Sketchplay Insights

The Let Kids Play Act, Explained for Youth Tournament Operators

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Let Kids Play Act would take on private equity in youth sports, stay-to-play hotel rules and junk fees. It is unlikely to pass soon. The questions it asks about price are already coming from parents.

Key takeaways

The Let Kids Play Act was introduced on May 13, 2026, led by Rep. Chris Deluzio and Sens. Chris Murphy and Cory Booker, to restrict private equity in youth sports.
It targets practices including stay-to-play hotel rules, junk fees, multi-year lock-in contracts and data capture, enforced by the FTC and DOJ, with state attorneys general and private plaintiffs able to sue.
The sponsors acknowledge near-term passage is unlikely, but 68% of surveyed parents say they have seriously considered pulling their kids out of sports over cost.
Youth sports costs are up 46% since 2019, according to the Aspen Institute's Project Play.

On May 13, 2026, Senators Chris Murphy and Cory Booker and Representative Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, among other co-sponsors, introduced the Let Kids Play Act, a bill aimed at private equity money in youth sports. Deluzio put the concern plainly: “This is becoming a luxury item for so many families where mom and dad's bank account determines where a kid gets to play.”

Whether or not the bill ever becomes law, it is a useful read for anyone who runs a tournament, a club or a league, because most of the practices it names are pricing and contract practices, and parents are already asking about them.

The numbers behind the bill

46% rise in what youth sports costs families since 2019 (Aspen Institute Project Play)
$1,000+ average family spend on one child's sports in 2024 (Project Play, as cited by Good Sports)
68% of parents of kids who have played say they have seriously considered pulling them out (2026 Good Sports Cost of Play Index)
77% of parents believe private clubs and travel teams are pricing kids out (2026 Good Sports Cost of Play Index)

The cost figures come from the Aspen Institute's Project Play, which also describes youth sports as a market of more than $40 billion a year. The parent figures come from the 2026 Good Sports Cost of Play Index, a Harris Poll survey of more than 500 U.S. parents commissioned by Good Sports. In the same survey, 53% of parents said they worry they will not be able to afford a sport for their child next year, and 67% said affordable school-based opportunities have declined over the past five years.

Participation recovered after the pandemic, but Project Play reports that significant access gaps persist between lower-income and higher-income kids. Illustrative image.

What the bill would actually do

As summarized by Youth Sports Business Report, the bill targets what it calls “vulture practices” by private equity-controlled youth sports entities. Several of them will be familiar to anyone who has run an event, and we cover the first one separately in our stay-to-play explainer:

Stay-to-play: conditioning eligibility on using a designated travel agent, hotel or transportation company.
Junk fees: mandatory or unavoidable charges not clearly disclosed before registration.
Lock-in contracts: multi-year non-cancelable commitments with no early exit, exclusivity clauses, and bans on competing in non-affiliated tournaments within 150 miles.
Roll-up consolidation: acquiring or controlling more than one entity that serves youth sports.
Data and IP capture: claiming rights to recordings, biometric data, scouting reports or parental payment records.

Designated firms would have two years to divest. The FTC and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division would share primary federal enforcement, state attorneys general could sue on behalf of residents, and private plaintiffs, including class actions, could sue for treble damages. Strategic and family-office investors that are not structured as private equity funds fall outside the bill's definition of a covered firm.

Its chances are slim for now. Youth Sports Business Report notes that the sponsors themselves acknowledge near-term passage is unlikely under current Republican control.

Video: The Fight to Save Youth Sports: Chris Murphy and Chris Deluzio on the Let Kids Play Act

Why independent operators should read it anyway

The bill is aimed at private equity-controlled entities, not at independent clubs or tournament directors. But the list above is a fair description of what frustrates parents regardless of who owns the event. That is our read, not a finding from the sources, and it is not legal advice.

If the parent figures above hold in your market, then in our view the operators who can answer a few questions simply will have an easier time filling brackets. Five worth being able to answer out loud:

What is the all-in price per team, and is it published before checkout?
Is a hotel block optional, and does the registration page say so?
Are there any fees that appear only at the last step?
What is the refund and cancellation policy, in two plain sentences?
Who owns the roster, payment and game data you collect, and can an organization take it with them?

