PIAA & Insurance

[Nevadaref]

Take a stand.
1. Refuse to pay for the insurance which you are no longer receiving. It is fine if the state association no longer wishes to have officials procure their insurance through that office, but they can’t continue to charge for it. Insist that your dues are reduced by the proper amount or have your officials not pay any of it. This hits the state office in the pocketbook.

2. What does your contract say with the state? Is there a timeline or notice period which must be given when changes are made?

3. You have several options for obtain your own insurance. NASO, NFHS individual membership, NFHS group plan (at a discount, inquire), private insurance from a company, etc. Find out what the requirements are where you officiate and who sets those levels. Is it the state office? The schools? The school district? What is needed $1M in liability? Negligence coverage? Personal medical?

4. If your group informs all of the schools that PIAA dropped your insurance and your officials may not now have the necessary time to obtain outside coverage, what are they going to do? Are there other officials in your area which they could use for soccer? If not, would they cancel the contests? You have leverage. Think about your angles and how you wish to proceed.

[LRZ]

All good suggestions, Nevadaref, all of which occurred to me, as well. But there are problems, probably insurmountable at this point, especially considering how large a state we are and the difficulties in getting people to consider their mutual interests and join a boycott or union.

We're only two weeks away from the start of soccer; we're a big state, with disparate elements (east/west, urban/rural), and a lot of anti-union animus. Just getting definitive answers to the questions in #3 would take longer than we soccer officials have.

As you may know, we had a union briefly, formed by lacrosse referees around Pittsburgh, until that was shot down several months ago by the US Court of Appeals for DC. Perhaps not coincidentally, PIAA announced its insurance decision shortly after that, citing, in part, the court's ruling.

MTD, I looked at NASO: $116 a year, a lot of money. The NFHS-affiliated association is $35, or $25 with 50+ members, but I rather not give money to NFHS.

[ilyazhito]

NASO offers a discounted rate to groups. My football association is a member of NASO, so I pay a discounted rate of $79 to be a NASO member through it. In this manner I receive liability insurance, excess medical insurance, and the other benefits of NASO membership for a reduced rate. Perhaps your association can negotiate a group rate with NASO that isn't too onerous to your membership. The insurance purchased through NASO is good for all sports, so no need to worry about purchasing separate packages for each sport.