Refusal/Decline

[Pantherdreams]

What are your guys perameters or personal guidelines for decling games. I don't mean you are already working or can't get to the game but more conflicts of interest or issues that would stop you from working a game that you could work. What are your personal standards for why to decline/refuse to work a game assigned.

[PNewton]

One of my assignors has asked that no one work games for a school they attended or have a child that attends/has played basketball. I follow these guidelines with the others as well. Being a teacher I won't work my own school at all and try to avoid games that may impact the standings in my school's conference, but that won't help most people.

[deecee]

I personally only have one, and that is to never work a game my wife coaches. The reason is simple. She's the boss. Since she hates basketball and doesn't coach I don't have to worry about that. If I were a cop I would ticket my mother if she broke the law.

[Nevadaref]

The conflicts of interest standard varies by area. A major factor is the size of the location which impacts how easy/difficult it is to get other officials for the schools there as well as the other options for local officials.

Nevada prohibits officials from working varsity contests at any school in which a relative is a participant as either a player or coach or if the official (or spouse) is a teacher at an involved school. That said, sub-varsity games don't have any restrictions and one can technically officiate if a child attends the school, but doesn't play that sport at the varsity level, but most officials opt to block those games anyway. Outside of the two regulations mandated by the state office, much depends upon if other officials are available to cover those contests or if the assigners are short and really need the help.

The area of CA in which I officiate asks you to block any games involving the school you attended (contrast with NV which does not care about this) as well as if your child attends, or you/a family member teaches at a particular school.

Personally, I have two additional factors which will cause me to block a school. 1. If the administrators do not treat the officials well or support them when needed. (Can we get access to the lockerroom in a timely manner?--before, at halftime, and after the game. If something needs to be addressed with the spectators or game site setup, will they handle it? etc.) 2. Can we get a hot shower after the game? (I often travel a couple of hours for games, so this is important to me. If the school is only minutes away, I wouldn't care.)

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by deecee

I personally only have one, and that is to never work a game my wife coaches. The reason is simple. She's the boss. Since she hates basketball and doesn't coach I don't have to worry about that. If I were a cop I would ticket my mother if she broke the law.

Yet you won't call an actual backcourt violation which occurs immediately following the opening jump ball.

[deecee]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Yet you won't call an actual backcourt violation which occurs immediately following the opening jump ball.

touche

[SD Referee]

I'm getting to the point that I won't accept girls games unless it's a varsity girls game only and is part of a double header with a boys varsity game.

Doing JV girls is mind numbing at best. Most of the time those games set basketball back about 50 years. Girls JV games are getting worse over the years.

Outside of that, I don't really have any guidelines that stop me from taking a game. If the coaches and ADs want me and agree to it, that's all I need to know.

[SC Official]

In SC you lose rating points if you decline or turn back an assignment "except in the case of an extreme emergency." We're supposed to submit any schools where we have conflicts of interest before the season starts so we don't get assigned to any of their games. Those schools don't count towards our allowable "blocks."

I rarely decline or turn back an assignment because my conflicts of interest are already programmed into Arbiter, and I don't leave a date open and then decline the game. Obviously the expectations may be different if this were a state like Wisconsin where officials typically work for a bunch of assigners.

Almost all of our assignments are girl/boy doubleheaders and we're limited to a maximum of two SCHSL-booked varsity assignments per week.

[SC Official]

Originally Posted by SD Referee

I'm getting to the point that I won't accept girls games unless it's a varsity girls game only and is part of a double header with a boys varsity game.

G/B doubleheaders are essentially the universal norm in the state where I work. We unfortunately don't have the option of picking which gender we want to work, although there are some proponents of sending different crews for each game to get more officials into varsity. Of course the schools would cry poor at that idea and a lot of officials would be pissed if they got assigned to the girls game (me being one of them, if I'm being completely honest).

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Pantherdreams

What are your guys perameters or personal guidelines for decling games. I don't mean you are already working or can't get to the game but more conflicts of interest or issues that would stop you from working a game that you could work. What are your personal standards for why to decline/refuse to work a game assigned.

I accept every game I offered if I normally work a particular conference. If I don't work a conference normally or they are not a game that is actually with the IHSA, I might consider turning it down. Otherwise I take every game unless there is some travel conflict like on a Saturday where sometimes you can get a game early in the day and later at night. If I feel the game is too far away from another, then I will make my concern known.

But I have no conflicts of interest where I live. I have even worked my old high school early on in my career and had no issues.

Peace

[SD Referee]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I accept every game I offered if I normally work a particular conference. If I don't work a conference normally or they are not a game that is actually with the IHSA, I might consider turning it down. Otherwise I take every game unless there is some travel conflict like on a Saturday where sometimes you can get a game early in the day and later at night. If I feel the game is too far away from another, then I will make my concern known.

But I have no conflicts of interest where I live. I have even worked my old high school early on in my career and had no issues.

Peace

I also work my former high school and the high school that my wife attended. I even work games where those two teams play each other. They are also in the same district and conference. If the coaches and ADs are fine with it, I couldn't care less what anybody else in the crowd has to say.

I know that I'm professional enough to call the what I see and not have any bias one way or the other.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I accept every game I offered if I normally work a particular conference. If I don't work a conference normally or they are not a game that is actually with the IHSA, I might consider turning it down. Otherwise I take every game unless there is some travel conflict like on a Saturday where sometimes you can get a game early in the day and later at night. If I feel the game is too far away from another, then I will make my concern known.

But I have no conflicts of interest where I live. I have even worked my old high school early on in my career and had no issues.

Peace

Similar....if it is a HS or higher game, I do it.

If I tell my assignor I'm open, I take the game he gives me. I currently have no conflicts, but when my kids were in HS, I simply entered my conflict in Reftown and the assignor would not generally assign me to that school. He'd have to override the conflict to do so. If he did, I know he did so consciously and for a reason and I'd still do the game.

The only HS games I've declined were ones starting very close to my availability but at a much larger than normal distance crossing through rush hour traffic. I just couldn't get to that location at the time of the game.

If someone asks me to do a rec league type game, I may or may not. I have no obligation to them. If I, for some reason, tell them I'm open on any date, I take what they give me.

[Adam]

Since I did not attend school locally, I only block the school my daughter attends. She doesn't play, and doesn't really get along all that well with the athletes she knows, but I've got school decals and such on my cars (state champion marching band is a BFD around here).

[BillyMac]

I was a middle school teacher, and basketball coach, in the town that I live in, until I retired a dozen years ago. Only recently did I remove the block on the high school in the district where I taught, that my kids attended, and participated in sports, including basketball.

[Altor]

Originally Posted by Adam

Since I did not attend school locally, I only block the school my daughter attends. She doesn't play, and doesn't really get along all that well with the athletes she knows, but I've got school decals and such on my cars (state champion marching band is a BFD around here).

Even more reason to block the schools where your kids attend. There's no reason to make them a target for bullying when you make a call and the student section doesn't agree.