As national anthem protests take place across the country, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) recently sent a memo to its officials asking them to refrain from judgement on those decisions.

OHSAA spokesman Tim Stried told ThisWeek Community News that staff members began receiving complaints on the issue from their independent-contractor officials. Some said they would walk away from the game if they saw a student protesting, while other officials asked if a penalty flag would be appropriate.

Commissioner Beau Rugg sent a memo to all officials to “remind them that their job at the game is to do one thing, and that’s officiate the game.”

“It is not within the purview of officials to make judgments on the personal, social, or political opinions of any player or coach,” the memo read. “It is neither proper nor warranted for officials to express their pleasure or displeasure with how players act during the national anthem.”

National anthem protests have been a hot topic and trend over the last month following the precedent set by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other pro athletes.

On Sept. 2, Brunswick (Ohio) High School’s Rodney Axson was among the first high school players in the country to protest after he heard teammates use racial slurs in the locker room.

RELATED: High school players taking knee for national anthem across the country

Stried compared players’ choices on whether to stand or to kneel for the national anthem to a pregame huddle. In the eyes of the OHSAA, it’s not the officials’ prerogative how players conduct themselves in either circumstance.

“The one thing that we’re comparing it to — and some people might see this comparison and some might not — is that it’s really no different than when a team will huddle up before a game and say a prayer or things like that that have no bearing on the game itself,” Stried told ThisWeek Community News. “Those things are not within the jurisdiction of an official who is simply there to officiate the game.”

Stried said the note was sent to roughly 15,000 officials, so the department expected a few negative responses. But he said there have been some “overtly angry emails” since the memo went out.

He also added that if officials were “to kneel during the anthem or look away or anything else, they have not violated any contract or bylaw or any other regulation.” However, Stried said the organization would prefer the officials not kneel. If they were to leave the game, they would be in obvious violation of their contracts.