Art Monteleone stretches out his 66-year-old legs every chance he gets during the offseason.

Being a football official is hard work. Much like the players who need summer workouts and training camp to iron out the kinks and get into game shape, football officials need to work on their conditioning and brush up on their skills.

"I walk a lot," said Monteleone, who has been blowing a whistle and throwing a flag on football fields around Butler County for 40 years. "You have to stay in shape, that's for sure."

With high school football games scheduled for Friday, football officials, just like high school players and even high school band members, need to prepare for the start of this fall tradition.

But the PIAA stresses to its officials not to wait until the last weeks to get into shape for the season.

While the PIAA doesn't have a specific workout plan for its officials, the organization does outline on its website certain workout habits officials should engage in during the offseason.

"They just tell you to stay in shape," Monteleone said of the PIAA. "Some people do. Some don't."

Most officials heed the advice. As the number of football officials dwindle in all districts, being out of shape and risking injury is a no-no.

"You cannot officiate yourself into shape," is the No. 1 lesson on the PIAA officials guide handed out to all of its officiating chapters around the state.

The PIAA also recommends officials "develop and carry out a prioritized conditioning program focusing on joint protection, stamina and strength."

Monteleone agrees. He has seen some officials who are too out of shape to officiate at a high level.

He said he will walk away from officiating at the first sign he cannot keep up with the action.

"I'll do this as long as my legs hold out," said Monteleone, a Butler native. "I can still run pretty good. I wouldn't do it if I couldn't. That's not fair to the kids. I don't think I will make it to 50 years, but I hope to get to at least 45."

Wilson Downing, 76, who has been the president of the Butler chapter of PIAA officials for three years, has officiated on and off for almost five decades.

He rarely does games now, but he does at least one a season to stay sharp, he said.

Instead, he focuses on making sure he and his fellow officials are well versed in the rules, new and old.

Each football official must attend at least six chapter meetings a year. Most of them are in the summer.

"You have to keep up with the rules changes and the interpretations," Downing said. "You really have to study year round."

The PIAA recommends that officials study the rule book, either by themselves or with other officials, many times during the offseason.

Monteleone and the other five members of his football officiating team head out onto a football field during the summer to go over positioning and responsibilities.

"We just brush up on things," Monteleone said.

Chris Rock of Butler is taking that a step further. He's trying to bring officiating into the football locker room.

Rock spoke to Slippery Rock High School players and coaches during the first week of their football camp at the request of first-year Rockets football coach Brendan Hathaway.

It was an invaluable experience, Rock said, for both him and the players and coaches.

"I talked about player equipment," Rock said. "These high school players see college and pro guys playing without knee pads and think they can, too. Of course, they can't."

Rock also sees players and even coaches lobbying the wrong official about a call or non-call.

"I told them what each official is looking for," Rock said. "We are all in charge of a specific part of the field and we all look for different things."

Rock said the Slippery Rock players asked several questions.

"They were all great questions, like can I put my hand on a pulling guard while running behind him," Rock said. "You can, but you can't grab the jersey. That's offensive holding. They were all insightful questions."

Rock, 31, a Butler native who has been officiating football for six years, hopes this practice of talking to teams catches on. He said he would be happy to spend part of his offseason talking to players and coaches about the rules.

But Rock is among a dying breed of officials. He's young.

Every year in Pennsylvania, 13 percent of football officials leave while only 1 to 3 percent are replaced.

No wonder, then, that District 10 has struggled for several seasons with an officials shortage. Other districts, such as District 9 and the WPIAL, also are facing a potential shortage in the coming years.

The amount of work, both in-season and in the offseason, is one of the reasons fewer people are wearing stripes on Friday nights.

But the main reason, Rock said, is the fans.

"I hate to say it, but it's the crowd aspect that's driving people away," Rock said. "People get on you and most of the time they don't know the rules."

But the officials who are on the field Friday nights are focusing on being the best officials they can be.

"You have to really love it, which I do," Monteleone said. "You certainly aren't going to make any money doing it. I just love being out on the field on a Friday night. There's nothing like it."