Finally happened to me...
 

No, not a blarge...had one last season.

Finally got to call a game by myself. Two in fact.

I thought my two Jr. High girls games would be a great opportunity to get used to mechanics again, work on positioning, focusing on my primary, the sort of stuff that should be second nature to us as officials.

Lo and behold, my partner is a no-show, and all that stuff goes out the window.

It went OK. Obviously there were some things I'm sure I missed, like out of bounds.

The good thing of course, was that my check gets doubled up!

And it was JH so your probably did not have to run the same as you would with HS aged kids. Not a bad way to make two checks. ;)

Peace

My sympathies.

That's something I never enjoy.........

Did two B15U summer games like that this summer and was whipped when I was done......and to top it off, I knew it wasn't my best effort as it's just tough to do justice to the game under those circumstances - especially with older, athletic kids on a larger floor. :(

Still, Not A Good Way To Make Some Extra Cash ...
 

Wow! Here in the "Land of Steady Habits" we get a a check for $150% of the game fee. It's in our contract with the state interscholastic sports governing body.

Not a bad way indeed. Although it's almost not worth the headache.

Two checks? That's nice. We get the same as if we had a partner...just the one game fee.

I did that enough last year, including during a very physical freshman game that nearly had me tossing the visiting head coach. I really hope to not have to do that anymore but as the saying goes...wish in one hand...

I see both sides of this.

As an official, I wouldn't want to work by myself and not see something extra.

As a team, why should I pay the normal going rate and only have 1 official? That's the assignor's problem, not mine.

Luckily, in WI we can't start a game with less than 2 officials by state policy. And I don't work rec ball.

You know, I actually tend to favor this line of thinking as well. Why should the schools pay for more than they are getting if they didn't screw it up?

It would be nice if the chapter covered the other 50 - 100%.

The part that stinks is I'd be the one put through the ringer if I did not want to call the game by myself.

I like Wisconsin's rule.

Our local kids rec league pays 1.5 times the rate if you work a game alone. That's seems fair to me. When working alone, you don't do twice the work, but you do about 1.5 times the work.

There's a "competitive" kids league around here that only pays an extra $5 if you work a game alone. That sucks.

BTW - our local kids rec league is giving all the refs a raise this coming season. They asked me to come up with the new pay scale. Cool. :rolleyes:

Here we get paid double. And the missing partner gets fined a game fee.

Agree school shouldn't have to foot the bill for 2 officials if only 1 show up.

There Are Always Exceptions To The Rule ...
 

Car accident on the way to the game? What if only one official was assigned? In our little corner of Connecticut we have some difficulty assigning two officials to freshman, and middle school, late afternoon games on really busy days. Sometimes there's only one official available at that time in that town.

Every public school in my area gives you extra if you work alone. Some give you both game checks, others 1.5 times your regular fee. I've worked alone many times and it is not pleasant at any level. I do think we deserve something extra for the effort of working alone.

I once had to do a night of four consecutive 7th and 8th grade boys games alone due to a partner no show. Ended the night with 6 technicals and 2 ejections, one player and one coach (son and father). It was a Catholic school league so the number of T's wasn't really that unusual. :)

Or what if the official got abducted by aliens!!! :eek:

We're On A Mission From God ...
 

I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. It wasn't my fault, I swear to God.

On the other hand, why should I work a game solo for the same fee when I agreed to work with a partner? I've done enough accidental one-man games to know I'm not interested in working them at the two-man rate.

I work harder and they get a less covered game. 1.5 times the normal fee seems like a good compromise.