Florida Football Officials Threatening Stoppage

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by wheels

Were the fees included in the contract when they signed?

I'm wondering the same thing. Contracts are negotiated in the spring between associations and school districts, but fees are set annually by the FHSAA when?

Also:

“It is with great disappointment that we are writing this to inform you that all home high school football scrimmages will not be played this week due to breach of contract by the South Gulf Football Officials Association (SGFOA),” the post said."

Which individual officials signed contracts with Lee County? That contract was agreed to my an entity, an entity that depends on independent contractors to fulfill the terms. If no independent contractors agree to work under those conditions not sure how that is considered a breach.

[Player989random]

Sorry, saw "Chris Patricca". **** her too.

Originally Posted by wheels

Were the fees included in the contract when they signed?

"On Wednesday, Eddie Lewin, vice president of the SGFOA, said all nine schools outside of the Lee public district had signed contracts with the group. The new deal calls for $10 more per official per game, plus each school would pay a $300 administrative fee with the money going back to the refs.

Athletic directors at all schools but Moore Haven and Port Charlotte, who could not be reached, confirmed the deal."

Seems like the private schools knew this was coming.

Originally Posted by Raymond

I'm wondering the same thing. Contracts are negotiated in the spring between associations and school districts, but fees are set annually by the FHSAA when?

Which individual officials signed contracts with Lee County? That contract was agreed to my an entity, an entity that depends on independent contractors to fulfill the terms. If no independent contractors agree to work under those conditions not sure how that is considered a breach.

That was my thinking as well. Notice that in the article it says that when the association lost its sanction, the officials could still join other groups by August 30th in order to ref. Note the following from an earlier article:

"At a meeting Friday, administrators from the Lee County School District told the SGFOA they would not meet the group’s demand for a pay raise this season. The county’s private schools followed suit."

So it seems that the private schools were all on board with this pay raise, paid the refs, and then reneged when the public schools refused to pay higher fees as well. No info on what was in the public school contracts. This explains why some articles state that the association had already collected payment from a few of the schools. Admin fees which were part of the signed contracts.

Found another article stating that this was brought up in April to FHSSA, and was ignored by the ADs. This has been coming down the line for over 4 months. Maybe if they didn't ignore it back then, it wouldn't be a problem now.

"Mantica serves on the FHSAA’s football officials advisory committee. He said the group voted in December to raise their pay to $100 a game. A pay raise was brought up at the athletic directors advisory committee in April when FHSAA supervisor of officials Justin Harrison stated it was time to start looking at the issues, and acknowledging the FHSAA pay was low compared to other states.

The FHSAA said it would bring the motion to its athletic directors advisory committee, Mantica said, but the issue did not make the AD group’s agenda."

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/sports/...but-strike-loo

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Player989random

Found another article stating that this was brought up in April to FHSSA, and was ignored by the ADs. This has been coming down the line for over 4 months. Maybe if they didn't ignore it back then, it wouldn't be a problem now.

"Mantica serves on the FHSAA’s football officials advisory committee. He said the group voted in December to raise their pay to $100 a game. A pay raise was brought up at the athletic directors advisory committee in April when FHSAA supervisor of officials Justin Harrison stated it was time to start looking at the issues, and acknowledging the FHSAA pay was low compared to other states.

The FHSAA said it would bring the motion to its athletic directors advisory committee, Mantica said, but the issue did not make the AD group’s agenda."

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/sports/...but-strike-loo

Given this, why sign the contract in May? Should have said nope, we need to reach an agreement on the pay first.

[wheels]

One game is a go...

https://www.news-press.com/story/spo...ly/2019470001/

"However, on Thursday afternoon, Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers announced its preseason game with Lely would go on as planned. Bishop Verot athletic director Jason Baumgardner said there would be a game less than five hours before the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff."

[Player989random]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Given this, why sign the contract in May? Should have said nope, we need to reach an agreement on the pay first.

Because these SOBs have been dragging their feet for years. If the schools don't have the authority to negotiate the rates directly, and the state ignored your request when you properly submitted it, that forces drastic action. Is it ethical? Maybe not. It's business. Why give your enemy 4-5 months to find new refs or other solutions? Wait till the last minute and force their hand.

https://twitter.com/ECFOArefs

It worked for at least one association. I think only one county is holding out at this point. I saw the volleyball officials in Florida are getting in on the action as well. I didn't know that basketball only pays $55/game down there.

[wheels]

Football is back on... Good for that association and the others that supported them. A deal is in the works.
https://www.news-press.com/story/spo...es/2030765001/

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by wheels

Football is back on... Good for that association and the others that supported them. A deal is in the works.
https://www.news-press.com/story/spo...es/2030765001/

Seems that not everyone supported them as a crew from outside the area came and worked the game Thursday night.

Additionally, the schools/FHSAA are not going to pay the extra $10 per referee for the rest of this season. A private business stepped in and donated the money to cover that. Probably leaving the referees back in the same situation next Fall. So although the officials will receive an extra $10 per game this season, it doesn’t appear that they’ve made any progress with the schools or the state association.

From the above article:
“Though the officials' holdout is done, the refs will not receive any more money from the schools. However, they will receive more money thanks to a $9,000 donation from a group of local businessmen headed up by Brian Rist, founder and executive chairman of hurricane protection company Storm Smart.
The money will go toward giving the officials the $10-per-game raise they were seeking from the schools.”

[wheels]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Seems that not everyone supported them as a crew from outside the area came and worked the game Thursday night.”

6-hour drive and a one-hour rain delay and if they didn't get extra compensation, they have undermind officials for getting a raise.

I really starting to hate "doing it for the kids"!!!