Support the ‘Officials For Officials’ Challenge

2019 kicks off with a NIRSA Foundation challenge to student officials and their supporters! NIRSA associate member ZOOOM App and an anonymous donor have partnered with the NIRSA Foundation for the second year in a row to support the Student Officials Development Campaign with a match challenge.

“As officials we’ve been tasked with the impossible; start out perfect, then get better,” says Kyle Armstrong, co-founder and vice president of ZOOOM App. “And we’ve typically been given the fewest resources to help us achieve those lofty expectations. That’s why supporting the Student Officials Development Campaign is so important to us. These up-and-coming student officials are the future of officiating, and they will become the leaders who help officiating, and sports, remain sustainable. Giving them the tools and resources they need to be successful is core to our mission at ZOOOM.”

Between January 2 and April 19, their gifts will match up to $2,000 of all new donations made to the Student Officials Development Campaign, one of the NIRSA Foundation’s four fields of interest. Gifts made to the Student Officials Development Campaign provide a high level of evaluation and training of student officials at the annual NIRSA flag football and basketball championships by paying for lodging, meals, and on-site transportation for the student officials and their NIRSA volunteer evaluators.

The NIRSA Foundation and the Student Officials Development Task Force are calling on student officials and their supporters to get into the competition.

We want to know: Are you with Team Flag Football or Team Basketball?

How to get in the game

1. Between January 2 and April 19, head over to the Donate page (or use the buttons above!).
2. Sign in with your NIRSA user credentials to make your donation; if you don’t have a NIRSA account, one will be automatically created for you from this transaction.
3. From the “Select a fund” drop-down list, select either “Officials – Team Basketball” or “Officials – Team Flag Football.” This will let us know if your student officials’ development donation is coming from Team Basketball or Team Flag Football. The group that raises the most money for the student officials development fund gets major bragging rights! All funds raised support the overall Student Officials Development Campaign and are not separated between Flag Football and Basketball programs.
4. Enter your payment details and click “Submit Donation.”