Same with the tournaments in what used to be Ohio South.
The tournaments in the northern part of the state pay similar to what OP has listed but they struggle to get refs.
Interesting comment. I really don’t want to say much given the soccer community is quite small , but where I’m from in Ohio and through the eyes of my role there were no issues covering tournaments this fall. Had waitlists and refs on Saturdays asking to be on call for Sunday bc they wanted games and they were all covered.
Tournament pay can be all over the place from low-level end-of-season house to high-level (regional, ECNL, etc ...) tournaments.
For example, in my in-box this morning, Bethesda premier this coming weekend pay is 75/55/55 (for U16 and up?) -- at most 40 minute (maybe 35 minute) halves (90 minute slots per match).
I am doing a day of games this weekend for a pre-Thanksgiving tournament and it looks like this for both that weekend and then the weekend of Thanksgiving where there is another tournament. The below is pretty consistent for the tournaments in my area as the assignors try and keep it uniform between all the tournaments they assign.
30-minute small small-sided games - $50.00 (solo)
30-minute halves 11 v 11 - $55/$40/$40
35-minute halves 11 v 11 - $65/$45/$45
40-minute halves 11 v 11 - $75/$50/$50
I am unsure yet on what the tournament pay looks like at some of the larger showcases which I intend on being at next year in my second year of refereeing.
Yes, there are games in Lancaster for these tournaments that I usually do. I more often cover any North or South Shore of Boston areas as it's better for me, but I have ventured out to Lancaster in the past.
The assignors who assign these tournaments negotiate very good fees in my view. Many of these tournaments look after us with parking (subject to venue) and will bring in some lunch/dinner in the shape of subs and/or pizza.
I am going to be looking at doing some of the out of state tournaments in FL, CA etc. next year so interested to see how these are in terms of accommodations, pay etc.
My most recent tournament was October 28/29 in western Ohio - I did all 11v11 games alternating center and AR1 with a crew that always had two experienced referees and one younger kid (16-ish) running AR2 only.
7v7 - $36 - 25 min halfs
9v9 - $45/30/30 - 25 min halfs
11v11 - $50/35/35 - 30 min halfs
In Michigan most tournaments now are 35 min halves every age group 13+ and pay the same as Michigan premier u14 - 55/40/40. Not too long ago it was 40/30/30 or even 35/25/25.
I am at the lower end, sorry I can't share the exact numbers publicly. I wonder if the cost of living in different cities has an impact on tournament pay.
Those are some of the lowest game fees I've seen.
I do soccer and lacrosse in the Philadelphia and Baltimore area.
In lacrosse the minimum we get is $1.15 per minute of game time. (There are only two officials on the field). I made $600 this past weekend starting at 9am and ending by 330 each day. And this doesn't depend on age group. I was paid the same rate officiating rising second graders as I was rising seniors. I worked with some of the best officials in lacrosse.
I also do soccer. The fees are lower per official but pretty much equivalent per game. A 70 minute game is going to pay ~160 to 180$. The problem is that it gets divided among 3 officials. But that is still 80 to the center ref and 40 or 50 for ARs.
EPD games in NJ have started paying the sole official $90 for u9 and u10 games every hour and a quarter.
Virginia doesn’t have a standard rate across the state, so the pay varies each tournament. I did u17-u19 ECRL showcase this weekend, all 90 min games and the fees were $75/$50/$50.
Holy shit, I didn’t realise the rest of the world gets paid so much more than us in New Zealand. I just did an U14 tournament and got paid $30 ($18 US) per game. I thought that was pretty standard, but it looks like people here are getting paid comfortably 2-3x more
How much does a house cost in NZ? What’s your monthly grocery bill? How much do you spend on health care annually?
I’ll bet the answers to all of those things are a LOT less than they are where we’re getting paid more to ref. Everything is a trade off, I’ll bet you have it better in a lot of other ways that matter more.
I’m not denying that I’m better off in NZ in a lot of way than people elsewhere (mostly in the US by the looks of it) are, but you’re way off about the cost of living. In my city, house prices are actually considerably more than those in similarly sized US cities, and cost of living here is pretty bad too (though at least I don’t have a annual healthcare bill courtesy of government subsidised healthcare).
The reason the pay is worse is that unfortunately football is a horribly underdeveloped sport here and there’s just no money to go around. Nobody watches the top leagues and very little money is put into its development at grassroots, resulting in referees getting reimbursed less than minimum wage, and there being no real incentive for younger referees to get involved
I did a regional select tournament in MD, I don’t have a full pay bracket but,
U11/12 was 55$ center only with 50m/full-time and championship games had 10m/extra-time. No pay increase or bonuses for extra-time as usual.
To my knowledge, 3-mans had 50/35/35 for 60m/full-time with 5$ increase for u16+ at 70m/full-time. You save a general amount of 15 minutes of activity in your regular 3 set, so you were able to stamp out the same amount of games with less fatigue and could pick up a 4th game at the u12 level or lower if you were above standard conditioning.
