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Lacrosse officials balk at working Trinity match

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The Trinity High School boys lacrosse team was ready and willing to play section rival Chartiers Valley last night at Hiller Field. It was supposed to be Trinity’s home opener.

The Colts were ready and willing to play, too.

The only problem was the officials assigned to work the match weren’t willing to work.

Not at their current pay rate, it seems.

So the match was postponed and rescheduled for April 29.

Trinity athletic director Ricci Rich received an email Tuesday morning informing him that each of the three officials who were to work the game had declined the assignment.

“At first, I didn’t get a reason why they turned down the game,” Rich said, “then I found out they were saying there was not enough pay and too much travel for the rate.”

Lacrosse officials are paid $80 per game, a rate recommended by WPIAL athletic directors. The rate is part of a five-year agreement that is in its final year. It calls for a $2 pay increase each year. The rate will go up to $84 when a new five-year pay scale begins next season.

Rich said this is not a situation unique to Trinity. He said South Fayette has had to cancel games, also because of a lack of officials, though most games throughout the WPIAL are being played.

Rich said he wanted to get word out that the game was canceled and why. So Tuesday morning he took to social media and posted on Trinity’s athletics Twitter account that the game against Chartiers Valley was not being played “due to the officials refusing to work games at the agreed rate. We are hopeful that they will fulfill Thursday’s game.”

The Hillers are scheduled to host Moon Thursday night.

Trinity’s post prompted two replies from a Twitter account called “Allegheny Lacrosse Official’s Association.” The replies said:

“Actually, there was no “agreed pay rate.” Our officials were told the rate they would receive, and were told take it or leave it. We had no say in the matter at any point. There’s enough misinformation out there, and we want to make sure the facts are presented.

“Again, the Pay Structure being used was never agreed to by our officials. It was told to us, rather than being proposed and agreed upon. Additionally, it was made prior to a global pandemic leading to economic shifts and inflation. Times change, and we must change with them.”

Rich said the rate was determined when the WPIAL athletic directors association met with local officials assignors and took into consideration past rates and other factors.

“Lacrosse is one of the higher-paid sports,” Rich said. “There is an officials pay structure for every sport and every school. There is a high end and a low end. You can’t pay less and you can’t pay more. The rates vary by sport. We’re paying what everybody else is in lacrosse.”

Rich added that he’s disappointed that games are being postponed because of a pay dispute.

“Two years ago, we didn’t even have spring sports seasons because of Covid,” Rich said. “This is the first time in 17 years that I’ve seen kids punished because the officials believe they’re not being paid enough.”

Rich said the parents of Trinity’s players “weren’t happy at all,” about the postponement. Some boosters even offered to pay the officials an additional fee.

“We can’t do that,” Rich said. “Once you do that, then the other sports will want more money.”

Trinity has a girls lacrosse match tonight at home against Knoch. As of Tuesday night, that match was still on as scheduled.

PIAA officials are considered independent contractors, which means they can accept or decline any game offered to them. Most high school sports have local chapters of officials, which use an assignor who matches officials to games.

In 2015, the WPIAL and City League lacrosse officials attempted to unionize, claiming to be employees of the PIAA. Following several years of litigation, a court of appeals ruled against them, saying high school officials are independent contractors, not employees.

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