WRMJ visited with Dana Pappas, who serves as the director of officiating services for the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS). A survey of state high school associations indicates that approximately 50,000 individuals have discontinued their service as high school officials since the 2018-19 season – the last full school year unaffected by the pandemic. In response, NFHS is orchestrating and leading a first-ever National Officials Consortium Summit this spring to collectively address the issue. In addition to the NCAA, more than 30 national-level sports organizations have committed to be a part of the consortium hosted by the NFHS in Indianapolis April 12-14. Various youth, high school, college and professional sports organizations, as well as national governing bodies for Olympic sports, have expressed an interest in coming together to address the growing shortage of officials.