Quote:
Originally Posted by ilyazhito
I remember that you said in a different thread that peer evaluation is useless because most people give their peers 9s and 10s. If the system is convoluted and antiquated, what alternative would you prefer that the SCBOA and SCHSL use?
|
Not to derail the thread, but since you asked.
The overarching problem in South Carolina is that the state office controls all the varsity assignments for football and basketball. The reason is simply because it has always been this way, and SC is a relatively small state (~200 high schools), so one central contact point isn't too burdensome (i.e. people don't see the reason to change). We have to have a way to rank the officials so the booking office has something to go by. Obviously this system is stupid and I don't need to give reasons. The ideal solution would be for district directors to control all assignments within their districts, not just subvarsity games/holiday tournaments, like is done in surrounding states. Then directors could structure their own evaluation system to recommend their postseason officials. This is extremely unlikely to happen while I am still officiating.
With respect to the peer ratings, yes, very few people take them seriously. This inevitably leads to the statewide exam being the sole differentiator among officials. Currently, the rating system is structured such that on-court ability has nothing to do with one's assignments (which obviously is insane). We have to attend a camp every three years for 5% of our points, and that's it. We need observers to evaluate officials, but there is pushback on this because of cost and paranoid officials worrying about the objectivity of evaluators. I am all for rules knowledge and rewarding officials for getting in the book (and not rewarding officials who refuse to study the rules), but the reality is that we have too many officials working games they shouldn't be working simply because they test the best. It's unfortunate but that is the way it is. Eventually the coaches will raise enough hell that it will have to change, but that has not happened yet.
We do not have "conferences" in SC that have the power to hire/fire their own assigner; we have "regions" within each of the five classifications (1A-5A) that are realigned by the SCHSL every two years, so a college-type system where officials can work for whomever will hire them will not happen here. Most of the private schools in SC compete in a separate league that has their own way of dealing with officiating, so that's an option and many good officials that struggle under the current structure in the SCHSL/SCBOA do very well in the private school league (SCISA).