We are holding to a meeting with AD's and Coaches of the greater Portland Oregon area. The coaches and AD's feel that the Back Judge (5th man) is a position that could be eliminated. This is mostly for monetary reasons, however the coaches claim that the 5th guy is not used in most of the country. I said this is not true but I need your written input to support me to take to the meeting.

Could you please provide me with:
1), The State you work in.
2), The number of officials used in the largest (size/division) High School games you work.
3), The pay scale for the largest (size/division) High school games you work.

Thank you in advance for you input...

Texas

5-man crews are the norm. My Chapter has been able to get 6-man crews with some schools (but very few). 4-man crews are used only when there are not enough officials, even at the "lowest" level of schools.

Game fees are based on how much $$$ is taken in gate proceeds. Typical ganme fee check for the "highest" level games range from about $110 to $150.

Michigan

5 man crews at all sizes of schools.

$50 is typical. Some conferences are at $60.

You might want to present this as a safety issue to the AD's. 5 man crews should be able to see safety fouls easier than 4 man crews. Plus the extra money isn't that much for them. 1 extra game fee x 5 home games = only $250 bucks!

Alabama
 

Five man - all varsity games. $50 per game.
Four man - all JH and JV. $30-$32 per game.

BJ helps with off ball penalties and cleaning up the sidelines.

Illinois
 

Illinois uses 5 officials for the state series. In the northern portion of the state five officials are used the entire year. In many conferences a crew will work two games back to back, soph and varsity so the 5th person also works the soph game.

Single Varsity Game $57
Single Soph/Frosh/JV $40
Soph/Var Combo $75-86 depending on the league
No travel pay in the northern part of the state.
(State Tourn does pay for miles over 100.)


FWIW other levels
Frosh A - 3 officials
Frosh B - 2 officials
JV - 3 officials

Hope this helps. Please post the results once you get a good number of replies from across the country

[Edited by i011763 on Nov 5th, 2002 at 10:33 AM]

JimNayzium....

I can email you later with exactly where I am, but I am in large private school league.

We have the option of paying the sixth official on the field and we take that option, we always have an ECO also....so seven man crew counting clock operator...

For our league though

JV/B team = 4 man crew
Varisty = 5 man crew with option of sixth

Pay is 50 plust travel fee, so we pay anywhere from 65 85 per game

New York, but can only speak for our section (Section V)

5 man for all varsity games - 61.75

The home team plays 3-4 home games per year, so their expense in having the 5th man is at most ~250 PER YEAR! What's the overall athletic department budget? In the hundreds of thousands? What's the school's overall budget? In the millions? Sheesh, turning on the lights at the damn meeting to discuss it will set them back a comparable amount.

Oh, and .30/mile for travel, but we usually ride together so only one guy gets the mileage. Big money!

In Kansas it varies by size of school but almost all 3A thru 6A schools use a 5-man crew. 2A and 8-man schools usually use a 4-man crew. Some leagues pay mileage to one official at .40 cents per mile one-way, other leagues pay no mileage at all. Most all JV games are 4-man crew but can sometimes bring a 5th man and split the pay for the 5th official among all the officials.

In Westchester County, NY, the schools have the option of 4 or 5 man crews. This year about 30% have chosen 5 man crews. The varsity fee this year is $83. JV & lower use three man crews. Most sectional semis & all section finals use five. We get a 5 & 10 percent additional for those games.

Iowa
 

In Iowa for all playoff games the state assigns 5 man crews

For the most part the whole state has 5 man crews working varsity games.

Payscale would range from $55.00 to $70.00

Good luck in your efforts!

Northern California
 

We are in a smaller section, comparatively, in the Northern section of California. (compared to the Bay Area, etc.)

The larger (Division 1) schools in our section typically range from 1000-2000 total enrollment. We use five man crews for all Division 1 schools, as well as for many Division 2 and Division 3 games, some of which go as low as 400-500 total enrollment.

We send the same crew for both the JV and Varsity games, and each official is paid the same rate, $78.00. One, or sometimes two, officials will also be compensated additionally for travel expenses at approximately $0.37 per mile, and are responsible for transporting the crew.

I believe that we also have negotiated our contract for next year, and are scheduled to receive a $5.00 increase to the aforementioned JV/Varsity game fee.

Good luck in your negotiations.

Tennessee requires a five man crew for all varisity games. On field officials are paid 75 and clock operators are paid 50. No mileage is paid except for playoffs. Jr High and JV pay 50.

Long Island New York - Nassau County uses four man crews at the varsity level. Jr. Varsity games utilize three person crews (we have a female official). Fee schedule for 2002 season
Varsity = 98, JV = 76 JrH = 66 / 82.50 5 qtr
Clock Operator = JrH fee

Nebraska
 

Preferences by most all schools is 5 man. They will pay for 5 even at the 8 man level. Average $50-60/man/game. 5 man is mandatory at playoffs and finals for all divisions. Mileage paid only for playoff games, crews who work the finals get $65/man

Oregon
 

5-Man for most of the state in 4A Games - However the Coaches and AD are attempting to eliminate the Back Judge in the greater Portland Area
4-Man for 3A, 2A, and 1A (Eight Man)

4A Varsity $40.80
4A JV $30.60
4A Frosh $28.50
3A Varsity $38.00
3A JV $29.50
3A Frosh $28.00
2A Varsity $35.00
2A JV $28.00
1A Varsity $35.00
1A JV $28.00
7th/8th $23.50 (5th Quarter $6.00)
Youth FB $23.50 (We usually work 3 games back to back)

We do get mileage, however,
From the results posted so far it appears we are in the running for "Lowest Pay in the Nation!"
Now they want to take our Back Judge away.

A huge "Thank you" to all that have responded.
The meeting is not until next Wednesday so if the remaining states would respond I would be much obliged.

[Edited by KWH on Nov 6th, 2002 at 10:25 AM]