Problem with a HS referee

[Tidewater]

It is good to see that church league softball hasn't changed since I was younger. Some of the biggest gripers were some of the best preachers.

My attitude is, in a church softball league, if you get beat 9-0, you just say to the other team, "Good game. Toss me a beer" (unless you're playing the Southern Baptists).

 

[Titans&Tide]

I don't think anyone on the thread has said that every ref on every level sucks. There are some really good guys out there. But in general, the officiating at the high school level across multiple sports isn't worth what they're getting paid. The thing is, I'd gladly advocate paying more for good officiating if we were to get it consistently. I guess I believe in getting paid what you're worth, not what you want...

 

[CoachJeff]

I don't think anyone on the thread has said that every ref on every level sucks. There are some really good guys out there. But in general, the officiating at the high school level across multiple sports isn't worth what they're getting paid. The thing is, I'd gladly advocate paying more for good officiating if we were to get it consistently. I guess I believe in getting paid what you're worth, not what you want...

Cut their pay then. See how well that works out.

 

[AlistarWills]

Since this is getting off the rails let’s reset what this is about.
We have a HS ref working the clock in the pressbox for games HIS SON plays in. He does a bad job of stopping the clock properly, has non-officials hang out in the booth with he and the other clock ref, and plays on his phone during the game.
Last year, he was on the field for some games. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but we got word that he had not informed the man that schedules them out that he had a son on this team. Easily hidden since he’s from a different town with their own school system.

 

[CoachJeff]

Since this is getting off the rails let’s reset what this is about.
We have a HS ref working the clock in the pressbox for games HIS SON plays in. He does a bad job of stopping the clock properly, has non-officials hang out in the booth with he and the other clock ref, and plays on his phone during the game.
Last year, he was on the field for some games. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but we got word that he had not informed the man that schedules them out that he had a son on this team. Easily hidden since he’s from a different town with their own school system.

What was the response when you contacted the AHSAA and/or the local head of officials?

 

[CrimsonPaul]

I was a soccer ref for 8 years. Did U6 all the way to high school, college and SE regional tournament games. I had my good days and bad and sure have had comments about my game calling but this one time took the cake: The 2 teams had got into a fight at their last meeting and the game had to be called, so I called a very tight game and the better team did win 2-0. I was happy at the result and was surprised when the head coach of the team that WON rushed to mid field and yelled at me "That was the worst called game I have ever seen!" Five min later the coach of the LOSING team told me "That was the best called game I've seen." You never know.

 

[Tug Tide]

Since this is getting off the rails let’s reset what this is about.
We have a HS ref working the clock in the pressbox for games HIS SON plays in. He does a bad job of stopping the clock properly, has non-officials hang out in the booth with he and the other clock ref, and plays on his phone during the game.
Last year, he was on the field for some games. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but we got word that he had not informed the man that schedules them out that he had a son on this team. Easily hidden since he’s from a different town with their own school system.

Are you in a position of authority at the school? If not, then ask the AD, Head Coach or Principal to email the head of the local association and cc one of the email addresses listed on the page below: (I’m assuming this is in AL)

Officials

.

 

[bama_fan01]

Are you in a position of authority at the school? If not, then ask the AD, Head Coach or Principal to email the head of the local association and cc one of the email addresses listed on the page below: (I’m assuming this is in AL)

Officials

.

In most cases, the head coach can "scratch" an official to prevent them from working their games - both home and away. That might be an option.

As for everyone blasting officials, they give tests prior to each sport starting. There's a shortage of officials (I think we ALL agree on that!). Go take the test, and do something about it! Be an official. See how easy / hard it is. Two things I promise you - you WILL make mistakes and get yelled at, and you WON'T get rich.

 

[MOAN]

Again, your complaint sounds legit. But no one is standing in line to do what is a thankless job. If you ref high school (or even junior high) games you will get cussed at, screamed at, and even followed to the parking lot and threatened. It happened to me.

Happened to me once too, although I wasn't threatened. I officiated football here in Northeast Alabama for a short time in the late 80's and had Brewer's Jr. High head coach follow me to my car complaining about a call I didn't even make in a game I was calling between Brewer and Arab at Arab.

