The Sports Officials Thread

[BigPiney]

Soccer season has started here.

Did a few preseason games before break to get the legs going again.

Tomorrow I get to do the sideline for my daughter's game. Will be fun to get paid to watch her team play. Girls games are pretty boring though compared to the boys games.

[Omaha 680]

Soccer season has started here.

Did a few preseason games before break to get the legs going again.

Tomorrow I get to do the sideline for my daughter's game. Will be fun to get paid to watch her team play. Girls games are pretty boring though compared to the boys games.

I would like to get into soccer, but there is too much overlap with football and basketball here. Plus I don't think it's realistic to get really good at more than two sports if you also have a separate full time career.

My basketball season finally started last night. I was delayed because there was significant overlap with the end of the football season, and then work got crazy so I didn't connect with the scheduler and my board like I needed to initially. The assignments were pretty full by the time I got on their radar but they said they'd keep me in mind for any emergency assignments. So last night at 5 the JV assignor calls me at work and asks if I can get to a game in the east village with a 6:15 tipoff. I jumped at the chance because I know if you help the assignors out of a jam you are in and they reward you later. I ended up getting to the gym at 6:30 and it turned out I was the only official that was going to show up. It was only JV, but still a solo game was a rough way to jump back into it. I have a lot of previous experience with basketball and it came back pretty quickly. I was pleased with my performance overall and the parents/coaches were pretty forgiving of any missed calls given the circumstance...they were just happy the game didn't get cancelled.

The assignor emailed me this morning and told me to check the schedule. He had loaded me up with 11 more games over the next 6 weeks. I'm glad because now I'm fairly confident I can start next season at the varsity level.

[BigPiney]

I am not really getting worried about getting too good at this. Our problem here is that there are only 2 schools within 50 miles of me that play soccer, so we don't get many games.

Saturday we did a game in the snow and by the end I couldn't see any of the lines, so I just pretended that I knew if the ball was out or not.

My daughter got her first, and probably only, start of the season.

[Omaha 680]

I am not really getting worried about getting too good at this. Our problem here is that there are only 2 schools within 50 miles of me that play soccer, so we don't get many games.

Saturday we did a game in the snow and by the end I couldn't see any of the lines, so I just pretended that I knew if the ball was out or not.

My daughter got her first, and probably only, start of the season.

Too bad there aren't more schools in the area that play. We couldn't be in more different situations. Football isn't huge in NYC, but basketball is (haven't you heard, it's basketball Mecca!). With the amount of schools there are literally dozens of games every night of the week. Football mostly plays on Saturdays and Sundays, which is super annoying. I didn't understand why they wouldn't do Varsity on Friday night and JV right after school on weekdays like the rest of the country. Finally someone explained to me that the buses carrying the teams can't be trusted to get through NYC traffic on weekday afternoons or Friday evenings. That makes sense because even on Saturdays and Sundays we routinely have to push back kickoffs because a team bus is trapped somewhere. I suppose that doesn't affect basketball because with the much smaller amount of players and equipment, visiting teams just take the subway.

[Omaha 680]

So far I enjoy officiating football much more than basketball. I kind of wish it was reverse because the time commitment per basketball game is nearly half that for football and it pays the same per game. But I enjoy working in a football crew and the need for everyone to interact well and do their specific job well in order for the crew to have success. It's a lot like the sport of football in that eay.

[Shaka]

So far I enjoy officiating football much more than basketball. I kind of wish it was reverse because the time commitment per basketball game is nearly half that for football and it pays the same per game. But I enjoy working in a football crew and the need for everyone to interact well and do their specific job well in order for the crew to have success. It's a lot like the sport of football in that eay.

I agree with this. Football is a big time commitment and you don't make a lot between the equipment and travel but it's far more satisfying. Basketball in comparison is easy money. The worst is baseball where you could have a pitchers dual that lasts 90 minutes or a complete disaster that lasts four hours.

[BigFatMeanie]

I agree with this. Football is a big time commitment and you don't make a lot between the equipment and travel but it's far more satisfying. Basketball in comparison is easy money. The worst is baseball where you could have a pitchers dual that lasts 90 minutes or a complete disaster that lasts four hours.

What equipment does an official require for football that causes an official to make less money officiating a football game? Is the yellow flag made out of imported Italian silk laced with 24K gold thread or something?

[Omaha 680]

What equipment does an official require for football that causes an official to make less money officiating a football game? Is the yellow flag made out of imported Italian silk laced with 24K gold thread or something?

The standard equipment for a football official includes a bunch of misc. stuff like flags, bean bags, down indicators, game notebook, etc., plus you need a good watch. Also unless you are in the south or southwest, half the season is cold and/or rainy, so you need base layers and foul-weather gear and headgear/gloves unless you want to be miserable. So the startup cost is considerably higher than for basketball and the gear wears out faster because you are outdoors and the games last a lot longer.

Edit: also the travel costs that Shaka mentioned can be significant. I don't know about the west but in NYC I bet basketball programs outnumber football programs 4 to 1. Most of my basketball games are in Manhattan or the South Bronx but my football games are all over the five boroughs and tolls/gas/train tickets add up.

[Shaka]

What equipment does an official require for football that causes an official to make less money officiating a football game? Is the yellow flag made out of imported Italian silk laced with 24K gold thread or something?

