There is a critical need for referees for high school soccer and other sports, according to Parm Patrick of Richfield, who is responsible for assigning referees in southern Utah.
“If you love soccer and understand the game, we need you,” he says. Officials are paid for each game. Refer to the Utah High School Activities Association umpire page at ushaa.org for the pay scale. After the first 50 miles, officials are paid for mileage driven round trip.
Patrick says officiating at high school games is fun, lots of exercise and you get to watch games up close. All testing and training is completed online or using Zoom meetings.
One reason there is a challenge finding referees is poor fan sportsmanship. “Every school has some knucklehead parents or grandparents who make life miserable for the officials, especially new ones,” Patrick said.
“Other challenges assigners face is that we just don’t have enough people. My goal is to send three officials to each match. Last spring for the boy’s season, there were many tough games with only two officials.”
Finally some officials don’t want to travel because of the high gas prices, but the reimbursement pays 46 cents per mile, which does cover those expenses. The season starts in August and registration is now underway. Contact parm.patrick@yahoo. com if you have questions.
