It seems to me that the shortage of referees is increasing. Do any of you have the same sense? I get calls from 5 associations most weeks and wish I was cloneable.
One of the leagues I officiate in sent out two urgent emails on Friday and Saturday looking for help. At this time of the year, there are injuries amongst us, and then there are HS playoffs in my area, to drain the numbers. R
We don't seem to have a problem at all here. However, I have noticed a severe lack of good, younger referees (15-21 years old). Of course, our state has made some changes as of late which limits their development, but still, I would be VERY worried looking 5-10 years down the line.
You're not the only one who's worried.... Virtually all the assessors in our neck of the woods---and a large number of veteran officials---are wondering exactly WHAT in the world is going on. And HOW in the world any new officials are going to get any experience to teach them the craft.
I am trying to do my part. I will have at least 3 of the girls I used to coach take the course this winter so they will be available for the first time in the spring. Hopefully, if the coaches who read this board and who referee as well talk to their girls or boys, and tell them about refereeing, maybe it will click with a few of them, and we can replenish the ranks. We can talk about it all we want, but it isn't going to happen by osmosis.
Many officials in my area are doing 7-8 games a weekend(4sat-3,4sun) and there are still games that have no assigned ref for the game. Not sure how to fix this growing problem
Perhaps it is that the game has grown in numbers of teams and players at a greater rate than in referees. This would seem to still be a shortage, but the dynamic is different. Where I am located there are many classes each year and all of those classes are overbooked, so it would appear there are enough numbers coming into the ranks, just not working. And before it is made into an issue, those classes are also evenly split between teenage and adult participants. We have a sufficient number of certified referees, just not a whole lot of them work matches consistently. You see the same referees throughout each season and at the tournament last weekend it was the usual and same group of referees working more matches each day than we should because of low participant numbers. Not sure what the solution is.
Referee Shortage??? -- or Too Many Games??? The number of referees is a finite number. For today's games, we have a set number of referees. We should be able to extrapolate the number of games that these referees can cover, instead of the way we presently do it.
Our local youth travel league seems to keep adding teams but does very little in helping us to recruit new referees. Yet they want more matches covered with 3 man teams than ever before. We do not have the referees to handle this demand... Has anyone found a way to attract new teenage and adult referees that seems successful in your areas?
I think it becomes almost a peer to peer thing. We have a good group of young referees (maybe 10 of them), and they do everything from the little tots on Saturday morning to the u14's on Sunday afternoon. If you can convince them it is good money for fun work (and keep the hassles down to a minimum) they can make over $150 on a weekend. You cannot duplicate that anywhere for a 16 year old kid. if we get that story out, maybe we can get more kids involved. But, I know the games are growing, and the leagues are growing, and the HS's have 6 teams with 2-3 games a week, and the clubs with rain or playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's tough to do (for older guys like me) and I'm not in it for the money! R
Not sure how to get this out, but some of the most successfull and best teenage/young referees are the players who when they hit 15-17 years old realize that playing is a short term thing for them. They just don't have the skill to play high school, yet they love the game. Reffing is a way for them to stay attached and involved. Two of the best young refs I know fall into this category. Love the game, loved playing it, but came to the conclusion that playing at high school varsity and older club teams, just wasn't going to happen. They turned to reffing and are very successfull. another aspect of the problem is players need to play which takes away from reffing. In the fall high school takes alot of refs off the books or at least drops availability. Spring we get many more refs available around here.
Too many games is one problem. One of the assignors I work for consistantly need 90 referees at 3PM EVERY to fill Sunday alone. Saturdays are worse. Some of the youth referees are doing 5 or 6 games per day. This leads to less than optimum proformance in games 4 and on, which I believe leads to some of the abuse from the coaches and spectators. The problem is not with getting people to take the clinic, there is the lure of almighty dollar to the habitually broke teenager. The problem is retention. Adults and particularly kids do not or will not take the abuse of the spectators or the coaches. Most of the youth referees are hesitant to "dicipline" an adult, and some of the adult referees just dont want to do the paperwork. We wont be retaining the youth referees until we can control the coaches and spectators. That will be a cold day in hell when it happens.
This was the case of two of the young refs I had the pleasure in mentoring. One of them went on to become the youth referee of the year for the state, and the other is my son. Both of them went off to college and now don't have the time to devote to refereeing. Which is the norm rather than the exception.