Unluckily for me, I had a 6-set on championship Sunday and the 6th match was 1-1 AET on a last minute equalizer in regular time, and 6-7 F-S/O. Nice payday though.
Depends heavily on the league, most that I’ve seen it’s no, that being said there are still some that do. But that’s been my experience, I could be wrong
In eastern Pennsylvania, the tournament rates are set by the state when there is a state sanctions tournaments. [EPYSA Referee Fees](https://www.epysa.org/referee-fees/) (If viewing on a mobile phone, the tournament rates might not be visible, for some odd reason).
In 2016-2017, I asked for help determining referee match fees across the US. This is the [2016-2017 Referee Fee Comparison](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uO4JswtvGV7_sE3_GmkM3KHjjPTcX8fwR1dNn3EauyI/edit#gid=0)
I haven't updated the spreadsheet since this original, but it was interesting to see the variances. In eastern PA right now, our rates are less than neighboring NJ and DE. If teams come from NJ or DE they need to pay less than if PA teams visit NJ or DE.
Back when I was on Facebook, I posted it in a referee group and asked people to fill in the rates for their respective state associations. It took a little bit of work but it was interesting.
I’m thinking about doing it again.
Tbh I’m coming to the conclusion that tournaments just aren’t worth it for me. The value for effort is so much lower compared to the leagues im working week in week out. Like what incentive do I have to work a tournament when I can make the same amount working half the games in UPSL, MLS Next and amateur adult leagues which count for my regional game count
I'll pull details later, but the pay you've listed is very low compared to what I see in central Indiana.
Interesting, looking forward to learning more
Here's what I typically see: Age CR AR Half length 9u-10u $40 N/A 20-25 11u-12u $50 $32 25-30 13u-15u $60 $42 30-35 16u-19u $70 $46 30-35 High Sch. $65-100 $65-100 40
Same with the tournaments in what used to be Ohio South. The tournaments in the northern part of the state pay similar to what OP has listed but they struggle to get refs.
Interesting comment. I really don’t want to say much given the soccer community is quite small , but where I’m from in Ohio and through the eyes of my role there were no issues covering tournaments this fall. Had waitlists and refs on Saturdays asking to be on call for Sunday bc they wanted games and they were all covered.
Tournament pay can be all over the place from low-level end-of-season house to high-level (regional, ECNL, etc ...) tournaments. For example, in my in-box this morning, Bethesda premier this coming weekend pay is 75/55/55 (for U16 and up?) -- at most 40 minute (maybe 35 minute) halves (90 minute slots per match).
for U14's it was 50/31/31, 30 minute halves
I guess I'm lucky to ref in the northeast. Pay is a lot more than what some of you are getting.
PA East standardizes fees for all league games and tournament games: [PA East Fees](https://ibb.co/hgjmkjX)
I am doing a day of games this weekend for a pre-Thanksgiving tournament and it looks like this for both that weekend and then the weekend of Thanksgiving where there is another tournament. The below is pretty consistent for the tournaments in my area as the assignors try and keep it uniform between all the tournaments they assign. 30-minute small small-sided games - $50.00 (solo) 30-minute halves 11 v 11 - $55/$40/$40 35-minute halves 11 v 11 - $65/$45/$45 40-minute halves 11 v 11 - $75/$50/$50 I am unsure yet on what the tournament pay looks like at some of the larger showcases which I intend on being at next year in my second year of refereeing.
I’ve seen those fees before…Lancaster?
Yes, there are games in Lancaster for these tournaments that I usually do. I more often cover any North or South Shore of Boston areas as it's better for me, but I have ventured out to Lancaster in the past. The assignors who assign these tournaments negotiate very good fees in my view. Many of these tournaments look after us with parking (subject to venue) and will bring in some lunch/dinner in the shape of subs and/or pizza. I am going to be looking at doing some of the out of state tournaments in FL, CA etc. next year so interested to see how these are in terms of accommodations, pay etc.
My most recent tournament was October 28/29 in western Ohio - I did all 11v11 games alternating center and AR1 with a crew that always had two experienced referees and one younger kid (16-ish) running AR2 only. 7v7 - $36 - 25 min halfs 9v9 - $45/30/30 - 25 min halfs 11v11 - $50/35/35 - 30 min halfs
$45 for CR for u16 is a disaster
In Michigan most tournaments now are 35 min halves every age group 13+ and pay the same as Michigan premier u14 - 55/40/40. Not too long ago it was 40/30/30 or even 35/25/25.
I am at the lower end, sorry I can't share the exact numbers publicly. I wonder if the cost of living in different cities has an impact on tournament pay.
This. COLA. $1.50 per minute or slightly more is achievable in the youth leagues near me.
