Sports
ON DECK
Saturday, Sept. 3
EOU at Bushnell, 5 p.m.
Shortage of high school
officials causes concern
PREP FOOTBALL
By DICK MASON
Dufur Classic
Enterprise vs. Mohawk, 10 a.m.
Ione/Arlington vs. Wallowa,
7:30 p.m.
The Observer
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
EOU at Montana Western, noon
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
NION COUNTY — Jennifer Ste-
phens, a volleyball offi cial for the
past 30 years, remembers a time
when the Union, Wallowa and Baker
county region was fl ush with high school
volleyball offi cials.
The La Grande resident said it was
sometimes hard for less-experienced offi -
cials to get the match assignments they
wanted because the region had almost a
surplus of referees. The days when the
Northeast Oregon Volleyball Association,
which provides offi cials for high school
matches in Union, Wallowa and Baker
counties, had plenty of referees are a distant
memory.
The association is down to 16 offi cials
this season, up two from a year ago but still
well short of the optimum 20 to 24 offi cials
needed, said Karen Howton, of Island City.
This means local volleyball offi cials will
be stretched thin again this year.
“Last season, I was offi ciating fi ve or
six days a week. By the end of the season,
I was dead tired. It is grueling. It is easy to
get burned out,” Howton said.
Stephens agrees the shortage puts great
pressure on offi cials.
“We are on the run from the start of
the season until the last playoff game,” she
said. “I don’t get to see much of my family
during that time.”
The shortage of offi cials means that high
school athletic directors will again be busy
rescheduling games when many teams are
set to compete at home on the same day.
“You have to be fl exible so everybody
can play,” said La Grande High School
Athletic Director Darren Goodman, adding
that, for example, on Tuesdays when La
Grande, Baker and Powder Valley high
schools are all set to play at home, he will
try to move La Grande’s game to a Monday
or a Wednesday.
Imbler High School Athletic Director
Mike Mills also said a lot of schedule jug-
gling is done to make sure the referee
shortage does not prevent any matches
from being played.
“There is a lot of give and take,” he said.
Heidi Justus, commissioner of the
Northeast Oregon Volleyball Association,
credits athletic directors with being very
accommodating.
“The athletic directors are really great to
work with,” she said.
Justus said the shortage of offi cials is
partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said that prior to the pandemic, the
Northeast Oregon Volleyball Association
had 16 to 18 offi cials. Some who stopped
offi ciating during the pandemic have not
returned, she said.
Stephens believes one of the best ways
U
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Pine Eagle at Imbler, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 6
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Enterprise at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
PREP BOYS SOCCER
La Grande at McLoughlin, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 7
PREP GIRLS SOCCER
La Grande at Seaside, 3 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 8
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Wallowa at Imbler, 5 p.m.
Baker at Powder Valley, 6 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 9
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
EOU at Lewis-Clark State, 7 p.m.
PREP FOOTBALL
Enterprise at Imbler, 2 p.m.
La Grande at Ontario, 6 p.m.
Elgin at Lyle, 6 p.m.
Wallowa at Sherman, 6 p.m.
Harper Charter at Joseph, 7 p.m.
Cove at Ione, 7 p.m.
Union at Powder Valley, 7 p.m.
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Elgin at Pilot Rock, 4 p.m.
Wallowa at Sherman, 4 p.m.
Cove at Powder Valley, 5 p.m.
Joseph at South Wasco County,
5 p.m.
Union at Pilot Rock, 5:30 p.m.
PREP CROSS COUNTRY
x2EOMediaFiller - Page 1 - Composite
The most valuable and
respected source of
local news, advertising
and information for
our communities.
Saturday, September 3, 2022
Wanted: volleyball offi cials
All times Pacifi c
Enterprise, Elgin, Imbler,
Union/Cove at Catherine Creek
Scamper, 4 p.m.
La Grande at Runner Soul Fest,
Big River Golf Course, Umatilla,
5 p.m.
A6
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Angie Malone, of La Grande, makes a call Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at the Hanna Cashell Memorial
Tournament at La Grande High School. Malone is among the volleyball offi cials who belong to the
Northeast Oregon Volleyball Association, which serves schools in Union, Wallowa and Baker counties.
MORE INFORMATION
The Northeast Oregon Volleyball Association
provides training for everyone who wants to
become an offi cial. It is now signing up people for
training prior to the 2023 season. People who are
interested in serving as offi cials for the should email
Heidi Justus at neovba@gmail.com.
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Avery Myer sets up for a serve against Ontario
during pool play at the Hanna Cashell Memorial
Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at La
Grande High School. A shortage of volleyball
offi cials has athletic directors and coaches
concerned about potentially canceled games this
season.
to address the shortage is to encourage
younger members of the association to
recruit their friends, such as those they play
intramural volleyball with.
