Recruiting

[Terrapins Fan]

What's the best form of recruiting new officials?

We currently run an ad in the newspaper and a spot on the radio. That's it. We get about 4 applications per year. We need 10 to 12 next season.

[SNIPERBBB]

Try flyers at the local colleges. Poor college students need money. Our local associatiin secretary teaches a half semester class at the local college where students can get credit and their license to officiate.

[JRutledge]

Usually the best recruiters are the officials themselves. You can put out all that stuff and appeal to high school and college students, but the best recruiters are usually the people that do it themselves.

Peace

[deecee]

its tough to get new guys, to much negativity with the job.

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by SNIPERBBB

Try flyers at the local colleges. Poor college students need money. Our local associatiin secretary teaches a half semester class at the local college where students can get credit and their license to officiate.

Seems like variations of this idea come up over and over again on this forum. Which got me to thinking.…are there any state associations that have affiliations with colleges and universities for the express purpose of recruiting and training officials?

A class led by a local association dude is an ok idea, but millennials want instant gratification, not another class. So maybe have some evaluators/scouts troll the fall intramural courts, ID those with potential, invite them to a free six-session mechanics series (perhaps provide free officials for a youth tournament or two in a camp-style format), get them registered (first year should be reduced or free) and then assign them some HS frosh games that very same fall (in addition to all the MS/youth ball they want).

Call me crazy but it just might work. And yes, some college students eventually move away (an inherent long-term risk), but not all of them. Plus, if you can model this in multiple states, over time the "move away" problem solves itself as a zero-sum game.


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[Terrapins Fan]

I appreciate all the advice. We are going to try to contact our two local colleges for possible recruits.

[Pantherdreams]

No gentle way to say this but go out and get some female officials. Same tactics you've been using and others have suggested but target female officials. Once you get them in the door there will be more special interest groups and support systems for them to have access to funds, upward mobility, and support in getting professional development. I know around here to try to promote female coaches and officials for female athletics there are more resources available to those young officials and coaches then there are for their male counter parts.

Also I can't speak for your situation but now that I've seen a couple of different leagues and assignors I would say be careful with the idea of earning your stripes. If you've got a good young official you have to get them in and expose them to the level they want to get to as soon as you can give them that experience. I'm not saying take a first year guy and put him in the league championship at varsity. But losing quality potential officials because they are young competitive interested people that get mired in youth games, middle school and bad freshman games for multiple years doesn't help you either. If they see goals as attainable and not just an accumulation of years in an old boys club they will be more likely to stay. They have to be good enough, but once they are they have to given the opportunity.

We sometimes get interested high school students in and the association covers their gear and fees while they are in high school. They get trained with us at our meetings and sessions and get to work mini (u-11) games and some low level middle school stuff. Then they are in the door early and can use officiating for money while at university.

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by Pantherdreams

Also I can't speak for your situation but now that I've seen a couple of different leagues and assignors I would say be careful with the idea of earning your stripes. If you've got a good young official you have to get them in and expose them to the level they want to get to as soon as you can give them that experience. I'm not saying take a first year guy and put him in the league championship at varsity. But losing quality potential officials because they are young competitive interested people that get mired in youth games, middle school and bad freshman games for multiple years doesn't help you either. If they see goals as attainable and not just an accumulation of years in an old boys club they will be more likely to stay. They have to be good enough, but once they are they have to given the opportunity.

This 100x.

I would add that the "wait your turn" mentality is also disrespectful to the game itself in that it directly blocks young and talented officials from getting to the level where the game needs their youthful energy the most (6A/D1 varsity and college).

Assignors have to take advantage of the competitive nature of good young officials in order to promote sustained service AND word-of-mouth recruiting.



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[bossman72]

Originally Posted by Pantherdreams

Also I can't speak for your situation but now that I've seen a couple of different leagues and assignors I would say be careful with the idea of earning your stripes. If you've got a good young official you have to get them in and expose them to the level they want to get to as soon as you can give them that experience. I'm not saying take a first year guy and put him in the league championship at varsity. But losing quality potential officials because they are young competitive interested people that get mired in youth games, middle school and bad freshman games for multiple years doesn't help you either. If they see goals as attainable and not just an accumulation of years in an old boys club they will be more likely to stay. They have to be good enough, but once they are they have to given the opportunity.