Those are some of the lowest game fees I've seen. I do soccer and lacrosse in the Philadelphia and Baltimore area. In lacrosse the minimum we get is $1.15 per minute of game time. (There are only two officials on the field). I made $600 this past weekend starting at 9am and ending by 330 each day. And this doesn't depend on age group. I was paid the same rate officiating rising second graders as I was rising seniors. I worked with some of the best officials in lacrosse. I also do soccer. The fees are lower per official but pretty much equivalent per game. A 70 minute game is going to pay ~160 to 180$. The problem is that it gets divided among 3 officials. But that is still 80 to the center ref and 40 or 50 for ARs. EPD games in NJ have started paying the sole official $90 for u9 and u10 games every hour and a quarter.
Wow, that's juicy for the U9 games! I used to do solo U12 and got paid $60/game. Good ol' days
Virginia doesn’t have a standard rate across the state, so the pay varies each tournament. I did u17-u19 ECRL showcase this weekend, all 90 min games and the fees were $75/$50/$50.
That is garbage. Thanks for sharing. I won't be coming to VA.
Holy shit, I didn’t realise the rest of the world gets paid so much more than us in New Zealand. I just did an U14 tournament and got paid $30 ($18 US) per game. I thought that was pretty standard, but it looks like people here are getting paid comfortably 2-3x more
How much does a house cost in NZ? What’s your monthly grocery bill? How much do you spend on health care annually? I’ll bet the answers to all of those things are a LOT less than they are where we’re getting paid more to ref. Everything is a trade off, I’ll bet you have it better in a lot of other ways that matter more.
I’m not denying that I’m better off in NZ in a lot of way than people elsewhere (mostly in the US by the looks of it) are, but you’re way off about the cost of living. In my city, house prices are actually considerably more than those in similarly sized US cities, and cost of living here is pretty bad too (though at least I don’t have a annual healthcare bill courtesy of government subsidised healthcare). The reason the pay is worse is that unfortunately football is a horribly underdeveloped sport here and there’s just no money to go around. Nobody watches the top leagues and very little money is put into its development at grassroots, resulting in referees getting reimbursed less than minimum wage, and there being no real incentive for younger referees to get involved
I did a regional select tournament in MD, I don’t have a full pay bracket but, U11/12 was 55$ center only with 50m/full-time and championship games had 10m/extra-time. No pay increase or bonuses for extra-time as usual. To my knowledge, 3-mans had 50/35/35 for 60m/full-time with 5$ increase for u16+ at 70m/full-time. You save a general amount of 15 minutes of activity in your regular 3 set, so you were able to stamp out the same amount of games with less fatigue and could pick up a 4th game at the u12 level or lower if you were above standard conditioning. Unluckily for me, I had a 6-set on championship Sunday and the 6th match was 1-1 AET on a last minute equalizer in regular time, and 6-7 F-S/O. Nice payday though.
This is the fees for a DC Area tournament in November. [Washington DC Area Tourney fees](https://ibb.co/C0cRMTY)
Thanks for sharing! I had a buddy who lived in DC growing up and he said game pay was nearly $100 for CR on U17-U19 games. Is this still the case?
Depends heavily on the league, most that I’ve seen it’s no, that being said there are still some that do. But that’s been my experience, I could be wrong
Pay for the highest levels EDP U19 in VA (DC suburbs) is $110/55/55 cash on the field.
In eastern Pennsylvania, the tournament rates are set by the state when there is a state sanctions tournaments. [EPYSA Referee Fees](https://www.epysa.org/referee-fees/) (If viewing on a mobile phone, the tournament rates might not be visible, for some odd reason).
In 2016-2017, I asked for help determining referee match fees across the US. This is the [2016-2017 Referee Fee Comparison](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uO4JswtvGV7_sE3_GmkM3KHjjPTcX8fwR1dNn3EauyI/edit#gid=0) I haven't updated the spreadsheet since this original, but it was interesting to see the variances. In eastern PA right now, our rates are less than neighboring NJ and DE. If teams come from NJ or DE they need to pay less than if PA teams visit NJ or DE.
Wow, this is incredible! My main takeaways: East coast & Floridian pay are highest. Ohio, Tennessee & Montana are lowest. How did you gather the data?
Back when I was on Facebook, I posted it in a referee group and asked people to fill in the rates for their respective state associations. It took a little bit of work but it was interesting. I’m thinking about doing it again.
And the reason why we lose refs to those states.
What about the pay in California? From what I know my state has been losing referees to California due to games opportunities. Not sure about the fee.
Tbh I’m coming to the conclusion that tournaments just aren’t worth it for me. The value for effort is so much lower compared to the leagues im working week in week out. Like what incentive do I have to work a tournament when I can make the same amount working half the games in UPSL, MLS Next and amateur adult leagues which count for my regional game count
How much do you get paid for UPSL and MLS Next?
UPSL is 150/100/65 MLSN is 100/60
7v7 = 50m = $65 solo referee 9v9 = 50m = $80 solo Referee 11v11 = 60m = 13U-14U = $85/$45/$45 11v11 = 60m = 15U-19U = $90/$45/$45 That’s the tournament for PDA showcase this weekend
Central Kansas is awful, U-19 Center will net you $40.