Pierce County High School (PCHS) has a new elective class this school year — the first of its kind in Georgia. Environmental Science teacher Jason Bradley is now also the instructor for PCHS’s new Fundamentals of Officiating.
Principal Kelly Murray says a course such as this had been talked about for a couple of years, but it wasn’t until last year they began reaching out via email to students who might be interested. Mostly the emails targeted juniors and seniors with extra time in their schedules for a new elective.
The response was almost immediate. Seven young men, all student athletes, signed up for Fundamentals of Officiating. The course combines classwork with on the field training. A special online training program called RefReps is also used to supplement the curriculum, but Murray says the most important ingredient of this new class is the instructor.
“That’s where we’re blessed. No one else has a Jason Bradley,” said Murray.
Bradley graduated from PCHS in 1995 and began his career as an arbiter one year later, joining the local Georgia High School Association (GHSA) in football, baseball and basketball. By 2002, he had graduated from Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School at the top of his class. From there, Bradley embarked on a 10 year career in the Minor Leagues reaching AAA, Dominican Winter League and MLB Spring.
“Throughout my professional career I stayed true to GHSA and continued to join local associations to officiate football and basketball and served as an evaluator/ trainer for GHSA baseball with previous liaison Carey McRae and now with Michael Bates, as well as working college baseball before leaving for spring training each March,” said Bradley.
Bradley’s professional career ended in 2010, but he continued to work as a part time evaluator for umpires in Minor League Baseball until 2020 and also joined numerous college conference rosters as an umpire in baseball, CAA, A-Sun, Southern Conference, Sun Belt, ACC and SEC.
Each year since 2012, he has worked a conference tournament and for the last six years he has worked the SEC Conference Tournament.
Graduating from Albany State in 2013 with a bachelor of science in education, Bradley is currently in his twelfth year of teach in the Pierce County School System. Unsurprisingly, he has spent a lot of that time coaching in one form or another.
Bradley remains an active arbiter with GHSA, currently in his 28th season, served as president of the South Georgia Basketball Association in Waycross from 2012 to 2016 and continues to serve as lead instructor for all GHSA Baseball Camps.
All of which makes him uniquely qualified to usher in the next generation of referees and umpires. That coach mentality comes out once his students finish calling a game of flag football played by Coach Tommy Doss’s physical education class out on Bear Field.
Bradley explains that after every game an official works they go into a post-game session much like the players on a team, seeking to hone and perfect their craft.
Once his students make it in from the field, changing out of their uniforms and back into their school clothes, Bradley asks them to “offer one thing we could have done different or better.”
Several of the students offer their own observations, yielding a short list of things to watch out for and areas they can improve. The key take away from their most recent session was blow your whistle “with power” and make your calls in a strong, firm voice.
Merida
Bowen
Rozier
Walker
Shuman
Griffin
Brazell
“Don’t be timid. Not just in football, but in all sports,” Bradley tells them. “You’ve all been on a team and you know if you play timid, the other team can tell. They know and they think they got you. It’s the same with calling a game.” The students will have to have confidence in the skills they have acquired and the calls that they make, because sooner or later, they will be challenged.
Teacher and principal alike have words of warning for anyone interested in becoming a game official: have thick skin.
Bradley cites a 2023 National Association of Sporting Officials survey which revealed more than 50% of those who responded had been in fear for their safety while working a game and only 6% of sports officials last longer than 1-3 years in the occupation.
Almost all of that loss of officials is due to fan, crowd or family behavior at sporting events.
“The abuse that officials take is ridiculous,” Murray said. Which explains why there is currently a shortage of qualified referees, umpires and other game officials in spite of the position often paying well.
It is that pay, not just in some vague future, but soon close at hand, which seems to motivate the students of this debut class. That, and continuing to be involved with the sports they love. When asked what drew them to this new course and what they hope to get out of it, Ashton Bowen speaks up first.
“I just want to make a lot of money. When I graduate, I don’t want to play sports anymore, but I want to still be involved,” said Bowen.
“You don’t always think ‘I want to be a referee when I grow up’, but this is a way to stay involved. You might not play college ball or be big time, but you can always be a part of it and it builds character,” said Archy Shuman.
“I want to stay in something where I don’t have to retire early,” said Brandon Griffon, “I can stay involved, travel all around and make money.”
“To better the sports environment and stay involved,” Briar Rozier said.
Bradley cites personal experience with calling games to pay bills while pursuing his college education and says his first crop of future officials are on the right track. They are currently training to call plays for all fall sports: football, softball, volleyball and basketball. From there, they can take it as far as their interest and energy can carry them.
Murray said, “This isn’t a football class. This is a trade class.”
Bradley nods in agreement, “We have trades here and we’re trying to expand into more trades. They are learning a skill.”
And with the current shortage of game officials, it is a skill that is much in demand. Seen in that light, Fundamentals of Officiating takes its place alongside other vocationally oriented courses offered at PCHS, such as Agriculture, Audio Visual, Automotive Repair, Computer Science, Cosmetology, Engineering, Nursing and several other electives.
The seven young men signed up for the course will soon have their knowledge put to the test, not in the classroom but on the field. PCHS has partnered with the Rec Department and First Baptist Church of Blackshear, which also has their own rec program, to give these students opportunities to not only officiate games but to make money. As early as September 10, Bradley’s students have started making the hard calls for the Pierce County Rec Department and making from $15 to $50 per game while doing it, which isn’t bad money for doing something you love.
