To the Virginia officials ...

[ODog]

Wow, 2-3 years out? We're lucky to get 2-3 days out for our first wave of games.

Hoop season around here starts THIS WEEK and we don't have our assignments yet!

[johnny d]

Originally Posted by ODog

Wow, 2-3 years out? We're lucky to get 2-3 days out for our first wave of games.

Hoop season around here starts THIS WEEK and we don't have our assignments yet!

This is freaking ridiculous as well. There is no way the assignor is still waiting to find out where and when the games for next week are going to be. The fact that he cannot get assignments out at this stage is just plain laziness.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by johnny d

This is freaking ridiculous as well. There is no way the assignor is still waiting to find out where and when the games for next week are going to be. The fact that he cannot get assignments out at this stage is just plain laziness.

I agree with that too. At least a month, but no more than 2-3 is about right.

[DRJ1960]

I'll get my January schedule the week of Christmas....

[RedAndWhiteRef]

Originally Posted by johnny d

This is freaking ridiculous as well. There is no way the assignor is still waiting to find out where and when the games for next week are going to be. The fact that he cannot get assignments out at this stage is just plain laziness.

My "regular" job is one that schedules week-to-week (hey, I'm only 23!). I have a relatively consistent schedule, but sometimes I have to work the odd shift that I'm not expecting because that's just how it is. So every week is a constant sweat between "can I work my job?" or "can I accept my games/what dates do I block on Arbiter this week?"

For football I got my assignments at least two weeks in advance. For baseball I got damn near my entire schedule before the season even started. Is basketball honestly that much more difficult? I'm not an assignor, so I really don't know.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by RedAndWhiteRef

My "regular" job is one that schedules week-to-week (hey, I'm only 23!). I have a relatively consistent schedule, but sometimes I have to work the odd shift that I'm not expecting because that's just how it is. So every week is a constant sweat between "can I work my job?" or "can I accept my games/what dates do I block on Arbiter this week?"

For football I got my assignments at least two weeks in advance. For baseball I got damn near my entire schedule before the season even started. Is basketball honestly that much more difficult? I'm not an assignor, so I really don't know.

Is there a difference in the way those sports are "organized" in your area?

The farther out an assigner assigns, the more work s/he'll have to do twice (schedule changes /turnbacks).

The closer in an assigner assigns, the greater risk the the officials he wants will be busy.

Where the "sweet spot" is depends on the assigner and how many other assigners are working in the same area. For example, I think the three closest high schools to my house have three different boys assigners and three different girls assigners. The two closest colleges have different assigners. So I could work for eight different people and not travel more than about 4 miles each way.

In other areas, someone might work for only one assigner the entire season.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Where the "sweet spot" is depends on the assigner and how many other assigners are working in the same area. For example, I think the three closest high schools to my house have three different boys assigners and three different girls assigners. The two closest colleges have different assigners. So I could work for eight different people and not travel more than about 4 miles each way.

In other areas, someone might work for only one assigner the entire season.

And that is probably the difference that drives the extreme early assigning.

Here, in Oregon, there is just 1 HS assignor per area. That is the way it is organized. A person can work for 2 or more but they will not be in the same metro area. A few work in adjacent towns.

There are not that many college assignors either. In the surrounding 100 miles, there are 2 f or men and 2 for women. With the much lower population density, there are simply fewer colleges to be assigned.

All of them, including the one I worked for assign in the fall for that season. They expect that if you have a HS game, you'll take their game over it. The HS assignor expects to lose officials to college assignments but also expects that he be notified as soon as you know about the college assignment.

All of them expect that if your calendar is open, you will take a game they offer you. If you have your calendar blocked, they don't expect you to take anything.