Our area of California is served by the Northern Coast Officials Assoc. The rules here are before you do anything (including 3rd grade youth) you must complete 12 hours of class time, a 4-5 hour court clinic, and pass a open-book test. There is also a closed-book test, but I don't remember what level requires that. It is certainly required for Freshman ball, JV, and Varsity.
The class time is mostly talking about local policy on game management and difficult situations like you see on this discussion board. The court clinic covers mechanics, etc.
All the officials in our association are rated yearly, plus a mid-year update if needed. Games are assigned starting with the best ranked official taking what they want (i.e. varsity), and working down the list of officials. (It is not quite that rigorous because if the assignor doesn't reach someone, he moves on a few names.)
Generally officials do not see any Frosh or JV games until about their 3rd year. That can vary.... Like most areas, we have a shortage of officials. This is becoming worse due to a number of our officials (20%?) now working college. So, some of the lower youth games may get an official that has not quite completed the training indicated above. It is common for the youth games to have only one official. (We use 2-man crews even for varsity.)
Also, everyone must repeat the training each year. The court clinic is only 2 hours for officials with 2+ years experience, and is waived if you attended a 3-day or longer camp.
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