Having been around the rec league for a couple weeks now, I've seen several of my constituants work. I myself have done two outings of 3 games and 2 games for a total of five. I'm also a helper dad/unofficial assistant coach for my son's team. In that capacity, during his games I've either been the scorekeeper or have run the clock. This has given me the opportunity to observe other officials that I work with or know of, do their thing.

What I have discovered is that these other officials have been offered comparibly more work than I. I've made myself available to work any night of the week with my assignor.

What I can say to my assignor to get more games?

Or, how should I go about asking him without putting myself in disfavor?

I enjoy being a referee and want more games.

Cyber,

Could be the other guys have been around longer?
The assignor knows them better?
Knows them to be reliable? (not saying you're not, just they are)
Has a good working relationship with them?

Give it time, keep letting him know you're open for more games, when they come up take them.

BTW, is there another assignor in your area you could take games from?

You have to make yourself even more available. With email, fax and sometimes phone call, you can almost all the time let it be known when you can work. You can also go to local association meetings more often or attend social functions more. Honestly, getting games is usually about being in the right place at the right time. And when you are asked, do not turn them down unless you really are not availible. I can speak for myself, I call people that I know will do the games if available, even when asked by someone else to cover games. Imagine what an assignor goes thru and he or she has hundreds of games to fill.

The more high maintanence you are, the less likely you will get called (I cannot work here, I cannot work on that night, I cannot work at that time). At least until you get a reputation and have made a name for yourself.

None of this necessarily has to apply to you, but just giving you suggestions to help you out.

Peace

Basically, your not going to take games away from established officials. If they've been doing 6 games a week for several years, the assignor is not going to cut games from their schedule to fill up a new guy's schedule.

Just let him know that if he needs anyone that he can call you (and be clear about when you are at work and if you can or can not leave work to take a game)...and accept whatever he offers when he does call.

A few things I've learned about assigners
 

Assignments are the easy part of assigning, and new guys don't get a lot of them. The more difficult part of an assigner's job is dealing with assignments that are turned back. New guys can get a lot of these. If you are in frequent contact with the assigner, you stand a better chance of being in the right place when he/she has an assignment to fill. I tell my assigners that they can expect that I'll be bugging them often, and if it gets to be a problem, to let me know. I also keep my bag in the car whenever I'm available to work, just in case I pick up a game. When the opportunity arises, take anything that's offered. When assigners start calling around, they start with the people who have told them yes in the past. Be that person.

If you can find an experienced official to work with and who will speak up for you, then he can be a huge asset in helping you get more games.

Also, if you're called to fill-in, go! No matter what you had planned, go! If you don't go, he won't call you back.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I'll be more persistent and make it a point to communicate with my assignor often.

This was my battel and what ppl are saying is right. I've made a name for myself by picking up SEVERAL last minute cancelations and what not. Also tell your assignor if your working for 2 assignors. Our assc has 4 regions and 4 assignors PLUS the 1 varsity assignor. We also have 700+ officials and 30,000+ games this season. And the number of officials is already dropping. So new guys in the chapter like me get more games as the season goes along. Also, attend meetings findo ut who your schedulers are and TALK TO THEM if they're not busy. Now I work for two assignors. And the 2nd half of the season one was kind of offended because the other one got a hold of me first to schedule me. I also tried for 3 weeks to get ahold of my main scheduler, gave up and scheduled with the other one. See - so i've probably black listed myself a little bit on that one. Everyone has great advice and thats what I've been doing. Also call your assignor evermorning at 8:30. Usually by that time he's got some cancelations. And then start calling after 1 or so. cuz he'll be in desperate need if someone cancels between 8:30and 11.And tell him he can depend on you on what nights and what dates if he needs a filler.

ace,

Why is working for 2 assignors such an issue?

Peace

I would advise against this. Letting him know you're available is one thing. Pestering him by calling, even once everyday is too much IMHO.


I don't think it's an issue as much as it is a courtesy. I work mainly for one supervisor. But if I book a game with a secondary supervisor, I call and close out with the primary as a courtesy. I would rather he not call me with an opening because I'm closed out, rather than calling me and me having to turn him down.

At least, that's why I do it.

Is this a regional thing?
 

I realize this is a regional difference, but would not an availability sheet cover this? Is there not a way to list what dates you are just not availible? I work for more than 2 assignors and the only issue with them is giving them your availability. They could care less who you work for. You might not be available for personal reasons, not whether you are working with someone else.

