2018
2017-2018 TASO MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS
The TASO
2017‑2018 seasons set all time records for membership numbers as total TASO
membership topped 16,000 resulting in a 5.6% increase in membership. The biggest contributing factor to the upswing
was a sharp increase in new members. Over
all six sports, 22.9% of the total membership were new to that sport last year.
That’s the good
news. The bad news … 18.8% of 2016‑2017 members did not return for
2017‑2018. Even with the sharp increase
in new members, Texas, like most every other state, is experiencing a shortage
of officials. Based on previous surveys,
we find that the most frequent reasons for not returning is due to a family or job‑related
concern. The most sited reason, that can be addressed is the conduct of
coaches, players, and fans. This is a
concern that we are continuing to address with the UIL and TAPPS.
Is seems the two
largest factors for our officials shortage is the schools that open each year
and our retention rate. The new school
growth is beyond our control, but perhaps our retention rate is something we
can work on. We are certainly working on
that at the State level, but I encourage each TASO member to have discussions
within your chapter to look for ways to address the retention rate.
The 2018‑2019
seasons are underway with Volleyball already playing and Football just a few
weeks away. Let’s all prepare from both
a rules knowledge and fitness level aspect to make this a banner year for TASO
members.
