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Tournament fees - youth

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Kent Ref

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I was approached to do a youth tournament a few weeks ago which was 9.30 - 5pm allegedly (morning and afternoon sessions).

The fee offered paid £40 a day and 1 free drink / food item per session. I normally get £35 plus petrol for 1 game.

The tournament went off with no real problems apart from a 7pm finish. There was two "spare" refs over 12 pitches so we cost £560. I reffed for about 95% of the day with a 20 minute break at 1pm.

There were hundreds of parents in attendance so a lot of money was taken (entrance fee, parking and spending). I was told the PROFIT was around £12,000.

I then thought if i was on minimum wage that would be £75 a day.

What is a fair rate for a day's reffing?
 
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Kent Ref said:
I was approached to do a youth tournament a few weeks ago which was 9.30 - 5pm allegedly (morning and afternoon sessions).

The fee offered paid £40 a day and 1 free drink / food item per session. I normally get £35 plus petrol for 1 game.

The tournament went off with no real problems apart from a 7pm finish. There was two "spare" refs over 12 pitches so we cost £560. I reffed for about 95% of the day with a 20 minute break at 1pm.

There were hundreds of parents in attendance so a lot of money was taken (entrance fee, parking and spending). I was told the PROFIT was around £12,000.

I then thought if i was on minimum wage that would be £75 a day.

What is a fair rate for a day's reffing?
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Fair pay depends on a lot of things including the level and format of games, skill and experience of the referee etc. Based on info you have given your pay wasn't fair. However as long as there are referee who accept to do the games for lesser fees, some competition organisers will exploit it.
 
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The key here is you were approached and you accepted the fee. Its not like you were appointed and then later found out the fee was not what you expected.
You are on a self employed basis so minimum wage is not a consideration that the organisers need to account for.
The normal fees are way above minimum wage so there's not too much to complain about really.
 
On a normal Saturday / Sunday how many referees would do it for free? I think very few on here to be honest. Maybe i am wrong.

Also, i was told there would be 18 refs but there were only 14. Maybe divide the money allocated amongst the referees who turned up? That would be an extra £12 each.

On the day the referees who showed all said they were not happy there were only 2 spare refs. When we asked who "no showed" no names were forthcoming.

My point was there was a massive profit made so why not pay referees a fairer amount? I did a tournament 10 years ago locally and we got £70 a day (kids).

Have tournament fees really gone down over the years?

Next time i volunteer i will seek some assurances first.
 
I'd like to know how we judge what a 9.5 hour day of reffing is worth. How do you come to a conclusion on what is right? If the "normal rate" is around £14 an hour maybe half is fair?

It's all down to opinion.
 
Kent Ref said:
I'd like to know how we judge what a 9.5 hour day of reffing is worth. How do you come to a conclusion on what is right? If the "normal rate" is around £14 an hour maybe half is fair?

It's all down to opinion.
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As with any service, it's worth what people are willing to pay and be paid. In this case there were 14-18 (if you count the no shows) that were willing to officiate for that fee.
If none of those refs agreed to it they would have been forced to increase their fees or cancel the event.
No one will ever go oh we made x amount of money so shall we give more to the refs if the expectation was always that they would ref for the fee.
Similarly, if the fee had been £100 and you felt you only did £80 worth of reffing, you wouldnt have given 20 back to the organiser would you?
 
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Thank you for your reply.

Referees cannot collectively bargain as we are now approached individually.

Years ago (about 12) i used to have a list of referees and we regularly did tournaments and i would be approached (by an organiser) and then a negotiation would happen. Fees were agreed and those involved were happy.

I moved to a different part of the country and then i no longer had those contacts.

Just for clarity what do you think you are worth an hour as a minimum?
 
For me it's less about payments at tournaments, more the hassle of often getting lumbered with far more that you expected. In my experience they often have the bare minimum of referees so I've ended refereeing almost non stop all day and going well beyond the expected finish time.
 