The logistics side of running an event well is covered in our operator's checklist for a youth tournament.

What to watch

Three things are worth tracking: whether the bill gets a hearing or moves in committee, whether states take up similar rules on their own, and whether the next Cost of Play Index shows the parent worry numbers rising or easing. We will update this piece if any of them move.

FAQ

What is the Let Kids Play Act?

A bill introduced on May 13, 2026, led by Representative Chris Deluzio and Senators Chris Murphy and Cory Booker, that would restrict private equity involvement in youth sports and target practices such as stay-to-play hotel rules, junk fees and multi-year lock-in contracts.

Has the Let Kids Play Act passed?

No. It has been introduced in both chambers, and Youth Sports Business Report notes the sponsors acknowledge near-term passage is unlikely under current Republican control.

Does the Let Kids Play Act apply to independent tournaments and clubs?

As summarized by Youth Sports Business Report, its prohibitions apply to private equity-controlled youth sports entities, and strategic and family-office investors are outside its scope. Independent operators are not the target, though the practices it names are the same ones parents question at any event.

How much have youth sports costs risen?

Costs are up 46% since 2019, according to the Aspen Institute's Project Play, and the average family spent over $1,000 on one child's sports in 2024.

Sources

Stay-to-Play in Youth Tournaments: How It Works, Who Profits and the 2026 Lawsuit

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Many youth tournaments require teams to book their hotel through the event. Organizers say it protects rates and logistics. Parents say it can cost more. A federal class action filed in September 2026 puts it in front of a judge.

Key takeaways

Stay-to-play means teams must book lodging through an event's designated hotels or booking agent to participate.
Organizers cite locked-in room rates, attendance data for host cities and less logistics work. Parents and critics cite added cost, rebates and limited choice.
On September 1, 2026, parents filed a proposed class action against Black Bear Sports Group in Delaware federal court alleging coercion, hidden fees and hotel kickbacks. The company denies it, and no court has ruled.
The Let Kids Play Act would prohibit stay-to-play for private equity-controlled youth sports entities, but it has not passed.

Stay-to-play is the rule at many youth tournaments that teams must book their hotel rooms through the event's designated hotels or booking agent. It is also at the center of a federal class action filed in September 2026. Here is how it works, why organizers use it and what parents say it costs.

What stay-to-play means

Tournament software company EventPipe defines it this way: “Stay-to-Play refers to the requirement that teams and athletes participating in a tournament only stay at designated hotels listed within the official tournament housing block.” The proposed Let Kids Play Act describes the practice as “conditioning eligibility to participate on use of a designated travel agent, hotel, or transportation entity,” according to Youth Sports Business Report.

Why organizers use it

Securing room blocks early to lock in better nightly rates.
Gathering attendance data that shows host cities the event's economic impact.
Taking lodging logistics off teams.
Earning commissions or rebates from hotels, which EventPipe lists as a reason organizers use it.

Exemptions are often granted, according to EventPipe: local teams within a set radius, families using hotel rewards points, and those who need accommodations for disabilities or medical conditions.

What parents say it costs

In a March 2025 investigation, Oklahoma Watch reported examples of the money involved. At one Tulsa hockey tournament, the hotel charged $99 a night and the booking agent took a $28 non-refundable deposit, 22% of the total lodging cost. At a Kansas City soccer tournament, one hotel listed on the tournament website at $170 a night could be reserved directly for $85 to $109. Opting out was priced too: teams could pay $2,400 to opt out of the lodging policy at one national girls' fastpitch tournament, and one hockey tournament charged out-of-area teams a $500 stay-to-play fee if they did not appear on its booking report at check-in.

