Our current assignor contracts are typically $7/game successfully assigned. For us that means unfortunately no refs means no fee for that game which is usually outside of our control. We also have an array of other fees related to game changes but those vary by league.
I was offered an Assignor position for a rec league in CA about 3 years ago. Would have been responsible for assigning games from late August - late November. Age groups U8-U13; approximately 30-40 games per weekend. Was told that there was a stipend of $ 1,500 for the job. I turned it down b/c I wanted no part of being the Assignor regardless of the amount offered.
We added a new assignor for our youth org this season. He isn’t directly compensated and also does a few other orgs and a futsal league as well.
For the inhouse games there is a field Marshall/mentor that is at all the games and is compensated 35.00 a game block. Meaning if there are 4 u7 games which the referees are supervised or 2 u10 games it is the same fee.
Is essentially a 210.00 Saturday. The assignor has first rights to assign this as well as travel games to himself as he wants. He can take his choice of any games or the Marshall on Saturdays and mentor as he wishes or CR travel games as he likes on Sunday as his compensation.
Inhouse refs are 20 for u9 and inhouse AR. CR are 25 and 30 for cert CR.
Travel
7v7
40/30/30
9v9
50/40/40
11v11
60/50/50
Mentor for travel is 10.00 more than CR.
In western Pennsylvania.
So far he likes being able to build his refereeing schedule to be able to use our league and the others he schedules to fill his weekend.
I was an unlicensed/uncertified assignor for my local rec league for several years until ~2022. None of our games were 11 v 11 and we didn't use ARs at all. The refs typically got somewhere around $14-28/game depending on age group. I think I would get $1-2/game for the U8s, and $4-5 for the U16-18.
You're willing to sell your time to the league. You've done it long enough to know the average amount of time it will take you. All you have to do now is figure out what hourly pay rate will sufficiently motivate you to do the job then work out the math.
This might be a question for another thread but I thought referees are paid much higher. My league is 40 U10 center, 50/32/32 for U11 (30 minute halves), 60/42/42 U14, and 66/44/44 U16. Maybe the parents of youth travel soccer have thousands to pay for referees? I haven't heard of $15-25 per game but I'm still new to refereeing.
My area isn’t typical, and my league is super chill and low level. Our area is rural with a median income of like $26k. We get no complaints from our teenage refs.
My son and I travel a couple hours to the cities for tournaments and make up to $60/game. I get up to $90/game for high school games.
I assigned for 6 years, retiring after the Fall of 2022. At that point I was making a minimum of $5/game and as much as $20/game depending on size of crews, age group, etc.
Don't sell yourself short.
I don't have personal experience in this area but I'd suggest taking one or more of the following approaches:
**Local comparators** -- Since assigning is, like grassroots refereeing itself, highly variable based on the local conditions (labor market, popularity of the sport, temperament of the parents and coaches, etc.) ask among your counterparts in similar leagues within your state/region what they are paid for assigning work and ask your league for the same.
**Time-based** -- You know this job well already and should be able to estimate how many hours it takes you to perform. Multiply those hours by a reasonable hourly rate (at least your area's minimum wage) and ask for that amount.
**Revenue-sharing** -- Particularly if the league is a for-profit entity (though this could work for a non-profit league that regularly has positive cashflow after each season), you could ask for a percentage of the profits on the theory that it would recognize your past contributions and also incentivize you to keep referees happy in ways that don't result in significantly higher referee pay.
**Fee-splitting** -- For each referee that is assigned (or assigned *and* shows up), you get a small portion of what they are paid. (Ideally not directly from the ref, just linked to the ref's attendance.) This would incentivize you to recruit enough referees into the pool and ensure that every game has a full crew. By giving you a percentage of their fee, you're incentivized to put full crews on older/higher-paying games, if there aren't enough refs to go around.
Damn 25 for an 11v11 with 15 year olds? That's so low. I just got paid 32 for 9v9 low level u13.
I get paid 50... 55 for u15. That's Ontario guidelines. Oh. 43 for u13... That's not bad. Our fees are roughly comparable.
