Pete, for the first time I scheduled 40 umpires working at 4 colleges this fall.
What an eye-opening experience.
The work of an assigner is totally
UNDER-RATED! As an assigner it is my job to deal with schedule changes from the coaches and unexpected weather which are mostly uncontrolable. Believe me this is no small feat by itself.
There was nothing more frustrating
for me than when an umpire who said he was available (I did not hold a gun to his head) then for whatever reason they turned back the game (there were many reasons...all of which I did not want to hear).
In my opinion you only turn back games in an EMERGENCY which if we are fortunate should only occur once a year.
The next thing I realized is that as an assigner I want to make as few calls as possible, especially regarding turnbacks.
I have a REAL job which requires full time effort to pay the bills, etc. For what little an assigner gets paid it should not have to impact my REAL work or time with my family. When I got a turnback during the day I wanted to find a home for it quickly so I could get back to my REAL job. Also, when the phone rang at 7pm and I had to find someone to work a turnback I would have to be away from my REAL family unnecessarily.
Therefore those umpires who showed no likelihood of turning back their games, were easily accessable via phone or email were generally at the top of my list regardless of ability.
Good luck to you!