My boys were soccer referees and they never had to pay for insurance. My one regret is not attending the classes when my oldest did this, I would have enjoyed being a ref.
Were they paid or volunteers? Volunteers are normally covered under the league insurance. Those who accept pay are expected to provide their own insurance.
Not here in PA. My husband is a paid ref for soccer, baseball and basketball for a few local clubs. They all cover the refs.
That's a nice perk. Not sure the clubs can afford that here. We have had a huge drop off in the number of kids playing all youth sports here. Same reason they are closing schools here, the demographics have changed. The five local Soccer Clubs didn't have enough kids to be viable anymore, they merged into one club after the 2019 season. Oh, and they are no longer a Soccer Club, they are a "Futbol" Club, LOL>
How would they get any refs to show up if they had to pay expenses? Maybe if they paid $400 to $500 a game a few would show up but anything less than that forget about it.
What expenses? Most youth sports here rely on volunteer officials doing games in the league they live in. They are never more than a few miles from home.
Yup, volunteer. Many clubs use High School students to officiate. The kids do it to satisfy their Community Service graduation requirements.
Paid, I believe my youngest got $23 per game as the side ref. That was about 6 years ago.
@MillauFr This is much more in line with what I would expect. Not hundreds of dollars, and a little less than going rate because I assume they provide the insurance. Although, I have run into more than one paid official who did not realize the league that was paying them did not provide insurance. A lot of folks don't think about that. With a minor, the parents could be on the hook if there is a liability issue and no insurance..
Gorgeous stuff!
For me it's included in my registration fees. I umpire for two organizations (USSSA and USA Softball) I pay $85/ year for my USSSA registration and that includes my insurance for all sanctioned and unsanctioned softball games, scrimmages and practices I take part in. My local school district that also operates the parks department pays my USA Softball registration and that also included insurance for all sanctioned and unsanctioned games, scrimmages and practices. I don't yet know the insurance situation for USA Hockey.
That was the norm when I was umpiring. Insurance was a perk with association membership. You had to provide your own insurance here if you accepted pay. Volunteer umpires were automatically insured under each Little League's charter insurance. I always was a volunteer. Got a free hot dog and a soda after the game from the snack bar. My wife felt I called too many games as it was, she would have divorced me if I took on more games, even if paid. I think one season I called 56 games over the 8 week season. Only thing I really enjoyed was when my son hit high school, he started umpiring and we did a lot of games together.
