New to Officiating?
It’s easy to become an MHSAA Registered Official. The following steps will have you in the middle of the action in no time!
Note: if you are under the age of 18, please visit the Legacy Student Officials Program page.
If you live outside of Michigan and wish to work games in our state, please consult the Reciprocal Official Information. Both Legacy and Reciprocal officials must register by mail.
The first step is to register in your chosen sports with the MHSAA at www.mhsaa.com. You are registering with the MHSAA as an independent contractor and not an employee. You will be given detailed registration instructions and can complete your registration in a matter of minutes.
Once registered, you will receive an Officials ID Number and Login information and Sports Rules Books from the MHSAA. New Officials must take an MHSAA Officials Guidebook Exam and complete a Mechanics Exam if registering for football and/or basketball. The Exams are open-book, and may be taken online. These exams may be accessed by logging in to My MHSAA Officials Services using the Login tab found in the upper right corner on any page of the MHSAA Website.
The next step is to notify and join a local association such as the West Michigan Officials Association. The West Michigan Officials Association (WMOA) is a basketball and football association. Read our mission statement. There are other officials associations for other sports. The MHSAA maintains a list of approved associations in the sport and area of interest to you.
The WMOA provides rules meetings, clinics and other learning opportunities for rookies and veterans alike. Whether your interest is in football or basketball or both sports, once you are a WMOA member, the registrar for both sports (Brad Brunet) will email you an invitation to register on ArbiterSports. You need to maintain your schedule availability on ArbiterSports which allows the registrar to assist in scheduling any available games. It also helps to network with other officials and with athletic directors at schools. Start with a level you are comfortable with (usually middle school), and realize there is no substitute for knowing the rules.
West Michigan Officials Association