Game Fees 

New members/Current members:

For new members, it is important that you submit to the assignor your complete name (as it will appear on the check), your address, your phone number, and your social security number. We need your social security number because we are required to report to the Internal Revenue Service your gross fees received of $600 or more from any league or from leagues and tournaments billed by SDCSRA. Use the link below to update your information.

For current members, if you have recently moved or changed your phone number, it is important that you send the changes to your assignment secretary. Use the link below to update your information.

The basics:

The assignors submit their assignment sheets to our data-processing company on a monthly basis. From these sheets, the data-processing company inputs the referees? ID numbers, whether the game is paid by check or cash on the field, the game length, the division/age of the game, the field, and the league charged. This information is used to generate your check or earnings statement and the invoice that is sent to the leagues.

Checks are generally ready for distribution at the monthly general meeting, which is the fourth Monday of the month. However, the January and February general meetings are on the second Monday and often the checks are not ready at that time. Also, there is no monthly meeting in December. In the case of the checks not being ready for the meeting, or if a member is unable to attend the meeting, the checks are mailed by the treasurer as soon as possible after the meeting.

How fees are calculated:

The Association bills the youth leagues and tournaments at a rate of $1/minute. From the total game fee, approximately 40% is paid to the referee; the remaining 60% is split between the two assistant referees.

When there is less than a full three-referee crew, the fees are adjusted as follows: for a two-referee crew (center/AR), the game fee is approximately 85% of the full game fees, split approximately 62% to the center referee and the balance to the assistant referee; for a single-referee, the game fee is approximately 70% of the full game fee.

Certain non-youth and unaffiliated leagues and tournaments are billed using other agreed-upon amounts.

Dues deduction (not for Pay on the Field):

The dues deducted from the referee fees are either 5% or 10% depending on the league. The dues collected from the referee fees are used to fund the operations of the Association, such as data processing, postage, printing, meeting room rental, telephone, office supplies.

If the dues deduction is 5%, the league was charged an assignment fee. The assignment fee is paid to the assignor of the game. If the dues deduction is 10%, the league was not charged an assignment fee. Instead, half of the 10% goes to the Association as dues, the other half is paid as the assignment fee.

Paid by check vs. Paid on field:

Most game fees are paid directly to the referees on the field. Before the start of the game the home team will be responsible for payment to referees. For youth games, referees will only accept cash payment. For SDCSL adult men's games, referees will accept cash or club checks only. In all cases, no personal checks will be accepted. Payment will take place before the game. No payment, no game. The SDCSRA bills and collects from each league an assignment fee and dues for each assigned game. There is no deduction from the game fee nor any other payments required of the referee for the cash payment on the field. When a referee receives cash payment on the field, a monthly earnings statement is generated for the referee. The earnings statement lists the date of the game, division/age of the game, the referee's position (center, line, dual, standby), the quantity, and year-to-date gross pay. The earnings statement is available from the Association's Treasurer, electronically, upon request.

Certain leagues still pay their game fees to the Association. The Association then distributes the fees, by check, to our member referees. Along with the monthly check is a summary of the games officiated during the month. The check stub lists the date of the game, division/age of the game, the referee's position (center, line, dual, standby), and the quantity. The gross fees are reduced by the dues (5% or 10%) to get to the net check.

“I wasn’t paid for a game”:

For games paid by check, you notice on your check stub that you were not paid for a game, please contact your assignor immediately. To help expedite the process of getting you the missing game fees, please have the following information: date of game, age/division of the game, field, and your position (center, line, dual) and the names of the other referees.

Please note: As is discussed in the Assignments section, if you do anything other than what you were originally assigned, you must notify the assignor immediately. Include, game time, level, location and the names of the other referees and what they did. This will ensure that the assignment sheets are corrected to reflect what actually happened and that everyone is paid accordingly.

Form 1099-MISC:

As noted above, if you receive gross fees of $600 or more from any league we assign or from leagues and tournaments billed by SDCSRA, we are required to report that information to the Internal Revenue Service on Form 1099-MISC. You will recieve a 1099-MISC for each league you did games and for leagues and tournaments billed by SDCSRA. The 1099-MISC is generated during January and is usually mailed to the address on our referee master list. If you do not receive your 1099 by January 31st, please contact Kelly Mock at 760-632-7727 in the evening or at treasurer@sdcsra.org. But, before you do that, please check your December (or last month received) check stub to see if your gross year-to-date fees were $600 or more from any league or from leagues and tournaments billed by SDCSRA.

Also, please remember that the amount reported on the IRS Form 1099-MISC is your gross fees received. It does not reflect the dues that were deducted from your check. Please remember to keep the check stub from the last check or earnings statement you received during the year to see how much in dues you paid. Again, if you need this amount, please contact Kelly Mock.

Other questions:

If you have any other questions regarding how you are paid, please do not hesitate to contact Kelly Mock at 760-632-7727 in the evening or via email at treasurer@sdcsra.org.