AMEN!

I always say there's a "glass ceiling" for the newer officials that needs to be broken. You are 100% right that good young officials who don't get a chance will just quit. Why put in all this time and effort if they're just going to be put on these garbage games?

Ask yourself this: what is one of the major causes people leave their regular daytime jobs? No opportunity for advancement. Same applies to officiating.

[BlueDevilRef]

Appealing to those who do mainly outdoor sports was what got me involved. I've done fastpitch for years and the need for something to do in winter was what drew me in. Try going to softball, football, volleyball, soccer assn meetings and recruit there. Those there will already be officials and know what's up

[bossman72]

Originally Posted by Terrapins Fan

What's the best form of recruiting new officials?

We currently run an ad in the newspaper and a spot on the radio. That's it. We get about 4 applications per year. We need 10 to 12 next season.

We are just now trying some new stuff for football in my area. We are holding a clinic this weekend designed for anyone who is interested in officiating from 10-2. Coffee/donuts provided and free tshirt to participants.

Made a PDF flyer with a link to a Google Forms to register for the clinic.

I sent an email to all officials in the district, all AD's in the district, and all head football coaches in the local D3 college conference to get the word out.

More importantly, I advertised on Facebook. For $20, the ad ran for 2 weeks. This seemed to get the most response and reach the most people. According to the statistics on the Ad, the post was seen by 9,424 people (2,711 organic reach, 6,713 paid reach) with 422 people clicking the link to view the PDF. I think this is a thousand times more effective than ads in the newspaper.

We got 11 people signed up for the clinic, which isn't bad. If we hadn't done this, we probably would have zero.

[Rich]

I worked underclass ball for 5-6 years before I got a full varsity schedule.

One thing people don't get is that for a new official to get a spot on a staff I have to cut another person or cut a few people back.

I had the occasion to get an email from an official who is in his 3rd year who told me he was proficient in 3-person mechanics and should get games. He'd In a pinch I sent him with an experienced crew and showed he had no clue how to work the system.

In the end, it's about assigner comfort to a certain degree. I can say this, however. If you took the time to communicate with me and express your concerns, I would either work with you or put you with a crew I trust and give you a fair shake.

Then again, where I live there are league assigners and not every game flows through one person, which is a better system, I think, for those who want to be seen and move up.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

I worked underclass ball for 5-6 years before I got a full varsity schedule.

I worked varsity in my very first year. By my second year the vast majority of my games were varsity level. Now I worked many more girls varsity that year than boys and still had to earn my right to get move boys varsity games and by my third year I had much fewer girls games than boys. I attribute that all to dedications and seeking training and advice. Many officials just work games and hope that they are given a chance. You got to put in the work and become a gym rat on some level if you want someone to have that confidence in you.

Peace

[Rich]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I worked varsity in my very first year. By my second year the vast majority of my games were varsity level. Now I worked many more girls varsity that year than boys and still had to earn my right to get move boys varsity games and by my third year I had much fewer girls games than boys. I attribute that all to dedications and seeking training and advice. Many officials just work games and hope that they are given a chance. You got to put in the work and become a gym rat on some level if you want someone to have that confidence in you.

Peace

I won't argue with you, but also understand that everything back then was 2-person and I lived in an area where even the BEST officials got no more than 2-3 days a week. They also worked ALL GV/BV DH, which cut opportunities even further. Rural area - Lots of guys, few games. Things improved for me quickly once I moved to a more urban area for grad school.

Here if I was a real go-getter, I could work 6-7 days a week and build a varsity schedule very quickly.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

I won't argue with you, but also understand that everything back then was 2-person and I lived in an area where even the BEST officials got no more than 2-3 games a week. Rural area - Lots of guys, few games. Things improved for me quickly once I moved to a more urban area for grad school.

Here if I was a real go-getter, I could work 6-7 days a week and build a varsity schedule very quickly.

I should have stated that this often took place when 3 person was coming in. My first varsity game was a 3 person game. The next season many of the games were 3 person, but not all. By my third year, almost every game was 3 person at the varsity level.

Peace