A strong relationship between sports officials and host schools will make a more efficient and pleasant working experience for all involved. The following may be passed on to schools and leagues in your area:
• Schools should provide adequate facilities for officials. That includes providing a safe, clean dressing room, with shower facilities, separate from team facilities.
• Officials associations should work with schools regarding potential safety problems. Satisfying every safety requirement should be mandatory in the rules is essential to proper game administration. There must be adequate security personnel to meet anticipated needs.
• Schools should have a contact in case of emergency. Associations should provide phone numbers of the assigner (or a roster of all officials) in case of emergency. Similarly, each official should be provided a list of coaches and schools phone numbers for emergencies.
• Schools should contact officials regarding game cancellations. If weather cancels a game, the school should make every effort to reach the assigner or official.
Every school or league will not accept every one of those conditions. They are bargaining points for your association when contract negotiations begin. In these tight-budget times, schools may not be able to afford a proposed $3 a game increase. Instead, they may agree to fix their long-standing safety problem and have a school administrator on site for every varsity and junior varsity contest. The extra piece of mind for all association members may be worth $3 a game — there probably won’t be any lawsuits from that faulty equipment and an administrator will help ensure their personal safety.
Make a “letter of agreement” with the school district or league outlining the understanding with them. That can include a number of topics such as cancellation procedures (“If the school does not contact the official before they arrive at the game site, the school will reimburse all travel plus one-half the game fee.”), termination sum if the league opts to go with another official, association before the contract expires or the minimum number of officials required to work a contest, if the state has not already set a minimum.
Those informal documents do not have to intimidate either group, but can clarify areas of understanding to cover all the bases.
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