Usually my tournaments are £60-70 per day, and there's nothing wrong with doing it just for the money. You accepted the rate, I personally wouldn't have agreed to a full day tournament for £35, not worth the hassle or time however if the profit was £12,000 then it's got me considering organising three or four tournaments a year and I won't need to work!
 
At youth level especially, tournaments are often about fundraising - money raised pays for pitches, kits, referee fees during the season and the miscellaneous stuff.

Not all players have to pay subs each week. One local club raised enough each year to ensure that none of their players from U7s to U16s had to pay a penny towards anything. In that sense, the £40 we got was fair, as they're encouraging and enabling kids to play.
 
Kent Ref said:
On a normal Saturday / Sunday how many referees would do it for free? I think very few on here to be honest. Maybe i am wrong.
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I would if they covered the mileage. :p

I've done tournaments for free. I've officiated in Disability Tournaments (I'm disabled myself, so I regularly get asked on that basis), and I take a nominal (or no) fee there, as it's usually for charity and fundraising. And god knows, we need funding in those areas, but I won't get into the whys as it's fairly political in nature.


For Tournaments without published fees I'd look at the amount of hours and amount of games they expect me to officiate. I'd use the league match fee as a guideline, so if one match (or 1.5hours) is say £20, then I'd be looking for something in that area, give or take, depending entirely on the Tournament in question of course. But it is your time of course, and so it is up to you what you feel is the right price for your time and efforts. :)
 
Jesus guys he asked a question, he didn’t say he was hard done by, didn’t moan just was asking what people thought.

Personally I was offered a tournament Saturday 6 aside 10am-4pm for £70 plus food & drink I couldn’t make it but saw that as more than fair.

It’s all down to you & how you value your time also the background to the tournament etc I.e charity based etc & weather that changes your outlook on things.

I get £40 for a standard league game but I woudnt calculate a tournament on that figure, so much to take into account.

I’d say if your comfortable with the fee offered then it’s enough weather that be £20 for a cancer charity event or £100 for a non charity event where the organiser is looking to make money, if your happy then it’s enough.
 
For me the payment depends about matches, not hours, officiated. For example I've done a few player development tournaments this year, where I get paid around 20€/match (2x20min matches) + travel expenses + food and drinks.
 
If those tournament organisers had any idea about fairness then they would have become referees not tournament organisers ;).
 
If you’re doing it for pocket money it’s an easy little earner. If you’re doing it for anything more than that then it’s maybe not ideal but who said refereeing was a money making operation, it’s not! Two choices, like it or lump it!
 
One persons acceptable fee is another humiliating offer
You need to weigh up whether you think what you were offered is right for you
All day for 40 quid is like 5 per hour for 8 hours?
Some newer refs or refs with association to the cause might be ok with that, whereas someone who normally does 2 adult games on a Sunday for 80 quid might not be impressed. That said, there be no travelling between parks etc
Its whatever floats your boat.
 
Men in Black said:
Jesus guys he asked a question, he didn’t say he was hard done by, didn’t moan just was asking what people thought.

Personally I was offered a tournament Saturday 6 aside 10am-4pm for £70 plus food & drink I couldn’t make it but saw that as more than fair.

It’s all down to you & how you value your time also the background to the tournament etc I.e charity based etc & weather that changes your outlook on things.

I get £40 for a standard league game but I woudnt calculate a tournament on that figure, so much to take into account.

I’d say if your comfortable with the fee offered then it’s enough weather that be £20 for a cancer charity event or £100 for a non charity event where the organiser is looking to make money, if your happy then it’s enough.
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Wrong.

He came on here moaning that he wasn’t paid enough or what he felt was enough for doing a tournament.

1. You shouldn’t be refereeing any game for the money. If you are, do everyone a favour and either get motivated to do it for the right reasons or stick your kit on EBay

2. No one is forced to do tournaments....don’t like the fee, don’t do it. Simples.
 
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