You're really locked into whatever they tell you, and if you want to play, you have to stay where they let you stay.
Diane Portillo, a teacher and single mother from Goldsby, to Oklahoma Watch

The 2026 lawsuit

On September 1, 2026, parents represented by Almeida Law Group filed a proposed class action against Black Bear Sports Group in Delaware federal court, according to Front Office Sports. The complaint alleges that the youth hockey operator coerced families into booking hotels through a specific platform to keep their children's roster spots, concealed a “buyout fee” option, collected kickbacks from hotel partners and charged undisclosed fees. Damages are expected to exceed $5 million, and the article says the proposed class could be in the tens of thousands, if not millions.

Black Bear denies the claims. Its attorney, Doug Gansler, said “there is no coercion or coverup, and plaintiffs are either misinformed or intentionally distorting the facts.” He also said the buyout policy cited in the complaint does not exist, and that contracts “make clear that the organization receives rebates from participating hotels.” Black Bear says stay-to-play policies are “used throughout competitive youth hockey and by USA Hockey, the sport's national governing board, to ensure adequate hotel rooms for participating teams and to create a better overall event experience for players,” and that it will “vigorously defend” them. These are allegations. No court has ruled on them.

Stay-to-play is also one of the practices named in the Let Kids Play Act, which would prohibit it for private equity-controlled youth sports entities. The bill has not passed.

Video: Why 'Stay to Play' hotel rules are costing youth sports families hundreds

What operators can do

These are our suggestions, not legal advice. Check your own contracts and local rules.

Say plainly whether a hotel block is required, optional or neither, on the registration page and again at checkout.
If the event earns rebates or commissions from hotels, say so. Disclosure is the cheapest protection against a trust problem.
Publish the opt-out terms in full, including any fee, and apply them consistently.
Compare your block rate with what a family can find on their own. If you are not beating it, the block is not a benefit.
Keep lodging separate from eligibility: a team's place in the bracket should not depend on where its families sleep.

The rest of the weekend is covered in our operator's checklist for a youth tournament.

FAQ

What is stay-to-play in youth sports?

A requirement that teams book lodging through a tournament's designated hotels or booking agent to participate.

Why do tournaments use stay-to-play?

Organizers cite locking in better room rates through early blocks, attendance data that shows host cities the event's economic impact, and less lodging logistics for teams. EventPipe also lists commissions and rebates from hotels.

Can you opt out of stay-to-play?

Sometimes, and sometimes for a fee. Oklahoma Watch found examples of a $2,400 opt-out fee at one national girls' fastpitch tournament and a $500 stay-to-play fee at one hockey tournament. Terms vary by event, so read the registration terms.

Is stay-to-play illegal?

This article does not offer a legal conclusion. A proposed class action filed September 1, 2026 alleges deceptive practices by one operator, which denies them, and the Let Kids Play Act would prohibit the practice for private equity-controlled entities if it passed. No court has ruled.

Sources

Youth Sports Participation Statistics: What the Latest Data Says

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A plain-English read of the newest numbers from the Aspen Institute's Project Play and the Sports & Fitness Industry Association: who plays, what it costs and where the gaps are.

Key takeaways

55.4% of U.S. kids ages 6 to 17 played sports in 2023, up from 53.8% in 2022 (National Survey of Children's Health, via Project Play).
Youth sports costs are up 46% since 2019, and the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child's primary sport in 2024.
Regular sports participation among boys ages 6 to 17 fell from 50% in 2013 to 42% in 2024.
Flag football was the only team sport tracked by SFIA that grew in regular participation among kids ages 6 to 17 from 2019 to 2024.

How many kids play sports in the United States depends on how you count. The most-cited measure, the National Survey of Children's Health, found that 55.4% of kids ages 6 to 17 played sports in 2023, up from 53.8% in 2022, according to the Aspen Institute's Project Play. A separate industry survey from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) found that 6% more kids ages 6 to 17 played a team sport at least once in 2024 than in 2023.

Project Play's State of Play 2025 report concludes that more children were engaged in organized play than at any time since 2019. The recovery is real. It is also uneven.

