Officiating

[TryNotToSuck]

26 minutes ago, tradertwo said:

I selfishly don't have a problem with Thursday night games... it just gives me the opportunity to see more football... and as long as they are not long distance to interfere with Friday academics for the kids.

I agreed, it gives fans more opportunity to watch football. It also gives the players a chance to take the following Friday off.  I don't think the state will be in charge of it, it now goes to the local association.

Edited December 5, 2022 by TryNotToSuck

[CCLHL89]

1 hour ago, TheCommissioner said:

A higher wage will keep older officials in the game longer.  Everyone I saw officiating this weekend had to be a minimum of 60.  The 6A game seemed to be called the best of the ones I watched.  A development/training program is desperately needed 

I guess the question is how do we get younger folks involved more? I do think a higher wage will bring in more young referees. I have no issue with the age of the refs though. I guess, at this point, we will have to take what we can get. 

[jhawk23]

52 minutes ago, CCLHL89 said:

I guess the question is how do we get younger folks involved more? I do think a higher wage will bring in more young referees. I have no issue with the age of the refs though. I guess, at this point, we will have to take what we can get. 

That’s true, kinda tough to be picky at this point.

[footballover]

57 minutes ago, CCLHL89 said:

I guess the question is how do we get younger folks involved more? I do think a higher wage will bring in more young referees. I have no issue with the age of the refs though. I guess, at this point, we will have to take what we can get. 

How many 20 year olds do you know who want to put up with crazy parents and coaches. Very few can spend $70 to register then a local association fee then $300 minimum on a uniform. $400 in the hole before you work your 1st game and I'm being lightly generous

[CCLHL89]

5 minutes ago, footballover said:

How many 20 year olds do you know who want to put up with crazy parents and coaches. Very few can spend $70 to register then a local association fee then $300 minimum on a uniform. $400 in the hole before you work your 1st game and I'm being lightly generous

Very true, can't argue that. I only know of one. I think we all agree that shouldn't be the purchase of the employee, but it should be the employer, but we know how that is, unfortunately. 

[Riverside80]

Everyone can get on the thread and say what they want and provide solutions that make sense and might improve the officiating. Is anything really going to change though? 

[crow]

1 minute ago, Riverside80 said:

Everyone can get on the thread and say what they want and provide solutions that make sense and might improve the officiating. Is anything really going to change though? 

Nope. Maybe a pay bump but that’s about it. 

[TryNotToSuck]

24 minutes ago, footballover said:

How many 20 year olds do you know who want to put up with crazy parents and coaches. Very few can spend $70 to register then a local association fee then $300 minimum on a uniform. $400 in the hole before you work your 1st game and I'm being lightly generous

It maybe $400 in the hole before his/her first game. However, that money can quickly be recouped by doing developmental games. Even if that person buys $400 dollars worth of equipment to start out, he's not going to spend $400 dollars on equipment in year 2. He/she will still wear the same shirt/pants/shoes.

I'm sure baseball umpires spend close to $500-$700 dollars in equipment to start their officiating career. Is that a lot of money to begin? Yes. But I'm sure he/she can wear the same shin guards, facemasks, pants, etc. for several years. If they have the luxury of umpiring 25 baseball games during the season, he/she can make close to $2,500. Not to mention the potential opportunity for baseball during the middle school season (in West Tennessee they begin that in February), and a handful of travel ball tournaments throughout the spring, summer, and, fall months. So they have the chance to rack up a lot of money if they work the games.

I'm sure we have several basketball officials working both middle school and high school seasons. Middle school plays on Monday/Thursday, and High School plays on Tuesday/Friday. Not to mention holiday classics/tournaments and Saturday games. Basketball season runs 3-4 months, so they can make that money back in like 5-6 nights they work.

I say let the TSSAA give each "new" official a $300 gift card to whatever store they purchased their equipment from. That's a start.

 

[tradertwo]

1 hour ago, footballover said:

How many 20 year olds do you know who want to put up with crazy parents and coaches. Very few can spend $70 to register then a local association fee then $300 minimum on a uniform. $400 in the hole before you work your 1st game and I'm being lightly generous

How many 20 year olds are out there who feel entitled not to have to work at all? The world is a vastly different place than when I grew up... I had "chores" that were expected to be done at home, then a job after school and weekends as a sophomore. I drove myself at 14... chief of police just said six words: straight to work and straight home. I went where I wanted, but you'd better believe that I knew how he expected me to behave. Problems go deeper than low wages in today's society.

[TheCommissioner]

4 hours ago, TryNotToSuck said:

And just for a heads up, Thursday night games will be here for a while, unless there is drastic change.

I have heard of the possibility of some of the Regions going Thursday exclusively so some crews can work two games a week 

Edited December 5, 2022 by TheCommissioner

[TryNotToSuck]

26 minutes ago, TheCommissioner said:

I have heard of the possibility of some of the Regions going Thursday exclusively so some crews can work two games a week 

I won't go that far unless there are weeks where it's strictly region games (example: the last week of the regular season). I think schools are starting to prefer to have their Thursday game against teams that are preferably the closest to their school, but I could be wrong.

[TheCommissioner]

7 minutes ago, TryNotToSuck said:

I won't go that far unless there are weeks where it's strictly region games (example: the last week of the regular season). I think schools are starting to prefer to have their Thursday game against teams that are preferably the closest to their school, but I could be wrong.

I could see a Thursday night for a rivalry game.  If a school was in a county with multiple other HS and they had the game on a Thursday so the fans at the other schools wanted to see it if they chose to