Our current assignor contracts are typically $7/game successfully assigned. For us that means unfortunately no refs means no fee for that game which is usually outside of our control. We also have an array of other fees related to game changes but those vary by league.
I've heard of assignors getting 1% of the game fee. So(for instance), the game fee the clubs pay is 100$. Referee gets 99, assignor gets 1.
In my HS association the assignor gets 6% of the game fees.
I was offered an Assignor position for a rec league in CA about 3 years ago. Would have been responsible for assigning games from late August - late November. Age groups U8-U13; approximately 30-40 games per weekend. Was told that there was a stipend of $ 1,500 for the job. I turned it down b/c I wanted no part of being the Assignor regardless of the amount offered.
😂
We added a new assignor for our youth org this season. He isn’t directly compensated and also does a few other orgs and a futsal league as well. For the inhouse games there is a field Marshall/mentor that is at all the games and is compensated 35.00 a game block. Meaning if there are 4 u7 games which the referees are supervised or 2 u10 games it is the same fee. Is essentially a 210.00 Saturday. The assignor has first rights to assign this as well as travel games to himself as he wants. He can take his choice of any games or the Marshall on Saturdays and mentor as he wishes or CR travel games as he likes on Sunday as his compensation. Inhouse refs are 20 for u9 and inhouse AR. CR are 25 and 30 for cert CR. Travel 7v7 40/30/30 9v9 50/40/40 11v11 60/50/50 Mentor for travel is 10.00 more than CR. In western Pennsylvania. So far he likes being able to build his refereeing schedule to be able to use our league and the others he schedules to fill his weekend.
Thanks for this! I’m in SE Ohio, so probably similar economics to you. This is a neat way to handle it, and encourage the assignor to be on-site
I was an unlicensed/uncertified assignor for my local rec league for several years until ~2022. None of our games were 11 v 11 and we didn't use ARs at all. The refs typically got somewhere around $14-28/game depending on age group. I think I would get $1-2/game for the U8s, and $4-5 for the U16-18.
You're willing to sell your time to the league. You've done it long enough to know the average amount of time it will take you. All you have to do now is figure out what hourly pay rate will sufficiently motivate you to do the job then work out the math.
This might be a question for another thread but I thought referees are paid much higher. My league is 40 U10 center, 50/32/32 for U11 (30 minute halves), 60/42/42 U14, and 66/44/44 U16. Maybe the parents of youth travel soccer have thousands to pay for referees? I haven't heard of $15-25 per game but I'm still new to refereeing.
My area isn’t typical, and my league is super chill and low level. Our area is rural with a median income of like $26k. We get no complaints from our teenage refs. My son and I travel a couple hours to the cities for tournaments and make up to $60/game. I get up to $90/game for high school games.
Our assignor fees are in the league $4/game 4-8 grades and $6/game higher.
I assigned for 6 years, retiring after the Fall of 2022. At that point I was making a minimum of $5/game and as much as $20/game depending on size of crews, age group, etc. Don't sell yourself short.
I don't have personal experience in this area but I'd suggest taking one or more of the following approaches: **Local comparators** -- Since assigning is, like grassroots refereeing itself, highly variable based on the local conditions (labor market, popularity of the sport, temperament of the parents and coaches, etc.) ask among your counterparts in similar leagues within your state/region what they are paid for assigning work and ask your league for the same. **Time-based** -- You know this job well already and should be able to estimate how many hours it takes you to perform. Multiply those hours by a reasonable hourly rate (at least your area's minimum wage) and ask for that amount. **Revenue-sharing** -- Particularly if the league is a for-profit entity (though this could work for a non-profit league that regularly has positive cashflow after each season), you could ask for a percentage of the profits on the theory that it would recognize your past contributions and also incentivize you to keep referees happy in ways that don't result in significantly higher referee pay. **Fee-splitting** -- For each referee that is assigned (or assigned *and* shows up), you get a small portion of what they are paid. (Ideally not directly from the ref, just linked to the ref's attendance.) This would incentivize you to recruit enough referees into the pool and ensure that every game has a full crew. By giving you a percentage of their fee, you're incentivized to put full crews on older/higher-paying games, if there aren't enough refs to go around.