Joe McNeal takes the abuse in stride. He doesn't mind 22 teenagers, and their parents, reminding him how old, blind and stupid he is as many as eight times a week.

McNeal is a high-school soccer referee - a rapidly vanishing breed.

There used to be a handful of qualified head referees - ones that can work the center of the field - in the Wood River Valley. This year, due to retirements, vacations and other matters, McNeal ended up as the man in the middle for most of the big matches.

"It's like I had a second career all of a sudden," said McNeal, the research and development director for Ketchum-based Smith Sport Optics. "The chore was that there were so many matches. I like doing the games and I like being in the center for the big ones. I'm not burned out any more than I am every season.

"I enjoy it, but I certainly wouldn't mind having some more qualified help."

Prep sports referee shortages are a nationwide issue. Volleyball and wrestling are among the sports most impacted. Locally, the shortfall was most obvious in soccer, where several games were rescheduled or canceled because no one was available to officiate.

"If I had my best wishes, I need something between 50 and 60 referees (per season)," said Peter Doble, the commissioner for District IV soccer. "This year we were right at 32. We can get by with 45, 46, 47, but we can only get by. So (32) is a critical number."

As the state tournament uses the best refs from each district, there's no officiating shortage this week. But that doesn't mean the problem goes away with the season's final whistle.

With the average referee lasting three years, the issue is a longstanding one, but became especially problematic this fall, Doble said.

One of the bright spots was that younger referees were coming in, and they were recruiting other younger prospects. But new referees can only be assistant referees - the ones who work the sidelines - for around two years while they are trained.

The number of referees expected to return next year - around 23, using a 70-percent retention rate - could mean asking schools to build schedules around referee availability, Doble said.

While athletic departments are flexible enough to work around their pre-set schedule due to refereeing concerns, frustration exists over the amount of games changed around.

"Referees shouldn't decide when we can and can't play a game," said Jerome High School athletic director Ty Jones.

Jerome's boys soccer team had a Great Basin Conference match against Canyon Ridge pushed back and both conference matches against Minico rescheduled. The second of those, which also rescheduled a girls match, resulted cancelling a match against Mountain Home for the Jerome boys and girls teams.

The first Saturday of district tournament play also reflected the underlying issue. Instead of all 12 Class 3A and 4A matches kicking off at the traditional 11 a.m., for a Saturday, there was one that started at 11, six at noon, two at 1 p.m., two more at 2 p.m., and one at 3 p.m.

Doble hopes next year won't have as big of a crunch as this season, but it's still going to take a lot of work, and new bodies, to avoid a similar merry-go-round of matches.

"My sense is this year was an aberration, but I do think the numbers are in a downward progression," Doble said. "Hopefully (younger refs recruiting other younger refs) will stabilize the trend. The only thing that will reverse the trend is if every referee would bring 2-3 guys in, but that's just not going to happen."

David Bashore may be reached at dbashore@magicvalley.com or 208-735-3230.