The numbers at a glance

55.4% of kids ages 6 to 17 played sports in 2023, up from 53.8% in 2022 (National Survey of Children's Health, via Project Play)
46% rise in what youth sports costs since 2019 (Aspen Institute Project Play)
42% of boys ages 6 to 17 played sports regularly in 2024, down from 50% in 2013 (Project Play and American Institute for Boys and Men)
4% vs 2.7% of kids ages 6 to 12 played flag football vs tackle football in 2024 (SFIA data, via Project Play)

What youth sports costs families

The same report finds costs up 46% since 2019. According to Project Play, the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child's primary sport in 2024, as reported by Sports Destinations.

Money also shapes how kids play. Project Play finds that children from the wealthiest households play their primary sport more frequently in team and travel settings, while children from the lowest-income households play most in free play. We cover the policy fight over those costs in our explainer on the Let Kids Play Act.

Where boys are falling behind

A September 2026 report from Project Play and the American Institute for Boys and Men found that the share of boys ages 6 to 17 who play sports regularly slid from 50% in 2013 to 42% in 2024, as reported by Youth Sports Business Report. The decline shows up in school sports too: boys on high school teams fell from 64% in 2011 to 56% in 2023.

Baseball and tackle football both lost players over five years. Baseball was down 19% among kids ages 6 to 12 and 16% among ages 13 to 17. Tackle football was down 7% and 9% in the same age groups.

The report draws on the 2025 Youth Athlete Survey, which asked 3,827 kids ages 10 to 17 about their experience. Among the boys in it, the answers point to coaching and fear:

Among boys who play now, the top complaint was bad coaching (22%), ahead of cost (17%).
Among boys who never played organized sports, 49.5% said fear of injury kept them out.
31% of boys who never played said they were not good enough, and 30% said their friends do not play.

Video: State of Play 2025: Who's Playing, Who's Not

Flag football is the bright spot

Flag football was the only team sport tracked by SFIA that grew in regular participation among kids ages 6 to 17 from 2019 to 2024. In 2024, 4% of kids ages 6 to 12 played flag football, compared with 2.7% who played tackle, according to SFIA data cited by Project Play. We look at the numbers behind it in our flag football report.

What this means if you run a program

These are our conclusions, not findings from the reports.

Make the first season easy to say yes to: show the all-in price and offer a recreational, no-cut path, since both cost and “not good enough” keep kids out.
Treat coaching as a retention tool: bad coaching was the top complaint among boys who play, so coach training and clear expectations are not a nice-to-have.
Watch the gap, not just the total: overall participation is recovering while the gap between lower-income and higher-income kids persists.
Consider lower-barrier formats such as flag football for kids who are put off by contact and equipment.

If you run registration, our guide to collecting team fees online covers the money side.

FAQ

What percentage of kids play sports in the U.S.?

In 2023, 55.4% of kids ages 6 to 17 played sports, up from 53.8% in 2022, according to the National Survey of Children's Health as reported by the Aspen Institute's Project Play.

How much does youth sports cost per family?

Project Play found the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child's primary sport in 2024, and costs are up 46% since 2019.

Are fewer boys playing sports?

Regular participation among boys ages 6 to 17 fell from 50% in 2013 to 42% in 2024, according to a September 2026 report from Project Play and the American Institute for Boys and Men.

Which youth sport is growing?

Flag football was the only team sport tracked by SFIA that grew in regular participation among kids ages 6 to 17 from 2019 to 2024.

Sources

Youth Flag Football Is Booming: The Numbers Behind the Growth

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Among the team sports SFIA tracks, flag football was the only one to grow in regular participation among kids 6 to 17 from 2019 to 2024. Here is the evidence, and what it means for people who run events.

Key takeaways

Flag football was the only team sport tracked by SFIA that grew in regular participation among kids ages 6 to 17 from 2019 to 2024.
An estimated 1.5 million kids played flag football in 2025, making it the fastest-growing youth participation sport in the U.S., according to Sportico (via Youth Sports Business Report).
Girls varsity flag football is now sanctioned in 24 states, and flag football makes its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The 2026 NFL Flag Championships drew more than 350 girls' and boys' teams to Westfield, Indiana.

