For the love of the game?
 

I was talking to a youth league president the other night and he asked me this question- "Why do officials need to be paid? Our BOD are all volunteers, our coaches are volunteers, scores, timers, etc are all volunteers, but not officials. If you guys are truly here for the love of the game, why do you insist to be paid?"

I told him the usual, rules study, professionalism, uniform costs, not my charity I give at work, etc. He said all of those thing are given by the other volunteers. He challenged me that being president of the league, he spent as much or more time during the course of the year as I did.

It did make the brown pop go down better but I am back to my trying to understanding the bigger picture grasshopper.

I do work quite a few freebies every year, but artists should be paid to perform their craft.

I was President of the Board of a youth league for quite a few years and I am still on the Board (17 years total now). I never spent anywhere near the time doing that job as I did officiating. Besides, if we didn't pay the refs, we wouldn't get any. Many of ours are HS kids. Part of the reason we use them is to provide them with a decent paying part time job. That's part of our mission, too. Quite a few of our Board members are volunteer coaches, but only two of us ref.

BTW - I do volunteer ref for Special Olympics. There's a difference between a "regular" non-profit and a charity.

Simple. Tell him to try bringing refs in for free and he'll see what he gets (volunteer parents).

He can't compare volunteers who specifically sign up to help an organization with officials; who are essentially outside venders.

Right, plus I have yet to see the "volunteers" break a sweat or injur themselves while performing their duties.

Simple supply and demand....there is not a sufficient supply of qualified people who will do this on a regular basis for free to meet the demand...like Snaq said let them try getting people to do it for free and see what they get - in fact I can think of a few cases in my area where they have tried this and quickly started paying people b/c it was maddening....

Does he also think the school custodians who are there during his games should work for free? Yeah - that'll go over big with the union.

Ask him why anyone who "loved the game" would waste their time being around crappy 4th grade games if they weren't being paid? There are a lot better of games to be around or to be watched on TV. Also find out where he ever got the idea that the officials are there for the "love of the game".

Come on LDUB, to do a high school varsity game around here means I leave work at 5PM and get home usually around 10:30. For my 5.5 hr committment I am paid $55 which is $10/hr BEFORE I deduct mileage, uniform, association dues, camps, etc, etc....if someone told me that they would hire me to do pretty much anything else considered work for that arrangement I'd say no thanks....while the money is nice and I wouldn't do as many games as I do if they were all freebies, I think all of us do this at least in part for the love of the game...

Because I have children of my own. They get my time for free.

I can honestly say I wouldn't do this for free. I love the game, and I love kids, and all that blah blah blah. But if I wasn't getting paid, I'd find other ways to volunteer that didn't involve taking verbal abuse as part of the job description.

So you worked from 9-5, then went and worked a side job and made $10/hr while exercising. Sounds better than working 9-5 then working at Wal Mart for 4 hours making $8/hr, then going to the gym, which has fees, for an hour. For someone who wants to make money and exercise sports officiating seems like a better option.

There are guys who officiated some sport and then started officiating volleyball. Some of those guys had more or less never known anything about volleyball. Do you think they decided to officiate volleyball because they loved the game?

It's funny how volleyball takes the punches for being the avenue to make "easy money". :D

I officiate very seldom now, but when I was more active, I officiated for free. (However, they paid me to take the crap that goes with it.)

Great line. I'm going to use it next time somebody complains that we get paid too much :)

One of the finer pleasures of officiating was being asked how much I was paid.

Perhaps I should have been a little more clear...my point was that I would not take a side job for $10/hr (which is not what I make when you deduct everything, it is probably closer to $8) even if it allowed me to exercise! $8/hr with exercise is not worth the time spent away from my family, the grief we deal with, etc, etc, if I didn't love the game....

Your point about volleyball for instance is valid, but more than the particular sport, I think it is the level that makes the difference - for instance I know guys who work 3-4 lower level (5-8th grade) games in the time it takes me to work one hs varsity game and they can walk out the door with more than 2X the money (and nowhere near the grief) that I do for the same time committment...maybe they don't love the game I don't know...but if you do this at a relatively high level you must love the game, b/c the money on its own isn't worth it and you can make more doing other things..

I work a lot of free games. When I do, I usually have an untrained partner and low quality basketball. When I charge $55 for a game, I get a great partner and high quality players. If you love the game, which would you pick?

