The Ohio High School Athletic Association

How Your OHSAA Officiating Dues Work For You!

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How Your OHSAA Officiating Dues Work For You!

Every year, about the time the annual officials’ renewals go out we receive calls and letters questioning how those dues are spent. The OHSAA staff is sensitive to dues sent by officials and expends great effort to provide the biggest “bang” for the buck.

In 1990 there were approximately 10,000 officials who contributed $270,000 in dues. The OHSAA income for that year was approximately $2.7 million. Contrast that to the OHSAA present annual income of $11.5 million and an annual contribution in officials dues of just more than $800,000 and you’ll see that the officials’ share of the annual operating budget decreased from 10% to 7%. Because there has been a near 50% growth in the number of officials, the OHSAA has been able to keep the officials dues well below the annual cost of living increases. In addition, the OHSAA has been able to expand its officiating program – especially in the area of education – while reducing the percentage of income generated by officials’ dues.  

So how is the income generated by officials dues spent? The largest portion of the dues money is spent on delivering educational and training materials for officials. As you can see in the accompanying graph, 39% of dues go to meet that expense. Every official is enrolled in the National Federation Officials Association. Benefits of NFOA membership include the Officials Quarterly, awards and recognition programs and, most importantly, an insurance program. The NFOA insurance program provides $1 million of liability insurance. It should be noted that a similar policy purchased by individual officials would cost each official over $100. It also offers death and dismemberment protection. Additionally, officials are provided with a maximum of $50,000 of excess medical insurance. As an added measure of protection for officials, the OHSAA purchases fee loss and cardiac death insurance for each official. Every year numerous claims are paid on fee loss alone.

Approximately 12% of officials’ dues are used to fund the six District Officials Committees. Nearly $87,000 is expended to finance the mission of the six DOCs to oversee local officials associations and conduct business in support of all officials.

Education of local association officers and instructors is funded, in part, through official’s dues. Every local association is enrolled in the NASO-ON Association education program.  There is administrative and support costs to serve such a diverse program for OHSAA officials. The OHSAA charges back approximately $80,000 in support and administrative fees.  

Officials are important! The OHSAA is committed to excellence in support and service to Ohio officials.  

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