In 2017, flag surpassed tackle as the most commonly played form of football for kids ages 6 to 12, and the gap continues to widen: 4% played flag football in 2024 versus 2.7% who played tackle, according to SFIA data cited by the Aspen Institute's Project Play. Over a longer stretch, flag football was the only team sport SFIA tracks that grew in regular participation among kids ages 6 to 17 between 2019 and 2024, while the sports around it flattened or fell.

The numbers

1.5 million kids played youth flag football in 2025 (Sportico, as reported by Youth Sports Business Report)
24 states sanction girls varsity flag football (Youth Sports Business Report)
1.1 million viewers watched the NFL Flag high school girls national championship on ABC (Youth Sports Business Report)
350+ teams played the 2026 NFL Flag Championships, July 23 to 26 in Westfield, Indiana (Youth Sports Business Report)

Thirty years in the making

The NFL's flag program traces to the mid-1990s, when the league and the players' union committed $100 million of television revenue to grassroots football, according to Youth Sports Business Report. It was not an easy sell. Scott Lancaster, hired from U.S. Soccer in 1995 to build the program, recalled the owners' first reaction: “Why would we do that? We're a tackle football league.”

One reason it has caught on, in the words of Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris: “Not everyone can play tackle because of the size and equipment needs.”

Girls' flag football is going varsity

Girls varsity flag football is now sanctioned in 24 states, and the NFL Flag high school girls national championship drew 1.1 million viewers on ABC, according to Youth Sports Business Report.

The Olympic stage

On October 16, 2023, at its session in Mumbai, the International Olympic Committee added flag football to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, alongside baseball and softball, cricket, lacrosse and squash, according to CBS News. Flag football and squash will make their Olympic debut.

Video: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on the growth of Flag Football across the world

What a flag tournament looks like now

The third annual NFL Flag Championships ran July 23 to 26, 2026 at Droplight Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana, hosting more than 350 girls and boys teams from across the globe. RCX Sports operated the event, which the league describes as the largest youth flag football tournament in the world, according to Youth Sports Business Report. The campus spans more than 400 acres and includes over 30 multi-purpose fields.

It has been a key objective of ours to diversify our sport base and we are investing significantly into flag football in multiple ways as part of a multi-faceted flag football vision.
Greg Stremlaw, co-CEO, Grand Park Sports & Entertainment

What operators should take from it

These are our conclusions, not findings from the sources.

Plan girls' and boys' divisions from the start. Sanctioning is spreading state by state, and the girls' game is where the new varsity programs are.
Flag events scale like any other tournament. Three hundred and fifty teams across four days means fields, schedule and scores have to be solved before the first whistle.
Lower equipment needs, as Harris notes, can mean a lower entry price. If yours is lower, say so up front.

If you are building your first flag event, start with our operator's checklist for a youth tournament and our football page. The wider participation picture is in our youth sports participation statistics.

FAQ

How many kids play flag football?

An estimated 1.5 million kids played flag football in 2025, making it the fastest-growing youth participation sport in the U.S., according to Sportico as reported by Youth Sports Business Report.

Is flag football an Olympic sport?

Yes. The International Olympic Committee added flag football to the 2028 Los Angeles Games in October 2023, and it will make its Olympic debut there.

Is flag football growing faster than tackle football?

Among kids ages 6 to 12 in 2024, 4% played flag football and 2.7% played tackle, per SFIA data cited by Project Play. Flag football was also the only SFIA-tracked team sport to grow in regular participation among kids 6 to 17 from 2019 to 2024.

How many states sanction girls flag football?

Girls varsity flag football is sanctioned in 24 states, according to Youth Sports Business Report in September 2026.

Sources

After the World Cup: Will Youth Soccer Registrations Actually Grow?

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A new industry report sizes the opportunity, and one Tucson club shows what the growth looks like. The harder question is how many of those kids stay.

Key takeaways

An April 2026 report estimates 5.3 million kids ages 6 to 17 are interested in playing soccer but have not played in the past 12 months, a $2.7 billion annual opportunity.
If just 10% converted, that would be 530,000 new players and about $270 million in annual participation value.
41% of parents cite cost as the primary barrier to youth sports participation, according to the same report.
One Tucson club says its numbers are up about 212%, from roughly 800 kids to about 2,400, with growth building since the U.S. won hosting rights in 2018 and the biggest gains among younger kids.

