I am working on my MBA and creating a business plan for my last class. Since I love officiating, I wanted to write a plan for a business related to officiating. What I've come up with is a business that will help develop high school officials throughout the country. It would include a series of clinics, training videos targeted toward high school officials, training programs to help recruit and training new officials, and various software tools that will help with evaluating officials, managing associations, and additional training.
I would love to get feedback from other officials. You can either post your comments here or send me a PM and we can talk off line. Key questions:
- Would officials in your area be interested in clinics developed by an outside company but largely using local officials for handlng the details and presentations?
- Do you feel your local and/or state associations do a poor job of evaluating officials especially for determining playoff assignments?
- Do local associations provide training and mentoring programs to help new officials?
- Do you feel local associations would find value in purchasing some of these products and services?
- What do you feel is the best development tool that could be offered in your area?
- Does your area already have clinics for officials? Are they well-attended? What do you like/not like about them?
Thanks to anyone who wants to provide input. I've had a lot of fun so far coming up with ideas and creating a plan. The project is due April 16 so I'm quickly running out of time!