If I had a cold weather game I could be down $400 in just the stuff I was wearing. If I traveled I usually took up to three different uniforms (even though they looked the same) in case of a weather change. I also had backups for everything and would occasionally change into new gear at halftime if I was wet or the temperature dropped significantly. A lot of officials also invest in gear liked striped coats or rain jackets for sub-varsity games. This type of gear wouldn't be worn for varsity but it was allowed for JV. Also in my day we were wearing knickers and you needed at least two pair at the minimum for a season. Most of us had at least for or five. When we started transitioning to the pants you see today you had to have both knickers AND pants. Today most officials wear jerseys with the wide stripes. Most officials who have been around for several years now have a closet full of the thin stripe jerseys.

Baseball is worse. Years ago when I was working college ball just the protective equipment I wore behind the plate cost north of $800.

Here's the present day equivalent of what I was wearing:

Douglas chest protector (I also had the Wilson/West Vest Platinum) $190
Douglas Umpire shin guards (I also had the West Vest models): $200
All Star Pro Model hockey style helmet $300
New Balance Plate shoes: $150

If I didn't feel like wearing the hockey style mask I'd wear a Wilson Titanium mask: $200

This doesn't count the several pairs of base and plate pants as well as a dozen shirts in different colors and sleeve lengths.


That stuff is all top of the line and there are cheaper (but not quite as good) alternatives. The point is the costs of being an official can really add up.

You can check out one of the online retailers here

[BigPiney]

All of the refs in our region were busy or assigned yesterday, and I was available, so I drove 115 miles each way to ref a boys soccer game. Because of the lack of officials, there were only 2 of us available, we ran a double. This is where there are 2 refs on the field at the same time. This would be very similar to doing a basketball game with 2 officials. This field was 10 yards shorter than most, but I still ran a bunch. Trying to watch the back line for offside while also trying to be close to play was nearly impossible. It was bad for all involved.

Game was pretty rough, and got a bit out of hand, but we only gave out 3 yellow cards.

Hope I never have to do that again. I am much happier being the Assistant Referee.

[Soccermom]

All of the refs in our region were busy or assigned yesterday, and I was available, so I drove 115 miles each way to ref a boys soccer game. Because of the lack of officials, there were only 2 of us available, we ran a double. This is where there are 2 refs on the field at the same time. This would be very similar to doing a basketball game with 2 officials. This field was 10 yards shorter than most, but I still ran a bunch. Trying to watch the back line for offside while also trying to be close to play was nearly impossible. It was bad for all involved.

Game was pretty rough, and got a bit out of hand, but we only gave out 3 yellow cards.

Hope I never have to do that again. I am much happier being the Assistant Referee.

Soccer, football, and basketball aren't for the out of shape refs. Even baseball, where the umps stay a little more stationary is no joke if you're behind the plate and the only ump for the game. Varsity baseball is the only level that gets more than one ump in our league. Freshman just have one. Football and basketball refs seem to take the most abuse though. After one of my son's games they had to escort the refs off the field quickly through one of the buildings and made both teams stay on the field until they knew the refs had left.

[Omaha 680]

Paying your dues is a real thing. No varsity basketball games for me this season, and I have had a run of 3 JV games per week the last while. Unfortunately that means 4:30 tipoffs which really messes with work. I have one more game tonight, off next week, and then four games the following week to finish off the season. As a general rule you never turn down games if you want to move up so I am glad the season is ending. A rather large pursuit is ramping up at work and I won't be able to get away with leaving at 3pm for much longer.

I still enjoy football much more for now. But I can already see how much bigger basketball is here.

[hostile]

OK, here's a question. In my son's JV game this week they were running an inbounds play from under their own basket. The ball was inbounded to one side of the basket then passed to the top of the 3 pt line. Meanwhile the player opposite the side where the ball was inbounded runs along the baseline and receives a pass back from the top of the 3 point line. Apparently he had taken a step or two out of bounds (I didn't see if he was forced out or ran out under his own power). He had taken several steps back inbounds before catching the ball. The ref blew the whistle after he caught the ball stating that since he was out of bounds he couldn't catch the ball and the ball was awarded to the other team. I've never seen this call before. Is this a rule that I'm unaware of?

[Jeff Lebowski]

OK, here's a question. In my son's JV game this week they were running an inbounds play from under their own basket. The ball was inbounded to one side of the basket then passed to the top of the 3 pt line. Meanwhile the player opposite the side where the ball was inbounded runs along the baseline and receives a pass back from the top of the 3 point line. Apparently he had taken a step or two out of bounds (I didn't see if he was forced out or ran out under his own power). He had taken several steps back inbounds before catching the ball. The ref blew the whistle after he caught the ball stating that since he was out of bounds he couldn't catch the ball and the ball was awarded to the other team. I've never seen this call before. Is this a rule that I'm unaware of?

I could be wrong, but I think your ref is confusing football (ineligible receiver) with basketball. In basketball, if the player is out of bounds and coming back onto the court, he/she cannot catch a pass before establishing contact back inbounds on the court. But once you are in, you are eligible.

[hostile]

I could be wrong, but I think your ref is confusing football (ineligible receiver) with basketball. In basketball, if the player is out of bounds and coming back onto the court, he/she cannot catch a pass before establishing contact back inbounds on the court. But once you are in, you are eligible.

That's what I thought (and yelled at the ref)