The World Cup brought the world's most popular sport into American living rooms this summer. Whether it brings kids to your registration page is a different question, and a measurable one.

The size of the opportunity

A report from Youth Sports Business Report and Kinetica Group, published April 28, 2026, estimates that 5.3 million children ages 6 to 17 are interested in playing soccer but have not played in the past 12 months. Multiplying that by average annual soccer spending, the report puts the opportunity at $2.7 billion a year. If just 10% of those kids converted, that would be 530,000 new players and roughly $270 million in annual participation value.

5.3 million kids ages 6 to 17 interested in soccer who have not played in the past 12 months (YSBR and Kinetica Group, April 2026)
530,000 new players if just 10% of them converted (the report's scenario) (YSBR and Kinetica Group, April 2026)
41% of parents cite cost as the primary barrier to youth sports participation (YSBR and Kinetica Group, April 2026)
22% vs 43% of kids play sports in households earning under $25,000 vs over $100,000 (YSBR and Kinetica Group, April 2026)

What the first weeks looked like in one market

In Tucson, RSL Tucson Youth Soccer director Billy Petty told KOLD that the club's numbers are “up probably 212% from about 800 kids to about roughly 2,400 and change.” He said registration growth has been building since the U.S. was awarded hosting rights in 2018, and that “it's the younger ages where parents are getting their kids involved in this game.” The Tucson Adult Soccer League said registration passed 1,000 players and that it expanded into 50-plus and 60-plus divisions. One market is an anecdote, not a national count, but it shows what the growth looks like at the club level.

The retention problem

Soccer is the sport that kids most often play first. But immediately, soccer starts losing them, as travel teams form and community leagues begin to wither.
Tom Farrey, executive director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program, quoted in the YSBR and Kinetica report

The report also cites SFIA data showing that soccer's regular participation among kids ages 6 to 17 declined 3% from 2019 to 2024, even though soccer is the second most popular youth sport, played by 26.5% of kids and trailing only basketball at 36.8%. Cost is the most-cited barrier to youth sports overall.

If soccer costs money, millions of kids can't afford to play it.
Henry Bushnell, senior soccer writer, The Athletic, quoted by Sports Destinations

Video: World Cup sparks boom in U.S. youth soccer

How to be ready

These are our suggestions, not findings from the sources.

Open registration early and say clearly what the season costs, since 41% of parents name cost as the primary barrier to youth sports.
Build a first-time on-ramp: a short intro session or a lower-commitment option for kids who have never played.
Use a waitlist instead of turning families away, and tell them when the next spot opens.
Message every family from one place so a new family does not miss the start date.

Interest is not participation. The clubs that convert the World Cup bump will be the ones that make the first step cheap, clear and fast. Our soccer page shows how clubs run registration and schedules on Sketchplay, and the wider numbers are in our youth sports participation statistics.

FAQ

How many kids want to play soccer in the U.S.?

A report from Youth Sports Business Report and Kinetica Group estimates 5.3 million kids ages 6 to 17 are interested in playing soccer but have not played in the past 12 months.

Will the World Cup increase youth soccer registrations?

Early local reports, such as one Tucson club reporting its numbers up about 212% to roughly 2,400 kids, point to growth, but we did not find published national registration totals for 2026 in the sources we reviewed.

What is the biggest barrier to kids playing sports?

Cost is the most-cited barrier: 41% of parents cite it as the primary barrier to youth sports participation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica report.

How much could youth soccer grow?

The report's scenario is that converting just 10% of the 5.3 million interested kids would add 530,000 players and roughly $270 million in annual participation value.

Sources

The Youth Sports Referee Shortage: What the Latest Data Shows

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

High school official registrations have climbed back above pre-pandemic levels in most reporting states. The behavior that drives officials away has not improved, and the workforce is aging.

