High school basketball season is in jeopardy with Miami referees and FHSAA at impasse
High school basketball season will officially begin in Florida on Monday, but the vast majority of scheduled games in Miami-Dade County will not be able to be played because of an ongoing dispute between Dade County referees and the Florida High School Athletic Association.
As of this week, fewer than 10 referees had registered to officiate games with the Greater Miami Athletic Conference as Miami-Dade referees continue to push for a local officials association independent of the district-run athletic conference. The FHSAA, however, has twice in the past five months declined to sanction the proposed Miami-Dade Basketball Officials Association.
On Thursday, FHSAA associate executive director sent an email to a collection of athletic directors at Miami-Dade private and charter schools saying the organization was “no longer reconsidering sanctioning the MDBOA for the 2021-22 schools year.” A copy of the email was obtained by the Miami Herald.
As for the reasoning, the FHSAA took issue with the local officials’ attempts to organize and Harrison told the ADs it “cannot support individuals in leadership roles implying and telling officials what to do.”
On Monday, Keith Agress, the treasurer of the MDBOA, sent out an email to county referees telling them to “stay the course” and not register with the Greater Miami Athletic Conference (GMAC) or FHSAA, “as we continue to fight for what you, the member, asked us to seek for you.” Harrison, in his Thursday email, specifically mentioned Agress’ request for his officials to “stay the course” as an issue for the FHSAA.
The MDBOA hoped its plan to essentially go on strike would force the FHSAA’s hand and get the state’s sanctioning body for high school sports to sanction the officials association. The FHSAA was not moved and is taking to tried-and-true union-busting tactics to try to get the referees to relent; and now the GMAC is left without enough officials to realistically play a full basketball season.
“We heard your concerns the other day and want to assist the best way we can,” Harrison said in the email. “Our office will give each of your schools the opportunity to make up any canceled or postponed scheduled contest due to lack of officials. We will allow you to place them during the season, including any preseason contest. If you cannot manage to get them in during the regular season, we will allow you to participate once your season has concluded.”
How we got here
The MDBOA has been trying to get independence from the GMAC for nearly a full year. In December of 2020, the association informed the FHSAA it wanted to secede from the GMAC and create an independent officials association.
The idea is not unusual in Florida — 23 of the state’s 26 officials associations are self-governed — and the MDBOA wants to operate autonomously to avoid a $45 fee required by the GMAC and make sure more money can be allocated to training and scholarship programs.
“Our fees are not charged to any other association in the state,” MDBOA vice president Craig Clay told the Herald last month.
In May, the MDBOA officially made a request for sanctioning with the FHSAA, and the state association denied the original request. The MDBOA fulfilled every one of the FHSAA requirements, Clay said, save for a nebulous mandate that the association provide a reason for its existence. As part of the sanctioning process, the FHSAA asked GMAC ADs whether they felt there was a need for a new officials association and most said there was not.
The MDBOA, however, alleges the FHSAA’s question was misleading and left out important context. In October, FHSAA spokesperson Ashton Moseley simply told the Herald in an email the association did not meet necessary requirements. On Tuesday, those private- and charter-school ADs — 17 in total — sent an informal letter of recommendation to the FHSAA supporting the MDBOA.
In an email sent to Harrison and obtained by the Herald, Ransom Everglades athletic director Corey Goff said the ADs “feel there is now a dire need in our county for an additional association.”
The FHSAA, however, decided not to sanction the MDBOA because of the association’s organizing tactics.
An additional request for comment from the FHSAA on Friday was declined because, “All of our staff pertinent to this situation are attending State Championship events today/this weekend,” Moseley said in an email.
What could come next
To officiate high school basketball games in Florida and Miami-Dade County, referees must register with the GMAC and FHSAA. As of now, there are barely any registered to officiate games. While Miami-Dade teams could bring in referees from Broward County or other parts of the state, it’s not tenable to play a full schedule while relying on referees from outside the county who are busy officiating games elsewhere.
The GMAC has made some temporary concessions, most notably waiving their annual fee for 30 days while the MDBOA and FHSAA continue to sort out their disagreements.
The MDBOA doesn’t want to sign on, though, and then have the FHSAA again deny it sanctioning, leaving it to once again by controlled by the GMAC for another year. It insists its demands are reasonable and there’s no good reason not to sanction the association.
As of now, there’s no intention for referees aligned with the MDBOA to sign on with the GMAC and FHSAA, and FHSAA rules state any officials who don’t register by Monday will be suspended.
The GMAC is out of options — it has made its small concession and has no real say in sanctioning the MDBOA as a standalone entity. Either the FHSAA or MDBOA will have to change course, or basketball season will remain in jeopardy in Miami.
“Our members are frustrated because all we want to do is get back on the court,” Clay said, “but we will not do it under these circumstances.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 2:07 PM.