I was just curious, because I have heard guys say this before and wanted to understand why this was an issue. ;)

Peace

Availability is the key, if you can do 5:30 games, then you will get a bunch. I am a first year official and I had 7 games this month and 3 were added on to brind the total to 10. For January, I already have 13 games. I was also given a Varsity Game. I guess you must show interest. Not saying you arent, but just be patient.

If you have a pager or your company allows you to use your compnay pager (provided you have that) tell your assignor that you are avalable by pager for emergencies. My assignor likes that and has paged me a couple of times knowing I will call him right back and can be reached easily that way. Just another idea.

Re: Is this a regional thing?
 

I fill out a closeout sheet with the primary booking agent before the season starts. He assigns games in 2-3 week intervals. After I receive these assignments, the secondary booking agent calls me with his games. Then I call the primary agent back and closeout the new dates.

Keeps everybody happy.

I wish I knew. But my assignor thinks he "owns" me for the high school season. He certainly gives me a full schedule, but if I have an opening and try to back fill it with another assignor, he is not happy. He believes I am available on any day when he has not assigned me. And if a game is cancelled well in advance, he is especially sure I am available, since I had already committed to him.

When I questioned him about this, he was quite blunt: if I want a lot of games, I had better be available. If I am not available, he said he would not have many games for me. This guy simply does not like to make two phone calls.

This is why I asked.
 

That is just crazy to me. We have assignors in this part of the state, but they only have one or two conferences. An assignor might only have 10 schools to assign. And that assignor is not associated in most cases with a particular official's association. At least on the varsity level, at best I might be lucky if I get 3 assignments from that assignor. So it is almost by necessity that you work for more assignors and work a large area. We have an availibility sheet that we send to different assignors and they work off of that. Or one day you might get called (around this time of year) and be asked to go over next year's schedule. Around here, the more guys you work for, the better it helps getting assignments in other conferences.

When I was trying to work for certain assignors, the first question that is asked, "who do you work for." And when you start rattling off names, that helps you and they tend to like the fact that others think you are good enough to work varsity for them. But for the most part, I am staying in the area for lower level games. Just because they are played earlier in the day or evening and you do not have to fight traffic to get there. And that is very common among officials in my area to work for a lot of guys.

So if I piss off 1 assignor, that might only cost me 3 games. And I probably can pick those up with the other guys, depending on what I did with the 1 assignor that I made upset. If I double book or not show up, that can hurt me overall and word will spread around. And in some cases, different assignors do not even like each other. So if you piss of the right one, the others will not care that much.

Peace

Re: This is why I asked.
 

Crazy to me too, but I have to work with what I've got. My assigner has 5 leagues -- four for boys and girls; one just girls. That's a lot of games. He "owns" this corner of Massachusetts. Because of his huge store of games, other assigners are not happy with him, because they know his feeling about guys who work for multiple people. One assigner, with one league, begged me for just one or two dates. He said if he got one date from every ref who worked for the first guy, he would be all set.

I recently have been approached by several refs who are urging me to go to other assigners, but I have been reluctant. I like the games I get. I especially like that they are close to work and close to home. And I get as many as five dates a week, with the majority of them sub-varisty double headers. This is my fourth year and it's worked OK for me. But I know plenty of guys who absolutely will not work for this assigner and others who swear by him.

As another Bay State ref, I can empathize with you. I now work for 3 different assignors (HS, Juco, ECAC). What I do, is to give an empty availability sheet to my ECAC assignor (college games). When I get that schedule, I give my juco assignor an availability sheet with my ECAC dates blocked out. When I get my juco schedule, I give my HS assignor an availability sheet with my ECAC and juco dates blocked out. That makes everybody happy.

If after I've gotten all three schedules, I get an add-on college game, I immediately update my "unavailable" dates with my HS and juco assignors. That way they know not to "waste" a phone call on me later. Yes, that may cut down my availability for HS games, but oh well.

There is also the understanding that if I get called for a higher level game, I will be released from a lower-level game that I've already accepted. That doesn't make everybody happy, but it's the way it is.

I can't accept this thinking. To me, an assignment is a contract. I do not expect my assigner to replace me because "someone better" is suddenly available. And I will not back out of a game because I found "womething better" from someone else. If that costs me higher-level games in the short-run, I can live with it because I know that my integrity and reliability will be worth more in the long run.

