Officiating

[anysport24]

i'm not implying thah there are officials that won't work a certain venue due to the amount of pay they receive.......but according to say_oww it is okay if the better officials would go do the higher paid games and let other refs do the games where schools don't pay as much.......this is set by the school boards and how much the are able to set aside from their athletic budget to be able to pay officials......i've seen games this year and in my opinion the officials may make the wrong call here or the, but as stated earlier in a post "you will make 50% of the fans happy and 50% mad". To be honest i see a lot of district 5 games and i don't believe that in any game have i seen the officials make the difference of a game........as I told my daughter who plays for a varsity girls team.....usually after the first four or five minutes of a game you will see how the officials are calling the game that night and it is up to you to adjust to what they will be calling and what they will be letting go

[Portage Alum]

Anysport, I beg to differ. Refs influence the outcomes of games constantly, it is sad. Kids work too hard to have arrogant, out-of-shape has-beens do their best to steal the limelight from the purest show on earth....high school athletics.

[roaminthehalls]

We started this as a D5/D6 topic on officiating. I see 1 or 2 games a week in Cambria or Somerset counties. I'm surprised no one has chimed in from Bedford/Fulton/Blair counties.

[say_oww]

....but according to say_oww it is okay if the better officials would go do the higher paid games and let other refs do the games where schools don't pay as much....

No, not what I said at all. If you want better officials, then you need to lobby the PIAA to mandate higher rates for officials and prohibit selective payment practices. Allowing schools to pay what they want only fuels the fire. If you were an unqualified poor performer at your job but knew you could get paid more to do the same thing next door, who wouldn't appy for that job? Higher rates across the board set by the PIAA in all sports would attract better candidates and force the current bums to the lower levels of competition.

[Coach1950]

My two $.02.
Until the D5 and D6 officials are held to a higher standard you will get what you get.
Currently, a very good friend of mine is officiating in District 7. He is fast becoming a very good official but he probably has hit his peak. Why? His chapter has an unwritten rule that if you don't attend the officiating camp at PITT during the summer, your chances of moving into the better AAA or AAAA and District 7 Championships arena will be limited. Granted, attending a camp is not the complete answer to becoming a better official, but to be evaluatd by the best high school and college officials couldn't hurt.
I wonder how many of the local refs have attended this camp or other camps to become a better official or to fine tune their skills?
Mine guess is zero.
Your thoughts.

[roaminthehalls]

My guess is that the PITT camp is NOT free, and that D7 and college refs that work it are laughing all the way to the bank. The WPIAL/D7 doesn't require or suggest anything unless they are getting a kick-back or some form of notoriety out of it. Most colleges have "officials camps" that coincide with their hs team camps. They do this so that they can help officials get better, NOOOOOT!!! I have friends that coach at the collegiate level. They do this so they don't have to pay officials to do their hs camp games, and of course to make a few extra bucks for their program.

[Coach1950]

All good points. Still, I would like to see our D5 and D6 refs go thru an "evaluation" by someone other than their local peers or Chapter Honchos.
I'm sure some would not want their egos deflated.
Hows this for an out of the box suggestion?
Your pay for the basketball season game per diem would be based on merit earned from the previous season and out of season experiences, etc. The better graded officials make more than the average or below average officials. Yes, some current officials would say forget it and drop out, others would welcome it, and maybe new people would take the challenge and join.
Now you younger whipper snappers need to come up with a game plan and make the current officiating problem better.
Your thoughts and comments.
And thanks for allowing an oldtimer be a part of this discussion.

[Oldskoolhoops]

Portage alum good post....this whole topic is giving me anxiety now, they more I read it gets uglier than I first thought

[say_oww]

A mandate for higher pay that is regulated by the PIAA is what you need. You would get better candidates, and you'd also have more accountability as schools/fans wouldn't accept mediocrity when they are forced to pay more for the service.

[nsmoore2]

The only thing higher pay would bring is more candidates not better. Like I stated before consistency is the big issue here. A good athlete does not mean he/she will be able to apply the rules any better then the next person. I have officiated with guys that were good players, even played at the next level and it takes them years to stop following the ball, and blowing the whistle. I know some refs that drive a good distance to make a few bucks. We give up a lot of time so that these kids on all levels can play games. While there may be some bads ones out there, you can not throw everyone under the bus.