‘They are scared.’ Ky. bill aimed at stopping intimidation, assaults on sport officials.

Mark Shumate, who assigns referees to some Kentucky high school and youth wrestling matches, is among those who hopes the 2020 General Assembly will approve a bill that would strengthen criminal penalties for people who intimidate and assault sports officials.

“We can’t retain officials because they are scared out there,” Shumate said, adding that he had to cancel a few events because he didn’t have officials to cover them. “We hear so much bad stuff and so many threats.”

House Bill 65, known as the “Good Sport Bill,” was introduced Tuesday and sponsored by Republicans Rep. Randy Bridges of Paducah, Rep. Brandon Reed of Hodgenville and House Majority Whip Chad McCoy of Bardstown.

Bridges said Wednesday that in filing the bill, “our hope is twofold.”

“The first is not to place more people in jail but to raise awareness that intimidating or assault has its consequences and actually reduce violence. The second is that this bill will encourage a new environment that will bring back respect to these officials and renew an interest that will encourage more to enter this profession,” Bridges said.

Under the legislation, intimidation of a sports official would become a crime, a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail.

The bill also proposes to change the current law so that the penalty for any assault on a sports official would be raised from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony, punishable by one to five years as a state inmate.

The legislation’s definition of a sports official includes a referee, umpire, or linesman.

The bill says that a person is guilty of intimidation of a sports official when they, directly or indirectly, make any threat to a sports official “with the intent of causing them to commit, make, or delay any act, decision, or determination regarding a sports contest.”

Bridges said over the last several years, the environment surrounding youth sports has grown more and more aggressive, and has resulted in a shortage of athletic officials.

“As a parent and grandparent this concerns me,” he said. “I feel the youth sports should be about building character and teaching our children valuable life lessons such as team work and sportsmanship.”

Bridges said lawmakers had worked with KHSAA in developing the bill to protect officials, “as well as to send a message that intimidation and assault will not be tolerated. “

Butch Cope, Kentucky High School Athletic Association associate commissioner, told WCPO-TV this week that his organization loses between 100 and 150 of its 4,000 licensed officials each year.

“The number one thing they tell us when they don’t come back is ‘We don’t like the way we’re being treated by coaches, players, parents, administrators,’ whatever,” Cope was quoted as saying.

Bridges said that according to a survey by the National Association of Sports Officials, 57 percent of responding officials feel that sportsmanship is getting worse. The survey also shows that more than 47 percent of male officials and 44 percent of female officials have felt unsafe or feared for their safety due to the behavior of some administrators, coaches, players, and mainly spectators.

“This is becoming more and more common, to the point that we are no longer surprised when we hear that an official has been intimidated or that someone has gone so far as to assault the person we should be teaching our children to respect,” Reed said in an earlier news release about the proposed legislation. “We are taking this step to protect these officials, as well as to send a message that if you’re not going to be a ‘good sport,’ you better plan on staying home.”

Among the reports of poor sportsmanship and dangerous behavior at athletic events, Bridges said, was in April 2019 when McCracken County referee Kenny Culp was assaulted while officiating at a local youth basketball tournament. That alleged perpetrator was charged with a felony assault and a jury trial is scheduled for April, according to online court records.

Even though the perpetrator in that specific case was charged with a felony, Bridges said his discussions with local law enforcement and sports officials caused him to realize that more needed to be done “to prevent these highly charged situations from escalating.”

Reed has said that local officials also contacted him, saying that youth sports were becoming so hostile that fewer individuals want to officiate them.

The National Association of Sports Officials survey said that almost half the respondents said that youth recreational and competitive sports are the worst environment for sportsmanship, the lawmakers said.

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 10:41 AM.