[crosscountry55]

From the guy who has had to work in six states and start over all the time:

1. Not sure if you started very young, but if you did, sometimes the mere appearance of youth (super-skinny, somewhat robotic, perhaps a pimple or two) can hurt. It might not be fair, but it is what it is. Working out and building some muscle mass helps with that.

2. Supply and demand of officials is a force multiplier. You may be in an area where there is a surplus of entrenched veterans. If you can move, great, but as this is not always an option, it may be something you have to live with.

3. Go to camp. Meet as many assignors at camp as you can, introduce yourself, invite them to watch you work. You didn't mention camp, so if you don't or rarely attend camp, this could be part of the problem.

4. Maybe stop accepting so many JV games. If you don't over-commit, you'll show that you're not just a warm body to fill those games. Sure, if your schedule the day before is still open and you want to be a last-minute sub, that's fine, but otherwise keep those dates open for varsity assignments and emergency fills.

5. My epiphany over the last few years: stop giving a hoot about the games you get, whether you get a playoff assignment, etc. It's kind of like the old adage that when you stop looking for love, that's when you find it. Same goes for your schedule: when you stop caring about it so much, it gets better. Make sure officiating basketball is still fun. If the politics and the assignors and the association are taking all the air out of your tires....then maybe it's time to do something else after 14 years.

6. Lastly, speaking of 14 years, to be brutally honest that's a long time in to be working a schedule that's anything other than all varsity (unless, you're a new guy in a new area). As some other posters have noted, you should just ask your assignors to be honest with you, but be prepared to accept what you hear and treat it constructively.

7. Ok, I lied. Do you happen to work in a 2-person varsity area? If so, that really inhibits lots of folks (not just you) from moving up and getting the varsity experience that helps identify and separate the better officials. 2-person doesn't just suck because it makes for crappier basketball. Ultimately it also makes for a stagnant pool of crappier officials.