In our tennis officiating world there are numerous levels of officiating; i.e. professional, ITA, and local grassroots tennis. I believe all areas are equally important and vital to the development of tennis and tennis players who know how to behave.
Seems that we frequently have officials who seem to think there is some ladder that they need to climb in order to be noticed and have success. Honestly, I think the officials who work at the grassroots level are the ones who deserve the most recognition because they put up with the most.
I frequently encounter officials who want to "move up" to the professional level and it is usually for these two reasons:
1. So they can make a living doing tennis officiating.
2. So they can be recognized at the higher levels and meet pro tennis players.
Since I think #2 is a joke, let me address #1...
Here are the current pay scales at professional levels other than the US OPEN:
Linesmen/women $90/day
White Badges $100/day
Bronze Badges $110/day
Gold/Silver Badgres $120/day
Referee pay for ITA dual match (usually 3-4 hours): $130/match
Umpire pay for the same: $115/match
Big 12 Pay: Averages about $300/match
Grassroots pay:
Referee $17.50/hour with 8 hour minimum in DFW area.
Umpires $15/hour with 6 hour minimum in DFW area.
Now--you do the match and see whether you can make more money staying home and working or chasing some elusive dream all over the country...
5 comments:
RM:
You guys are lucky, here it is $10-12 hr for Tournaments or a set fee of $125 a day.
ITA Matches: $100 a match
SEC Matches believe are $130
UA Duals: $75 + mileage if > 30 miles.
Not complaining, but you are correct you will not be rich or barely above poverty as an official.
Most of those professional groupies go off with stars in their eyes and after a while, come home flat broke. That is unless they know who to sleep with.
Their MO is that they find a good looking young guy or girl and promise them the moon. Then they sweep them off their feet with all kinds of sweet deals and when they're done with them they send them back home sadly disillusioned. Check out how often this has happened in Texas.
Do these names ring a bell with anyone?
Andrew
Luke
Carrie
Susan
Here's a thought....bring down the college's/universities' cost of ITA officials by having professional level umpires and referees staff the duals and tournaments. Surely those "pros" could fit the ITA matches into their gap filled schedules and that would save the schools a bunch of cash. It could also subsidize the living expenses of the professional officials. BRILLIANT IDEA, except for a couple of things. No code violations would ever be called, no foot fault would be called until a crucial point in the match and chaos would reign in the collegiate ranks.
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