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How much do high school basketball referees get paid
How Much Does a High School Basketball Referee Make?
Being a referee is largely a thankless job. Not only are you bound to make mistakes from time to time, but it’s tough to keep up with live play. You’re also going to get yelled at by both players and fans. That gets even tougher when you’re trying to work at the high school level.
I am a basketball fan who has nearly three decades of experience both watching and playing the game. My own knowledge of the sport, backed up by extensive research of referees, allowed me to properly cover each and every section outlined below.
Here, I will look at the average salary of high school basketball referees, as well as how much those at higher levels get paid. I will then take those salaries and compare them to similar sports in order to discuss, not just income, but where refs fit into basketball as a whole.
Read on to learn more!
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What’s the Salary?
Before getting into anything else, we must first answer the question at hand: how much do high school basketball referees make? Truth is, it depends. Unlike other jobs where you have a fixed salary, pay differs for high school refs depending on where they are and their officiating level.
For instance, in San Diego, California referees get around $67 a game. That’s pretty solid for a part-time gig, and it can go up with experience. However, in Santa Cruz, California, the spread is a much wider (and much less stable) $30 to $63 per game based on your level.
The lowest high school referee salary in America is in Louisiana, where referees get just an average of $31 per game. Mississippi is the next lowest, paying out their refs around $40 on average.
In addition to those fluctuations, there’s also the issue of different pay at different levels. While some referees get the same throughout their county, many schools will have higher dollar amounts for varsity referees as opposed to those working with JV or freshman games.
That gap isn’t typically huge, but even ten or so dollars a game can really start to add up over the course of an entire season.
Are Higher Levels Paid More?
To look at high school salaries in context, you need to study how much refs make at all levels. At the end of the day, it’s more of a fun side hustle than a steady job. The money can add up, but it’s never going to supplement a real income. That’s not true of college and NBA refs.
Those who officiate Division 3 games, the lowest level you can ref in college, make roughly $135 per game. That then goes way up to $700 a game for the ones working in Division 1. Not only that, but they also receive accommodations, which high school referees do not get.
Of course, that then extends even further in the NBA. Those referees, working with the top athletes on a national stage, easily make six figures a season. In fact, the highest paid ones get about $400,000 or more a year.
Looking at the above numbers, it’s easy to see why most high school refs do it for a general love of basketball and the game rather than as a pure job. In some places, it can get to that level, but those are rare fringe cases rather than the norm.
What Do Other High School Referees Make?
For even more context on basketball referees, it’s also important to look at the two other popular high school sports (football and baseball) and see what they make.
As with basketball, officiators and umpires get different pay depending on their own personal history as well as what level they’re referring. However, looking at general numbers, the pay does fluctuate compared to basketball quite a bit.
For example, high school football officials can earn as low as $40 a game, to as much as $200. They can get paid for travel as well. Umpires, on the other hand, can earn anywhere between $60 and $90, with the ceiling going a bit higher if they’re working with traveling teams.
That shows that, no matter how you cut it, being a high school basketball referee is definitely the toughest job in the entire bunch.
FAQs
Here are some questions you might have about the topic, which I’ll answer briefly below.
Is Referring a Full-Time Job?
Though the position doesn’t pay enough at lower levels to act as a true income, it can definitely be a full-time job for those who do it at the college or professional level.
Which Basketball Referee Makes the Most Money?
Any of the top NBA refs, including Finals officials like James Capers, are the sport’s top earners. They typically pull in mid six figures a year for their work with the league.
Where Do High School Referees Make the Most?
No state pays more to high school referees than California. Even with the discrepancies between counties, those in the Golden State make more on average than anywhere else.
How Do You Become a High School Ref?
To become a certified referee you need to go through an official approval process. That includes having a high school diploma and then passing a written test to show you have deep knowledge and understanding of the sport.
Final Words
Being a high school basketball referee is far from lucrative. It can also lead to working odd hours and cause you to travel long distances without much reward. As such, those that do it simply do it because they enjoy being around or involved with the sport.
There’s nothing wrong with loving the game, nor is there anything wrong with earning some extra money doing so. It can also serve as a stepping stone to greater opportunities down the line. You have to put up with a lot, but for some, that’s part of the journey.
High School Basketball Referee's Salary
Growth Trends for Related Jobs
Leonard Dozier
•
Updated January 07, 2019
South_agency/E+/GettyImages
Whether officiating professional or amateur sports, referees are usually paid a salary — base or per game. However, since salaries are usually low for high school athletics, referees have other full-time jobs that give them the flexibility to officiate games on a part -time basis. High school basketball referees normally work in pairs and are responsible for ensuring that the rules of the game are enforced.
