Local soccer officials have voted to boycott the 2023-24 high school soccer season, two weeks before CIF-Southern Section matches are scheduled to kick off.
The vote of Unit I of the Southern California Soccer Officials Association, which serves schools from Goleta to Calabasas, in Oxnard on Wednesday night was unanimous.
Officials have been vocal about their unhappiness with their pay since the CIF-SS approved a new fee structure in January 2022 and have threatened a work stoppage for more than a year.
“We’re simply following our plan we stated on Day 1,” said Michael Harrison, who serves as secretary of Unit I. “On November 8, 2022, we said we would pursue all options … until there were no other options. We believe we’ve reached that point.”
More than 100 referees packed into a room in Oxnard to discuss the situation.
“The entire meeting was about this topic, laying it out where we’ve been and how we got here,” Harrison said.
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.
Unable to engage CIF-SS in discussions, referees went directly to local schools in September, serving notice that they 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,” unit president Nico Esquivel wrote to schools. “As the service receiver, you have the right to secure your own officials if you do not approve of the rate for service.”
But CIF-SS has told schools that they are not allowed to stray from their fee structure.
“We’re being told you can’t pay more,” Camarillo principal Matt La Belle said.
Referees and administrators are split on whether the both parties were involved in the development of the hourly-rate system that CIF-SS announced last year.
“We are being accused of reneging on a contract that does not exist,” Harrison said. “Schools are telling parents that. Parents are saying that we’re the problem based on what the schools have told them, none of which is true.”
Northern Area athletic directors plan to meet virtually Wednesday morning to discuss their options.
“It’s terrible,” said Oak Park girls soccer coach Kathryn Klamecki. “These seniors had a COVID season their freshman year. I hope CIF or the refs budge. It’s just hurting the kids.”
The Star asked Moorpark High athletic director Rob Dearborn and Camarillo High Principal Matt La Belle, who are on the CIF-SS Officials Committee, for comment. CIF-SS assistant commissioner Thom Simmons responded Tuesday afternoon.
“Our position has not changed since the CIF-SS Council voted by nearly 80% to pass the current fee structure,” Simmons said. “Additionally, as we have painfully stated to the soccer officials taking this action, there is nothing in our governance structure that allows this office to provide the individuals making the decision to boycott games a pay raise.
“The new process begins in August to revisit the next three-year cycle and these officials will have the ability to request a new pay increase during that process.”
The CIF-SS soccer season is scheduled to begin Nov. 13.
Joe Curley covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at [email protected]. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
