THE STORY

Sports Official Youth Alliance was formally created on May 16, 2005 through an incorporation effort of its founder, Joe Sample. The idea for such an organization, however, evolved over time through a convergence of Joe’s work experiences in child protection at the Iowa Department of Human Services, counseling families through Joe Sample Counseling, other non-profit administrative experiences, and sports officiating.

Joe became a sports official in 1996 through the invitation Dave Tomason, a veteran official of 20+ years. The invitation to become a football official was a natural fit for Joe because football had an enormously positive impact on him during his youth. Becoming an official felt like a way to give back to the sport that gave him so much in the way of developing courage, determination, self-esteem, and lifelong friendships.

It was during that first year of officiating that Joe felt a deep concern for how parents, coaches, youth, and officials interacted. In his opinion, the type of interactions that routinely occurred negatively impacted the sport and the experiences of the youth involved. These interactions created a negative image or stereotypes of sports officials that, in turn, would cause a harmful long-term influence on that youth’s relationship with sports officials.

The question for Joe was, “What is sports officiating doing, at a grassroots level, to change this?” It is regularly discussed how recruitment of sports officials is a challenge and that retention of officials is difficult because many leave the profession due to the abuse. Something had to change the professional image of sports officials in a long-term meaningful way so that youth could have positive sports experiences with officials and maybe, one day, have an interest and desire to become a sports official; to give back to the game that meant so much to them as a youth.

It was then that Joe recognized that someone with a passion for youth and family development, a passion for sports activity for youth, and a passion for sports officiating needed to begin putting the pieces together so that the paradigm could change. Thus, Sports Officials Youth Alliance, Inc. was born.

Sports Officials Youth Alliance is dedicated to enriching the lives of youth, families, and professional sports officials through the education and support of their shared communities. Through these efforts, youth, families, and coaches will see sports officials not only as game administrators, but as people who truly care about the health and well-being of student-athletes. Over time, these youth will grow to become parents, coaches, and sports officials with a different understanding of the profession of sports officiating.

Now is the time to change the paradigm. Sports Officials Youth Alliance is only the beginning of an extraordinary future for the profession of sports officiating and its relationship with the community.