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Of course there is such a network. Anyone who doubts it is lucky to work in an area that has formal evaluations. Until this year, I worked almost exclusively for one assignor. I went to camp. I talked to varsity guys. I stayed after my sub-varsity games. I took every game offered. I work on my mechanics, rules, appearance, contacts: in short everything that works for me in every aspect of my life.
But not with this one assignor. He controls a ton of games (including everything close to my work and home) and he gave me a lot of games. But no matter what, I could never get more than one or two varsity games. He refused to talk to me about it. He yelled and screamed when I tried to discuss it. So this year, I went to two other assignors. One offered me five dates, including three varsity. The other (in his first year in this league) offered three dates and said he would consider varsity after he saw me work. I certainly have no problem with that.
I had a falling out with my main assignor and he took away my schedule of 20 dates (without telling me). We had a long shouting match (rather, he shouted and I listened) and the upshot is I got a dozen varsity dates from him. I have to travel a lot further, but at least I got the schedule I wanted. But it was an ugly way to do it. It was not based on my skill, since he has never seen me work. I know of coaches, ADs and varsity refs who have called this guy and told him that I should be doing varsity games.
Yet I watch who gets varsity for this guy and does not. I talk to coaches and hear their complaints. This man has an old-boy network -- literally. He is 83 years old and I have learned the hard way that there is no way to crack it. If you are not one of his "boys" (and that does include a small number of women), you are not getting in. And having worked with some of these men, many no longer belong at this level. They do not hustle. They do not keep up with rules. Their mechanics are whatever they want them to be. And they certainly do not want to lose their varsity status. Fortunately, this is his last year assigning and I have some hope that those who replace him will be more fair. But only some.
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