Growing abuse leaves local sports struggling to retain officials in Ontario

Sports officials and referees across Canada have reported a growing trend in abuse directed towards them, and Ontario is no different.

Sports officials and referees across Canada have reported a growing trend in abuse directed towards them, and Ontario is no different.

Officials with governing bodies say statistics show abuse is the number one reason referees do not return.

Matt McCready, the district referee coordinator of the Elgin-Middlesex Soccer Association, says the amount of abuse has also grown over the past few years.

“It’s not necessarily about not getting opportunities or that the remuneration is not good enough, it’s always coming down to not willing to encounter or put up with the abuse,” McCready tells Global News.

Matt Biderman, vice-president for North London Nationals Baseball, says abuse of umpires has also increased over the years.

Unlike other sports like hockey and football that take place over a large field or in a loud rink, Biderman says since baseball is more intimate, with almost everybody crowded around the diamond, it is easier for voices to travel and be heard clearly.

So, while the level of abuse in baseball may not be much different from other sports, it can be more clearly received by those it’s directed at.

“Every single game certainly comes with out of line directives at umpires,” said Biderman.