Association/Board Issues

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

My local board uses Arbiter to assign games, but our assignment commissioner still insists that we confirm all of our games with our partner, and the school.
...

That should be standard procedure no matter what type of assignment system is being used.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

That should be standard procedure no matter what type of assignment system is being used.

Not according to Camron Rust.

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

3) actually getting officials to confirm their assignments with the schools 3-4 days before the game (this comes up at EVERY meeting).

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

We don't do #3 at all. It really isn't necessary. Before the season, the schools confirm the accuracy of the games as entered in Reftown, much like officials accepting assignments. A few days before the game, the schools get automated reminders of upcoming games. If something has changed, it is up to them to notify the assignor of the change. If they don't and the officials show up anyway, the school still pays for the game and the officials still get paid. Out of thousands of games per year, it is extremely rare that an official shows up to a game that isn't there. More likely, the schools forgot to notify the assignor that a game was added.

Back, in the twentieth century, when assigning was done with land line phone calls, and the United States Postal Service, we occasionally had too many officials, or no officials, showing up at games that may, or may not, have been properly scheduled. Back then, in the olden days, it was imperative that officials confirmed games by the United States Postal Service, or by land line phone calls, to prevent mistakes.

Now that we've moved to computerized assigning, and email contacts, there is a far less likely chance for a mistake to be made, but sometimes human error will rear it's ugly head, and that's why it's important that officials still confirm their games.

I spend about fifteen minutes, every Sunday, sending emails to confirm games with athletic directors, and partners, for games coming up that week. I feel that it's time well spent.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Not according to Camron Rust.





Back, in the twentieth century, when assigning was done with land line phone calls, and the United States Postal Service, we occasionally had too many officials, or no officials, showing up at games that may, or may not, have been properly scheduled. Back then, in the olden days, it was imperative that officials confirmed games by the United States Postal Service, or by land line phone calls, to prevent mistakes.

Now that we've moved to computerized assigning, and email contacts, there is a far less likely chance for a mistake to be made, but sometimes human error will rear it's ugly head, and that's why it's important that officials still confirm their games.

I spend about fifteen minutes, every Sunday, sending emails to confirm games with athletic directors, and partners, for games coming up that week. I feel that it's time well spent.

I have been part of a situation where a college game, requiring significant travel, was double booked. Each school's assignor thought they were responsible for covering the game. We only found out because my crew chief called the school to confirm 24 hours prior. The non-working crew was still paid for the game.

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[BktBallRef]

I've been working basketball in my local association since 1998.

Never once have I ever contacted a school to "confirm" an assignment. Not once has there ever been a problem because I didn't do this.

Schools receive the assignments through the Arbiter, just like I do. If they've changed the schedule or haven't included a game on their schedule, it's on them to contact the supervisor.

If they don't and we show up, they are obligated by the NCHSAA to pay a full game fee.

Yes, we contact our partners to confirm uniform and travel.

When in Rome.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

I've been working basketball in my local association since 1998.

Never once have I ever contacted a school to "confirm" an assignment.

I don't confirm assignments with high schools, but I do check their web site to make sure my info matches. There have been a couple times I've had to call my assignor to make sure everything was kosher.

Also, the only time I've been in a car accident while traveling to a game, after leaving the accident and getting to the game site, it turned out there was a scheduling snafu and there was no game.

So yes, in a perfect world, we should trust no one fat fingered anything, but in reality things go wrong. And I sure would have preferred knowing ahead of time I didn't need to travel to that school instead of getting into an accident travelling somewhere I didn't need to be. My little $40 check for a not working a game didn't make up for the $200 deductible I had to pay.

BTW, I've worked in I.T. my entire adult life, I am intimately aware of how data is only good as the fingers that input it.