The National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS, is sending out a nationwide plea for more officials for high school sports and calling for better fan behavior at events. The executive director of the NFHS cited a national shortage of officials that “borders on catastrophic in some sports,” per the official column posted on the NFHS website. WIAA executive director Dave Anderson also contributed to the column. The column cites data from the National Association of Sports Officials showing referee registration across the U.S. is down 30 percent. Jim Dolesy of the Coulee Region Officials Association says part of that is due to the pandemic forcing older officials to opt out for health concerns, but they won’t necessarily come back to officiating when things get back to normal.