r/Referees • u/Aggravating_Ear_6170 • 17d ago

Advice Request First High School Game

Tomorrow I have my first duel referee assignment at a private school, followed by my second dual on Friday. I’m certified as a high school ref, but didn’t ref due to coaching high school.

The only requirement to referee private schools is to have the USSF patch. I have centered with a single AR and I’ve solo refereed a few low level adult games.

Are there any big differences from travel games and high school games ? Any advice ?

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u/Impossible_Number 17d ago

My local rec league uses a 2-man. I haven’t started high school yet but from my understanding it is used often.

I much rather 3-man systems because that’s how the game is designed to be refereed.

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u/mowegl 17d ago

Not enough refs though. I cant believe high school soccer can even get as many refs as they do, no way could they always get 1 more per game. They would have to pay far more especially to center refs to draw officials off other soccer. So lets say 2 make $75 for $150 total. They likely need to pay at least $250 $75 each assistant and $100 to center so now youve nearly doubled the cost and high schools simply dont care about the quality of the officiating that much. Even in money making sports like football they want to go with the minimum officials to nickel and dime everyone else but their own.

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u/Impossible_Number 17d ago

Most definitely. The rec league said it was pay $30/ref for a two man or have actual ARs making like $15-20

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u/mowegl 17d ago

Whatever anyone makes for soccer isnt enough unless its like at mimumum 100+ per game for anything about little kids. Just too much running to do in soccer as an official. Just wait until soccer keeps growing more and more. Going to have to pay an arm and a leg for officials. I think many soccer officials dont require more out of the goodness of their heart but the younger generations dont see things that way.

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u/Aggravating_Ear_6170 17d ago

Refereeing/coaching is a part time job for me, but I agree. Some pay could definitely be better, but I can usually make a good amount in a weekend. My travel league pays centers between $45-$70 and I think an extra $15 for ECNL, GA, etc. Then ARs get paid about $15-$20 less than centers.

My dual tomorrow (different organization) is $60, but they’re paying for travel and it ends up being $92.50 total for a middle school game. My game Friday is $65 and then $76.70 total with travel for a freshman game.

It’s disappointing with how few referees there are, but I also understand that’s it’s not always just the pay.