PAHL and PIHO Officiating

[ConcernedDadd]

Okay, so anyone involved with local hockey knows that PIHO has been trying to take over and monopolize the officiating in this area. The interesting thing is that even though PIHO has taken over scheduling for Allegheny, NP, and Vipers, the officials skating games are the same guys who would have skated if things have remained the same.

Why would an organization decide to pay PIHO for the same officials? PAHL and other organizations need to realize that PIHO is not the only option, and that PIHO will not be importing more qualified officials in some miraculous manner. And, most guys who are part of PIHO do so because they want to skate games. The arrogance shown toward the "independent contractors" is concerning, but because guys want to skate, many won't say a word.

Presidents of PAHL (and PIHL) organizations need to look around--there are schedulers out there who charge less and use the same officials--actually, guys who are more qualified because of the way business is done. Pseudo evaluations and the "good-old-boys" connection to PIHL should not be ignored.

 

Ask around--there are schedulers who will do the same or better with the the same (or more qualified) officials.

[Jack Handey]

Well what was your association's reason for doing so?

[dazedandconfused]

If you are looking for an underlying cause for the cost of local hockey rising faster than it should, PIHO is a good place to start. This is especially true in the PIHL where they are the only provider of services. Their "surcharges" per game are out of control. They also will send anyone with a pulse to JV and MS games. The aforementioned "evaluations" provide zero credibility because the refs themselves ask for an evaluation and then it scheduled so that they know when it is. A "true" evaluation would occur if the officials have no idea that they are being watched and critiqued.

[Ref33]

On 2/10/2020 at 4:05 PM, dazedandconfused said:

Their "surcharges" per game are out of control.

What are the "surcharges?"

[dazedandconfused]

Take a 2 man system for the example since it is by far the most common. Ref 1 and Ref 2 each get paid X for their time and effort. The customer, in this case let's use PIHL since they cover all of those games, and in turn the player families are charged Y for Ref 1 and Ref 2. You can rest assured that Y = X + $15-$30 (per game/per ref). So for each game that they schedule referees to show up, they are taking $30-$60 for themselves.

That, Ref33, is a surcharge.

[Ref33]

20 hours ago, dazedandconfused said:

Take a 2 man system for the example since it is by far the most common. Ref 1 and Ref 2 each get paid X for their time and effort. The customer, in this case let's use PIHL since they cover all of those games, and in turn the player families are charged Y for Ref 1 and Ref 2. You can rest assured that Y = X + $15-$30 (per game/per ref). So for each game that they schedule referees to show up, they are taking $30-$60 for themselves.

That, Ref33, is a surcharge.

Sorry, but is the league (PIHL) or the referee association (PIHO) taking the surcharge? If it's the PIHO taking the surcharge as the assignor then that would be normal. Though $15/per official is above the norm for high school that I'm aware of. Maybe $15 per game. Assignors fees are normal. It's a hell of a job.

If the league is taking the surcharge then I don't know why that is.