Fed up with association/assignor...

[BryanV21]

One assignor for a hundred mile radius? Sounds to me that there aren't too many games to go around. And there's a chance that they already have a good crop of officials for the "higher level" varsity games around there.

BTW, I almost moved to another state and asked about what would happen as an official, seeing as how I'd finally worked my way into varsity. And I was told that I'd basically have to start at the bottom.

So your 10 years of experience may get your foot in the door, but you can't lean on that to say you deserve better. Just like when it comes to a new job. Your prior experience helped you get that job, but getting promoted or getting a raise is all about what you do for them... not what you did for somebody else.

So take all the games you can get. Use them to improve (ten years is not a lot), and prove to that assignor that you can do better. Eventually your time will come.

[Dad]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

One assignor for a hundred mile radius? Sounds to me that there aren't too many games to go around. And there's a chance that they already have a good crop of officials for the "higher level" varsity games around there.

BTW, I almost moved to another state and asked about what would happen as an official, seeing as how I'd finally worked my way into varsity. And I was told that I'd basically have to start at the bottom.

So your 10 years of experience may get your foot in the door, but you can't lean on that to say you deserve better. Just like when it comes to a new job. Your prior experience helped you get that job, but getting promoted or getting a raise is all about what you do for them... not what you did for somebody else.

So take all the games you can get. Use them to improve (ten years is not a lot), and prove to that assignor that you can do better. Eventually your time will come.

Ten years is a lot of time. You can still be terrible after ten years, but it's still a large chunk of time.

[JRutledge]

Some officials "get it." Others do not get it at all. Ten years does not mean you were good enough to get to a certain level. Heck I know officials that were never good and why they are only working a certain level or get to where they personally wanted to go, like working boys varsity as example.

Peace

[Rich]

Back when I started, people expected to put in 5 or so years at the subvarsity level.

Now people in their first year think they're good enough and wonder what assigners have against them.

As a varsity assigner, there are 25+ year officials I simply WILL NOT USE. I have only had one confront me about it, and it was a very unpleasant experience for me. Didn't change anything, though, as it didn't change the fact that he couldn't run the floor in a 3-person game, even.

Number of years and what the coaches think mean very little to me. My experience seeing coaches ratings (as an assigner) tells me that they have little idea what makes a good official.

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by Rich

Back when I started, people expected to put in 5 or so years at the subvarsity level.

Now people in their first year think they're good enough and wonder what assigners have against them.

As a varsity assigner, there are 25+ year officials I simply WILL NOT USE. I have only had one confront me about it, and it was a very unpleasant experience for me. Didn't change anything, though, as it didn't change the fact that he couldn't run the floor in a 3-person game, even.

Number of years and what the coaches think mean very little to me. My experience seeing coaches ratings (as an assigner) tells me that they have little idea what makes a good official.

Amen.

Not to knock the ability of the official in the OP but when I look back now at what I was ten years after I became IAABO certified I realize I didn't know crap. I'm 25 years on the HS side and only in the past 5-6 do I feel as though I really started to "get it." That coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity - and quality - of games I receive.

The advice to look inside first as opposed to outside is spot on. I was always a rule book guy (contrary to some of my goofs here ) but now I do more. A couple of assignors either suggested or flat out said I needed to lose weight and I've dropped - and kept off - 45+ lbs. since 2013. I study the game more thanks to clips here and watching games at all levels as more of an official instead of a fan. I do not take it for granted that any of my assignors, be they NCAAW or HS, will give me games. My goal is to make it difficult for them *not* to give me games. Once you do that, the level you work and how often you work take care of themselves. Assignors will always default to people who they trust because no one likes agita.

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[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

Amen.

Not to knock the ability of the official in the OP but when I look back now at what I was ten years after I became IAABO certified I realize I didn't know crap. I'm 25 years on the HS side and only in the past 5-6 do I feel as though I really started to "get it." That coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity - and quality - of games I receive.

The advice to look inside first as opposed to outside is spot on. I was always a rule book guy (contrary to some of my goofs here ) but now I do more. A couple of assignors either suggested or flat out said I needed to lose weight and I've dropped - and kept off - 45+ lbs. since 2013. I study the game more thanks to clips here and watching games at all levels as more of an official instead of a fan. I do not take it for granted that any of my assignors, be they NCAAW or HS, will give me games. My goal is to make it difficult for them *not* to give me games. Once you do that, the level you work and how often you work take care of themselves. Assignors will always default to people who they trust because no one likes agita.

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Likewise....I thought I knew something at a time long ago. It was only after I learned a lot more that I realized what I didn't know. I'm sure I still have things to learn but now I know that with clarity. It took me several years to get my first regular season girls varsity game (7 IIRC), then a few more to get some at the top classification (boys 4A at the time), but only a few and not the good games. In my 15th year, I finally got a state tournament assignment at the lower levels. Now, 23 years in, I've done quite well, but it didn't come overnight.

[Texas Aggie]

While I agree that some expect it to happen more quickly than it should, you shouldn't have to wait 7 years to get a varsity game if you have even moderate ability. I wouldn't have stuck around that long for my first COLLEGE game, much less HS varsity. But I put in the work -- 100+ game years from year 2-6 or so and college camps starting after my second year. I went to those camps with my ears open and my mouth shut. I realize some younger officials don't do this or don't do enough of this.

With that said, experienced officials are doing a huge disservice to their younger brethren (ladies included) by taking a "our turn" view and all but shutting them out of quality assignments. I'm not talking about deep playoff rounds but regular season and early playoff games that these guys probably won't ever work because they'll quit before given the chance. You, Cameron, as a quality 23 year guy may be a guy who can now work any game your state assigns, you didn't get there by continuously working JV and lower level games. You had to be thrown in the fire at some point.

Every organization worth its salt should have a growth or expectations plan. If gives officials a view of how things, on average, should go and what they need to do to progress within the plan. It won't be absolute and there won't be any guarantees, but if they don't see ANYONE getting the benefit of that person following the plan, you might as well not bother.