WHAT IS OUR HOURLY RATE?

ompensation for officials has long been a point of contention and trying to find an equitable way to adequately pay officials in all sports can be a daunting task.

One interscholastic governing body in Southern California has taken a unique approach by moving to pay officials based on the time they spend onsite at their respective athletic contests, including pregame and postgame responsibilities.

In April, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section approved a new game fee structure which aims to pay officials at least $35 per hour for their varsity athletic assignments, with the game fee calculated using an estimate of the average time spent working those contests. The new pay rates will be incrementally phased in over three school years, starting with the 2022-23 school year.

Football officials will see the biggest boost. Based on 4 hours of time spent on average officiating a varsity game, the rate will increase from $89 for the referee and $87 for other crew members to $140 regardless of position by the 2024-25 school year.

In basketball, with an estimated 2.5 hours of time spent per game in officiating duties, pay will increase over three years from $73 per official in a crew of three and $82 per official in a crew of two to $88 per official whether a crew of two or three.

A crew of two or more umpires working a varsity baseball game — estimated at 3 hours — will see pay increase from $85 to $105. In softball, the pay increased for a crew of two or more from $78 to $88, based on 2.5 hours of estimated time involved.

In soccer, based on 2.25 hours of time involved, the referee working in a crew of three will not see an increase as the current $80 rate is already at $35 an hour. But other crew members will see the rate increase from $68 to $79 by year three, which is the same pay boost for each official in a crew of two working a varsity contest.

In boys’ lacrosse, pay increased from $77 to $79 for a crew of two; it remained at $115 for a single official as that was calculated at above $50 an hour based on 2.25 hours of time. In girls’ lacrosse, pay increased from $73 to $79 for a crew of two; and from $109 to $115 for a single official, providing parity with boys’ lacrosse.

Pay for field hockey and water polo officials remained the same over the three-year period as their calculations showed those game fees already compensated officials at or above $35 an hour. CIF Southern Section officials did not propose any pay decreases, even in sports where the game fee exceeded $35 an hour in their calculations.

The Southern Section represents the largest region in California, including more than 565 public and private schools. The pay increase proposal emerged from the Officials

CFee and Relations Committee, comprised of school district members, principals, athletic directors and officials associations from the CIF’s Southern Section, after hearing pay proposals from various associations. “With a shortage of officials, the committee recognized the need to develop a professional and competitive fee structure across all sports to assist in the recruitment and retention of officials,” said Brice Sunderland, chairman of the committee, noting the CIF Southern Section Council has not granted a significant pay increase in 12 years. The current three-year contract gave $1 annual increases to game fees in all sports. “We wanted people to understand we are creating a new way to pay officials,” said Sunderland, a former athletic director for 16 years. “We wanted it to be viable and equitable. We’re trying to entice more officials to an association, with the hope that less games, if any, would have to be moved from their originally scheduled dates due to the inability to find officials.” The consensus of the committee was this was the proper time for a more aggressive overhaul, Sunderland said. “We saw that there wasn’t equity among certain sports with the old model,” Sunderland said. “We made some pretty drastic changes and football had some significant raises.” The committee came up with projected on-site, game-time hours for each of the respective sports by talking to officials association presidents and athletic directors, and reviewing the NFHS rulebooks that stated when an official was required to be on-site to take control of the contest, Sunderland said.

“We saw that there wasn’t equity among certain sports with the old model. We made some pretty drastic changes and football had some significant raises.” - Brice Sunderland

By Wade Turner

hourly rate? CIF Southern Section Moves to an Officiating Pay Rate That Targets $35 an Hour

“We tried to be as empathetic as we could to all sports but we tried to be the most equitable at this time,” Sunderland said. He was unaware of any similar fee structure like this in the state or country.

Not everyone was thrilled with the way the pay increase provided large boosts for some sports and small or nonexistent boosts for others.

“It should not be lost that the large fee increases are for the big three traditional U.S. sports — football, basketball and baseball,” said Jonny Joseph, a soccer referee from the Los Angeles area.

The committee did not consider the soccer referee rate a “freeze” of pay, said Thom Simmons, assistant commissioner of the CIF Southern Section. “This is an adjustment to allow sports that have not been compensated equitably to catch up and keep up,” he said.

Joe Lloyd, a collegiate lacrosse official and president of the Los Angeles-Ventura Lacrosse Officials Association, said his officials were unhappy with the new pay structure.

“All of our members were quite upset,” Lloyd said. The association had requested a $5 annual increase for the three-year period.

“We want to be equal to everyone else in the state,” Lloyd said. “That ($5 requested) increase will actually just pay for a gallon of gas for each of our officials for one year. I don’t think we’re asking for a lot. We’re simply trying to recruit and retain younger members. But when you look at other sports, it looks biased against us (lacrosse). We’re not worried about what the other sports are being paid. We just want to be paid what’s fair for us.”

Unhappy with the lack of an increase and wanting credit for another 30 minutes of time for the duties of officiating an average lacrosse game, some boys’ lacrosse referees declined to work games in early April, prompting several to be canceled. But the Southern California Lacrosse Officials Association (SOCALOA) and CIF Southern Section reached an agreement after a couple days that averted a further work stoppage.

“Our organization received a good-faith commitment from CIFSS that the fee committee will hear and consider our request to adjust the game hours used to determine our new pay rate for the 2023-2025 seasons,” the board of SOCALOA said in a statement. SOCALOA plans to present a proposal to the fees committee in August.

Sunderland said the Officials Fee and Relations Committee tried to be as fair as possible when formulating its new pay structure system.

“We think this is a good way and a step forward to modernize things for officials,” Sunderland said. “We want to show appreciation for our officials the best way we can.” Wade Turner is a high school football and basketball official from New London, Wis. 

CIF Southern Section Varsity Pay Increases

Sport

Football (Crew of 3-7)

Hours*

4 Current Pay $89 Referee / $87 Others

By 2024-25 School Year $140 All

Basketball (Crew of 3)

2.5 $73 $88

Basketball (Crew of 2)

Baseball (Crew of 2-4)

Softball (Crew of 2-4)

2.5

3

2.5 $82 $85 $78 $88 $105 $88

Soccer (Crew of 3)

Soccer (Crew of 2)

2.25

2.25 $80 Referee / $68 Others $68 $80 / $79 $79

Volleyball (Crew of 2)

2.5 $77 R1 / $67 R2 $88 both

Boys Lacrosse (Crew of 2)

Girls Lacrosse (Crew of 2)

Field Hockey (Crew of 2-4)

2.25

2.25

1.5 $77 $73 $77 $79 $79 $77

Water Polo (Crew of 2-4)

1.25 $70 $70