The START program, organized and initiated in Pennsylvania by five NCAA Division II and III conferences during the 2008-09 academic year, returns to York College of Pa. this spring to recruit new officials in a variety of sports.

START, or Students of Today are Referees of Tomorrow, was an initiative to recruit college students and others into the avocation of sports officiating, beginning on the scholastic levels and hopefully advancing to the collegiate level in future years.

The partnership included the NCAA Division III Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), Centennial Conference (CC), Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC), Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) and Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in coordination with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA).

York College will host its fourth START program on consecutive Tuesdays (Feb. 9 and Feb. 16).  The PIAA provides sport instructors as well as educational and testing material for the program.  The PIAA also waves its registration fee for college students in the START program.

The program will be held on the second floor of York College's McKay Hall (Room 226), located on Grantley Road.  Meetings for baseball, softball, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse and field hockey will begin both nights at 6 p.m.  Candidates will be able to take the PIAA officiating test at the end of the Feb. 16 meeting.

To register, candidates should send an e-mail to Capital Athletic Conference Commissioner Tom Byrnes (tbyrnes@cacsports.com) by Monday, Feb. 8, indicating which sport they're interested in becoming a PIAA official.  Late applications, or interest in another sport(s), will be accommodated if possible.  

All college students are eligible to participate in the program, not just students attending the host institution of START events.  Students from neighboring college and university campuses such as Penn State-York, Penn State-Harrisburg, Millersville, Messiah, Elizabethtown, Gettysburg, Franklin & Marshall and others are encouraged to participate in the program free of charge. 

Non-college students (parents, college employees, alumni, fans, etc.) are also invited to become officials through the START program, although they are required to pay the $30 fee to take the PIAA test.

START programs have been held in several places in Pennsylvania as well as at Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Md., and Wesley College in Dover, Del.

The Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) is also planning to host a START program at Cabrini College in suburban Philadelphia (Radnor, Pa.).   That program will aim to recruit officials for baseball, softball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse on the first three Wednesdays in February, 2010 (February 3, 10 and 17).   The three sessions will run approximately 75 minutes.