Hello all, This is my first thread and seeing as the college soccer season is right around the corner I thought it would be appropriate to post this thread. First off how much do you all get paid for college D1, D2, D3 games. Also for those who are not members of NISOA how do you get college games?
Well, welcome first off. As to your question regarding college games, I haven't seen a lot of threads on the subject of college games. These forums mostly deal with summer (USSF) and High School seasons. Maybe a college official or someone familiar with the college game could answer this?
not an easy question as the fees will range from conference to conference...some D1 conferences will pay mileage and there are some who do not
In order to become NISOA certified, you must first have been refereeing high school soccer for at least three years and have done at least 25 centers at this level. Once you have this experience level, you can apply to NISOA and take the fitness test. Pay for college games varies, but is generally very good. In Washington, for fall games, it's 175/100/100/65 for 4-year schools and 128/76/76 for 2-year schools, plus travel if it's out of town.
You can also have the "equivalent" of three years of high school soccer, which means high level U-19 USSF games. I was also required to get a recommendation from a college coach and a college referee. But maybe that is just for my local board.
I think ymmv from NISOA chapter to NISOA chapter. For one NISOA chapter I had to have two letter of recommendations as well as certain experience. For my area we are fortunate almost all our USSF assessors/admins are involved with college. I had two USSF national assessors write me letters of recommendations with there national assessments. I paid my dues and that was it. I recently transferred to a local area ISOA and that chapter all I had to do was pay my dues and I was good. Granted our association president is a former FIFA and we are a VERY SMALL chapter. He also only takes recommendations from certain people. So for his chapter it who you know not what you know. Also both associations inquired on my USSF grade. I've been doing HS for a while but they both didn't really take that into consideration for the application. As far as pay each Chapter it varies... D1 each conference is different and depending if are you in with that conference. For example I think BigWest pays $200 area and Pac12 pay in the $300 range for middles. Mountain west pays $225/$140/$140/$70. D2 $145/$115/$115 D3 $125/$100/$100 JC $120/$95/95 D1 & D2 in my area also pay mileage for I think 60+. D1 also does per diem's, mileage, airfare, rental and hotel rooms for those on the travel roster.
You do not have to be a member of NISOA to do college games. A college assignor can use any referee they want to use. D1 conferences use a conference assignor. Below that, some conferences just use a NISOA chapter's designated assignor and, obviously, they're only going to assign chapter members to those games. Pay varies quite a bit. I'm told that the center for an ACC men's game gets $1,000, but that may be a referee fantasy. Before drooling over college pay rates, you need to know that there is a significantly larger time commitment on game day (earlier arrival than a high school or USSF youth or amateur game, significant potential for overtime) and you will probably be assigned games that require much more travel time, without or without mileage.
I always tell people that ask about college soccer that the biggest difference for referees is the time commitment. Often times you are traveling 1-2 hours to get to a game. You are usually required to be on site 1 hour prior to game time. The game itself usually takes around 2 hours. Then the drive back home. So you could be looking at 5-7 hours total commitment for one game. A lot of it depends on where you live, the proximity of games in your area, and how far you are willing/able to travel. I generally do most of my college games on Fri/Sat/Sun.
Just curious, is any one on here a member of the nisoa interschoolastic division? If so what are some of the benefits and what does the interschoolastic badge look like.
Two hours? I've got a couple of games this year that will be five hours drive, each way. The last time I went there, I had an employee (now, unfortunately, retired) who was a pilot fly me there. Since it avoided per diem for an overnight stay, they just paid his fuel costs instead.
During high school playoff we get a couple of those requests every year. I have some refs that are ok with the distance, but my feeling is that there are better ways for us to use our limited pool of qualified referees. Texas rules (UIL) limit the pay so much it doesn't cover the time commitment.
Hi, Does anyone know if there is a list of referees coordinators/assignors for each D1 conferences? How to find out who is the assignor for each conference? Thank you
D1 depending from the conference the fees range from $425-$275-$275 to $270-$180$-$180 Plus Mileage and Tolls Per Diem and Other Fees if you travel I would say 3+ hours.
I did a playoff game in Abiline when I lived in Lawton, OK. The check was well over $300 and because I drive a Prius, the gas wasn't that big of an expense. However, the total time commitment was ~10 hours (6 driving, 1 before, 2.5 game+OT) for a weeknight game. The time commitment is why I don't do college. My current job isn't flexible with the hours and I have so little time with the Mrs as it is so I choose to just do the best adult amateur games while other refs are occupied with college.
I haven’t seen such a list, no. How about you talk to the refs in your area? I guarantee there are some locally working at the highest level.
You could be right, but I can guarantee you it's very hard to find information and most of the refs they are not even helpful. It's a lot of money and I guess people think more refs and less work for them. I ref on USSF very often with a guy who does ACC Men's centers and several conferences assigned by ECSR, I asked him the same question and besides the ECSR assignors, he was able to tell me only 3-4 names... while D1(Only) soccer has over 30 conferences. I'm originally from South America and it's very hard for me to understand how the system works. Last spring the same day I was driving 3h roundtrip in order to call a USL 2 $125 game, he was driving 7h roundtrip to call a D1 Men's game for +$1,000. I watched his game and I can guarantee you mine was physically and mentally more challenging.
If it is 6h driving roundtrip for a D1 game you can easily make over $500 and we are talking about smaller D1 conferences, ACC, Big10, Big12 etc you are around 1K as the per diem only is $275. I agree about the flexibility, but a lot of games are on Saturdays and Sundays, that might help.
I would suggest that you are probably six or seven months too late to get any D1 college games this year. The last I heard, there is one D1 assignor for all of the conferences in the western United States. I know nothing about the rest of the country.
This is a good suggestion. Ecsr controls the bulk of the country. Some handful of others make up the rest. Usl2 doesn’t pay the same as college soccer. It has nothing to do with how far you traveled.
so who will be purchasing the new kits? Elite College Soccer Referees Capelli Sport Becomes the Official and Exclusive Kit Provider of Elite College Soccer Referees. Elite College Soccer Referees (ECSR) has announced a new six-year partnership with Capelli Sport, which will see them become the official and exclusive uniform and apparel supplier for collegiate level referees, commencing July 2021. ECSR is made up of referees officiating 28 national conferences spread across the country. The organization’s mission is to “create an environment where collegiate soccer referees can improve their officiating skills through continuous quality training by offering numerous educational opportunities through clinics, seminars and technology.” Capelli Sport, who are also the official outfitters of PRO, are looking forward to adding ECSR to their network and further expanding into the referee market.
I took the year off from working college matches because of our move and my son joining a new club with more travel, but it looks like I'll have some new kits to buy for 2022. Wonder if they will basically be the PRO/MLS kits or if they'll be new kits.
Here’s what I found (via a comment on the Facebook page): https://teams.capellisport.com/REFECSRMK Six(!) colors including socks.