Average Salary
Simplyhired.com states that the average yearly salary for high school basketball referees is $22,000 as of 2011. In comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that the median yearly salary for umpires, referees and related workers is approximately $23,000 as of 2008.
By the Game
High school basketball referees may work several games a week and may pick up considerable extra income. In San Diego, California, referees earn approximately $67 per game and may work as many as four games per week. In Santa Cruz County in California high school basketball referees may earn between $30 and $63 per game.
Lowest Salaries
In a February 2011 article for Bayou Preps, a Louisiana-based newspaper, Chris Singleton cites the complaints by high school basketball referees in the state during the Louisiana High School Athletic Association convention. According to the article, high school referees in the state earned the lowest per game salary in the nation at $31 per game. Referees in Mississippi earned the next lowest salaries at $40 per game. The national average, according to the newspaper, is $69 per game.
By Comparison
While varsity basketball games are typically the most lucrative for officials — $50 to $75 per game, basketball referees on the collegiate and pro level earn considerably higher salaries. Referees who work Division 3 college games earn approximately $135 per game while those working Division 1 games earn as much as $700 per game. High school basketball referees drive to their games and must pay for the cost of gas. In contrast, referees working Division 1 college games receive hotel and flight accommodations. National Basketball Association referees make six-figure incomes with top referees earning as much as $400,000 annually.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Athletes, Coaches, Umpires and Related Workers
Simply Hired: Average High School Basketball Referee Salaries
USA Today; Basketball Officials in Louisiana Stop Work in Pay Dispute; Raymong Partsch; February 2011
NCT; Prep Basketball: Officially Crazy. ..; Greg Ball, February 2009
Santa Cruz County Basketball Officials Association Website
Writer Bio
Leonard Dozier is a freelance writer based in southern New Jersey and New York. His film and sports columns have been published by "Casino Connection Magazine" and Trev Rogers sports respectively. A prolific and extremely versatile writer, he is an ASCAP songwriter and has written screenplays and stage plays registered with the Writer's Guild of America.
Photo Credits
South_agency/E+/GettyImages
Sports professions. PartⅠ-Referee Edition II "Basketball referee
Due to the rapid development of basketball, the position of an arbitrator in this game, and especially a qualified master of his craft, is always in demand. If you want to know more about the profession, read the article!
Small introduction
Knowing how to play basketball is good, but in order to understand and understand all the nuances of the game, you need to go to the basketball referee school. Only there you can learn, and in the future, correctly perceive the referee's gestures, as well as look at the game with their independent eyes. At the same time, basketball will cease to be a game of a beloved and someone else's team, words of praise for the work done will be replaced by outbursts of anger and booing of fans, before your eyes there will be not a ring into which you need to throw the ball, but a set of basketball laws, from where one by one you need to draw out the appropriate rule for a particular situation on the parquet, and it takes years for this process to become automatic. practice and constant training.
How to apply for an arbitrator position?
At the moment there are many basketball refereeing schools, the doors of which are open to everyone and fans of this sport. First of all, this is due to the lack of personnel in the globally growing game. It is best to start your career with 15-16 years old . You can later, but then it will be difficult to gain the necessary experience. FIBA has established a limit for qualifying as an international referee under 35 years of age. Although the age of some basketball referees exceeds 50 However, it is better to start early for a successful career.
In order to take part in refereeing city and regional championships, you need to have a referee license. It is issued for one year and after successfully passing the basketball rules test and the Metronome general physical fitness test.
Where does a career start?
Talented personnel in basketball are required everywhere and there are practically no problems with employment. But you will have to develop your abilities first from judging children's, youth, and then adult city competitions. With an increase in the amount of accumulated experience, the council of the regional federation on a competitive basis can recommend for the championships of the regional level. Aphorism "Training hard, fighting easy" applies to a basketball referee as it should be. After all, the weaker the level of the game, the more difficult it is to judge. It's all about preparation - a less technically savvy athlete allows more marriage - hence there are more violations. Only daily work on yourself: studying the rules, consulting and discussing controversial and interesting points in the game with other referees, can give you a chance to get into such leagues as VTB and FIBA . There is a lot of methodological material on the Internet for this, various video lessons, recordings from referee seminars.
Basketball referee salary!
Hmm... If we take the basketball federations of Ukraine and Russia, then this issue is not so simple. The bottom line is that the referee's salary should be paid by the state association, but in fact the money comes to him from the clubs participating in the championship. In this regard, the arbitrators have no social. packages and pension, as such. And the fees themselves remain in the shadows. Hence the question: how honest are the referees, whose salary depends on the teams?
Salary of the Chief Referee of the Ukrainian Super League - 800 dollars per match.
The salary of the chief referee of the European League - 500 dollars per match.
