I'd be glad to help others involved in youth leagues. Our league, Tigard Basketball Assn. (TBA) has been in existence for over 20 years. We have well over 100 teams and approx. 1300 - 1500 kids each year in grades 3-8. It is run by a volunteer board elected each year from among the parent members. We are funded solely through registration fees and do not have sponsorships. We do have a financial assistance program funded by penalty fees for late registration. In addition to our rec division, we also have a classic division with about 20 teams in grades 5-8 that play in a competitive league and tournaments. We do not provide the refs for that division.
We recruit from our local high school, and get the help of the school coaches in recruiting. They encourage their players to ref for us. We pay $11 per game for rookies, $13 per game for intermediate (at least one year's experience and a recommendation from the evaluator) and $15 per game for "senior" refs. Usually, refs work 3 games on Saturdays and if they work a weeknight, it's a 2 game shift. We have the refs sign an independent contractor agreement, and our Board automatically considers them "members" of the association so they are covered under our state referee assault protection law. We pay at the end of each month of the season. We also recruit from local colleges and from ref associations. Some of our refs are former TBA players who want to stay close to the game. In fact, my son is the only person in our association who has played, reffed and been a head coach. We hold at least three, 2-hour training sessions and only senior refs can miss up to 2 of them. We also hold bi-weekly meetings during the season to discuss problems, and a mid-season meeting with all the coaches. Part of our training is on how teenage refs relate to adults when the teenager is in a position of authority. We usually don't have too much trouble, since we try to pair an experienced ref with a rookie as much as possible. However, at the lower grades, this is not possible as most of the senior refs don't want to do the lower grades. We do have a board member present at all games and that helps. We have a zero tolerance policy about yelling at refs and that includes parents.
I would be more than happy to discuss our program and give suggestions, plus make available a copy of our game rules via email to anyone. My email is
[email protected]
Mon Apr 16, 2001, 12:39am
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