[irp]

I am in a difficult position on this one, I am an assigner for one of our national leagues (I live in the UK) and also hold an international licence. This means that I should get the better games but in order to help others develop I regularly work lower divisions (we don't have the HS/College setup common in the US).

This works for me as I have to think about what I am doing all the time, working with new / old / good / bad officials. That said, it can be a major PITA before finals when teams expect the better refs to work games and see me working D3 and only occasional D1.

This is my first year in the job and I must say it is not easy to keep everyone happy, if I take the games that the teams / most other officials would expect me to work then I am accused of creaming off the good games by some. If I don't then am I being a martyr to maintain the impression of independence and fairness? I must also note that I do not get paid for doing the assignments nor do I get a percentage of fees. I can get phone expenses but that is all.

I should say that for my regional and county leagues where I don’t appoint, I get D1, D2, and playoffs. This works fine and I feel that the assigners play fair based on what they see me do on court and the politics is not as much.

Having had different assigners in the past I would say that, on the whole, they play it fair. It is not easy and yes, sometimes personalities come into it, but that is the same everywhere in life – right or wrong – I will leave that to the philosophers.