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Originally Posted by JRutledge
First of all you really need to go back and read what I said. I was not talking about HS, but the sentiment is really the same. If you do not like the circumstances of having to work games, then do not work them. Do what Rich did and not take the games. No one is holding a gun to your head.
Secondly, I would like to ask you where does it say someone cannot charge you money to attend their camp? Officiating is a business. If you run any other business there is some overhead to that business. And sometimes you have to pay for services in order to make money. I know with my business I have to pay for a lot of things before I make a cent. There are a lot of things I have to do to grow my business that require me to pay someone for something to make some money. You will find no such proclamation at the HS level has to be so different than any other level. And if you can find such literature then please show us a link or reference to it, because I would love to see where that is located. You have to pay dues to an association right? I know some who have to pay to use Assign By Web or the Arbiter software. The issue is how much and is it worth it to you.
There is a reality to officiating and there is fantasy. What you are telling me is fantasy because you do not like the system. Now I have never lived in an area that required such a big amount, but I have had to attend camps to work conferences. If I did not attend the camps I did not work. I make choices like that all the time either with pay the money or the time, or you do not work.
Peace
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It will get to the point, Jeff, where only those with the time and money to attend multiple camps will get full schedules. Is that what high school sports is about?
There are some officials working I would not hire to work a middle school game. Some with no varsity experience at all are getting tons of work after attending one camp and it's clear they do not belong there. Deer-in-headlights looks, no whistles on obvious spots that require them, other officials having to carry a weak third, no feel for the game, etc. One would think that the assignors would worry about the product they put on the floor more, but it's clear that preference has been given to those who come to the camp and line the pockets of the assignor. I can only hope that the conferences look objectively at the product they are getting and assume they can do better.
One of the advantages of states that assign exclusively through officials' associations in that none of this stuff seems to happen within those groups and since the groups are run by officials, they have no interest in gouging each other.
Why should a HS camp ever cost $300? First of all, the campers are working games that would normally pay officials a certain amount. So not only do camp organizers get camp fees from each camper, they also get all the game fees the working officials would've gotten. The clinicians -- some are quite good, and some are HS officials who have been fast tracked for reasons (gender, race) other than ability who I wouldn't want to work a regular season game with and are people I personally wouldn't hire at a level higher than JV.
As a three-sport official, I never understand why basketball has this "camp" mentality and why it's trickled down. I work as much HS baseball as I want, my football crew works every Friday night, and not once has an assignor insisted that we go to a "camp." If you look at the state bulletin, 95% or more of the "education opportunities" are 3-person basketball camps, all of which cost way too much money for a HS camp. Seems nobody is willing to just run these to give back to the game, like the local association does every fall/winter for football and basketball.