Sports
A7
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Shortage of high
school football
officials hitting
close to home
By DICK MASON
The Observer
A GRANDE
L
— A shortage
of football
referees is looming
ominously as the start
of high school football
season in Northeastern
Oregon approaches.
The Northeast Oregon Foot-
ball Officials Association,
which provides officials for
high school and middle school
varsity and junior games in
Union, Wallowa, Baker and
Grant counties, has just 19
people available to officiate this
season, seven short of the min-
imum needed, according to
Pete Caldwell, commissioner
of the association.
“It is the lowest number
we have had,” said Caldwell,
who has been with the North-
east Oregon Football Officials
Association for about 25 years.
Caldwell attributes the
decline to the fact that many
members have been retiring.
“I don’t know why more
younger people are not getting
involved in officiating. It is a
mystery,” said Caldwell, noting
that the average age of his
association’s members is now
61.5 years.
He said that unless the
Northeast Oregon Football
Officials Association is able
to recruit more people to offi-
ciate, it will face the pros-
The Observer, File
Ab Orton, a referee with OSAA, walks off the field after a game between La Grande and Vale on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Northeast Oregon Football Officials
Association, which provides officials for high school and middle school varsity and junior games in Union, Wallowa, Baker and Grant counties, has just 19
people available to officiate for the fall 2022 season, seven short of the minimum needed, according to Pete Caldwell, commissioner of the association.
pect of requesting schools on
some occasions to change their
schedules so that all games can
be played. For example, on Fri-
days, when there are a high
number of games scheduled,
schools may be asked to move
some contests to Thursday or
Saturday to reduce the logjam,
making it possible for officials
to be provided for all of them.
Caldwell, who noted that
rescheduling had to be done
several times in 2021 when
there was also a shortage of
officials, said it is not easy.
“It is a huge headache,” he
said.
Doug Hislop, of La Grande,
an official with the North-
east Oregon Officials Foot-
ball Association for the past 52
years, said rescheduling games
is not an ideal alternative. He
said he fears that the compli-
cations created by the pro-
cess may lead some schools to
cancel some contests.
Caldwell is hoping people
will step forward to serve as
officials to reduce the shortage.
Previous officiating experience
is not needed.
“We can teach anyone to be
an official,” he said.
Caldwell said those starting
out may first be assigned to
middle school and junior var-
sity games before officiating
varsity contests. This will
allow them to develop their
skills in a less pressure packed
MORE INFORMATION
People interested in serving as
football officials for the Northeast
Oregon Football Officials Associ-
ation should call Pete Caldwell at
541-910-7020.
environment, he said.
Caldwell said many people
who serve as officials are
driven to do so because they
want to help youth.
“They want to give back to
the community and kids,” he
said.
Hislop said this a motivating
factor for him, noting that he
will never forget how referees
made it possible for him to par-
ticipate in athletics as a youth
growing up in Idaho.
“I had the opportunity
to play football and wrestle
because we had officials,” he
said.
Others are drawn to offici-
ating because of their love of a
specific sport — football, for
example.
“It gives people a chance to
be part of the game,” Caldwell
said.
Officials are paid on a per
game basis, making $73.50
for officiating class 4A games.
Officials are paid a little less
for officiating varsity games
involving schools in the 3A,
2A and 1A classifications for
smaller schools.
Wallowa County’s Hanley Miller has an eye on national titles
Future in
professional rodeo
seems bright for
local teen
By KATY NESBITT
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — In
a county well known for
its pro rodeo the last full
weekend of July, it’s no sur-
prise to find a pro rodeo
cowboy in the making.
Hanley Miller is already a
state champion and asked
to perform at the 2022
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo.
As a high school
freshman this spring,
Miller won the tie-down
competition at the state
rodeo finals. With that title,
the Pro Rodeo Cowboy
Association paid for his
PRCA card; at 15, he was
too young to compete but
was allowed to test his
skill against the pros as an
exhibitionist.
Just before Chief Joseph
Contributed Photo
Hanley Miller, an incoming sophomore at Joseph High School, is the
2022 Oregon State tie-down champ. This July he ran with the pros as
an exhibitionist at the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo.
Days, Miller placed 29th in
the tie-down aggregate at
the National High School
Rodeo finals in Gillette,
Wyoming. With three more
years in high school and
two until he is old enough
to hold a PRCA card, he
has ambitious goals.
“I want to win a
national title in tie-down
and qualify for the NFR
(National Finals Rodeo),”
he said.
Miller, an incoming
sophomore at Joseph High
School, fought hard for
that state championship in
tie-down. He said he had
a tough go in the second
round of state finals after
being very consistent all
year.
“I had to forget about it
and move on,” he said.
The excitement of the
crowd carried him through,
and his mother, Dena
Miller, said, “he took care
of business” and got the
win.
This past year he team
roped with partner Bayli
Ladner, of Klamath Falls.
The pair placed fourth at
the Oregon State Finals
Rodeo in Prineville. This
coming year, Miller said he
is adding steer wrestling to
his events, with an eye on
earning points toward the
all-around competition.
The high school rodeo
season is three competi-
tions in the fall and four in
the spring.
Miller said he had a rope
in his hand as a toddler and
was horseback by the age
of 3. It wasn’t long before
he was a regular at local
junior and ranch rodeos
and a hand at Chief Joseph
Days, either untying calves
at timed event slack compe-
titions or cooling down the
pickup men’s horses.
At the age of 7, he com-
peted in his first rodeo out-
side of Wallowa County —
the Cayuse Junior Rodeo in
Pendleton. He started com-
peting in junior high rodeo
competitions as a sixth
grader and qualified for
nationals, held in Huron,
South Dakota.
Miller’s seventh grade
year was during the
COVID-19 shutdowns, so
he and his family opened
up their arena to kids in
Wallowa County to come
rope and ride. Up to 50
would attend an afternoon
of roping, barrels and pole
bending.
“There were no fall
sports so we had rodeo
practice open to the com-
munity all fall on Tues-
days and Thursdays,” Dena
Miller said.
The following year as
an eighth grader, the young
cowboy qualified again
for the junior high rodeo
national in Des Moines,
Iowa. With three more
years of high school, the
sky’s the limit.
“To see your kid want
something and work for it
is really emotional,” Dena
Miller said.
Hanley Miller’s skills
aren’t confined to the rodeo
arena. Along with the rest
of his family, he moves
cattle for the Fence Creek
Ranch, and he started
training horses by the age
of 11.
“People will call up and
say, ‘I want a roping horse,’
and I work with them,”
Miller said.
Keen on perfecting his
rodeo skills, while encour-
aging others to do so as
well, Miller and his family
are hosting a breakaway
and tie-down roping clinic
with PRCA champion
Nathan Steinberg.
“We are excited to share
our passion and bring
someone with his qual-
ifications to come to the
county,” Dena Miller said.
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