Becoming an Official

There are many benefits to becoming an official for interscholastic athletics and youth sports. You are making a difference in the lives of students and the youth in our community, encouraging exercise through competition, and establishing lifelong fundamentals of fairness. The job is not for the faint of heart. It challenges you athletically, requires cool and decisive thinking, and means “sticking to your guns,” but the rewards are great.

How to Become an Official with PVOA

Every official must be a registered member of PVOA at the current rate of $30/year. We have a special student membership rate of $15/year for members in middle/high school. The fee will be deducted from your first check. You can join PVOA by completing our online application.

You may subscribe to our website as a PVOA web member. This is a free service and is open to anyone. However, to be an official, you must be a registered member and pay the appropriate annual membership fee.

Getting Paid

Every official is required to maintain a complete pay sheet. We cannot emphasize the importance of maintaining an accurate pay sheet enough. This includes the date of games, time, place, partner’s name (if any), and comments. If you work with a partner, please know your partner’s name and write it down correctly. If you are not working with the partner originally on your schedule, please make sure to get the correct partner’s name.

Pay sheets will be accepted, and payment will commence if the information is accurate and legible. If you work with a partner and his/her pay sheet disagrees with yours, there will be accounting problems. PVOA strives to pay each official within two weeks after receipt of payment by the league(s). We will make every effort to obtain payment from the leagues promptly, and we will pay each official within two weeks of receiving payment.

Uniforms

Every official must provide their uniform for each sport they are officiating. The PVOA official supplier is The Official Call (www.theofficialcall.com). Also, you can check out our “Resources” page for links to other online vendors.

You may also obtain uniforms and other equipment locally through the various sporting goods stores, including Sports Authority, Dick’s, Modell’s, Cheers Sports, and Catoctin Sports.

Have Questions?

If you are not ready to join and/or have questions before joining, send us a note through our contact page. We will get back to you promptly.