint. Out of necessity, and with the help of its own students, a Sports Officiating Program was born. A program that was designed to provide students with a strong foundation in the rules, philosophies, and current points of emphasis across multiple sports at the youth, junior high, and high school levels is now a staple at Shoshoni High School.
“Students in the program are offered numerous opportunities to gain experience officiating contests, followed by film review and discussions of game situations. These strategies aid students in making appropriate in-game decisions in fast-paced, competitive environments. The program emphasizes fairness, objectivity, and professionalism, preparing students to officiate athletic contests with confidence.
“Students also develop the responsibilities that come with working as an independent contractor. Students learn about professional expectations, continuing education requirements, and the importance of networking within officiating organizations. By combining education, accountability, and hands-on experience, the program not only prepares students for officiating roles but also fosters leadership, responsibility, and respect for the game – benefiting both the students involved and the broader athletic community.
“Participants meet consistently throughout the school year and engage in rigorous activities such as film breakdown, rules workshops, and sessions with guest speakers who bring first-hand officiating experience and insight. Currently, the program supports 20 active student officials in grades 9-12, creating a strong pipeline of trained and motivated officials.”
Mark Lenhardt, assistant activities director and head football coach at Riverton High School, was thankful for the Shoshoni program; “The officiating classes you are running are saving sports in Fremont County.”
This year, there are 18 students in the officiating class, learning the rules and procedures for basketball, volleyball and wrestling. Those students are:
- Andrew Garcia – basketball
- Oakley Hicks – basketball
- Brody Shepard – basketball & wrestling
- Treysen Thompson – basketball & wrestling
- Tel Jarrard – basketball
- Asher Crimm – basketball
- Cameron Eder – basketball
- Caden Kisling – basketball
- Kaden Bridger – basketball
- Jordan Gilbertson – basketball
- Natalie Gilbertson – basketball & volleyball
- Addie Mason – basketball
- Sage Frank – basketball & volleyball
- Tace Frank – basketball & volleyball
- Sawyer Arnhold – wrestling
- Peyton Arnhold – wrestling
- Hailey Wilczewski – volleyball
- Kaylynn Weber – volleyball
A couple of 2025 Shoshoni High School graduates continued to officiate this season.
“Alex Brown and Branson Thompson both graduated last year,” Mortimore said. ”But have both worked games/matches at the Varsity level.”
Brown is a freshman at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he has joined the local association and is working at multiple levels of high school and middle school basketball.
Branson Thompson stayed a little closer to home, working for Fluid Pro, but picking up basketball games and wrestling matches when his schedule allows.
Thompson is a rare breed, officiating both wrestling and basketball. Still just 18 years old, he worked the Riverton / Kelly Walsh Dual wrestling match with veteran official Vinny Alcarez of Lander. A couple of weeks later, he was part of the three-man crew officiating a Southwest 1-A basketball game between Ft. Washakie and Little Snake River with another pair of veteran officials, Daryl Fullerton and Brian Tucker of Riverton.
Many younger officials are afraid of making a call, but Thompson wasn’t; he jumped into the fray eagerly in both sports.
“Oakley, Andrew, Brody, and Natalie have worked multiple games at the Junior Varsity level,” Mortimore said. “I consistently receive requests for my officials to work basketball games/wrestling tournaments around the state. They have traveled to Basin, Ten Sleep, Gillette, Cody, Casper, and Powell. Additionally, they have played an integral part in ensuring Fremont County sports have officials. I am so proud of every one of my student officials, the way they carry themselves with professionalism and poise, and their dedication to sports in our communities.”
Let’s hear it for the young zebras, the next generation of sports officials, trained and ready as part of the Career and Technical Education program at Shoshoni High School.