I was the umpire and the back judge threw a flag on a Brewer player for interference in the end zone on a fourth down last play of the game play which gave Arab the ball on the 2 yard line and another down. They scored to win on the next play.

I kept telling the coach, "coach it wasn't my call", I didn't even see the interference as I had my back turned doing my assignment but he wasn't listening I don't reckon lol! Followed me all the way to my car and was still griping at the door as I drove off lol!!!

Have had the principle of the school hold the gate open for us, to run off the field to our car before the stadium could begin to exit lol!! It can be scary for sure!!!

 

[Tidewater]

As for everyone blasting officials, they give tests prior to each sport starting. There's a shortage of officials (I think we ALL agree on that!). Go take the test, and do something about it! Be an official. See how easy / hard it is. Two things I promise you - you WILL make mistakes and get yelled at, and you WON'T get rich.

Good advice. It's a tough job. I think the best we can hope for is even-handedness. If hand-fighting between a DB and a receiver gets a DPI call one play, then it had better get a DPI call when the same thing happens when the other side is playing defense. The strike zone for one team has to be exactly the same size for the other team.

I would make a terrible official. One red button that sets me off worse than you can imagine is insubordination. If I make a call and a player or ref decides to let me know he disagrees, I would have a hair trigger the unsportsmanlike flag and no official should want the official to become a significant part of any game. Those officials who get an earful from a coach while going back to paying attention to the next play have my respect. I cannot do that.

 

[81usaf92]

Cut their pay then. See how well that works out.

Cut their pay to free? Most don’t really see the pay with how much travel is involved.

 

[81usaf92]

Most people don't get screamed at by strangers over and over at their jobs. That's quite uncommon.

Pay is an issue. Officiating is physically demanding and requires a lot of knowledge and skill. It can be pretty stressful as well.

I think coaches and fans should work as officials before opining on how hard it is. I had issues with officials but once I started to do it on even a intramural level I realized it's a lot harder than it looks.

The test they give is literally on quizlet, and is an open book. It’s not like the best people are always out there. The concerns about incompetent refs is very valid but what can you really do about it?

 

[AlistarWills]

What was the response when you contacted the AHSAA and/or the local head of officials?

I have contacted no one. It’s my understanding through back channels, that the scheduler has been made aware and he was at the next game anyway.
Would AHSAA do anything?

 

[81usaf92]

I have contacted no one. It’s my understanding through back channels, that the scheduler has been made aware and he was at the next game anyway.
Would AHSAA do anything?

Short answer.... If the guy was on the field and affected the game then it could essentially shut down the association and/or result in a no decision. But you would have to have clear proof that the outcome was affected and that the scheduler had the ability to change the assignment.

 

[CoachJeff]

I have contacted no one. It’s my understanding through back channels, that the scheduler has been made aware and he was at the next game anyway.
Would AHSAA do anything?

Maybe. I have found them to be good about communication. I’ve had issues with things and even though I didn’t get what I wanted, they listened and explained themselves.

 

[seebell]

Poor Sportsmanship, Pandemic Contributing to Shortage of Officials

www.nfhs.org

As high schools begin a third school year of sports and other activities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a familiar issue continues to challenge administrators nationwide: finding enough individuals to officiate all scheduled contests.

 

[gman4tide]

A very small percentage goes to the association for administrative fees, but the vast majority gets paid to the officials.



Our baseball umpires get paid a lot more than $85 per game. Most of the youth league umps get at least $85 per game here (Tuscaloosa). And don't even get me started on the baseball umpires. I was in the pressbox for years and I've seen strike zones change batter-to-batter and inning-to-inning. It's awful. I thought Tuscaloosa was bad until I went to Fayette County. We actually had umpires wearing home team attire after a game.



Been there. Officiating isn't difficult if the official actually knows the rules and cares about what they're doing. The point I made about doing the job right because that's the expectation includes caring enough to develop knowledge and skill and being physically prepared for what is required to actually do the job right. In other words: EARN your money.

Ive called baseball the last 3 years. Varsity does not get paid more than $85 until you make the playoffs. Im thinking varsity in our assoc is 75, sub-varsity is 65 and ms is 55.

 

[seebell]

Officiating Shortage Reaches Crisis Level – All Groups Must Work Together

www.nfhs.org