Not Happy

[michaeldwilson]

I was supposed to ref a game at 6:00 pm tonight. I left early, got stuck in stop and go traffic for about 45 minutes, called the coach to tell him I will be a few minutes late. His son answered the phone and and told me the game was cancelled.

They never bothered to call me, and I spend an hour and a half driving around for nothing.

Pretty irritated about that.

Mike

[spenny]

do you get paid anyway? i'm pretty sure that if we cancel a game, we still have to pay the refs

[Snake~eyes]

Always call the school before you leave.

[michaeldwilson]

Originally posted by spenny
do you get paid anyway? i'm pretty sure that if we cancel a game, we still have to pay the refs

Thanks, Spenny. I'll check on that. It's not so much the money: reffing pays so little I think of it as charitable work. But if you cancel a game, you would think you would call the ref.

Mike

[spenny]

as an unpaid youth coach i agree about volunteering. but if they dont have the decency to tell you they arent coming, then you should certainly be paid for your time. its like the penalty we have in our league if you say you are going to field a team and then dont. it keeps them honest

[Thrillhouse]

That's just rude.

[LaxRef]

Originally posted by michaeldwilson
I was supposed to ref a game at 6:00 pm tonight. I left early, got stuck in stop and go traffic for about 45 minutes, called the coach to tell him I will be a few minutes late. His son answered the phone and and told me the game was cancelled.

They never bothered to call me, and I spend an hour and a half driving around for nothing.

Pretty irritated about that.

Rightly so.

First off, demand that you get paid for the game since they didn't call you. If the team stonewalls you, demand that the league step in. You might not get paid, but it will at least call attention to the problem. If they won't pay, make some noise about maybe not being willing to do games for that team. In an area with few officials, that can really make an impression.

The most important thing is that you establish that the officials deserve the consideration of a phone call if the game is canceled. In my old state, we had the following policies for the high school teams

For non-weather-related cancellations:

• If you leave a message for each official and
the assignor by 11:00 a.m., you will not
have to pay the officials even if they show
up. Be sure to call all of the numbers listed
for each official, and try to send them email
as well if possible.

• If you are able to contact the officials
before they leave work or home for the
game, you will not have to pay them.
However, if they are in transit to the game
and you reach them by cell phone, you
will have to pay them 50% of the applicable
game fee.

• Otherwise, if the officials show up for the
High School Lacrosse Policies
game and it is cancelled for non-weather
related reasons, the officials will be paid
the full game fee.

• For JV/Varsity combination games, these
policies apply separately to each game.

For weather-related cancellations:

• If you leave a message for each official and
the assignor at least 3.5 hours before the
scheduled start time—or if you are able to
contact each official before they leave for
the game—you will not have to pay the
officials even if they show up.

• If you do not call the officials and the
assignor at least 3.5 hours before the
scheduled start time and the officials show
up—or if you contact the officials by cell
phone while they are in transit—but the
game is cancelled before the scheduled
start of the game, the officials must be paid
50% of the game fee.

• If you do not call the officials and the
assignor at least 3.5 hours before the
scheduled start time and the officials show
up, and either the game begins or the
decision to cancel comes after the scheduled
game time, the officials will be paid
the full game fee.

• If the officials are being paid the full game
fee, they will allow the coaches to make
the decision about when to “call” the
game, although they will not allow the
game to resume as long as the playing
conditions are unsafe.

• For JV/Varsity combination games, the
policy applies separately to each game.
Thus, if both games are cancelled before
the start time, the officials get 50% of each
game fee, while if the first game starts but
the second is cancelled before the start
time, they get the full fee for the first game
and 50% for the second game.

Games that are rained-out are not necessarily
rescheduled. Conference games must be played
and will be rescheduled, but non-conference
games that are re-scheduled will be treated as
“red-flagged” games and will be assigned
officials only if there are officials available.

[spenny]

Originally posted by LaxRef
Rightly so.

First off, demand that you get paid for the game since they didn't call you. If the team stonewalls you, demand that the league step in. You might not get paid, but it will at least call attention to the problem. If they won't pay, make some noise about maybe not being willing to do games for that team. In an area with few officials, that can really make an impression.

as an offical, you can red (black?) flag a team and refuse to ref their games.
lax ref is right, if there arent a lot of officials, and they continue to abuse refs, they will soon be in deep doo-doo

spenny

[LaxRef]

Originally posted by spenny
as an offical, you can red (black?) flag a team and refuse to ref their games.
lax ref is right, if there arent a lot of officials, and they continue to abuse refs, they will soon be in deep doo-doo


Sorry, the term "red flag" in the text I pasted wasn't defined. Red-flagged games were just games that were on the bottom of the priority list for getting officials. But, yeah, you could use this term to apply to teams you wouldn't work for.

There does need to be a policy about whose responsibility it is to make sure the game is on. I think once the schedule is made, the coaches need to contact the assignor and/or officials to cancel if necessary or pay the game fees. However, if your area puts the onus on the officials, that's fine, but if the official confirms the game and the game is subsequently canceled without notification then game fees need to be paid.

[spenny]

Originally posted by LaxRef
Sorry, the term "red flag" in the text I pasted wasn't defined. Red-flagged games were just games that were on the bottom of the priority list for getting officials. But, yeah, you could use this term to apply to teams you wouldn't work for.

not a problem, i thought i had rememberd that term from a conversation i had about abusive coaches with another ref. my bad.