Waverly game next week moved to Saturday b/c of officials

[oldschoolqb13]

So, I hear we are playing Saturday next week b/c the officials scheduled to work our game were actually booked at another game! Are you serious? Since I have a wedding involving a close family member that night, I won't be able to attend the game. So, that means I'm going to miss my senior daughter cheering at one of her final home games of her career. That is upsetting, and seems like it could have been avoided. So, I guess the shortage of officials is here...live and in color. I don't blame them...who in their right mind would ever want to deal with all the morons screaming nonsense at games for $75. Sad.

[Easyrider]

Very unfortunate but its a growing trend with many leagues now scheduling Thursday and Saturday games so they can get officials...... trying to recruit and retain sports officials is a monumental task for the states and the local associations.

[greygoose]

So, I hear we are playing Saturday next week b/c the officials scheduled to work our game were actually booked at another game! Are you serious? Since I have a wedding involving a close family member that night, I won't be able to attend the game. So, that means I'm going to miss my senior daughter cheering at one of her final home games of her career. That is upsetting, and seems like it could have been avoided. So, I guess the shortage of officials is here...live and in color. I don't blame them...who in their right mind would ever want to deal with all the morons screaming nonsense at games for $75. Sad.

Yeah that’s why the valley and coal grove game was moved, at least Waverly got some advanced notice though. I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to officiate either, these guys fork out all the money up front plus pay for travel once they start officiating. This 75 is ridiculous and should be addressed schools don’t want to pay no officials. Supply and demand no reason they shouldn’t be getting 100-125 depending on distance traveled.

[petesweaty]

Join the club. Happens in baseball and softball all the time.

[smurray]

From what I understand, no crews in Ohio, West Va or Kentucky were available....

[MTSWNGRVSG]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

[oldschoolqb13]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

Well, if you don’t raise the pay (and I think it’s safe to assume that people will continue acting crazy…or worse), then how do you propose we fix the problem….bc it’s definitively a problem.

[greygoose]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

Understandable but you’re proposing a question on one hand and not offering a solution on the other. You’re currently looking at an extra $250 compared to where it’s at now. There should be a happy medium somewhere, say 75-100 per game but school pays for travel expenses. Each school pays a fee to be in a league, where does that money go and should the leagues setup contracts and handle the officials themselves?? For smaller schools you are correct in that if you’re just working from gate entry they probably can’t much more that’s one reason why you can have a price range.

This has been a problem that’s been working it’s way to a head and it looks like it’s here. To sit on our hands and think the problem will fix itself with no changes just won’t happen.

[KCol]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

Understandable but you’re proposing a question on one hand and not offering a solution on the other. You’re currently looking at an extra $250 compared to where it’s at now. There should be a happy medium somewhere, say 75-100 per game but school pays for travel expenses. Each school pays a fee to be in a league, where does that money go and should the leagues setup contracts and handle the officials themselves?? For smaller schools you are correct in that if you’re just working from gate entry they probably can’t much more that’s one reason why you can have a price range.

This has been a problem that’s been working it’s way to a head and it looks like it’s here. To sit on our hands and think the problem will fix itself with no changes just won’t happen.

Agree with everything you have said in this thread, greygoose. You're spot on.

[formerfcfan]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

Understandable but you’re proposing a question on one hand and not offering a solution on the other. You’re currently looking at an extra $250 compared to where it’s at now. There should be a happy medium somewhere, say 75-100 per game but school pays for travel expenses. Each school pays a fee to be in a league, where does that money go and should the leagues setup contracts and handle the officials themselves?? For smaller schools you are correct in that if you’re just working from gate entry they probably can’t much more that’s one reason why you can have a price range.

This has been a problem that’s been working it’s way to a head and it looks like it’s here. To sit on our hands and think the problem will fix itself with no changes just won’t happen.

The dynamic of supply and demand is already tough for some SEO to be competitive with, and institutions like the Ohio Capital Conference that command a high number of games with the means to pay whatever it takes to secure officials also doesn’t help. I know the OCC has used crews from Marietta, southern Ohio, and southwest Ohio, cost be damned.