Would do both...one for the satisfaction of helping someone who is starting out (as others have done for me) and one for the fact that the second game is hopefully a competitive high level game which I enjoy....the money is always secondary for me.....like I said if the money came first I would go work 100 jr high games/year and take half the crap for twice the money..I always tell people that the money is what keeps my wife off my back for being gone 30-40 nights/yr!:D

agreed

My monetary investment over the years:

1. camp for beginners = $250
2. two Jr provincial camps = $700
3. Phil Bova's camp at KSU = $300
4. two Sr provincial camps = $700
5. two national FIBA camps = $700
6. one provincial camp as evaluator = $150
7. Total for camps = $2,800

Conferences:

1. Approx. 7 provincial conferences @ $200 per
2. Total for conferences = $1,400

Clothing:

1. Shoes: about 6 pair x $60 = $360
2. Socks: about 20 pair x $8 = $160
3. Pants: about 10 pair x $55 = $550
4. Shirts: 7 pair x $36 =~ $280
5. Jackets: 2 x $60 = $120
6. Total for clothing = $1,500

But then there's also time spend at local meetings, etc. where we do not get paid.

Grand total spent = approx. $4,700. Which means it's probably $5,000 or more.

Then there's driving to games, etc...

How much have I been paid officiating for these years? Much more than $5,000, but counting the non-paid hours that I spend to better my abilities is often missed by many people.

I think without us, it's just recess.

Pass Go, Collect $200.00 ...
 

Next season will be the first season that our local board will charge a fee, I believe that it will be $50.00 for two hours, for scrimmages. I'm totally against this. Officials need scrimmages to get ready for the real season, so the school is actually providing a service to us by allowing us to do scrimmages, we're not at our best in scrimmages, and it generates a lot of good will between officials, and the coaches, players, parents, site directors, athletic directors, and school administrators. Surprisingly, this was not initiated by our local board, it was initiated by our state high school sports governing body. It was getting difficult in other geographic areas of the state, especially for other sports, to get officials for scrimmages.

We still provide "free" officials for a high school scholarship tournament, and for the Special Olympics Unified Games. I jump at the chance to do those games.

Why does Kobe and Lebron and the other couple hundred players get paid if "they love the game"?

I love my job I have but I wouldnt do it for free. And we don't insist on getting paid. We only take the jobs when they have pay attached to them. But I have never been given the option of work for free or get paid and had to choose one.

Forgive me, but this is BS.

I do it because it's a challenge to me. I don't really give a crap about the game other than I enjoy officiating it. I don't do it "for the kids" and certain not for the coaches.

Why is it so wrong for us to do it FOR OURSELVES?

We get paid for scrimmages. They are hiring me to work their scrimmages and since I am being hired to do a job, I should be paid for it. Do I accept less for more time? Sure. Would I do it for free? Not anymore, I wouldn't. Frankly, my performance during my first game of the year may not make me completely satisfied, but the coaches and players and fans wouldn 't be able to tell the difference.

Billy Mac I highly disagree with your wonderful feels good inside first paragraph. Doing 1 scrimmage DOES not make your READY for the season, especially if you have been doing games in the offseason (wreck ball not included). You should be ready once you suit up, if not this one game is not the cure all. Plus I don't see this "good will" being generated. It sounds good, but in reality its just simply platitudes that carry no weight.

Coach: You know you suck, but since you work a scrimmage at no charge in the beginning of the season I dont think you suck so much. In fact my good will towards you is starting to suffocate me.
Ref: Thanks coach I'm not going to T you up because I have scrimmage goodwill credits that I would like to use right now.
Parents: Man that sucky ref sure is nice for working that 1 game for free. It's really changed my opinion about all those old creepy men in striped shirts and their inability to see and call fouls for our team.
AD: Man that $50 you saved my sure helped us come in uder budget. You guys are really godsends.
Site directors: Man thanks for that freebie, I almost had break out my whistle and jump in, but hey im paid whether i sit and sleep or break a sweat.
school AD: WHo cares if they work a game for free -- they screw us everytime we lose.

Billy, don't take this personally, because from your posts I think you are a nice and positive person.

I completly agree -- pats on your back.

As a program director, I have encountered the attitude expressed in the OP from time to time, mostly when some complain about how much I choose to pay the officials for our 7th-8th grade rec program. ($25/game, games usually run 55 minutes as we use a running clock.)
My response has always been that I will pay what is needed to officials that will put forth a good effort, and help our league provide a positive, instructive environment.
I never have trouble locating qualified referees willing to call for us, and that is how I like it.

I use parents as volunteer clock operators, and that is enough of a train wreck some games, that I cannot imagine the ice cream pain-like sensations that would fill my brain if I had volunteer officials. :eek:

This is a great line. I might do it for free, at least more often, if it wasn't for the so-called crap. Gotta cover the cost of counselling!

