Referee Shortage Discussion-- 127 unfilled varsity games

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Why don't associations call up more JV guys to do varsity, especially JV guys who do have 3P experience? It would be a great learning experience for the JV official to work with veterans in the R and U1 positions (correct me if I am wrong, but R's and U1's handle most of the game management responsibilities, although U2's do contribute on adjudication and calling technical fouls if needed to preserve order), to gain a feel for varsity games pending a full (er) varsity schedule in future years. It would also be great for the veterans, who will have opportunities to teach younger officials, show leadership, and work alongside talented officials who are still receptive to new ideas.

Note: I am NOT advocating that ALL JV officials be promoted (some will not be able to work varsity games), rather that there be a transparent timeline and pipeline to enable that process to happen. Some associations have "swing" officials who can work at both varsity and JV levels, so that might help, particularly if an association is short on people. A JV crew with 1 swing official can leave the 1 swing guy behind to join the other 2 varsity officials for the varsity game.

That is not how 3-p works.

A weak U2 can destroy a game as fast as anything. Once the game starts, the U2 is just as important as the R for all practical purposes.

3-p is more complicated and many JV officials just aren't not ready to add that. They've got enough to work on without complicating it with 3-person mechanics.

JV officials are brought in in phases similar to what you suggest (in most places). Few have exclusive varsity rosters and exclusive JV rosters. There will often be people working both to some degree.