Potential referee boycott puts CIF-Southern Section high school soccer season in jeopardy

The high school soccer season, scheduled to begin next month, is in jeopardy of being interrupted by a refereeing work stoppage.

Soccer officials have been unhappy with their pay since the CIF-Southern Section approved a new fee structure in January 2022.

Local coaches are concerned about the coming season.

“I’m a bit worried,” Rio Mesa boys soccer coach Brandon Fuchs said. “I would hate to drive up to (Santa Barbara) or host a team from a far distance to have nobody show up, and we are stuck for hours.”

While the new hourly based system handed significant raises to football ($51), baseball ($21), basketball ($15) and softball ($10) officials over a three-year period, soccer referees — who entered the cycle as the highest-earning officials — essentially did not receive a pay bump.

The hourly rate of $35.56 over an estimated 2.25 hours of work added up to a raise of a single cent from the previous $80 flat fee. Assistant referees actually took a half-cent cut from their previous $68 fee.

The latest fee structure has already resulted in one refereeing organization refusing to work. After initially only being granted a $2 bump, the Southern California Lacrosse Officials Association stopped working in spring 2022, returning to work with a 26% raise.

The Southern California Soccer Officials Association has 12 units. Unit I, the Ventura unit that serves schools from Goleta to Calabasas with about 100 referees, nearly boycotted last season.

“We made a stink of it at the beginning of the year,” said Mike Harrison, who serves as secretary of Unit I. “Our unit was going to boycott, but after talking to other units, we figured we’d do that collectively.

“We don’t want to boycott, but that’s kind of our last thing that we can do as a group. … We want to come to the table and negotiate something different than what they’ve put in place.”

The issue, according to Harrison, is that, after leaving SCSOA out of the process of creating the new fee structure, CIF-SS did not respond to its offseason invitation to the bargaining table.

“They’re not talking to us,” Harrison said.

CIF-SS assistant commissioner Thom Simmons said in July that he was aware that “some soccer officials have expressed their displeasure with the current fee structure.”

“We have been in dialogue with the (SCSOA) leadership to review the current situation and discuss the process that will be in place, beginning in May 2024, to begin formulating the next official's fees agreement,” Simmons said. “That will be the appropriate forum to address the concerns that have been expressed.”

CIF-SS soccer referees go direct to schools

As a result, the referees went directly to local schools last month.

Nico Esquivel, the president of the local referee unit, emailed local athletic directors in September outlining the fees they will charge starting this winter.

“Since November 2022, we have submitted multiple communications and two distinct fee-structure proposals (to CIF-SS),” Esquivel said. “However, our efforts have been met with silence.”

In the schedule provided, referees would charge $105 per game this coming season, rising to $130 in 2025-26, while assistant referees would make $85 this season, rising to $100.

“As independent contractors, we have the right to determine our rate for services,” Esquivel wrote. “As the service receiver, you have the right to secure your own officials if you do not approve of the rate for service.”

Referee units from Long Beach, San Fernando, South Bay, Foothill/Citrus and San Gabriel sent similar letters to their member schools.

Southern Section Commissioner Mike West responded to the letter in a memorandum to section schools, writing that the section plans to revisit referee pay after the 2025-26 season.

“Member schools are also not allowed to deviate from established officials’ fee structure,” West wrote. “It would be a violation of CIF Southern Section bylaws to pay an official more or less than what is currently defined.”

In the event of a work stoppage, West wrote to schools, schools could have one assistant coach from each school referee the match.

“The result will count,” West wrote, citing a Southern Section bylaw.

In a letter responding to the CIF-SS memo, Esquivel argued that using assistant coaches as referees would violate another CIF-SS rule that states that officials “not in good standing” with the referee association “are not eligible to officiate CIF Southern Section contests.”

Soccer without officials?

Moorpark High athletic director Rob Dearborn and Camarillo High Principal Matt La Belle are on the CIF-SS Officials Committee.

“Right now, we’re without officials,” La Belle said. “We have to get creative and find a way to support kids.”

La Belle said the referees’ ire is misplaced.

“The local soccer group is upset with their group that represented them to CIF,” La Belle said. “Every sport had an opportunity to engage during the last cycle. The negotiations open up every three years. We don’t have a chance to change that at the local level.”

Channel League athletic directors discussed the implications of the potential boycott on Tuesday.

“We anticipate officials boycotting and schools will be responsible for finding qualified officials on their own,” Buena athletic director Derek Rusk said.

Joe Curley covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Southern California soccer refs could boycott over wage dispute