But I also agree with Rich. I really started for the exercise, but quickly began to enjoy the challenge, and to appreciate other benefits that were JUST FOR MYSELF. And why is that a problem?

How is it bs when I agree with you? Don't misunderstand what I mean by "for the love of the game"...Saying I do it for "the love of the game" to me means that I do it b/c I love the game and take a lot of enjoyment from it...far different than doing it for the money...never said I do it for anybody but myself and my own enjoyment of it...I might do some things to give back to new officials, etc, but generally speaking I wouldn't do it if I didn't truly enjoy it b/c the money isn't enough reason on its own..

So sucking it up in a scrimmage generates good will???:confused::confused:

Officials don't need scrimmages.

You pay $200 to officiate in a conference?

Maybe you don't, but I've seen a lot (myself included) that find pre-season scrimmages very helpful.

We don't have a lot of options for calling ball in the fall around here. Summer ball ends in August/Sept, then basketball starts after Thanksgiving. So, scrimmages throughout November are a great way to see some plays and "get back in the groove." All our officials do them for free - even the 'vets' because most of them see value in it.

If they paid, I'd gladly take it - but I want to be ready when the first ball of the season goes up and look at the scrimmages as an opportunity to both get myself ready and help the new guys.

Of course the schools aren't going to pay, you have a group of guys in your area willing to do it for free, there is no reason for the school to waste money. Ask the school if they would still pay officials for regular season games if they figured out a way to get out of paying.

You find the scrimmages helpful, that is fine, good for you...but why would you work it for free? A scrimmage game is just another type of game. The teams don't need officials, they could try to play a scrimmage or a regular game without officials. If the team wants officials to drive to the game site, spend several hours of their time, be away from their families/jobs, run around on the court, and risk injury then they should pay the officials.

By all means, have him secure a pool of volunteers to officiate his games.

Get a volunteer assignor too.

Get back to me with the results.

I think I answered this in the part where I talked about it helping me get ready for the season.

I take this job seriously. I look at scrimmages as an opportunity to get better. I pay to go to camps, I do scrimmages for free, I get paid to do games, I hope to get better every time out.

I look at every game as an opportunity to get better but I don't work them for free.

I started because I couldn't play college ball because some fella decided to play tackle football on me during touch-football. Whenever I thought I was done, I would watch a rec league game and tell myself, "I could do better!" Then I would get back in.

In my later years, I am starting to see this as a good way to excercise (as was mentioned earlier), but also as a way to work through retirement :D. I don't see my Social Security check being very big and by the time the politicians run the economy in the ground, my retirment pension will get me a bowl of chillie - each week!

I love the game, too! But I don't love the crap! Getting paid balances it all out.

Yup. I sent the game to OT, too. :p

Scrimmages are an expected part of service for being a member of my local high school association during pre-season, and an absolute necessity for being a member of my two college associations. And I don't think your statement about teams being able to play practice games without officials applies to anything above the JV high school level. I don't know of a single JC, DIII, NAIA, or DII college that I could get assigned to that doesn't play multiple scrimmages before their games for record begin. The coaches want real officials at those games, for a few important reasons. It's part of the official or unofficial contract between the conferences and their officials' associations.

Around here you'll get paid for any preseason scrimmage as far as I know.

Officiating All The Way To The Bank ...
 

deecee and LDUB: I don't do one scrimmage, I try to do six to eight in the preseason. I do not officiate from April until October. When I step onto the court in late November, I haven't blown a whistle, with the exception of summer camp, for seven months. And every year there are new rules, and possibly new mechanics to get used to. I know that I'm in the minority here, but it's just the way I feel. I'm not at my best, and I need to work scrimmages to get ready for the real season. I appreciate the $10.00, or $20.00, for gas, and laundry, or I appreciate a free T-shirt, or a grinder, or a slice of pizza, or a beverage, but getting (basically) a junior varsity game fee for a practice game for both the players, and for me, just seems a little excessive, especially during this current recession. Keep in mind that I've been doing free scrimmages for twenty-seven years, so this is going to take some getting use to. I guess that I'll have to figure out a way to spend the extra money. That part won't be too hard.

Sam

That is classic! LOL I'm going to use that one when a coach or someone at the table kids me about the "big bucks" I make as a ref.:p

If youth coaches coached "for the love of the game", why do they care so much about winning at all costs? If they would volunteer to teach kids and not yell at refs and model their teams after the pros (win at all costs), then we'd volunteer more.

I volunteer when I do the Shrine All-Star football game, not when I do mouthy elementary school level basketball coaches, players and fans.

Slow whistle and the others nailed it. I do it for the love of the game but I won't do it for nothing. It's a mix.