Quote:
Originally Posted by BktBallRef
First, I'm in a state that has had 3 man officiating for all varsity games, boys and girls, since 1991. So I'm all for 3 man. But you have a couple of mistaken ideas.
#1, there are still a large number of states that do not use three man. Some only use it during the playoffs, if at all. There are a more 2 man states than you think.
#2, Not sure why you think it's only an extra $500-$1000. Most schools play at least 20 games a year, so they're paying for officials for at least 10 games. Then, you have girls and boys varsity, so now we're back to 20 games plus tournaments and playoffs. So it's much more than $500 or $1000.
Also, if schools are going to have fundraisers to raise money, it's damn sure not going to be to pay officials more money. Schools have a world of things they need to spend money on before they get to a 3rd basketball official.
I would love to have 7 man football crews but I know that's not happening anytime soon. I accept that. If I don't, then I make a personal decision.
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The conference I assign went 3-person last season. We did not cut pay per official. We paid $60 per official 2-person and last year paid $60 per person 3-person. This cost each school $1320 -- 22 home games (11 boys, 11 gjrls).
In 2017-18, we're likely implementing our first real pay increase in a decade across the board. Football and baseball will go from $60 to $75 and basketball will go to $65. One reason for a small increase in hoops is the incremental costs incurred from the switch from 2-person to 3-person. Also, we hire, by far, more hoops officials than anything else. So we probably are going to pay $10 less per official than if we had stayed 2-person. The question is moot - going back to two is not an option in my opinion.
As an administrator, I've heard from officials suggesting we stay 2-person and "just pay us more." With rare exceptions, these were not our best officials -- these were guys who cared more about the amount on the check than the job they did.
Once all the local conference started going 3-person, it was only a matter of time. Good officials weren't going to work 2-person, even for a few more shekels.