Chattooga High School’s final regular-season football game against Christian Heritage has been moved from Friday, November 6, to Thursday, November 5, because of a shortage of available game officials.

Chattooga High School Athletics announced the schedule change over the weekend. The Indians will travel to Dalton to face the Christian Heritage Lions, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 PM Thursday.

The change highlights an ongoing problem affecting high school athletics across Georgia, where a shortage of qualified officials has forced schools to move football games away from traditional Friday nights.

The Georgia High School Association has struggled for several years to recruit and retain enough officials to cover games across the state. Among the factors contributing to the shortage are the retirement of longtime officials, difficulty attracting younger replacements, demanding schedules and verbal abuse directed at referees by spectators and coaches.

The problem has also affected Northwest Georgia. The Northwest Georgia Football Officials Association, which serves schools in Floyd, Gordon, Whitfield and surrounding counties, has previously reported difficulty recruiting new officials despite outreach efforts.

Moving games to Thursday or Saturday allows officiating associations to spread their available crews across multiple nights rather than trying to cover every game on Friday.

The shortage is not limited to football. State athletic officials have identified similar recruiting and retention challenges in other high school sports.

For Chattooga fans, the immediate impact is a change in plans for the final game of the regular season. The Indians will now close out their schedule Thursday night at Christian Heritage in Dalton, one day earlier than originally planned.