The Iowa High School Athletic Association is excited to announce a partnership with RefReps as a provider for officiating education content with a focus on member school recruitment and training.
RefReps provides online training for officials and curriculum for high school and college students wanting to learn how to become officials. RefReps currently works with the NCAA, NFHS, and more than 30 other state associations.
In Iowa, students may be able to receive physical education credits for taking RefReps courses through their schools.
“We are thrilled to partner with RefReps to bring to schools the opportunity to offer officiating courses,” IHSAA executive director Tom Keating. “The potential of this program to recruit young people to the profession of officiating is exciting. The value in the RefReps program is that new officials will be experiencing in-depth training which goes beyond what is learned through a rule book. We encourage our member schools to bring the RefReps curriculum to their students.”
RefReps offers comprehensive officiating education courses which include interactive training videos, instructor guides, and assessments for 13 sports, including nine currently sanctioned for Iowa high schools.
Courses for current IHSAA and IGHSAU sports include:
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Football
- Soccer
- Softball
- Swimming & Diving
- Track & Field
- Volleyball
- Wrestling
IHSAA is already working with member schools to integrate RefReps into training for 2023-24 and curriculum for 2024-25.
Introductory meetings have included hundreds of member school representatives, and IHSAA is providing 100 complimentary RefReps course seats for interested students this school year.
“For years, state associations have wanted a program and a curriculum that is ‘plug and play’ for their states,” NFHS director of officiating services Dana Pappas said in a July release. “What RefReps has created fits that need because schools do not need an expert official to teach the course; they just need someone to facilitate a ready-made curriculum.”
For more information about RefReps and their mission, visit their website: https://www.refreps.com.
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