Pay Disputes Upset Start to Baseball Season

High school baseball games in California and Alabama struggled finding umpires at the outset of the 2023 spring season due to pay disputes between prospective arbiters and governing bodies.

In California, the Central Coast Athletic Association (CCAA) and the Los Padres Baseball Umpire Association (LPBUA) quit communicating with one another after failing to come to a resolution regarding game fees for the 2023 season. The root of the disagreement dates back to 2017, when the CCAA departed the state’s Southern Section for the Central Section. The Central Section has historically paid its sports officials less than neighboring sections, and members of the Los Padres Officials Association (LPOA) sought, and were granted, the continuation of the Southern Section rate.

However, when the Southern Section recently restructured its pay scale to achieve a $35 per hour rate for officials, the LPBUA — acting independently of the LPOA — rejected that offer, which would have come in at $92 for a varsity baseball assignment. On Feb. 8, the CCAA reportedly created a new offer to the LPBUA of $106 per game inclusive of mileage and assigner fee inducements, labeling it a “final” proposal. The LPBUA offered a counter, at which point the CCAA informed the umpires it would no longer be negotiating. Instead, the CCAA started contacting umpires from neighboring counties and began work on an alternative schedule that would include a heavy dose of Saturday games.

“This isn’t about money; this is about principle, because if this thing falls through, then every unit for every sport across the state is going to come out and make demands and hold people hostage for what they think is right, and that’s not how it works,” said Sam Derose, athletic director at Atascadero High School, in explaining the CCAA’s stance.

Elsewhere in the country, the South Alabama Baseball Umpire Association (SABUA) staged a brief holdout when it could not come to an agreement with the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS) on a pay raise for the 2023 season. An offseason proposal to raise the game fee to $90 for a varsity contest was not approved by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA). Alabama is one of a select few states that sets a fee range for all of its high school officials, and any local organization that decides to exceed the maximum is subject to sanctions.

After a handful of seasonopening games had to be canceled or rescheduled, the SABUA agreed

NFL: Ten Officials Retire After Season

NEW YORK — The NFL announced in February and March that 10 officials — with a combined 203 seasons as NFL officials — were retiring.

Jerome Boger, the NFL’s longest tenured crew chief, was among the retiring officials.

Boger joined the league in 2004 as a line judge and moved to referee in 2006. During his career, he officiated five playoff games and Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.

Other retireesincluded (with last position worked and years of experience in the league):

• Michael Banks, field judge, 21 years

• Jeff Bergman, line judge, 30 years

• Jerry Bergman, down judge, 21 years

• Walt Coleman IV, line judge, 8 years

• Keith Ferguson, back judge, 23 years See “NFL”

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Akers Named Football Officials Supervisor

On Feb. 23, Jeffrey Akers was named the supervisor of football officials for the Patriot League and Ivy League. Akers will work with the sevenconference officiating alliance that includes the American Athletic

Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big South, Colonial Athletic Association, Northeast Conference, Ivy and Patriot leagues as well as several NCAA Division I schools (Army, Connecticut, Marist, Massachusetts and Notre Dame). Akers will assign and evaluate officials for the Patriot and Ivy leagues. Akers has served as an onfield official for 33 years, including 27 seasons of collegiate experience with 15 years in the Football Bowl Subdivision and six seasons in the Football Championship Subdivision, including two seasons with the Patriot and Ivy leagues. He also worked six seasons with the Eastern College Athletic Conference. His onfield resume includes a 2003 FCS Playoff game, the 2018 AAC Championship Game and nine bowl games between 2010 and 2020. Akers replaces Jeff Cooney, who retired from the role after four years.

Cheerleader Ejected in College Game

Referees at a Feb. 11 men’s college basketball game between Alabama A&M and Mississippi Valley State ejected a Mississippi Valley cheerleader after she walked on the court and pushed an