Actually, the section of the contract you're referring to, "Contract is valid only if the tournament is held on the date specified," was designed to protect the official. In the event that the tournament date is changed, we didn't feel that it was right that the official was obligated to the new date.

The next section of the contract, dealing with the financial penalty, applies equally to the club and the officials. Failure of either party to fulfill their obligation, unless through an unavoidable emergency, would trigger this provision.

The Kids Executive Council recognized an ongoing problem with no-shows, and requested that a standard contract be made available for clubs to use. The present form was developed to provide a generic form that clubs could use. Although the use of a contract is recommended, you do not have to use this form, and are free to modify it at will. If you have suggestions on ways to improve the form, please send them to me and we'll try to get them incorporated into a new format for next year.