HS Officials Pay
 

Nice article in support of raising game fees....

Raising officiating stipends a good first step - East Valley Tribune: VarsityXtra

Although it is based on decline of "qualified" officials, and
"Everyone criticizes the officiating when calls (or non-calls) don’t go their way, and a lot of times it’s a fair criticism."

Been saying that for several years, if they want to attract better officials and keep them game fees need to go up. Club ball is same way, not sure I have seen any increase in fees in 7+ years.

Other one I have always wondered about, as a certified official, why is the pay less for sub varsity games? Now that we have time limits for those games it does help, but prior to that most of the time JV and Frosh games usually took far longer to complete and were more trouble.

Around my area, HS games pay significantly more than the rec leagues we work. Consequently, a lot of guys are hopping on that bandwagon looking for a bigger payday.

Our sub-varsity games pay 75% of varsity fees, and that is still more than any tournament and rec league.

So simply getting more warm bodies clearly doesn't improve the overall quality of the umpiring. In fact, I could argue that the overall quality of the officiating goes down. We have some "elite-ist" guys that only want to work HS and tournaments. But they are unwilling to get down and dirty at the rec level which is where I think most learning can occur particularly if you're paired with a seasoned, knowledgeable official.

Do you think games should be paid solely on the time it takes to work them?

Thats not what I was saying at all. If so, then JV and Frosh games should be paying more if there is no time limit because most times they take longer to complete than varsity.

I was merely questioning why sub varsity pay is less than varsity pay in HS games. Club ball the game fees are the same regardless of age level or skill level yet in HS fees are lower for JV and Frosh.

Here, the schools pay less for JV than Varsity. But then we provide two-man crews for Varsity, and JV is solo. So the JV umpire actually makes more per game than the Varsity umpire.

At least that's how it used to be when I first started umpiring HS ball here. It may have changed.

In Florida, we have not had a raise in game fees in more than a decade. FHSAA promises that we will see an increase by 2016. :rolleyes:

Here this year:

Varsity 98

JV 74

Modified (Jr High) 65


two umpire crews

usually get a buck more each season - although next year it goes up two so we achieve parity with that 'other' game....:D


It is amazing the places that STILL treat their officials like its 1955....

Don't forget the "cost of living" and the "level of civility" factors. :rolleyes:

Do you get mileage too?

I just joined this association.

On the other side of the Delaware River, we get $61 for Varsity (2 man) and $52 for JV & JH (1 man)

Welcome to CHVBGSO Patrick!

Generally speaking, no travel unless you go out of your zone to "fill in."

and a welcome to CHVBGSO for you also, EsqUmp! :)

it was good to meet you the other night