Just out of curiosity, when you say that ref fees should be “greatly reduced,” what amount do you have in mind? I’ve played and reffed in the league for a long time (not reffing this session because of time commitments), and I would disagree.
First of all, you’re right about stats. It’s been a point of contention for years, but the league ownership has shot it down any time it’s been suggested. Refs should be out there first and foremost to officiate the game and do what they can to help games run as smooth and safe as possible. I can tell you that a lot of refs would love nothing more than to throw the clipboard away and make sure they’re in position for the next play.
When I started reffing, ref fees were $15 per game. I didn’t have an issue with the fees being there at all, but I can tell you it was hard to attract new refs and we typically had the same crew for several years. The league only started getting more new refs (IMO) when the fees were raised to $20, which I think is more than reasonable. Lowering fees would mean a lot of your most experienced officials would probably walk away, then the league would be in more trouble.
The other aspect is that when you factor in the BS refs have to put up with in terms of teams going out there without even reading the rule book, players out there picking fights with other players, and players yelling, screaming, and swearing at refs, I don’t believe you’ll get any interest in officiating from anyone if you reduce ref fees. I also understand people have had issues with quality of officiating, but the field manager has done a good job in making sure some of the not so good ones weren’t asked back.
Regarding your other question, I think enrollment is down because it gets harder for some teams to make sure they can get enough people there every Sunday, and, after speaking with guys on teams who haven’t returned, they’re not very pleased with league ownership. Rules are selectively enforced, there’s zero communication outside of a last second Facebook post or website entry when games have to be cancelled, league fees keep going up while equipment doesn’t seem to improve, there’s zero marketing for the league, and there’s a general sense of apathy whenever a concern or issue is raised. One in particular is that when there’s a competitive imbalance where teams have obnoxious point spreads and sandbag divisions. In short, there’s really not a lot of administration going on and feels like there’s zero interest in changing that.
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