Wanted, Reward, Dead Or Alive ...

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

... we wonder why we lose so many younger officials before they could possibly work varsity games.

Here, in my little corner of Connecticut, we used to have some strict local "years of service" rules regarding moving up the ladder. No matter how good an official was, they had to wait a minimum of seven years to get a full varsity schedule.

One year as an IAABO working "cadet". Three additional years as a subvarsity official. And three additional years as a "split' official, working both subvarsity, and varsity games. After waiting seven years, if one was evaluated as good enough, one would finally get a full varsity schedule in the eighth year.

No more. Our new local system involves observations by trained evaluators, so if one is good enough, one can work varsity games right away.

Now, fewer competent, proficient officials are "dropping out" after waiting for varsity games. It was a good change, a necessary change.