In NBA everything is much simpler, more transparent, and the amounts are more impressive:
• the contract of the novice referee is 200 thousand dollars a year;
• The contract of senior arbitrators with experience reaches 550 thousand dollars per year.
Per game playoff referee in NBA can receive from 4,500 to 25,000 dollars, it all depends on the stage of the match in the tournament - from the first to the final.
Nuances of this profession
If you have reached the level of a professional and refereeing has ceased to be a hobby, then you probably already know how basketball referees live. And if only at the beginning of your career path, then this spoiler is for you.
Referees spend most of their lives away from home. About 3.5 weeks a month they take trips from city to city, from hall to hall. During this time, they manage to serve from 12 to 15 basketball games. It's also interesting to know that referees rarely sleep at night. After the game, they sort out mistakes and unclear situations, and many communicate with other referees, discussing each other's matches. Referees sleep more during the daytime and get up a couple of hours before the game. A true professional refereeing a match always struggles with doubts about the correctness of his refereeing. And only after reviewing the game, drawing conclusions and sorting out the mistakes, he can sleep peacefully. You can't always be right, but you can strive for it!
Basketball referee - conductor with a cool head
Why did I choose this title for the article? The answer is simple. In the hall where the basketball game takes place, the stands are located in close proximity to the site, which does not impress much in size. And the judge hears everything that the audience shouts. Therefore, the pressure on the referee is higher than anywhere else. But the truth remains that no matter how loud the indignant cries around are, the referee on the floor makes the right decisions a thousand times more often than he makes mistakes. And guided by this, a true professional will turn all the appeals of the public into white noise, and the indignation of the players and coaches into elements of silent cinema.
In conclusion, I will quote the words of one basketball referee:
"A mistake does not turn me into an amateur, does not make me a layman. It only means that I am human."
baker-news
How much do judges get? Average Salary, Job Description, and Education Requirements • BUOM
By Indeed Editorial Team
March 5, 2021
Preparing for a career in athletics can offer many unique opportunities, one of which includes working in sports leagues . By taking the time to research your career options and the salaries offered at each level, you can create a plan specifically tailored to what you want from your career.
In this article, we define referee job responsibilities, look at the different salary ranges available to those at each league level, the types of sports leagues, the required requirements for those who want to pursue a career as a referee, and general job prospects for judges. profession.
What does the judge do?
The referee is responsible for ensuring that players comply with the rules of a particular sport during the sporting event. They are tasked with making difficult decisions that can affect the outcome of a game and are expected to act as a neutral third party among the opposing teams and their coaches.
Referees may work in recreational, high school, collegiate, minor and major league sports such as football, baseball, basketball, hockey, football, volleyball, tennis, rugby and lacrosse.
How much does a judge earn?
The average salary for a judge in the US is listed here: $16.26 per hour. Many factors can influence referees' pay scales, including the level at which they work and the specific sport in which they work. For updated average salaries for any of the judging titles listed in this article, please follow the link to the Real Salary page.
Salaries and duties of referees at each level
Here is a list of typical salaries and expectations for referees at each level:
Youth Sports is responsible for supervising sports activities for athletes of primary, secondary and high school age. They use their knowledge of basketball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, soccer, and other sports offered at this level to judge games correctly.
2. Local Sports Referee
National Average Wage: $25.00 per hour
Key Responsibilities: A Local Sports Referee may work for a local club or recreation center. They are responsible for applying their knowledge of a particular sport to sports activities for youth, students and adults.
3. State Athletic Referee
National Average Wage: $20.00 per hour
Key Responsibilities: State Athletic Referees may be employed by state club leagues, colleges, universities, and minor league sports organizations. The varying levels of talent required in the state's sports leagues mean different levels of experience are required from a referee to perform their job duties.
4. National Referee
National Average Wage: $19.61 per hour
Key Responsibilities: The National Referee is responsible for supervising the sporting events of the national leagues and club teams. Referees at this level must have a deep understanding of the particular sport and its practices.
Types of sports leagues and referee salaries for each
The following section deals with draft salaries for referees and judges in specific leagues at major and secondary levels.
State and club leagues
Flag Star Football is a junior and youth football league with affiliates in the United States. According to Indeed Salaries, the average referee salary is $13.62 per hour, which is approximately $27,000 per year.
In an adult and children's futsal league such as Arena Sports, a referee earns an average of $15. 79 an hour ʻaccording to Indeed Salaries. This hourly amount can be translated into approximately $31,000 per year.
USABL is an amateur league that operates throughout the United States. Based on salary data obtained from the Indeed Jobs website, judges working at this level can earn between $20 and $40 per hour, which works out to approximately $40,000 to $80,000 per year.
