MCLA Officiating Fees for 2007 are announced

[Sonny]

New Fee Schedule for MCLA/MDOC
Game Fees, Travel Compensation and Additional Compensation

1. Game Fees
(a) 2007
A Division MCLA game fee for a 3-person officiating crew - $125 per official
A Division MCLA game fee for a 2-person officiating crew - $150 per official
B Division MCLA game fee for a 3-person officiating crew - $115 per official
B Division MCLA game fee for a 2-person officiating crew - $140 per official

(b) 2008 and 2009
All game fees per official shall increase $5.00 in 2008 and an additional $5.00 in 2009.

2. Travel
(a) Officials who drive to games and arrive as a driver at a game site shall be compensated for travel as follows:
2007- Total roundtrip travel minus 30 miles times 90% times IRS mileage rate
2008- Roundtrip IRS mileage Zip code to Zip code minus 30 miles
2009- Roundtrip IRS mileage Zip code to Zip code minus 30 miles

(b) Officials who do not arrive as driver at the game site shall be compensated for travel in accordance with the MDOC/MCLA Mileage Chart which is attached hereto and made a part hereof. Officials are encouraged whenever practicable to attempt to travel to games together.

NOTE: If an official travels part of the way to a game site in his own car but does not arrive at the game site as the driver of a car, the official shall not be compensated as a driver but instead shall be compensated based upon the mileage chart.

3. Additional Compensation.
All officials shall receive a per diem of $75 if travel is more than 200 miles one way. An additional $20 shall be paid for all weekday games that face off before 3:00 p.m., except for games that are played on national holidays.

MDOC/MCLA Mileage Chart
25-49 miles (50-99 roundtrip) — $15.00 payment
50-74 (100-149 roundtrip) — $25.00
75-99 (150-199 roundtrip) — $35.00
100-124 (200-249 roundtrip) — $55.00
125-149 (250-299 roundtrip) — $65.00
150-174 (300-349 roundtrip) — $80.00
175-199 (350-400 roundtrip) — $90.00
200+ (400+ roundtrip) — $100.00

LINK:
http://www.uslacrosse.org/mens_div/mdoc ... lege.phtml

[Dan Wishengrad]

OUCH!

Let's take a hypothetical. The CAA send a three-man crew from Tacoma to Spokane to cover an Idaho at Gonzaga weekend game. The crew carpools, with two refs leaving their cars at the driver's house. The round-trip is about 600 miles. The driver is compensated 90% of the IRS mileage allowance, or .40 cents/mile, for $240. The other two refs get $100 apiece under the MDOC/MCLA mileage chart. Each ref also receives a $75 per diem. The total cost for this game then (including $125 per ref game fee) is $1,040. That amount is more than double what the PNCLL would have billed the two teams for this game in 2006.

But as shocking as this cost is, it bears reminding that this also represents a best-case scenario, with the crew car-pooling together! Consider that the assigned crew might actually be "mixed", with at least one of the refs coming from a different home direction that requires two or more drivers to the game.

This new financial reality will have a huge impact on the MCLA.

[Sonny]

That amount is more than double what the PNCLL would have billed the two teams for this game in 2006.

How much would these officials been paid last year?

[LaxRef]

That amount is more than double what the PNCLL would have billed the two teams for this game in 2006.

How much would these officials been paid last year?

AFAICT, the main difference is the IRS mileage. I don't see how that could double the total cost, unless they used to have officials in Spokane and don't anymore.

[Jolly Roger]

I don't think the per diem is new or at least it has been a gentlemen's agreement in some areas.

Might make sense to schedule more than one game at difficult outlying sites like your example so as to dilute the travel expense over more participants. The crew might appreciate more game fees for a trip like that as well.

Sounds like you could offer some kind of perk to officials in the Spokane area - an extra $50 /game from the league as a thanks for saving all the mileage. Kind of a carrot for them. It'll take a couple of years for new guys to develop or a timely emigration.

[Dan Wishengrad]

That amount is more than double what the PNCLL would have billed the two teams for this game in 2006.

How much would these officials been paid last year?

I haven't seen the break-down, but I'm sure we lost money last year, when we charged teams $250 each per game, or $500 total per game.

