BOSTON (WHDH) - Referees and umpires called for change on Tuesday, asking for stronger protections from parents upset over their children’s games during a rally held outside the Massachusetts State House.
The rally came on the same day that a hearing was held on the same topic.
Referees and umpires said the issue has been ongoing for several years, with parents and players alike disrespecting and sometimes physically attacking officials. The animosity, in turn, has led to a major shortage of officials.
“We want people to understand that we want to be protected and we feel, as an official, that we need safety features as well,” said Mark Rully of the Massachusetts Baseball Umpires Association.
Rully has been officiating youth sports for more than 30 years.
Speaking this week, he said threats and even physical attacks against officials are on the rise.
“As an umpire, I train new umpires and we used to have questions about calling balls and strikes and now those questions aren’t the same,” Rully said. “Our questions are based on ‘How do I handle a fan that is mean to me,’ or ‘What do I say to a coach that yells at me?’”
There is now a bipartisan push on Beacon Hill to crack down on such harassment, including a bill that would make attacking a sports official punishable by prison time.
“I have officiated hundreds of games across the Commonwealth and I can tell you first hand that this pattern of harassing and threatening officials is cause for concern,” said State Rep. Rodney Elliott.
Lawmakers highlighted several recent examples during Tuesday’s state house hearing, including an incident in December where a high school basketball player punched a referee in the face during a game in Cohasset, nearly knocking him out.
Cohasset police, State Rep. Steven Xiarhos said, were not able to take the player into custody.
“These referees, these umpires, need to be protected,” Xiarhos said.
So far, several bills have been filed to take on the issue. Some have proposed creating and bumping up fines for harassing referees. Some have also proposed creating and bumping up potential jail time for physically attacking a referee. Among measures, bills have also included proposals to elevate an attack on a sports official to a felony offense.
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