Yes — EmergencyRefs covers high school preseason scrimmages on Long Island, including JV and freshman-level scrimmages that sometimes sit outside a district's varsity assigning contract entirely. Scrimmages get scheduled later and with less lead time than the regular-season slate, which is exactly why they're the games most likely to go unstaffed. Book two to three weeks out where you can, and check with your athletic director first to confirm what's already covered before you assume a gap exists. Submit a request at EmergencyRefs.com.
Preseason Scrimmages Live in a Scheduling Gap
A varsity assigning contract gets built around the official regular-season schedule, usually finalized well before the season starts. Scrimmages don't work the same way. Coaches lock in an opponent for a preseason scrimmage on their own timeline — sometimes weeks out, sometimes with ten days' notice because another team's scrimmage fell through and yours became the replacement date. That later, looser scheduling process is exactly why scrimmage officiating doesn't automatically inherit the same coverage as the season slate sitting next to it on the calendar.
It's not that assigning services ignore scrimmages on purpose. It's that a scrimmage added to the calendar in mid-August is competing for officials against every other program in Nassau and Suffolk doing the same thing in the same two-week window, right as the assigning pool itself is still ramping up for the season ahead. A coach who assumes "someone will show up, they always do" is the coach most likely to be standing on a field with two teams, no whistle, and a scrimmage that either gets scrapped or self-officiated badly.
What Section XI Actually Requires Before the First Scrimmage
Section XI sets a minimum number of practice days a team has to complete before it's eligible for its first scrimmage, and that number isn't identical across sports — modified football, for instance, requires ten practice days before a first scrimmage, while some other fall sports allow it earlier in the practice cycle. Those counts run on school days rather than calendar days, and because individual school calendars differ across Long Island districts, each program confirms its own opening date rather than working off one fixed date that applies everywhere.
There's a scheduling wrinkle buried in that rule that matters for staffing: during the pre-school-year window in late August, Section XI requires practices to run before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m., which pushes a lot of early scrimmages into morning or evening slots rather than the mid-afternoon window a regular-season game usually claims. An official who's available for a 4 p.m. Tuesday in October isn't automatically available for an 8 a.m. Thursday scrimmage in late August, which narrows the realistic pool further during exactly the weeks when scrimmage demand is highest.
JV and Freshman Scrimmages Are the Coverage Gap Coaches Don't See Coming
Varsity gets staffed first, almost without exception — it's the level with the most visibility, the tightest contract terms, and the coach with the most experience pushing to get it locked in early. JV and freshman scrimmages are frequently an afterthought in the same conversation, and depending on how a district's assigning contract is written, they may not be guaranteed coverage at all, especially for a scrimmage rather than a regular-season contest. Our school district referee contracts guide covers what a typical Long Island assigning contract does and doesn't include — worth a read before you assume sub-varsity scrimmage coverage is baked in just because varsity's is.
If your program runs a JV or freshman scrimmage and you're not confident it's on the assigning service's radar, the safer move is a direct call to confirm rather than a wait-and-see approach. Confirming three weeks out costs you a phone call. Finding out the week of costs you a canceled scrimmage.
How Far Ahead to Book a Scrimmage Official
- Scrimmage scheduled a month or more out: two to three weeks of lead time is usually enough, especially outside the first two weeks of the statewide preseason window when demand is most concentrated.
- Scrimmage added in the first two weeks of preseason, when every program is scrambling at once: go longer where you can, and expect a smaller menu of officials with fall-sport certification specifically, since basketball and winter-sport officials haven't entered the pool yet.
- Scrimmage confirmed with less than a week's notice: still worth a call — sometimes fillable, but treat it as the exception, not something to plan around.
For the general version of this timeline across all sports and seasons, see our booking lead time guide and our fall sports booking guide. Scrimmages sit at the tighter, more time-sensitive end of both.
💡 Ask your AD what's already contracted before you book anything. Duplicate coverage wastes money and thin coverage leaves you exposed — a five-minute conversation with your athletic director about exactly what the district's assigning contract covers at the scrimmage level saves both.
Have a Preseason Scrimmage That Isn't Covered?
Tell us the sport, level, and date. We'll confirm officials fast and be upfront if the window is tight.
Book Now at EmergencyRefs.com →What a Scrimmage Official Actually Does Differently
A scrimmage isn't a counted result, and the officiating rhythm reflects that. Coaches often ask for extra stoppages to work on a specific situation, running clocks get adjusted on the fly, and an official working a scrimmage needs to read the room — enforcing rules cleanly enough that the scrimmage still functions as a real test, while staying flexible about the coaching interruptions that are the entire point of the exercise. That's a different skill from calling a tight regular-season contest, and it's worth requesting an official who's worked scrimmages before rather than assuming any certified official adapts to the format automatically.
Liability and insurance requirements don't relax just because the game doesn't count. If your facility or district requires a certified, background-checked official for a regular-season game, that requirement doesn't disappear for a scrimmage involving the same age group. See our certification and background check guide for what Long Island programs typically require before an official works with student-athletes, scrimmage or not.
Which Fall Sports Need This Most on Long Island
Football scrimmages are the most visible version of this problem, given the extended practice-count requirement and the physical nature of the sport, but soccer, field hockey, and volleyball all run their own preseason scrimmage schedules with the same staffing gap. See our sport-specific guides for football officials, soccer referees, field hockey officials, and volleyball referees for crew sizing and certification specifics by sport — the scrimmage timing issue in this article layers on top of all four.
Coordinating With Your School's Assigning Service, Not Around It
The goal isn't to route around your district's existing assigning relationship — it's to fill the specific gaps that relationship doesn't reach, without stepping on games that are already staffed. Loop in your athletic director before booking outside coverage for anything that touches the varsity schedule, and reserve an outside request for the scrimmages and sub-varsity games you've confirmed aren't part of the existing contract. That keeps the relationship with your regular assigning service intact while still getting every scrimmage on your calendar an official.
If You Can't Find Coverage in Time
A scrimmage that loses its official a day or two out isn't a season-altering emergency, but it's still a wasted practice window for two programs that coordinated around that date. Our last-minute referee guide covers sourcing same-day or next-day coverage, and our referee cancellation guide walks through what to do if an official confirmed weeks ago backs out closer to the date. Both apply to scrimmages the same way they apply to a regular-season game — the smaller stakes don't make an empty field less frustrating for two coaching staffs that cleared their afternoon for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Assigning services are built around the official season schedule and aren't always fully staffed when scrimmages start, and scrimmages get added to the calendar later with less lead time.
Not always — varsity is staffed first, and sub-varsity scrimmage coverage depends on how the district's assigning contract is written. Confirm with your AD.
Two to three weeks as a floor, longer during the first two weeks of preseason when every program is scrambling at once.
Yes, and it varies by sport — modified football requires ten practice days. Counts run on school days, and each program confirms its own dates.
Sometimes, outside the first two weeks of preseason — but reach out immediately rather than treating it as the plan.
Don't Let a Scrimmage Go Unstaffed
Tell us the sport, level, and date — we'll confirm officials and flag it fast if the window is tight.
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