Wanted, Reward, Dead Or Alive ...

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by SC Official

I haven't heard of a young official getting impatient and just quitting, but a lot of the college students end up moving out of state for their real jobs, or just deciding they don't like officiating.

People moving shouldn't be an issue since people move both ways. In general, for every person moving out, someone moves in.

Originally Posted by SC Official

I'm torn. I understand "paying your dues" but think that has to be balanced with getting officials on varsity games when they are ready, if you really want to keep them and aren't just paying lip service. When 30-year veterans that haven't improved since their third year talk about how they've "earned" the right to work big games, that's an issue and discourages young officials who, quite frankly, are better. At the same time, I don't agree with pushing out the veterans who are competent and respected to make room for the "new generation."

So, somewhere there's a sweet spot but I'm not sure where that is. I think five years is too long as a general rule. I think being varsity-eligible in one's third year would be a good solution; if someone isn't ready then don't use him/her, but don't hold back the officials who are getting college schedules after two years (as I have seen).

Think about the effect of having a pipeline to put most new officials on varsity games in <5 years. To make room for them, you have to push people out the other end (those would mostly quit rather than step back to JV). Then, when the next generation of new officials wants those varsity games, you'll have to push the last group of "new" officials out too. You'll effectively force careers to be no more than about 10 years and will need an entirely new set of officials every 4-5 years. With as shorthanded as many groups are, you really can't afford to do things that reduce your numbers. You have to keep the older generation in just to cover your games. It is a balancing act. It is more of a problem with the younger generation expecting to shoot to the top fast. It isn't unique to officiating, it is a problem everywhere.