Five Prince William County high schools will have to play some of their home games on either Thursday nights or Saturdays instead of Fridays this fall due to a shortage of officials.

“It’s not going to get better,” said Larry Kendrick, who has overseen the Northern Virginia association since 2019 and is entering his 48th year as an official. “Every year, we’re losing officials.”

On a national level, an estimated 50,000 high school officials left the profession between 2018 and 2021, said Dana Pappas, director of officiating services for the National Federation of State High School Sports.

Virginia had just over 7,000 officials this past school year, according to the Virginia High School League. That is up about 1,000 from the prior school year due to fewer COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. But overall, the numbers are down from the pre-pandemic years.

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