Three D1 Refs Suing NCAA & Alliance Affiliated Leagues

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Raymond

No surprise at all that older officials are getting squeezed out of the Alliance. I predicted that a long time ago when the Alliance started. A lot of us have complained over the years about older officials holding onto schedules as their abilities have diminished. So we can't be mad that's being addressed.

The one thing that has definitely changed is that older officials will never get an opportunity to break into D1 anymore. I started officiating at the age of 37, got hired into D3 at 44, my one mid-major D1 at 45, and D2 at 50. That's not going to happen anymore, at least not in the Mid-Atlantic or Southeast.

That might be specific to that particular Alliance or consortium. I think it is still possible or it is happening in my part of the country. Some of it is based on who assigns all the lower-level conferences. Is it less likely to hire older officials? Yes, it is. But I think there are structures to identify officials for all their levels.

I'm not sure how this lawsuit helps. Because so much of this is subjective.

Peace