2 person varsity crews this year

[SC Official]

It really does not matter what we want or what we think is best. The schools that use 2-man for subvarsity do not care that "subvarsity officials need 3-man experience before moving up to varsity." That is not something the schools give a damn about; unless they see the benefit that we can see as officials, their response will be that someone on the subvarsity crew needs to work for free or the crew needs to split the 2-man fee amongst the three of them.

And quite frankly, a lot of inexperienced (heck, even some veteran) officials just watch the ball, and it's very obvious to even non-officials. The ADs will say, "Why would we pay a third set of eyes to just ball-watch?" And on that point, I would understand their perspective. Sure, we as officials all went through that stage and most newbies grow out of it, but again, the schools don't always see the long-term. I've worked my fair share of 3-man subvarsity and varsity games with officials whose heads move wherever the ball goes; every time coaches/ADs notice that, the argument for paying three officials loses merit in their eyes.

If the high schools in SC wanted to only pay two officials for varsity games, I guarantee you that's what would happen. When the schools are writing the checks, they call the shots. And more often than not, they do not care what we think. Obviously the situation in Iowa is much different due to there actually being a shortage of officials.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by SC Official

If the high schools in SC wanted to only pay two officials for varsity games, I guarantee you that's what would happen. When the schools are writing the checks, they call the shots. And more often than not, they do not care what we think. Obviously the situation in Iowa is much different due to there actually being a shortage of officials.

You are right, they could do whatever they want. But those decisions have consequences. And if you want to maintain officials to work your games and get the officials you want, then you better make some decisions that do not alienate those groups of officials. And schools have to stop acting like we must go along with them, or they will be in a situation where games will not be played at all because you cannot get officials. Or they will complain of the quality.

We already are not getting officials into the arena to begin with. Keep making it harder for the veterans and you will have them making decisions. They can be stubborn all they want to but their attitude is often the reason people never want to officiate or stay in the early stages.

Peace

[SC Official]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

You are right, they could do whatever they want. But those decisions have consequences. And if you want to maintain officials to work your games and get the officials you want, then you better make some decisions that do not alienate those groups of officials. And schools have to stop acting like we must go along with them, or they will be in a situation where games will not be played at all because you cannot get officials. Or they will complain of the quality.

We already are not getting officials into the arena to begin with. Keep making it harder for the veterans and you will have them making decisions. They can be stubborn all they want to but their attitude is often the reason people never want to officiate or stay in the early stages.

Well, I guess I'm glad I don't have to worry about that being an issue here. As far as I know, there aren't any schools wanting to cut back to 2-man for varsity. At least, we never hear about it in meetings or other communications. As long as we have our current rating structure and allow the state office to control varsity assignments, this isn't an issue we will run into. We have quite a few other issues to worry about.

Also, motion to ban the phrase "bigger, faster, stronger" from this forum.

[ilyazhito]

SC Official, I understand your position that it does not matter to the schools what we think is best. My statements on where we need 3-person crews and where we should have 3-person crews are more from a training and development standpoint, and what I would consider good practices for an association varsity development program to have. Perhaps this would be a good starting point for officials associations to negotiate with state association (if varsity assignments are handled through the state), schools/school systems (if individual schools sign contracts with associations), or conferences (for states using that system) on arrangements that would be in the best interests of all involved, including the officials themselves. There are many articles on the shortage of officials and the need for new officials.

However, there are other forms of attrition that no one is paying attention to, and that may be eating away at even the varsity level soon. Older officials will retire. Good high school officials will get picked up at the college level, and if they move up to the Division I level or get hired to work professional basketball, say goodbye to using them for high school assignments. They may be able to stay on as association commissioners (Tony Brothers is the commissioner of Peninsula Basketball Officials Association (IAABO Board 125) in Virginia) or as trainers, but they need to be replaced with quality trained officials at the varsity level. These replacements will be taken from the subvarsity level, so there need to be training programs that associations use for both non-scholastic and scholastic basketball to meet their needs. For instance, if a JV official isn't getting enough 3-person experience from a subvarsity schedule, give him a men's league or travel schedule to get him 3-person experience, preferably with other varsity/college officials who are not assigned that day, so he can learn from better officials as he prepares to make the jump to varsity.

JRutledge, I totally agree with you on being an independent contractor, accepting games from different sources, and schools acting as if officials must follow their lead. I am no longer exclusively a member of Board 12 (and have not been for the past year), but I have been joining other boards, and will have some men's league games, if not varsity games, specifically to work on my 3-person game, get to know college officials, and work with them (Matt Myers uses high school and college officials to work the men's leagues that he assigns).

Would the terms "have better athletic ability" or "too athletic" work better?

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

...

However, there are other forms of attrition that no one is paying attention to, and that may be eating away at even the varsity level soon. Older officials will retire. Good high school officials will get picked up at the college level, and if they move up to the Division I level or get hired to work professional basketball, say goodbye to using them for high school assignments. They may be able to stay on as association commissioners (Tony Brothers is the commissioner of Peninsula Basketball Officials Association (IAABO Board 125) in Virginia) or as trainers, but they need to be replaced with quality trained officials at the varsity level. These replacements will be taken from the subvarsity level, so there need to be training programs that associations use for both non-scholastic and scholastic basketball to meet their needs. For instance, if a JV official isn't getting enough 3-person experience from a subvarsity schedule, give him a men's league or travel schedule to get him 3-person experience, preferably with other varsity/college officials who are not assigned that day, so he can learn from better officials as he prepares to make the jump to varsity.

...

Who says no one is paying attention? Everything you just typed is stuff I've been hearing (or reading in this forum) for over a decade.

[ilyazhito]

I don't know if the public (or powers-that-be) have been paying attention. Some associations have varsity development programs, where officials are taught 3-person mechanics, work non-scholastic 3-person games attend dedicated camps, and are evaluated for progress to the varsity level. My modest proposal is just for more associations to implement this, and a more expanded vision of what such programs should look like.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

I don't know if the public (or powers-that-be) have been paying attention. Some associations have varsity development programs, where officials are taught 3-person mechanics, work non-scholastic 3-person games attend dedicated camps, and are evaluated for progress to the varsity level. My modest proposal is just for more associations to implement this, and a more expanded vision of what such programs should look like.

Who are these "powers that be" you speak of? Camps in our state are a required part of our licensing. We must attend camps in our particular sports every three years. In basketball, that involves attending 3 person camps (the only sport that has an on-court requirement on some level). There is nothing in the requirements that require we must work scholastic games. And almost always associations or assignors run these camps. I am a certified clinician in my state and I ran two camps for two different associations. I also attended a camp in another state that ran a camp that was organized by the LOA. This has been the case for over 20 years BTW in Illinois. The structure is a little different, but basically, associations have been running camps almost my entire career. Nothing new or special needs to be shared. Remember you just got into this, some of us have been doing this for years.

Peace