We recently held an MYAS Board of Directors meeting, our first since January, as we were awaiting our annual organizational audit to be completed so that we could review the findings.

While looking at the last four months of MYAS programs and services (February 11 through May 21), I noticed some eye-opening numbers. Our participation numbers are exceeding pre-COVID, based on the 225 events that we run each year in partnership with local community host groups. In basketball alone, we had 2,300 teams participate in our 2022 Spring Basketball Series. With a few weekend events still remaining in this spring’s calendar, we've already surpassed the 2022 numbers and we'll approach 3,000 teams. In the past four months, we have seen more than 4,500 youth basketball teams participate in MYAS-administered tournaments/events.

In baseball, we've ramped up 2023 with 514 teams participating in the 9u-19u Gopher State Baseball League, and in a recent Gopher State Spring Invitational, we saw the team participation numbers grow to 87 from 48 in last year’s event.

It's awesome to see the participation opportunities that we are providing for the Minnesota youth sports community, yet I have serious concerns. I've spent considerable time raising awareness around the number of game officials needed. But what about the janitors, site coordinators, tournament directors, and EMTs/trainers?

We tend to just think about the next tournament that we're running or participating in, but we must look beyond that now. Because this isn't just an MYAS issue. This becomes a challenge for all organizations and entities that conduct events and games because as a sports community, we must be able to recruit, educate and retain officials and other vital leaders.

As participation numbers continue to grow, current individuals will burn out. We need to collectively figure out how to increase the supply of game officials, tournament directors, official assigners, and EMTs/trainers to ensure that these events continue to be conducted at a high level.

On May 13, the MYAS held a "Block Out Breast Cancer" tournament with 302 teams on 34 courts at six sites. But there were other Metro Area events that same weekend, and it's estimated that in aggregate, a total of 1,084 teams participated at 16 sites on 99 courts. Wow!

Do we have the personnel to adequately staff all those games? Our event went off without a hitch because there were a lot of people making things happen. But is that sustainable, year over year?

Leaders often take the approach of, "Somebody else is going to take care of the game officials." But we must be proactive to recruit and develop, and it must be a collective effort.

To accomplish that, we need to think about the greater good — and I'm willing to engage in discussions to reimagine a future that can serve us all. I'm willing to be more transparent about issues and challenges in order to help other organizations.

Because if we don't, then I think we all know who will suffer. It won't just be the adults who are stressed and pressured, but the kids who won't be able to play games because there aren’t enough game officials or other event personnel.