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It was former Mountain View coach Craig Reid who opened the eyes of Rand Runco to this change.

Now in his 18th year as the Sisters High boys basketball coach, Runco listened to Reid, who coached the Cougars for 15 years before stepping down last spring. The game needs three referees, Runco would hear. Most states have already gone to three referees, he would hear.

Not long ago, Runco’s first reaction to the news that some conferences in Oregon this season will be using three referees instead of two was to call Reid. “Hey,” Runco said to him, “guess what?”

Turns out Reid had called it.

“Frankly, (the rule change) is the right thing for the game,” Runco says. “Especially when you think about how much bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled players are because so many players are practicing and playing year-round, lifting weights.

“Honestly,” he says, “I think it’s time.”

This season, the time has come for Oregon high school basketball.

A rule change approved by the Oregon School Activities Association earlier this year allows for conferences to use three-person officiating crews instead of a two-referee system.

The change is not a mandate; leagues can choose whether they want to go to three-person crews. If conferences want to use three officials in league games, and if the officiating organizations serving those conferences agree, an extra striped shirt will be on the court this season for boys and girls varsity basketball games.

In Central Oregon, the Class 4A Sky-Em League (which includes Sisters) and the 2A Columbia Basin Conference (with Culver) will use three referees for league contests.

About three years ago, as estimated by Oregon Athletic Officials Association executive director Jack Folliard, support for this rule change began gaining traction. The speed of the game had been steadily increasing with the heightened abilities and skills of players. Across the nation, 35 state high school athletic associations had already adopted three-official crews. Folliard notes that Oregon was “very much interested in moving in that direction, again primarily because it just provides a better-officiated contest.”

Bob Reichert, longtime head of the Central Oregon Basketball Officials Association, says he is excited to see Oregon high school basketball explore the change. He was surprised that only a few leagues and not the entire state decided to go with the three-officials system.

“I think it would definitely be a plus and would improve the caliber of play here in Central Oregon,” Reichert says.

In Oregon, Folliard says, officiating organizations are down 15 percent in membership over the past five years. This is not just an Oregon trend, he emphasizes. “It’s almost to the point of a crisis,” Folliard says. “We’re aging, and it’s tough on the knees, et cetera. … It (a three-referee system) is easier physically, for obvious reasons. And we’re hoping that … some of the older fellas who are really good officials will hang in there a little bit longer and some of the younger officials who are waiting desperately for a spot to start doing varsity contests … will have some more spots open up for them.”

A consistent problem in recruiting and retaining officials, Folliard notes, is the abuse of referees by spectators and coaches. With three officials on the court, he argues, that strain can be at least somewhat alleviated.

The plan sounds like a win. The quality of officiating with a three-person crew should be improved, which in turn should improve the caliber of play. The careers of experienced officials could be lengthened. And the mechanics of a three-official system typically means a decrease in the number of full-court sprints, saving wear and tear on officials.

The OAOA has already hosted what Folliard calls a “train the trainers clinic,” where each officiating association sent its chief trainer to learn the differences between officiating games with two referees and with three refs. Of course, Folliard says, “the best training is on the court.”

As for getting schools on board, the primary obstacle is cost. Obviously, with a third official on the floor, schools would be paying more for referees for each game. But Folliard notes that officials in Oregon have been willing to work at a discount in three-person crews — about 15 percent less, he estimates — and that the cost to schools with the three-official system would be only about $1,000 more per school for the entire basketball season.

According to the OSAA, high school basketball referees in Oregon are paid $63 per game at the Class 6A, 5A and 4A varsity levels and $56.75 per game in the three smallest classifications. Officials are also reimbursed for mileage to games. Still, bigger schools can expect to spend about $160 per varsity game for a three-person officiating crew this season, which is up by about $40 per game from last season. These costs, Folliard says, are why the OAOA and OSAA decided to leave it up to each conference to mandate three-official crews.

Folliard says, however, that for some schools, adding a third referee could actually save some money. If schools play boys and girls varsity games back to back, as Sisters and Culver do now, one three-person officiating crew could work both contests and would be paid 85 percent of the two-person rate, according to Folliard, while limiting the cost of mileage fees.

“Frankly, I can’t predict what the OSAA will do at all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes mandatory at all levels for a while.” Folliard says.

In Central Oregon, if this rule eventually becomes mandatory, Reichert says that varsity games would be given priority by the local officials’ association. In order to fit those needs, he says, there could be cuts at the sub-varsity levels.

And if this rule does require all conferences to staff three officials for each varsity game, Reichert says, leagues might have to reevaluate how they schedule contests. Boys and girls games might be stacked at the same site. Some games might be scheduled for different nights altogether. Scheduling those games, Reichert says, will depend on the manpower of each officiating organization, which he is certain conferences have already begun to take into account.

“But we’re trying to keep an optimistic outlook on it,” Reichert says. “And I feel that it helps from the standpoint of keeping people running up and down the court for more years.”

Folliard says he hopes other conferences in Oregon will “jump on the bandwagon once they understand that (the rule change) is truly good for the game.”

Runco, the Sisters coach, admits that he expects to hear a few extra whistles in games officiated by three-person crews. But in general, he approves of the new system.

“It’s like the 3-point line, the shot clock, you know?” Runco says. “It’s going to benefit the game.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0307, glucas@bendbulletin.com.