Tiring Scrimmage
 

Two hours. Solo. Glad my partner bailed me out on a few calls. I guess I should have conserved energy by not switching on every foul.

Yeah, but you'll get a fee-and-a-half, right? That would be, what. . .? About zero, right? :)

We get paid for scrimmages most of the time here. I am hoping this is in the 'most' category.

Paid Scrimmages, Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them ???
 

The following was recently sent, from our local board secretary, to all the schools that we service. Some of the "names have been changed to protect the innocent". Keep in mind that this is a letter from our local basketball officials board to all the schools that we service in our little corner of the "Constitution State", but similar letters have been, or will be, sent from local officials groups in all sports to the schools that they service.
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Dear CIAC member school,

Effective this year for the 2008-2009, the local board is asking that all member schools adhere to the CIAC Officials Committee recommendations and guidelines for scrimmage fees. The following procedures and options will be in place for the 2008–2009 season:

Option A
• Only scrimmages that are scheduled directly through the local board Assignment Commissioner will be assigned officials. A scrimmage fee, paid to the officials working the scrimmage, will be expected for all scrimmages assigned by the Assignment Commissioner.
• Schools should be expected to pay a total of $100 per scrimmage. If two officials work the scrimmage, they would be paid $50 each. If more than two officials work, then the $100 would be shared among the officials. Officials that work a scrimmage alone should be paid $75.
• Officials should not be asked to work more the two (2) hours and/ or six (6) periods per scrimmage. If they work more than two hours, then they should be compensated for the extra time worked.
• If a jamboree or multiple-team scrimmage is scheduled at a location, then the fee structure must be agreed upon with the scheduling school and the local board Assignment Commissioner prior to the event.

Option B
• If a school chooses to not pay a scrimmage fee, then they should contact the Assignment Commissioner for officials to volunteer their services to work the scrimmage(s). Our local board will make these scrimmages available to officials on the local board's website and the scrimmage(s) will be filled on a voluntary basis by officials. There will be no guarantee that the scrimmage would be covered.
• Officials should not be asked to work more than two (2) hours and/or six (6) periods per scrimmage.
• All levels of officials, including varsity and sub-varsity, may volunteer to work scrimmages. Whenever possible, three (3) officials may volunteer to work a scrimmage.

Option C
• Schools may make their own arrangements with local officials to work scrimmages for a mutually agreed upon fee.

Note: Schools should provide at least a one-week notice or as much advance notice as possible of a scrimmage to the Assignment Commissioner. As many scrimmages are scheduled in the afternoon, the pool of available officials to work those scrimmages, either assigned or voluntary, will be limited.

Please be advised that for the 2009–2010 seasons, only options A and C will be available and the local board will no longer coordinate referee volunteer scrimmages (option B) on their website. Also, as of the 2009–2010 season, the scrimmage fee for officials will be set at the prevailing Sub-Varsity rate payable to each official. The fee for Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball scrimmages will be determined by the number of teams participating in the scrimmage. Schools will be expected to pay for for one (1) official per team at scrimmages.
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I have disagreed with this new scrimmage procedure since it first came up last season. Officials working scrimmages for free, or for a small, voluntary stipend for lunch, gas, and laundry, is a win, win, win, situation for all involved. The schools get the benefit of having real officials for their preseason scrimmages. The officials get the benefit of getting in some games to work out the kinks, and to get adjusted to new rules before the real games begin. The officials also get the benefit of gaining some goodwill between themselves, and the principals, athletic directors, and most importantly, the coaches. This good rapport could come in handy somewhere down the line. In twenty-eight years, I've never minded working a scrimmage for free, I''ve actually looked forward to it. It was nice to get ten bucks, or a T-Shirt, or a free lunch, but not necessary.

But, from what I understand, this edict did not come from the various official's groups in Connecticut, but rather from our state interscholastic sports governing body, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), who found that it was almost impossible to find officials for scrimmages in some "minor" sports, field hockey, lacrosse, etc., but not basketball, or a few other "big time" sports, and that the only way to address this problem was to pay officials for scrimmages, across the board, for all sports, to insure that officials would be available for all sports scrimmages.

With the way the economy has been going lately, this is coming at a bad time. This decision may come back to bite us in the butt.

Generally speaking, the schools contact someone locally to get officials. My local HS has arranged with me to get officials for their scrimmages. They actually pay full games fees. I made arrangements with the AD to split the varsity fee 3 ways so we could get some work in with 3 man crews. Another local HS arranges their own and I usually work those as well but they were at the same time as the school I schedule games for. They have paid about $35 for varsity scrimmages and a bit less for JV.

Most of the other schools I have gone to pay $25. The AD at the school I traveled to yesterday, used to be the AD up here. It was DI girls, so even if it was gratis, it was good preparation.

Why is it a win for the officials? If we work, we should get paid. There's too much "working for free" going on as it is, with officials working 3-person for the price of two officials.

I worked 2 scrimmages this year in football and 2 in basketball. Schools wouldn't even ask officials to work for free around here.

The best one was a 4 hour scrimmage where we had 3 officials per court (3 courts) and we were paid $100 each. And then teams dropped out and we had floaters to give breaks, too. The other scrimmages paid $40, $50, and $40 and were all about 2 hours long.

You Get What You Pay For ...
 

I certainly can see your point, as does the our state athletic governing body, as well as my local, and state, basketball officiating board. And I can certainly agree with you up to a certain point. As I said, I don't mind getting some type of small stipend, to cover my transportation, etc. But I also believe that it is to my benefit to get in some games before my real games, and it is also to my benefit to build up some good rapport with the coaching staffs. Why a small stipend instead of a set fee? I guess that the real reason is that when I do a scrimmage I am practicing, just like the teams, and feel that I am getting as much benefit in being allowed to "warm up" for my real season, as they are in getting an official, instead of an assistant coach, to "ref" their game. I know that I'm in the minority on this issue, but that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

I don't get it.

His 3-man crew was "me, myself and I" :)

We know.