Short Notice Cancellation

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

$63.05 for a H.S. Freshmen game??!!

MTD, Sr.

He did work solo.

Here, an official who works solo on games where there should be two will get 1.5x the normal rate.

[ODog]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

He did work solo...

Billy will definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm gonna guess $63.05 is the standard 2-person rate for subvarsity in Connecticut, so there was no hazard pay on top.

It's just about that for subvarsity in Mass. too.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by ODog

Billy will definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm gonna guess $63.05 is the standard 2-person rate for subvarsity in Connecticut.

Correct. Junior varsity. Freshman. Middle school.

We have two middle school leagues that play an "extra" ten minute running time period after the "real" game allowing the kids that didn't get a chance to play in the "real" game a chance to play. Each official gets an additional $15.76. Win for the kids, win for the officials ($78.81), but it's the worst ten minutes of basketball that you've ever seen in your entire life.

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

He did work solo. Here, an official who works solo on games where there should be two will get 1.5x the normal rate.

Correct, 1.5 fee under "normal" one person circumstances. But this wasn't "normal".

In my case, I showed up at the site (actually got the cell phone call canceling the game while I was in the gym looking for someone to unlock the locker room door). My partner never made it to the site, he just stayed home.

I knew that I was getting paid, I could have just got back into my car and gone home. But there were two teams (actually four, both junior varsity teams were also at the site, as well as the freshman teams) on the court, dressed for the game, and table crew (students) was ready to go. Since I already made the ride to the site and planned my day around the game, I figured "What's the rush?", and voluntarily offered to work a few scrimmage periods, it was accepted, and I got dressed.

I hadn't worked a one person game in over thirty years, and had forgotten how physically easy (I've got a bad bone spur in my ankle) it was (free throw line to free throw line), so after one period I offered to work three more (total of two junior varsity and two freshman) periods.

A little bit good will goes a long way. This morning I got a thank you email from both the athletic director and my assigner.

There's nothing wrong with doing it "for the kids" some of the time (as long as it's totally voluntary and just some of the time). Another win win situation, the kids got to play and I got paid to do something that I like to (but didn't have to) do. No need for the extra one half fee for a one person game. It was my choice, I could have just gone home. The 1.5 fee never even entered my mind.

Let the "stone throwing" begin.

[mattmets]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Correct. Junior varsity. Freshman. Middle school.

We have two middle school leagues that play an "extra" ten minute running time period after the "real" game allowing the kids that didn't get a chance to play in the "real" game a chance to play. Each official gets an additional $15.76. Win for the kids, win for the officials ($78.81), but it's the worst ten minutes of basketball that you've ever seen in your entire life.

Please tell me it's at least with a running clock, like Iowa does it...

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by mattmets

Please tell me it's at least with a running clock, like Iowa does it...

Yes it is, an extra ten minute running time period for those players who didn't play in the "real" game, not all middle school games, just two leagues that we work.

Each official gets an additional $15.76.

Officiate ten minutes of the worst basketball one has ever seen in one's life at a rate comparable to $94.56 an hour.

I'll do that any day of the week that ends in "day".

I'll even work these games on days of the week that don't end in "day".

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Yes it is, an extra ten minute running time period for those players who didn't play in the "real" game, not all middle school games, just two leagues that we work.

Each official gets an additional $15.76.

Officiate ten minutes of the worst basketball one has ever seen in one's life at a rate comparable to $94.56 an hour.

I'll do that any day of the week that ends in "day".

I'll even work these games on days of the week that don't end in "day".

A couple leagues around me do it differently. They play 5 "quarters" for MS. The first three require participation of all players and are all running clock periods. The second "half" is normal rules and no required participation. This allows everyone to play while at the same time making part of the game still somewhat realistic (they do have press and defense rules as well depending on the game situation). One of these leagues goes so far as to adjust the score at the beginning of the 2nd half. If a team wins the quarter they get two points, if they tie the quarter each team gets 1 point and if you lose the quarter you get zero. This means the second "half" can start with no more than a 6-0 lead, but can be as low as 3-3 (which is funny for the half in which nobody even scored). The other league uses straight scoring all the way through the 5 periods.

As for the rate of pay for those games. I wish it was closes to the hourly rate you guys get. We don't get close to that for the 5 quarter games we do, or for the 8 minute quarter games some leagues have started using.

[ilyazhito]

In my experience, if games are cancelled while I am in transit, I am paid half of the game fee ($40 for a JV baseball game, $44 for a varsity baseball game). However, if I am on site, but the game is cancelled without me being notified (I have signed up for Arbiter Connected, so I receive both email updates and text messages about games), I am paid the full game fee ($80 for JV baseball, $88 for varsity baseball). This had also happened to me in other sports, and I was also paid full fees when a game was cancelled without me being notified (once was a softball game when the Maryland School for the Deaf and St. Andrews booked two sets of umpires, both in Frederick (where Maryland School for the Deaf is based) and in Potomac (where St. Andrews is), the game was played in Potomac, but the game assigned in Frederick was not cancelled in the Arbiter).

ODog, is this also the case in your part of MA?