NATCHEZ — At 61-years of age, Chuck Fuqua said he still enjoys wearing a black and white uniform, having a whistle around his neck and serving as a high school referee.

Fuqua, however, said he wishes more young people would get involved as referees.

“We are hurting to get young officials down here in the Miss-Lou,” Fuqua said. “Most officials we have in our district are getting older, and we’re not getting any young referees in and that’s kind of bad around here. We need more quality officials and most of the officials are in their 50s.”

Fuqua said he has been a referee for 26 years, and his journey of becoming a referee began when he was riding in a car to a football game with his brothers, Jimmy Fuqua and Carl Fuqua. Fuqua said his two brothers were referees at the time.

“The head referee of that crew was David Massey, and he wanted me to be involved in basketball and football,” Fuqua said. “I got recruited by Massey, who was trying to find more referees for his crew on that night.”

For people who are interested in becoming a referee for either the Mississippi High School Activities Association or MidSouth Association of Independent Schools, Daniel Slayton, a 37-years-old soccer referee, said potential referees are required to take a 50-question test, attend several meetings and know the rules and regulations of the sports they referee as well.

Slayton said his experience of being a coach helped him in his quest to become a referee.

Thomas Garrity, 23, is also a soccer referee. Garrity said he usually works alongside with Slayton.

Garrity said he began his journey of becoming a referee for Mississippi and Louisiana four years ago. Garrity said he wanted to become a referee because of his love of both soccer and baseball from playing in high school.

“I enjoy the game being played right,” Garrity said. “When you have a good referee or one who enjoys the game completely, then the game goes smoother and the correct team that plays better is going to win.”

At every soccer match, Garrity said the school that is hosting the match pays him.

A head referee is paid $65 and assistant referees are paid $55.

At soccer matches hosted by schools, Garrity said he sees parents in the stands, cheering on their sons or daughters playing soccer. If the parents become involved, Garrity said he has a two-step process of dealing with them.

“The first step is to tell them [parents] that this is what I called, and we’re going to go with it,” Garrity said. “Then if it keeps going or they yell something vulgar, then you I have to take the next step where I get a game administrator to ask them to leave. I don’t like doing that because the parents came to watch their kids play high school sports. That’s something that doesn’t last forever, and I never realized it when I was done playing.”