When encouraging people to step for-
ward, Stephens believes it is important to
concentrate on the contributions people
will make as offi cials — without them, she
said, girls will not experience the joy of
playing high school volleyball.
“We need to focus on the excitement of
helping girls do something fun, which helps
keep them in school,” Stephens said.
Howton, who has offi ciated volleyball
for 21 years, also said she is driven to keep
going because of what it means to the girls
playing, student-athletes she gets to see
grow up right before her eyes, while offi ci-
ating not only high school but also middle
school matches.
“I love every one of them,” she said.
The camaraderie offi cials share is also
cherished by Howton.
“You have fun traveling together. You
get to know each other well. Some of my
dearest friends are volleyball offi cials,” she
said.
Volleyball offi cials are paid about
$67 for matches involving schools in the
Class 4A to 6A enrollment classifi ca-
tions and about $64 for games of schools
in the smaller 3A and below classifi ca-
tions. It’s not a lot, but Stephens said it is
a sum people like college students would
welcome.
“What student could not use a a few
extra dollars in their pocket?” she said.
eomediagroup.com
Eastern ready to put lessons learned on road trip to good use
Mountaineers host
Jamestown in home
opener on Sept. 5
By ANDREW CUTLER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — There
were a lot of positives to the
Eastern Oregon University
women’s soccer team’s sea-
son-opening trip to Florida
last month.
The Mountaineers came
away with some valu-
able experience, improved
team chemistry and, most
important, a pair of wins
during the excursion to
southern Florida.
“(The trip) was a good
indicator of where we can
go. And the potential that
The Flames claimed four
this group has, if they can
straight from 2008-11.
keep working hard,” EOU
Plocher said the Hawks
head coach Jake
were a good test for
Plocher said of the
the Mountaineers to
games against No. 6
start the season.
Keiser, St. Thomas
“There were some
and Ave Maria. “We
good things, obvi-
feel pretty comfort-
ously some fi rst-
able and confi dent as
game jitters and
Plocher
long as we can keep
errors that were
progressing.”
made, but going into
The Mountaineers
game two and even
dropped their opener
game three, we did
against Kaiser, 3-0,
a much better job of
before rallying for
kind of cleaning that
a pair of 1-0 wins
up,” the sixth-year
over St. Thomas and
head coach said.
Barker
Ave Maria. Keiser
Plocher, who is
won national titles
66-19-11 at Eastern,
in 2020 and 2021, the fi rst
said the Mountaineers were
since team since Lee Uni-
much better controlling
versity to win back-to-back possession in the two wins
national championships.
and sophomore goalie
Madeline Barker was rock
solid in net.
“I think Maddie is one
of the best goalies in the
nation,” he said. “She’s
really been able to make
strides from her freshman
year. Going into game two
and game three, she did a
good job of putting game
one behind her. She wasn’t
tested as much obviously
but was able to organize the
defense, and the defense
defi nitely played lights out
those two games as well.”
Plocher said the trip
was an opportunity for an
already close-knit bunch to
spend more time together
and bond.
“That’s just a byproduct
of being on the road for six
to eight days,” he said. “It
gives them an opportunity
to really get to know one
another. It was nice to be
able to do that.”
The Mountaineers open
the home schedule on
Monday, Sept. 5, against the
University of Jamestown
from the Great Plains Ath-
letic Conference. While this
is the fi rst matchup between
the teams, the Jimmies
are a program Plocher has
knowledge of from his time
at Presentation College in
Aberdeen, South Dakota.
“I’m fairly familiar with
Jamestown and even their
coaching staff . So it’s great
that they’re gonna be able
to come down,” he said.
“They had a great year last
year. They won the GPAC
and made it to the national
Find up-to-date scores and game coverage for
Eastern Oregon University and your local high
schools, available 24/7 brought to you by
EasternOregonSports.com and
lagrandeobserver.com
tournament. So to be able
to have a team of that cal-
iber out this way is nice.”
Jamestown, which is off
to an 0-2-0 start, following
losses to No. 9 Aquinas
College and No. 10 Univer-
sity of the Cumberlands,
will meet No. 4 Oregon
Institute of Technology on
Sept. 2 and Northwest Uni-
versity on Sept. 4 in La
Grande before the matchup
with the Mountaineers.
Plocher is excited about
the chance to see the Jim-
mies play in person before
squaring off on the pitch.
“We have an opportu-
nity to watch them play
a couple of times to get
a better feel for them,”
he said. “Should be a fun
game.”