Three Person Game In Connecticut ...
 

Do not try to adjust your computer monitor. You read the title correctly the first time. I worked a three person game tonight. That's right. In Connecticut.

Illness and injuries have had a major impact on the availability of junior varsity officials recently. We don't usually do junior varsity/varsity doubleheaders here. Varsity coaches frown upon it, thinking that the officials will be tired for their varsity games.

So our assignment commissioner has occasionally scheduled three person junior varsity games, with one junior varsity official (who gets a full junior varsity game fee) and the two varsity officials (who split a junior varsity game fee). After the junior varsity game the two varsity officials work a normal two person varsity game, supposedly less tired than if the varsity officials had worked a two person junior varsity game.

Man, what a difference, physically. If we ever go to three person varsity games, my officiating career can be extended by several years.

You three person guys don't know how lucky you've got it.

What a great opportunity missed to give a JV official a shot to work a varsity game -- working 3-person in both.

I've worked almost 40 3-person games this season and no 2-person games. Haven't had a bit of soreness this year *at all* -- first time in a long, long time. I attribute a lot of that to not having to work the perimeter as the T as hard as you have to in a 2-person game.

3-person for JV and 2-person for Varsity?

That's... backwards.

We've got a few conferences around here that ask for 2 for JV and 3 for varsity... most of the time, we end up having all three officials work both games and split the combined fee equally... which means that we make about $7 less than we would if they paid full 3-person fee for both games. I'm hoping that goes away next year.

3-man JV crew...to a 2-man V crew

Logic!

Choices ...
 

The two varsity officials in the junior varsity game were given a choice (with input from the junior varsity official) of working a three person junior varsity game, or with the two varsity officials alternating junior varsity periods in a two person junior varsity game. We chose the former.

The purpose of this odd setup is to cover for a shortage of junior varsity officials. We had a recent explosion of magnet/charter schools needing officials for their games, and we only had sixteen new officials in this year's cadet class. Add that to a lot of illness, and injuries, this season, especially to subvarsity officials.

Not the best setup, but now the camel's got a nose under the side of the tent.

The decision to assign a 3 man JV crew followed by a 2 man Varsity crew is a worse decision than wearing a belt.

Billy:

I am sure you know the name Ed Ferrigno of Board 8. After he and his wife retired to Florida he continued to officiate girls' H.S. varsity into his early 70s because of three-man crews.

MTD, Sr.

Tired from a JV game? I can barely break a sweat in a JV game no matter how much I hustle.

We've all worked 2-man games on the way to 3-man. That's why we work so hard so hard to get all Varsity schedules or to get on to college staffs.

No it's not. At least it gives that young JV official some 3-man experience. Their other choice is to assign one of the Varsity official a 2-man DH.

You must have pretty boring JV games. Here, JV games have the speed and intensity of varsity games, just minus the skill. At least in the bigger schools, there's more working to me in the lower levels than at the varsity.

Why not assign that young JV official to the varsity game? Then he gets 3 man experience and Varsity experience. In the long run this approach would also help get the schools on board for 3 man varsity games.

Ultimately if the association/league have no desire to move to 3 man crews for varsity games, the experience at the JV level becomes irrelevant.

It's still a business. The school is only playing X amount of $$$ for those games, which equals the pay for a 2-man crew on each game. It's not leagues/associations that prevent 3-man crews, it's the schools.

The only time I work JV is part of BJV/BV doubleheaders for small schools. The games are, well, not very challenging. But even if I were doing higher level JV games, I'd sweat some, but I definitely wouldn't be in any way tired enough that it would affect me working a Varsity game behind it, especially with a 20 minute break.

We do pretty much nothing but 3 man crews where I'm at.

My take is that it is just as demanding physically if you are working hard and doing your job properly. I think the 3rd person makes it less taxing mentally as your PCA is smaller.

The 3 man crew is just better for fans, players, and coaches. You miss less with 3 guys out there.