Arbiter assignors

[SC Official]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Arbiter allows assignors to rate their officials between 100 and 900. It also allows the games to be rated and even the specific slots on each game can have a rating range placed on them.
For example, the R on a D1 BV game may have a rating range of 100-200, the U1 could be 100-300, and the U2 could be 100-400.
A set up such as that allows for the auto-assign to place officials with appropriate ratings onto that contest. The assignor may also manually assign the contest, and while doing so the pull down menu will only show officials in the eligible rating range. Of course, the assignor may manually override these restrictions when necessary.

Conversely, restricting ranges for the R and U on a GJV contest to 400-700, would prevent the higher rated officials in the group from getting placed on these games and allow for opportunities for the lower rated officials.

Of course, the system is only as good as the info provided. It is completely dependent upon a quality rating of the association’s officials. If people are not rated properly, then the system will produce poor crews.

In South Carolina all varsity games are assigned out of Columbia. What you describe is pretty much exactly how they do it: rank all ~700 officials based on the formula we have in place, rank all the games then randomly assign and make adjustments. Based on your ranking you could be an R on all games, an R on non-region games only, or only an Umpire. Where the lines are drawn just depends on how many games and available officials there are on a given night. With about 200 high schools, on a busy Tuesday/Friday night they need about 300 officials.

We also still get paid mileage both ways here. Schools generally limit what they'll pay to ~60 miles one way so that's also a factor in assignments. And officials can limit their mileage, too.

This is certainly true. Our ranking system contains no component of on-court ability. It's essentially entirely test-based. While the exam "technically" only accounts for 25%, the other points are pretty much a given as long as you have five years of experience (we have peer ratings which are a joke). You can imagine how this affects the quality of officiating, but it is what it is. There's not enough backing for a significant overhaul and the coaches don't complain enough, I guess.