I had several people ask me what the circumstances were surrounding the postponement of Tippecanoe Valley's football game against Southwood Sept.9.The officiating crew didn't show up for the game and it was moved to Saturday night with a new set of officials.The old crew disbanded and failed to inform Valley athletic director Duane Burkhart. How does that happen? I came to find out that most officials sign contracts to do football or basketball games up to five years in advance.Schools want to get the best refs they can so they sign them up as early as possible. Over time, some officials retire or quit and most often the school is given enough notice and they move on to get another official. There is a website schools can access which shows a list of licensed officials and can find replacements. That, however, isn't foolproof because there are some refs who continue to renew their license but have stopped doing games according to IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress.
DANIEL RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016