Key takeaways

Registrations of high school officials are up 9% in 2025-26 versus 2018-19 across 37 reporting states, and 26 of those states are above pre-pandemic levels (NFHS, July 2026).
The NFHS estimates at least 50,000 officials left during the 2020-21 school year alone.
In NASO's 2023 survey of 35,813 officials, 68.81% said sportsmanship is getting worse, more than half had feared for their safety, and nearly 12% had been physically assaulted.
The average official is 56.68 years old, up from 53.29 in 2017, so retention matters as much as recruiting.

Ask any tournament director what keeps them up at night and referees come up fast. The data tells a more nuanced story than the headlines: the shortage of high school officials is easing, while the behavior that drives officials away has not improved.

The good news: registrations are recovering

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) reported on July 29, 2026 that 37 states provided officiating registration data across eight years, and 26 of them now have more registered officials than before the pandemic. For the 2025-26 school year, registrations were up 9% from 2018-19 and 2% from the previous year. Twelve sports are above pre-pandemic levels, including girls lacrosse (up 32%), track and field and cross country (up 23%) and wrestling (up 22%).

+9% more registered officials in 2025-26 than in 2018-19, across 37 reporting states (NFHS, July 29, 2026)
26 of 37 reporting states now above pre-pandemic registration levels (NFHS, July 29, 2026)
68.81% of officials say sportsmanship is getting worse, up from 57.02% in 2017 (NASO 2023 National Officiating Survey)
56.68 average age of an official, up from 53.29 in 2017 (NASO 2023 National Officiating Survey)

The bad news: why officials leave

The NFHS estimates that at least 50,000 officials left during the 2020-21 school year alone. The National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) surveyed 35,813 officials in 2023, roughly double its 2017 sample of 17,487. Sportsmanship was the headline: 68.81% said it is getting worse, 21.25% saw no change and 10.14% said it is getting better. More than half said they had feared for their safety at some point, and nearly 12% reported being physically assaulted during or after events.

As we learned in 2017, data drives discussion, which drives decisions.
Bill Topp, president, National Association of Sports Officials, on the 2023 survey

The pipeline problem

The workforce is aging. The average official in NASO's survey was 56.68 years old, up from 53.29 in 2017, and 79% of respondents said they took on extra assignments because of shortages. The NFHS makes the same point about its own data: “Recruiting new officials will always be important, but retaining experienced officials may be even more critical.”

What a shortage looks like on the ground

On Hawaii's Big Island, the high school league's volleyball pool was down to nine referees in August 2026, against a normal 20 or more, and baseball and softball had 11 umpires combined, according to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Games there are being double and triple-headered, and officials travel long distances for assignments that average $75 per game.

It's a lot of hard work to cover these games. But because of the shortage, our refs get burned out and have to step away, which is a bad sign.
Gabe Wibberley, a Pahoa official of two decades, to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Video: Referee shortage in Utah highlights growing hostility in youth sports

What operators can do

These are our suggestions, not findings from the sources.

Publish a spectator and coach code of conduct on the registration page, and tell families what happens when it is broken.
Have a plan for removing an unruly spectator that does not depend on the official doing it.
Plan around double and triple-headers before they happen, and confirm official assignments early.
Pay officials promptly and tell them in advance how they will be paid.
Thank officials publicly. Keeping experienced ones is worth more than any recruiting drive.

For the logistics side of a weekend, see our operator's checklist for a youth tournament.

FAQ

Is there a referee shortage in youth sports?

The picture is mixed. NFHS data show high school official registrations in 26 of 37 reporting states are above pre-pandemic levels, but local leagues still report scarcity, and the NFHS estimates at least 50,000 officials left during the 2020-21 school year.

Why are referees quitting?

NASO's 2023 survey of 35,813 officials found 68.81% said sportsmanship is getting worse, more than half had feared for their safety, and nearly 12% had been physically assaulted.

How old is the average sports official?

56.68 years in NASO's 2023 survey, up from 53.29 years in 2017.

What can tournament directors do about the shortage?

In our view: publish and enforce a spectator code of conduct, plan around double and triple-headers, confirm assignments early, and pay officials promptly.