Major and National Leagues
The United States Football Federation, owned by the International Federation of Football Association Football (FIFA), consists of the US women's and men's national teams, as well as the youth national teams and the Paralympic national teams. According to Indeed Salaries, judges earn an average of $20.43 per hour. This hourly figure can be translated into an income of approximately $40,000 per year.
According to Salary According to the data, professional athletes can earn approximately $300,000 per year in the NFL, while NFL operations coordinators can earn an average of $20. 35 per hour, or approximately $42,000 per year. Based on these figures, it can be estimated that referees at the professional football level earn between $40,000 and $300,000 a year.
According to the MLB website, in MLB its umpires, called "umpires", are paid between $120,000 and $350,000 a year. These figures are subject to change depending on the individual's years of experience.
Referee requirements
The following section lists the requirements for referees regardless of the sport they play or the level they work at:
Get the correct certification. Referees, especially those seeking employment in youth or high school sports, must be properly certified or licensed in accordance with state or local law. Those who work with children can also be expected to be fingerprinted and undergo background checks with local law enforcement to ensure they can be in the presence of anyone under the age of 18.
Be moral. Referees are expected to make impartial decisions that contribute to a fair outcome as they are considered a neutral party at a sporting event. There have been issues with umpires taking bribes and deliberately making calls that contributed to a team's unfair victory, so it's important that umpires can be trusted as officials of moral character devoid of any malicious intent.
Have an in-depth knowledge of the sport and its rules. The referee must have experience in playing and observing the sport in order to correctly judge the players and their actions during the game. They may have to take a training course and pass an exam to make sure they understand the sport they want to play and its current rules and regulations.
Practice good communication skills. The referee must have excellent oral communication skills as he is expected to communicate between coaches, players and other referees in order to decide on a particular incident or explain the reason for a decision he has made.
Be in good physical shape. Referees must be in good physical condition as they are expected to be able to run alongside the players during the game.
In some places, it can get to that level, but those are rare fringe cases rather than the norm.
It can also lead to working odd hours and cause you to travel long distances without much reward. As such, those that do it simply do it because they enjoy being around or involved with the sport.
High school basketball referees normally work in pairs and are responsible for ensuring that the rules of the game are enforced.
According to the article, high school referees in the state earned the lowest per game salary in the nation at $31 per game. Referees in Mississippi earned the next lowest salaries at $40 per game. The national average, according to the newspaper, is $69 per game.
..; Greg Ball, February 2009 
Only there you can learn, and in the future, correctly perceive the referee's gestures, as well as look at the game with their independent eyes. At the same time, basketball will cease to be a game of a beloved and someone else's team, words of praise for the work done will be replaced by outbursts of anger and booing of fans, before your eyes there will be not a ring into which you need to throw the ball, but a set of basketball laws, from where one by one you need to draw out the appropriate rule for a particular situation on the parquet, and it takes years for this process to become automatic. practice and constant training. 
FIBA has established a limit for qualifying as an international referee under 35 years of age. Although the age of some basketball referees exceeds 50 However, it is better to start early for a successful career. 
After all, the weaker the level of the game, the more difficult it is to judge. It's all about preparation - a less technically savvy athlete allows more marriage - hence there are more violations. Only daily work on yourself: studying the rules, consulting and discussing controversial and interesting points in the game with other referees, can give you a chance to get into such leagues as VTB and FIBA . There is a lot of methodological material on the Internet for this, various video lessons, recordings from referee seminars. 
During this time, they manage to serve from 12 to 15 basketball games. It's also interesting to know that referees rarely sleep at night. After the game, they sort out mistakes and unclear situations, and many communicate with other referees, discussing each other's matches. Referees sleep more during the daytime and get up a couple of hours before the game. A true professional refereeing a match always struggles with doubts about the correctness of his refereeing. And only after reviewing the game, drawing conclusions and sorting out the mistakes, he can sleep peacefully. You can't always be right, but you can strive for it! 
But the truth remains that no matter how loud the indignant cries around are, the referee on the floor makes the right decisions a thousand times more often than he makes mistakes. And guided by this, a true professional will turn all the appeals of the public into white noise, and the indignation of the players and coaches into elements of silent cinema. 
For updated average salaries for any of the judging titles listed in this article, please follow the link to the Real Salary page. 
The varying levels of talent required in the state's sports leagues mean different levels of experience are required from a referee to perform their job duties. 
79 an hour ʻaccording to Indeed Salaries. This hourly amount can be translated into approximately $31,000 per year. 
35 per hour, or approximately $42,000 per year. Based on these figures, it can be estimated that referees at the professional football level earn between $40,000 and $300,000 a year. 
There have been issues with umpires taking bribes and deliberately making calls that contributed to a team's unfair victory, so it's important that umpires can be trusted as officials of moral character devoid of any malicious intent. 
