A sad state of affairs . . .

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Welpe

You aren't doing that already?

Rich, you do raise a good point IMO. The amount of control that an association can exert over how an official does his job in some areas does seem to blur the line between independent contractor and employee.

Blur? I think it obliterates it. Add in the typical association "restraint of trade" nonsense (officials aren't free in many places to work for the association and also for other groups or for people not willing to pay the association going rate), and I can't possibly understand why officiating associations can have it the best way, from every angle, simply for them?

If I want to work HS baseball in many states, I have no choice but to join the local association, pay whatever due they tell me I have to pay, pay the assigning fee, wear only what uniforms they allow, including association-only hats, etc., etc. How does this make me an independent contractor?

[PeteBooth]

Rich I do not know about your area but here in NY there is a meeting held in Nov / Dec (cannot remember) and the STATE as a whole adopts what uniforms etc we can wear NOT our individual umpire associations.

The state also elects or declines some FED rules.

Here in NY we do not have the 10 run Mercy rule for Varsity (unless both coaches at the Plate conference agree) Contrast that with New Jersey who does have a 10 run mercy rule. There is a 15 run limit for modified and JV. Also, No CR's in ANY division of HS baseball.

if it were up to us we would have a 10 run mercy rule and CR's rule but it is not up to us.

Also, my HS association does not do the assigning. A third party called BOCES (Board of cooperative Educational Services) does the assigning and also the paying. We receive a 1099 from them and have a contract with them.

Our HS association recruits. and trains the umpires and makes certain we abide by the state of New york mandates for meetings attended, and passing of tests etc. We give BOCES a list of eligable umpires. BOCES in turn sends out an availability letter in the beginning of the season which we fill out.

In a nutshell the demands you mention above do not come from my local HS association but from the State of NY.

Pete Booth

[Rich]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

Rich I do not know about your area but here in NY there is a meeting held in Nov / Dec (cannot remember) and the STATE as a whole adopts what uniforms etc we can wear NOT our individual umpire associations.

The state also elects or declines some FED rules.

Here in NY we do not have the 10 run Mercy rule for Varsity (unless both coaches at the Plate conference agree) Contrast that with New Jersey who does have a 10 run mercy rule. There is a 15 run limit for modified and JV. Also, No CR's in ANY division of HS baseball.

if it were up to us we would have a 10 run mercy rule and CR's rule but it is not up to us.

Also, my HS association does not do the assigning. A third party called BOCES (Board of cooperative Educational Services) does the assigning and also the paying. We receive a 1099 from them and have a contract with them.

Our HS association recruits. and trains the umpires and makes certain we abide by the state of New york mandates for meetings attended, and passing of tests etc. We give BOCES a list of eligable umpires. BOCES in turn sends out an availability letter in the beginning of the season which we fill out.

In a nutshell the demands you mention above do not come from my local HS association but from the State of NY.

Pete Booth

Regardless, if I am a true independent contractor, I could simply be licensed by the state and ply my trade with any school or league I want. The association's role would be limited to training, certainly not approving/rating umpires or any compliance issues.

The more I think about it, the more I think Wisconsin has it right. I register with the WIAA and I get my own games. I am not required to join an association AT ALL. (BTW, I belong to 3 associations, but that doesn't help my schedule or my standing.)

[IowaMike]

We don't have to join an association in my area. I belong to one, but that is mostly for training, I don't get any games from mine. Varsity dates in the larger conferences are usually assigned by a conference commissioner. The school districts have people that find their own officials for sub varsity contests. I do a lot of varsity in basketball and always found my own games with the smaller schools, which were generally assigned by the school AD. The games I work in the local 4A conference are assigned by a commissioner.

I am always amazed at how much power some of these associations seem to have in some areas of the country. I have never paid an assigning fee. Our uniforms are dictated by the state athletic association. I know that if the state of Iowa ever told me I was an employee instead of an independent contractor and tried to take social security, unemployment insurance etc. out of my fees, I would would hang up my whistle and mask.

[DonInKansas]

I'm in the same boat as Mike. We have commissioners and ADs to deal with, as well as a few assigners for some out of the way stuff and summer ball. Nobody gets a cut of my game check except my wife.

[Rich]

I suspect *somebody* gets a cut - it just may not be somebody from the umpire association. I mean, commissioners get paid a salary, which probably reduces game fees by a few dollars. That's not really what's at issue.

I've seen umpires, for whatever reason, held back from varsity assignments for no good reason. I've seen associations where even returning professional umpires would be saddled with JV/Freshman ball until a certain number of years were served in the association. That's the restraint of trade I'm talking about. Nobody could legitimately argue that a person who worked multiple years in the minor leagues couldn't fall into a varsity schedule easily.

If anything good comes out of these efforts, it will mean the end of associations controlling every aspect of umpiring -- assigning, payment, negotiation of fees, collecting "assigning fees" from every game, training requirements, etc. I'm as busy as I want to be and most of my assignments are from the groups themselves and I get a check when I walk on the field.

[ODJ]

Used to be in Eugene, OR, the associations charged the schools for training officials, assigning games, and cutting the checks to pay the officials. What a racket.

No longer can the assignor be an "official" part of an association, but that's how OSAA has the system set up since joining a local association is required under its by-laws.