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]

KWH, you're sure right about that low pay. I always thought we were bad in Michigan.

Good Luck!

survey game fees
 

In Louisiana our officials are broke down in to 3 categories certified , approved , registered . A certified official gets $55.00 a approved gets $45.00 and a registered gets $40.00. The referee get $5.00 dollar more and we use a 5 man crew in every game. JV game ar $20.00 per official plus travel. Travel is .60 a mile and we all travel together so the driver get the travel but he buys the drink for the ride home

Arkansas has 5 man crews for all levels Jr High (7,8,9) JV and Varsity in all classifications AA-AAAAA (A does not play football).

State Recommended Fees:
JR High, JV - $40 per official
Varsity - $60

Northwest Arkansas usually pays $35 per official on multi-game nights, $40 on single game nights for Jr High and JV. $55 for Varsity. 1 official receives mileage.

With increase of the spread offense in our area we are experimenting with 6 man crews for AAAAA games and the officials split the total game fees 6 ways. Next year we will probably have a school paid 6 man crew on AAAAA Varsity games.

Illinois

I concur with i011763 regarding Illinois using 5 officials for the state series. In the Southwestern portion of the state, a few crews use 6, but most crews try to have five officials the entire year. However, due to the decline in the number of officials (down 396 from 2002 statewide), it is sometimes difficult to have a 5 man crew.

The schools in the St. Louis metro East and south of Interstate 70 vary in compensation. As an athletic association, we have tried to get all the local schools to pay the same, if not across the board, at least within same conference. No luck so far.

Typically a single varsity game is $45.00-$57.00 per man for five man crew. Some AD's, especially those schools with strong playoff histories, will give a 6th offical the same pay, others take the total compensation that would have been paid to a five man crew and divide it up for 6.

Soph/Frosh/JV (maximum 4 man crew):
Individual game $37.50 - $40 per person,
Back-to-back $65.00-$70.00
Eighth Grade/Seventh Grade (3 man crew):
Individual $35.00 - $37.50
Back-to-back $60.00 to $65.00

(AD's tell us that they do not double the amount becuase we are already there, and do not need compensation for driving twice. Advise them that if we left it would cost them the full amount to bring in another crew or not have a game. The arguments so far have always fallen short mainly because our officials' association has not really stood solid on the matter.)

Pee-Wee, Pop Warner, Pony Leagues (3 man crews) - $25.00 - $35.00 a game. Most leagues around here have a mandate that at least two Licensed officials must be officiating the game.

No travel pay in the Southwest Illinois either.

Thanks for posting info. I am making copies to present to our association board for further discussion of how other states compensate teir officials.

Minnesota:

Minnesota uses a crew of 5 officials for all varsity games with the exception of some 9-Man schools (4 officials). Pay is between $60-$70 per official.

Lower level ball utilizes 3 officials in Soph/JV games and 2-3 officials in Freshmen games($42-$50 per official).

Our back judge was crucial this year with teams that frequently passed the ball. Also one extra pair of eyes to clean up the dead ball crap.

Having seen responses on another thread, how do most states officials evaluate the performance of their officials? I know in Illinois it is the head coach or Athletic Director of a varsity game worked by the officials. However, we do not know who submitted an evaluation, so that the performance or alleged lack thereof can be discussed with the evaluator, nor are they required to tell what they believe needs to be done for improvement. In addition to school officials, Certified officials (Illinois has three levels of officials Registered, Recognized and Certified, your level along with the coaches' evaluations actually filed determines your playoff possibilities)can evaluate an official one time per season. However, it is rarely done, unless officials on your crew are certified, because typically all officials are working somewhere due to the shortage of officials in Illinois.
I also saw on the other thread where Indiana is also evaluated by officials, but am unaware if the official is made known as to who evaluated them or if know why coach evaluated them (i.e. tips for areas of improvement).
Please respond as this has been as issue the past couple of years as to whether officials in our State are being evaluated fairly and competently, so as to improve their individual and crew performances on the field.

pay scale for survey
 

Indiana--5A--4A--3A--2A--1A

All varsity games $50-$60 each for 5 and 6 man crews..
JV $40-$45 for 4 man crews
Frosh $35-$40 for 4 man crews
JH $35-$40 for 4 man crews

With the players getting bigger and faster, how can you call a game [at any level] without the proper number of officals?The passing game itself is still tough to call with 5 man crews.We may call a game with 300 to 400 fans one night, then the next week we may have up to 10 thousand.You better know what you are going, even with a full crew.Even in High School the game has risen to the highest level.

Indiana, 5-man crews for all varsity games.

Update; but I still need your input!!!
 

We have had several meetings with coaches, AD's and the OSAA. The OSAA (Oregon School Activities Association) who has the final say has tabled the issue until February. I provided the info I recieved from this discussion board and the NFHS discussion board. The question was asked why I didn't provide all 50 states and IT WAS IMPLIED that I did not include all the states that are using 4 officials and paid less money than Oregon. While there were many things I would like to IMPLY back at the OSAA, it is probably best that I just do my home work and provide them the info they require.

So I am asking again if your state has not responded if you could provide:
A) Number of officials used at highest level of high school football. (Not including playoffs)
B) Pay rate used at highest level of high school football. (Not including playoffs)

A hugh THANK YOU to all who have responded thus far!

I will keep this updated...

Where is Section V?

In Section XI (Suffolk County, Long Island)

Varsity -97
JV - 77
JH - 59.50 plus 20% for 5-period game and 25% for extra quarter to a 4 quarter game

We don't travel more than 50 miles one way.

Ed,

How do you guys get that money consistantly from contract to contract? We fight to get $ 1-2 dollars a game! I negotiate the officials contract in Section I (Westchester Co.). Every time we try to get parity with Long Island and they don't go for it. Do your guys have any tips?

Happy Holidays, enjoy the snow.

Interesting. Up here in the Great White North, we use 4 person crews for high school. (R, U, HL, LJ.) Out county finals and provincials finals use 6-person crews.

Keep in mind that our dimentions are 110x65 and 20 yard EZs.

I think it amounts to a 43% bigger field.

Mike