Well, another reason is age. I am 53 and have had just 2 games on both weekend days (due to having to complete building a deck) and I have to admit that I have enjoyed the ones that I have refereeded - I was mentally and physically ready and able to do them w/o problems. But, the emotional side of me still loves the game and I would rather be on the pitch than the deck. With an aging population we will have serious problems in the next 5 years as those who hit retirement age will not only retire from work but sports as well.
my friend and i were two of the main refs at our association (the third being his dad). when we both left for college this fall, the club was scrambling for referees. they've had to bring in out-of-county refs on numerous occasions. i don't really know why there is a problem getting refs. we have a healthy organization, and the money is pretty good. you just pay $40 or so bucks to get certified every year and spend $60 dollars on a couple shirts that last few numerous seasons. at $10/game just doing rec, you'll make that up in about 2 or 3 weeks, then you're practically making twice as much than the kids at McDonald's, and you're out in the sun. plus with added experience, you pick up travel games and possibly tournaments. you're getting paid to actively watch soccer and be involved (hopefully for the better) with the game.
$10/game is very low pay. It's probably somewhere around minimum wage or even lower, when you consider the time you have to be at the field pregame and postgame. Our beginners get $15/game as a U8 center or a U12 AR, and it goes up from there.
I really do think if you pay well, you will find plenty of referees. Not necessarily GOOD referees, but if a kid (especially a soccer player) can referee instead of flipping burgers for the same money, I think he will do so.
When I was thirteen and freshly certified with my brand new 1984 badge I'll admit that I had I gotten into it for the money. No other reason. As I got older I found out that I actually enjoyed it as well, but you're right...throwing money at somebody will usually get their attention. When parents approach me to compliment my work (but it does happen!) sometimes they ask how I came to be a referee and I'll encourage them to push their kids in this general direction. It's great money for the work (most of the time) and teaches responsibility and how to interact with others. Now I'm 36 years old and my only income is from refereeing soccer games. Just this morning I lined up an arrangement with one indoor league and I'm working on another so I'll have some work over the winter. Good weeks I can bring in more than $600 working almost every day...not serious cash but enough to cover my expenses...and not bad for a retired guy going back to school.
Teenagers can make some good money. My two sons ref and make anywhere from $100 - $200 in a weekend. Then add in tournaments when they pull in another $200-$300 for the weekend. All this keeping them within bike riding distance of our house. Figure at $40 for CR on a U14 game, that's about $25/hour. the down side is the limited hours!
those $10 (or maybe $12, haven't done them for a while) games are about half an hour long. you get two games every hour and a half. that's $13/hour. not too shabby for a middle schooler. just curious as to what everyone's leagues pay for rec and state leagues pay for travel? my club paid roughly $17/game for U12 and U15. i believe CIYSL in Indiana has $25 for center and $20 for sides at that age in travel. i could be off though.
but it is a great job when you're busy with school, practice, and games during the week. plus, no taxes.
Premier is as follows: U13/14: $40/$30 U15/16: $50/$35 U17/19: $60/$40 For the other leagues, the home club sets pay scales, so it varies between leagues. Our local rec league pays pretty close to premier rates.
Over the last few years I got up to 6 of the girls on my travel team to Grade 8 status. But they hate the high socks and they hate the parents on the sideline even more. Ultimatley, they would deal with the socks (although I cannot see a reason for high socks on refs: its not like we need to cover shin pands or want more polyester on our bodies in the sun) but they draw the line at the parents, who seem to have no trouble being crappy to 16 year old kids two feet in front of them.
Well I do recommend that you show some income from it... I track my expenses and report my income and do the taxes. With the mileage and other expenses (UNIFORMS!) that I can deduct it does work out about like you said...no taxes.
We have a chronic shortage of referees, & some in our Region with high certifications are nearly beyond their running years... I chalk it up to three issues. 1. My context is AYSO, so we can't pay referees, or anyone else for that matter. 2. The socioeconomics of this area are such that people would rather throw money at problems than participate in solving them. See #1. 3. Taking aside the parents who get their minimal certification & do their couple of games per season in U-little, other refs who start out with some ambition just cannot take the verbal abuse generously ladeled out every weekend (3a. Suspending coaches who do this causes even more problems; see #1 & #2. We'd end up with no coaches.) So, we have volunteer refs who work 6-8 games per weekend to make up for the indifferent parents who are flummoxed in a situation where they can't buy their way out of an obligation. OTOH, our youth ref program is pretty good, & we get support from the high schools, who count AYSO service towards the students' community service hours requirements. Problem is, all those kids go off to college... Be well, Sandcrab