Quote: To go along with this, each ref is required to do 2-3 pre-season scrimmages for no pay at all. If you ask most refs, they do not do this for the money. The money is nice, but most do it for the love of the game. I played for 15 years, but i'm not able to anymore and this is a good way to stay connected with the game of soccer.
This is an area/assignor requirement. The simple answer is, the SCHSL says no referees are required for a scrimmage. Heard it from Roger Hazel directly. So, yes area referee pools use it to get the referees ready for the season also. And yes, many referees do the scrimmages for free. That said, there are also some referees that don't do scrimmages, but still do games during the season.
I agree, with most referees it's not about the money, but there are some. My response so far has been linked to the comment, pay them more and you will get better referees.
