All,

For those who dont mind sharing....

What is the standard rate that is paid to a referee for working a kids tournament?

I know what I have paid over the last few years but have been questioned on a different thread as to the amount of pay.

Mill Valley runs a split format tournament.
I currently pay our referees $160.00!
We had 3 no-shows, which hurt our tournament operation very badly, increased the work load on the 11 that did show up, so I made their total for the day $200.00!

I know of another tournament that ran longer than ours and was informed by the group of referees that they were only paid $125.00!!

With that said I feel we were more than fair in our payment amount.

Curious to see if anyone will compare what they have been paying as the norm.

Jeff Broadbent - MVWC

Jeff
Altho I am not a reff I think what you did was fair I know last year I ran a novice tour and paid $150.00 and $175.00 to the head reff. This is a good question tho and wish we could have a standard amount, it would help every one in there tour budget

I think you are WAY too high on your pay. There are other ways to assure attendance besides just increasing the amount. I won't share those publicly because I don't want other tournaments stealing our refs!

I haven't paid refs in a while but $125 or $150 was standard a few years ago but my point for posting is this. My sons have been refing in OK and they pay waaaay better than KS and usually for shorter days. They got anywhere from $150 for a short day to $200 for a long day. Just some additional info.

Ms. Jenni

Most all Kids tournaments for the most part underpay their officials for the work they do and all they have to put up with.

I would just like to say that most officials in my opinion are doing this because they either wrestled before and love the sport and wanted to stay around it or they love to officiate. I have been in construction for about 25 years and to make 150.00 to 200.00 a day would be great, and thats in 100 degree heat or 0 degrees freezin my butt off. I think they get paid pretty good for being inside doing something that they chose to do on the weekend. I know they put up with alot of grief from coaches an parents but that pales in comparison to the grief I have put up with from some bosses I've had , and I couldn't boot them off the job. Believe me that would have satified me to no end. So I think a 100.00 to 150.00 is pretty good money for a day of officiating.

Just a little info on what we pay our Referee. We pay our Head ref. $200 and the rest of them $150 I think this is pretty fair. I rely on my head ref to get my officials for me so that cuts one thing off the list that I have to do as a Tour. Director.

I think it is similar to why you don't pay school teachers a fortune. It's not because what they do is not valuable. It is because we want people doing it for the right reason. Because they care about the kids and they love what they're doing, not just for the money!

I deffineately agree with that Vanfam7!!

You have to remember that these referees have to pay for their uniforms and equipment, take time out every year to get certified, and pay to get certified, and drive to the tournaments, and with the price of fuel, $125.00 to $175.00 is a good base rate to me, unless you plan on paying them mileage. I appreciate every person that puts on a refree's uniform and help our kids become the best that they can. Thanks to all of you!!!!

since when do you have to be certified to ref a kids tourny, i remember only district and state you had to be certified

At least 50% of your refs must be certified for any sanctioned tournament.

I feel that if you have a ref not show up for your tournament then they ought to pay their fee to the tournament. I had 4 refs call and cancel 10 days before the tournament. On a regular weekend that wouldn't be that big of deal but this is High School regional weekend and it made it really tough to find 4 more refs in that short of time. I just the ones I have for this weekend all show up.

you also need to remember that some are not worth a free meal, so book them in advance to get the ones that are.Do your homework and watch them at torny's see how they do and ask questions.Don't get a reff that wants to show you how powerful HE is and HE can do what ever HE wants and HE dont have to work with the coach if HE dont want to.There are a lot of good reff's out there but there are alot of bad ones to.So pay the good ones well and dont hire the bad ones

Tournament Directors...

I am asking again, what is the going rate this year??

I plan to use the figures I went into last year with.

$160.00 per Official, and $200.00 for the Head Referee.


Jeff

We paid $175 last year at the Western Kansas Classic.

I have been involved with our sport for 20 years, I have been a coach, tournament director and official. I think that you could compare paying your officials by looking at it as paying by the hour. Maybe $20 an hour. The head official, maybe $25. If you think that this is too high, try to work an all day tournament, it is hard mental and physical work. Your officials are probably the highest expense for a tournament, but are key to a successful tournament.

Example: Official will be onsite at 8:00 AM for an 8:30 start.
Official could leave at 3:00 if they are lucky.
7 hours @ $20 an hour - $140.

The longer or larger the tournament, the pay should increase accordingly. I know that I have been in gyms until 5:00 or 6:00. This a long, hard day for an official, the pay should reflect this. If you write checks in advance, get with your club officers and head official to discuss extra pay.

Things to keep in mind:
• Work with an experienced, head official, have them obtain all of your officials or help you find officials.
• Always get contracts. If mailing contacts, send an extra copy, send a stamped , self addressed envelope. The head official could do this.
• Contact the officials the week of your event to confirm. The head official could do this.
• Try and have 4 officials for every 3 wrestling surfaces. (5 officials for 4 surfaces might work, officials need breaks), use this number, then get 1 additional official, this could be your head official. Your head official should be on the mat and watching other officials during the day.
• If there is an official that has not shown up for your tournament, and you have a signed contract and the head official contacted them, this is a signal not to use this official again.
• If you state in your contract that there is a monetary fine for not showing up, (without a valid excuse), contact the head of official for the state to coordinate the collection, don’t use the official again. If you do not have signed contract this could be difficult.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, again these are just my thoughts and observations.

Keith Ashpole

Rates vary from an official's point of view across the board... My checks ranged from $75 (MS dual) up to $200 for a regular tournament... anything within that range from $140-$180 (regular official) and I'd guess $160-$200 (head offical) will be par for the course.

One club in particular handed us our check for $160 (I think it was) last year then another $20 bill because they added a bunch of extra kids due to another tournament getting cancelled and allowing them in that morning. In all honesty it's one of the best ran kid's tournaments I officiate (have since 2005-6 season).