Join Us

So you’re interested in joining us, but aren’t sure what you might be getting yourself into. Here is a quick overview of whats involved and hopefully answer some commonly asked questions. We are always looking for new officials (men and women) so if you think you might be interested, contact us now!!

What To Expect

As a new official, you will start out as a “JV Official” for the first 3 years. This means you will attend more training meetings and be assigned only to officiate Youth, Modified, JV games, and possibly Game Clock Operator (Timer) for some Varsity games. You will be working beside seasoned Varsity officials on these non-Varsity games to help facilitate your on-field training. After 3 years, if you pass the annual certification test, you will be promoted to a “Varsity Official”, at which time you can begin working Varsity level games.

There are Rule books you will receive and will study with our Training Committee to understand the rules and mechanics.  Having played football in the past is great, but definitely not a requirement at all.  You will be sufficiently guided and trained on everything you need to know!

Meetings

Meetings typically begin in mid-July for JV officials, on Monday or Tuesday nights. You will have about a meeting every two weeks and we meet in the Phelps, NY area.

Equipment

Initial costs for equipment will vary, but here’s what to expect.  But don’t worry, you make money while officiating and your upfront costs are usually covered by a couple games worth of work.

  • Short Sleeve Shirt – $35
  • Long Sleeve Shirt – $40
  • Pants – $55
  • Hat – $20
  • Flags – $8
  • Bean Bags – $8
  • Whistle, Clips, misc – $15

Chapter Costs

New members have to have Background check and fingerprinting fees, but the fees are covered by chapter. Yearly dues are $100, and at the end of the season you pay an assessment for each games you work ($1/gm).

Again, there is money to be made though, you can see roughly what our Fees are for each type of game worked here.

Time Commitment

As mentioned above, meetings begin in mid-July for JV officials, and occur about every two weeks until early August. Meetings are approximately an hour long.  We also have scrimmages before the season starts to get ourselves acclimated.

Travel time to games will depend on where you live, where the game site is, and who you have to meet up with to car pool. Our chapter covers mostly the geographic area from East Rochester to Waterloo, and Wayne to Penn Yan.  The assigner will work with you on your schedule and availability and do their best to balance your work schedule and preferences with others to minimize the amount of travel times.

Youth Games are on Sundays from 10:00a – 2:00p. You typically work two games and the facility will provide you with food and drink between games.

JV Games are mostly on Saturday mornings at 10:00a, but can also occur any day of the week usually at 4:30p. Modified games are during the week. Games last typically 2 – 2.5 hours. You’ll need to arrive to JV & Modified games about 30 minutes prior to kick-off.

Varsity Games are mostly on Friday nights at 7:00p and sometimes Saturdays during the day, and you typically arrive at the games 1.5 – 2 hours prior to the game start. This is to provide ample time for the “pre-game” which allows the crew to get their mindset into the football game. The entire game is walked through from start to finish, responsibilities are outlined, the teams records, histories, and tendencies are reviewed, and any other possible scenarios are discussed. This is where we get into football mode. We get out on the field 30 minutes prior to kick off to warm up and meet the coaches.

Conclusion

Officiating is a lot of fun; you are close to the action and there is no better seat in the house, and you get paid to do it.  We take great pride in what we do, trying to have an enjoyable and fair game for everyone, and we’d love to have you join us.  Again, click the Contact Us link above and someone will reach out to you!