Of course we'd love to have MDOC certified officials in Spokane, Ashland, Walla Walla, Caldwell, Moscow, Ellensburg and, especially, in Missoula. But the reality is that most of our certified refs come from the big Metro areas, where they can attend clinics and work youth, junior varsity and high school lacrosse games before moving up to the college level. Spokane does have a couple high school teams now to go with the handful more 30 miles away in and around Couer D'Alene. But few or none of these refs are MDOC certified at present. And there is no youth lacrosse yet in these other cities which host PNCLL schools.

[LaxRef]

I don't think the per diem is new or at least it has been a gentlemen's agreement in some areas.

Might make sense to schedule more than one game at difficult outlying sites like your example so as to dilute the travel expense over more participants. The crew might appreciate more game fees for a trip like that as well.

Sounds like you could offer some kind of perk to officials in the Spokane area - an extra $50 /game from the league as a thanks for saving all the mileage. Kind of a carrot for them. It'll take a couple of years for new guys to develop or a timely emigration.

The per diem is not new; it's been in the agreement for several years, I believe.

And it is important to schedule multiple games at one site. We only get paid the mileage and per diem once, even if we do 3 games in one day, so that cuts the average cost per game by quite a bit.

[Sonny]

I haven't seen the break-down, but I'm sure we lost money last year, when we charged teams $250 each per game, or $500 total per game.

Did you charge that same fee for all PNCLL games, regardless of location?

Of course we'd love to have MDOC certified officials in Spokane, Ashland, Walla Walla, Caldwell, Moscow, Ellensburg and, especially, in Missoula. But the reality is that most of our certified refs come from the big Metro areas, where they can attend clinics and work youth, junior varsity and high school lacrosse games before moving up to the college level. Spokane does have a couple high school teams now to go with the handful more 30 miles away in and around Couer D'Alene. But few or none of these refs are MDOC certified at present. And there is no youth lacrosse yet in these other cities which host PNCLL schools.

Sounds like some more refs need to get MDOC certified out there. My latest podcast interview with Bob Duggan speaks to this very issue:
http://www.collegelax.us/podcasts.php

[Dan Wishengrad]

Yes, Sonny, we have charged all teams equally regardless of location. This means that schools in the Metro areas where the refs reside -- like UW -- help to subsidize the cost of games in the outlying areas. Often times our home games could be assigned with three Seattle refs and there would be no travel cost.

But of course our CAA makes a good-faith effort to balance his crews and to mix things up. Nobody wants to see the same refs every time they play at a particular location. I remember at our HIT event in 2005 we played Oregon State at our place with a crew made up of three refs who travelled up from Oregon. There is nothing wrong with this of course, and I am NOT complaining. But the refs for that game obviously got compensated for travel that Seattle refs would not earn.

We absolutely DO need more certified MDOC officials, and we have some geographic regions in dire need of at least one or two refs. It does bear consideration that when we get some refs certified for college games in our outlying areas, that these folks will then get assigned to travel to the big cities too. We're not going to have a Spokane ref work only the 4 or 5 game Gonzaga home schedule -- they will also do their share of travel. I think every certified ref in DXI fromSeattle, Tacoma and Portland gets assigned at least a couple trips to the eastern half of our conference where we have virtually no refs. When we do develop refs in those eastern cities, we will also be paying for them to come west.

[Hi-Line Lax]

Actually we're not being billed equally at all...I've got to pay for ref flights, hotels, and game fees this year and we still only get two conference home games. I understand the problems with getting refs to Missoula for games, but I think we get screwed pretty bad. Home games is how we advertise to the local community and how we get high school teams started which is how we get refs...it's a cycle that we've never gotten to take off because we only play in Missoula two weekends a year. The worst part about the lack of home games though are our travel expenses...I would actually rather pay $2,000 per weekend to fly refs out to Missoula and put them up in some nice accomodations than spend $7,000 to bus somewhere.

[LaxRef]

Actually we're not being billed equally at all...I've got to pay for ref flights, hotels, and game fees this year and we still only get two conference home games. I understand the problems with getting refs to Missoula for games, but I think we get screwed pretty bad. Home games is how we advertise to the local community and how we get high school teams started which is how we get refs...it's a cycle that we've never gotten to take off because we only play in Missoula two weekends a year. The worst part about the lack of home games though are our travel expenses...I would actually rather pay $2,000 per weekend to fly refs out to Missoula and put them up in some nice accomodations than spend $7,000 to bus somewhere.

If you throw in the $7000 for the other team to bus to Missoula, I'd bet that would be enough to swing it!

