NCHSAA increases pay for many officials, increases number of umpires for baseball & softball playoffs

Officiating has been a focus for the N.C. High School Athletic Association board of directors for several years.

The board of directors considered more than a dozen proposals that made it to the Review & Officiating Committee this week, a number of which dealt with pay for officials and the fees officials are charged by the NCHSAA and booking agents.

Junior varsity football officials will see an increase in pay this fall. Currently, JV football officials are paid 36% less than varsity officials. In other sports, the difference between JV and varsity officials compensation with between 7% and 15%.

Based on a proposal from the Football Regional Supervisors, the board voted to approve increasing the cost of a JV football official to $90 per official for a five-person crew and $95 per official for a four-person crew.

Another proposal from the Football Regional Supervisors was expanded by the board. The proposal originally asked the board to increase the football scrimmage fee for officials from $25 to $50 per hour. The board opted to expand that fee to all sports, not just football. Scrimmage fees had not increased since 2004.

These fees are not paid to the individual officials though, they are paid to the regional associations to help pay for things like communications radios, playoff travel, and registration fees, the board said.

The board also approved a measure that will increase officials fees for the first two rounds of the football state playoffs. Currently, football is the only sport where officials are paid the same amount in the first two rounds of the playoffs as they are paid during the regular season. Officials will now be paid $110 per game in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and increase of $6 per official.

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Finally, the board approved an increase in pay for swimming & diving officials. The Swimming & Diving Advisory Group and the Swimming & Diving Regional Supervisors submitted a proposal to bring pay for swimming officials in line with other sports, creating a standard for the regular season, regional championships, and state championships.

Under the new policy, swimming & diving officials will make $70 for regular season competitions, $75 for regional championships, and $80 for state championships.

The changes were not all about paying officials though, the board made changes to fees charged to officials too.

Since last year, the NCHSAA has been asked to look at how registration fees and booking fees are handled across the state. On Wednesday, the board took steps to create uniformity in those circumstances.

The board voted to create a maximum fee regional supervisors and local associations are able to charge officials. The maximum allowed amount will be $80 in all sports, except in football and basketball where the maximum fee will be $110. This move came out of concerns raised to the board last spring.

The board also voted to create a standard registration fee for all officials. The goal was to create a balance in fees charged to officials.

Officials will now be charged $40 by the NCHSAA and $31 for insurance and background checks. However, swimming & diving officials will be charged $30 by the NCHSAA and $31 for insurance and background checks.

The registration fee changes are an increase of $6 for football and basketball officials, and an increase of $4 for officials in all other sports.

The NCHSAA will continue waiving registration fees for all new officials.

More umpires will be used for baseball, softball playoffs

The board accepted a proposal to begin increasing the number of umpires used in the baseball and softball playoffs in the third round, which will go into effect this spring.

Beginning in the third round, softball will use three-man crews and baseball will use four-man crews.

The new plan means the same number of officials used for the regional and state championship series will be used in the third and fourth round of the playoffs. This puts baseball and softball in line with other sports that increase the number of officials used during the playoffs.

Body cameras, reporting platform did not make it out of committee

The Officiating Sub-Committee submitted two proposals that did not make it to the board for consideration.

Development of a post-game reporting platform and a best practices program will not become policy — at least for now, and the board punted a proposal to test body cameras for officials in basketball.

The idea behind the reporting platform was to increase communication between officials and host schools. The information the Officiating Sub-Committee sought included:

• Parking and entrance, pre-game itinerary, designation of Game Day Administrator
• Expected arrival time
• Confirmation as to who will greet officials
• Clean locker rooms or other private, designated space to dress.
• Security pre-game and post-game
• Designated parking for officials
• Administrative response to sportsmanship issues
• Recognize schools for excellence

The board noted that there are steps that can be taken to help address some of the concerns of the sub-committee, including potentially using DragonFly, a digital platform the NCHSAA uses for other reporting.

The sub-committee also submitted a proposal to test the use of body cameras for basketball officials. There is at least one other state association conducting a similar pilot program, however the board tabled this proposal.

Members of the board of directors noted financial concerns and potential legal and privacy concerns around the use of body cameras.