Average retiring age for officials??
 

You probably know someone who is 80 years old and still the best official ever, but I'm wondering what you think the AVERAGE age is that officials decide that they are just too old to keep up with the demands of the game?

The age of Wonder
 

When you wonder if you should retire, just do it.

65? A guy 60 in good shape can still get around the field. A guy 70 probably can't so somewhere around 65 seems like a good point to think about it and try and get some outside advise.

To all those kiddies out there that think anything over 45 is ancient, a 50 or 60 year old can perform at the same level officiating-wise as a 35 year old. The big difference is how long they can sustain the level of activity (certainly long enough for a football game) and the recovery time needed between games.

Obviously there are tremendous differences between individuals.

You might also consider the words of the great philosopher, Yogi Berra, in suggesting some things, baseball or football officiating, "90% mental and the other half physical".

Football has distinctly different levels. Many officials start at the youth league levels, progress up to and through High School competition and some have the flexibility to continue at the Collegiate level and even above. A career as a good football official doesn't have to come to an abrupt end.

Competent officials, whose physical abilities might be waning, can still contribute considerable value to the game revisiting lower levels, where experienced, competent officials who may well be at the top of their mental game are always in great demand. Plus it can still be as much fun as it ever was, at a little slower pace.

If there are tremendous differences among individuals, why think that everyone should "think about" retiring at 65? That will be too old for some and too young for others.

Who cares what the average age is? How would that provide any guidance for anyone making this decision?

I didn't mean it in a bad way - In answer to the original question, I suggested it as good time to take a look at yourself and see where you are. It's a time to make an assessment, not a suggested date to think about retiring.

Some guys leave too early when they have a lot of good years left, and some hang on too long. Even if you feel good now, I think it's probably a good idea to set a target date when you will try and do an honest assessment of where you are and what you should do. As ajmc mentioned, maybe it's moving to a different level or a different role.

What is your target date, level, role ?

I'm hitting a milestone age in a few years. At that time I'm going to decide what to do next - whether to continue to officiate and set a new target date for later on, quit cold turkey or maybe become an observer. Obviously the biggest factor will be my health - can I keep up with the play, how are my knees, things like that. And do I still enjoy it. Another factor may be our crew. We are all about the same age (which is not a good thing for a crew), but will we continue as a crew? Maybe if the other guys quit, I may too.

I think the hardest thing will be to make/get an objective opinion on what kind of job I'm doing. I suspect it would be very easy to kid myself.

I've heard that once you start thinking about retiring you've already made the decision.

When to give it up is more a matter of the physical and the mental than the chronological.

It oftens puzzles me how officials a fraction of my age who look like they are taking a day off from their duties at Pillsbury or the officials whose knowledge of the rules is based upon faith because the rule book is merely a bother or both continue to get on the field.

~sigh~
 

I think it is always better to retire two years too early rather than one year too late.

I selected my own date and was satisfied with that.

Two years ago I thought that next year might be my last. I will know by how I feel at that time. I am the R on our crew and running is ok but I am not as fast as I used to be. I am still learning about the game and want to get better every year. I may inquire about crews needing a U in the next several years. I am playing it year to year and no date is set.

The SEC has a mandatory retirement age of 60 for field officials. One of our WH's was an SEC umpire and got hit with the mandatory retirement. He's now doing 1-AA CFB on Saturdays. He's probably in better shape than most of our 35-45 year olds.

I'll be 46 this season. I'd like to think I can get 9-10 more years in but its hard to say out on the wing. Last spring and summer I made a much better effort of conditioning and it paid off. I felt the best I have in a long time.

My wheels may not make it that long, however. I've never been blessed with speed and those Saturday mornings where I can barely walk first thing are hit and miss these days.

I think Brett Favre missed that memo!

In my association:

Retirement age = death + 1 year

60 years as an active official!
 

A football official in the State of Washington will be working his 60th (and final) year as a high school football official in 2009. This same official was enshrined in the Washington Sports Hall of Fame after his 50th year. While it may be perhaps unprofessional for me to list his name here, for those of you familiar with the Longview Association you can likely figure it out.

A few years ago...
 

a former crewmate worked a softball tourney with a man in his 80's...maybe a bit old....but as an infantryman who stormed Omaha Beach in WWII, far be it from me to tell him to hang it up.
cheers,
tro

That reminds me of the partner I had for slow-pitch once, when I moved to Omaha. He was so old and dimunitive I asked him if it was ok if I took the bases all night. He said "sonny, you do the plate all night". :eek:

timely topic for me !
 

I just turned 70 the other day. This season will be my 40th---32 in CNY and 8 here. I've decided this will be my last season for football. The main reason is that I have sensed that I am no longer able to move as quickly as I used to getting to the spot where I will place the ball for the next play. I always thought that I would be able to know when it was time to "hang them up". Well this is it. I have two spring scrimmages here in May. I hope the assignor will give me a couple of competitive varsity games and some "fun" freshman and/or JV games in the fall. Then that will be it. What a great ride I've had. I had the pleasure of working 25 play-off and intersectional games in the Syracuse Carrier Dome. I worked the All Star Game in CNY and the All Star Game here a couple years ago. Worked with some great guys over the years--and some very BIG games and some not so big. Life has been good to me !

I think what you mean is your last season of football on the field? Must be a good few years left in you to be assessing and mentoring rookies.......

Do we draw a distinction between retiring and quiting?
We have a low level of retention here, and a LOT of officials stop after 2-4 years, so I would put the average age at... 25-27?
As for people who have officiated at least 10 years - the average age might be something like 55.

What is causing the low level of retention? We have a program here that is helping to retain the rookies and it has seen some great results, not only retaining but developing them faster.

Probably the biggest factor for loosing officials is that some are not really there of their own free will.

To have enough warm bodies around our association has a requirement that each team needs to provide 2 people willing to officiate + 1 more person per additional team (men's, youth A and B, flag, ladies). So the teams dredge up people to send to the training.

Some are actually interested, some do it for their team (players or ex-players ususally), some want to make a little money. Many are quite young and stop playing after a few years, or go off to University, or finally get a girlfriend... And loose an interest altogether in the sport (which is loosing popularity here in Germany).

The system is not as bad as I make it sound though. There are a few new people each year that find it an avocation and stay on.