It's a tough situation for everyone, and it would be nice if you could get more home games. Unfortunately, I don't have any answers, other than multiple games in one weekend, which I'm sure you've thought of.

[John Paul]

It is a tough situation. You may not know that some major D1 teams face the same thing. For example, when you see a team like Syracuse or Virginia flying out to play at Denver and Air Force, who do you think is paying for that? Clue: not Syracuse or Virginia. Remote teams (in many sports) often have to pay other teams' expenses to come to them to attract quality games. Even at our level it's been done. BYU and Michigan paid partial costs for the other team to travel to them the first couple of times they played as national travel was being established. We always paid all officials' costs for the neutral site games in our Invitational. I'm sure other MCLA teams have similar stories.

On the MDOC contract - special thanks to Tony Scazzero for being the lead negotiator for the MCLA. It is a long, arduous and not always pleasant process to hammer out these contracts. Tony did a great job. We were able to get a lot of things done (some you see in the fees and some you don't see there) that will help us continue to improve officiating services to the MCLA.

[Sonny]

As a reference, here is the fee structure for NCAA Varsity games (D1, D2, and D3):

US LACROSSE COLLEGIATE OFFICIALS COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER
December 12, 2006

New Fee Agreement Between the COC and the USILA for NCAA Division I, II and II Games

NCAA Division I
GAME FEE: 2007 – 2009
GAME FEE 2007: $232
Game fees shall increase in 2008 & 2009 based on the percentage increase in the CPI.
TRAVEL 2007-2009: IRS mileage ZIP code to ZIP code.
PER DIEM 2007: 100-124 miles one way $10.00
125-149 miles one way $20.00
150-174 miles one way $30.00
175-199 miles one way $40.00
over 200 miles one way $90.00 or hotel room provided by Institution plus $50.00
PER DIEM
2008: 100-124 miles one way $15.00
and 2009 125-149 miles one way $25.00
150-174 miles one way $35.00
175-199 miles one way $45.00
over 200 miles one way $90.00 or hotel room provided by Institution plus $50.00
TOLLS: All tolls paid.

NCAA Divisions II and III
GAME FEE:
2007 - $145.00
2008 - $150.00
2009 - $155.00
TRAVEL:
2007 – Total round trip travel minus 30 miles times 90% of the IRS mileage rate.
2008 – IRS mileage ZIP code to ZIP code.
2009 – IRS mileage ZIP code to ZIP code.
PER DIEM 2007-2009: If travel is over 200 miles one way $90 or a hotel room provided by the institution plus $50.00
TOLLS: All tolls paid.

NCAA Divisions I, II and III
An additional $20.00 shall be paid for all weekday,
Division I, II and III games that face-off before 3:00 p.m.

[laxfan25]

I can sympathize with the Grizzlies situation, and my hat is off to you for putting together a team and playing at the level you do, given all the challenges. There is no easy answer - except to start trying to grow some refs out of graduates that stay in the area or recruiting from other sports. However, it would be a while before they would be COC qualified.

The rates can seem to be high, but the referees are not doing it for the love of Montana lacrosse. Most lax refs are from the game, and they do want to continue to give back to the sport. However, they are also in careers elsewhere that pay the real bills (like their kids tuition at Michigan!), and getting away to do weekday games can be a delicate challenge with the boss (or weekend games with the REAL boss!). For example, a person earning $50,000 per year - earns approx. $27 per hour. Factor in travel time to and from the site, along with pregame time, and in most cases it is a 5 hour commitment = $135 of their time. For someone in a higher income bracket - the tradeoff becomes even higher.
Yes, the compensation is fair, but it doesn't cause streams of people to flock in off the street to take up the avocation - it's not a real steady job! Add in the hours of training and preparation, and while there is pay, it does still have a lot of labor of love attached.
Given that cost comparison though, I never can understand why more recent graduates don't take up the stripes - even starting at the local high school level. We have tons of kids in our area that have played in HS and then gone on to college, and you rarely see tham contact us to see how they can get involved. Any ideas there?

[LaxRef]

Given that cost comparison though, I never can understand why more recent graduates don't take up the stripes - even starting at the local high school level. We have tons of kids in our area that have played in HS and then gone on to college, and you rarely see tham contact us to see how they can get involved. Any ideas there?

One thing that I think helps is to get them doing youth games while they're still in HS. They get a taste of officiating and then when they're done playing in college it occurs to them to come back.