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Just wondering if crews are double booking are they doing contracts on line anymore?

[formerfcfan]

Just wondering if crews are double booking are they doing contracts on line anymore?

Someone who is on the assigning side of things can speak to the technical side of what I’m going to refer to, but the OHSAA is having schools migrate over from Arbiter to a different online scheduling software (DragonFly) and it may be that there was an issue of the original booking getting lost on someone’s end through the process of migrating over to a new platform.

[Seopnation]

Heres an idea. the OHSAA should help contribute. Lord knows they are making PLENTY of money. And they naturally have a vested interest because no officials means no games means no revenue for OHSAA.

[Jason Vorhees]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

Understandable but you’re proposing a question on one hand and not offering a solution on the other. You’re currently looking at an extra $250 compared to where it’s at now. There should be a happy medium somewhere, say 75-100 per game but school pays for travel expenses. Each school pays a fee to be in a league, where does that money go and should the leagues setup contracts and handle the officials themselves?? For smaller schools you are correct in that if you’re just working from gate entry they probably can’t much more that’s one reason why you can have a price range.

This has been a problem that’s been working it’s way to a head and it looks like it’s here. To sit on our hands and think the problem will fix itself with no changes just won’t happen.

I think officials should be paid more but I also understand the financial situation of the other side of that coin. There’s a couple healthy solutions to this.
1. Having a strong league president or commissioner who works really well with AD’s at each school or on the schedule to make sure that you’re getting officials and teams that will generate enough money to ensure that the home team can keep up with a potential pay increase for officiating. I’m seeing more and more schools schedule more naturally geographical rivalries which always bring out more fans. Closer drive time for fans=more showing up.

2. Having a zero tolerance policy on idiotic behavior from the stands. This would definitely help officials feel that they’re being supported by the head coaches and AD’s of various schools.

3. Just being more supportive of officials and trying to generate more getting into the field. I think that OHSAA and each league should have a official appreciation night one game per year.

4. Having a ratings system for officiating that is only seen by head coaches, AD’s, the league, and OHSAA. West Virginia does it and surprisingly it has greatly improved the quality of the officiating. It’s a 1-5 system with 5 being the best. However, if you give an official a 2 or lower, you have to justify your reasoning behind it as a coach. I’ve never been a head coach in Ohio but in West Virginia, I genuinely felt that I had great officiating every game. Officials are too scrutinized and not supported enough. The best officials I’ve interacted with were the ones who were the most consistent and honest about making mistakes. This is almost always a secondary source of income for these men and women. Overall, we need to support our officials of high school athletics way more than what we currently do.

[formerfcfan]

Heres an idea. the OHSAA should help contribute. Lord knows they are making PLENTY of money. And they naturally have a vested interest because no officials means no games means no revenue for OHSAA.

OHSAA has done some work. They’ve offered an online version of the classroom and certification process, which helps widen the pathway instead of making everyone drive to classes. That, and they’ve worked with schools to try and help kids get the general certifications to do low-level officiating to help get a new generation of officials formed for the years to come.

I think another hiccup is OHSAA is trying to make 6-man crews the standard.

[Buckeye1972]

Speaking from the basketball viewpoint, the online classes have had the exact opposite effect. It made it easier to get a license from OHSAA but it didn't increase numbers. Driving to a class has never been an issue around here. When you had a personal relationship with instructors, it made it easier to learn. Taking people on the court (field in other sports), they learn more and also have more questions to ask. The people who took the courses online were in a lot of cases hung out to dry. I much prefer the hands on approach.

[6-4-3=2o]

People talking about official pay needing to be more. I wonder if people are willing to pay more at the gate so so some schools can pay the higher price? To some schools $125 times 5 might be more than their gates at times plus the other expenses.

We already are paying more at a lot of schools. Just a few short years ago, almost nobody was charging $7 to get into a game.