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We have a good relationship among the white hats here. No one goes out and solicits anyone else from another crew. What usually happens is that we are so short of officials that we have to go out and hustle to get guys to fill our crews but we go after guys who have not been on a crew yet.
Three years ago my crew (I was the BJ) had the WH and U retire and they never told anyone and we had two guys move away and I was only aware of one of them leaving. I had to go out and get 4 guys to make up a crew and I returned to the WH position which I had done years ago with another crew in another part of the state. With a lot of training and encouragement, our crew ended the season ranked number 1 by the area coaches and we got a playoff game. Every year we have to fill spots and it's always kind of "iffy" when you put new guys on the field. This year I took a rookie under my wing and he was with us at games for pre-game, half-time, etc and walked the sideline during the game. He filled in a couple times later in the season and did a fine job. We are adding a crew next year and my LJ will go help fill the new crew and my sub (rookie) from this year will fill his spot. I see this mentoring as a major asset to our association, so that rookies do not have to go it alone. There's a lot to learn and being part of a crew, even though you are not on the field is an excellent way to learn the game.
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