That's crazy for me. Our local assoication elects booking agents for each sport. If we don't like someone, we get rid of him. He assigns all 5 conferences that we service. If there's a problem, I have one man to deal with.

There's one individual who assigns small private schools in our area. He's the secondary booking agent that I wrote about. I just work a few extra games for him, when I'm available.

Just because someone has an accepted arrangement with supervisors to do this does not mean they lack integrity or relaibility. While it may not be right for you, that doesn't make it wrong.

This is not a matter of integrity. I'm not calling in "sick" to my lower-level game, in order to secretly take a better one. I tell the lower-level assignor, "Bill, Lou needs me Wednesday night at such-and-such. I gotta turn back my Wednesday game to you". It's understood that if an official is needed at a higher-level game, that's where the official goes.

The first time this happened to me was several years ago before I ever got a varsity HS game. I was scheduled to do a 7th/8th grade game and my HS assignor called me and said he needed me at a JV game. Well, at that point in my career I was very excited to fill in for that JV game. But I was committed. So I told him that I was supposed to be at this other game. And the HS assignor said to me simply, "Well, you tell Bobby hi for me." And that was it. He needed me, so Bobby needed to replace me. End of discussion. That's just the way it works here.

It makes it a little tougher on the assignors, definitely, but it's great for officials, b/c you know that you will never be held back from a great opportunity b/c somebody's unwilling to "give you up" to another assignor.

I was taught differently. My board interpreter said we should never give up a game for a "better" one ... at least not if we wanted to advance. He told how he had a varisty game scheduled when he got a call to do a college game (on very short notice). He said "another time" and told us to do the same. The guy who called him thought he was crazy....better money, exposure, etc. I understand your position and why you hold it....I just don't think that way.

Here in New Jersey (Board 34)there are 2 assignors. One for independent and one for High School. We are told the first day of class that HS takes precedence. If you are assigned independent and the HS assignor calls, you are to accept the HS and then call the independent assignor and tell him you are taking a HS game, he will then find a replacement. This seems to work well for everyone involved (allows you to "move up" the ladder).

That's fine. And if, in your neck of the woods, that's how it's done, then you should do it that way. But if both assignors agree that you should go to the better game, you'd go, wouldn't you?

It is all about where you started.
 

I think also one of the reasons our system is that way, our area is too large to give all the assignments to one person. Also we do not have individuals that belong to one association.

But I understand that much of this is about what you always had to work under. But I for those that work for one guy, who does all your assigning, what if you piss off that one guy? Are you just screwed? I realize that some of you might have a vote to get them off, but if the guy that hates you, keeps his position and is never voted out?

Peace

Re: It is all about where you started.
 

This just happened to a fellow ref about a month ago -- just before the season started. He had a major falling out with his assigner with whom he had worked for two years over the number and type of games. He essentially "fired" the assigner. We are in suburban Boston and there are a lot of games available from many assigners. It meant he had to scramble to contact three of four new guys, and maybe travel a little further (emphasis on little) but it has worked out well for him. Since he is available for freshmen and JV (freshmen starts at 3:30), he is in a good position. There is always the need for refs for the early games.

Re: It is all about where you started.
 

It is about what you're used to. I can't imagine having to contract directly with schools like some of these guys do, but that's there way of life.

As for pissing off the assignor, it's probably best not to do that, no matter how many or how few you work for. ;)

Well here in Houston we've broken our sub-varsity assignments down to HISD; Northwest/West/Southwest; South, South East, Lower East; Upper East, Northeast, North. So thats 4 secretarys PLUS 1 Varsity official. 700+ Officials 30,000+ Games. However theres this one area of town that they have a hard time getting sub var. officials to show up for so a guy and his son(who are in good standing with the chapter) Took that area on since they live out there and are in good rep with the schools. They've negotiated better pay for this one school district/town to secure officials for everygame. They never have a no-show or one guy on the floor. The varsity officials sitll come from the chapter secretary. I live so far in the northwest corner that this area is only about 15 min away from me. Closer than most sites within the School District I live in. The outlying area who used to get no-shows schedule two weeks before the season for the entire season. The Asst. secretary for my area schedules 2 months at a time. My games in the other area have been filled for quite some time now. When I told my scheduler I was unavialable on some high school nights he asked why and I said I was commited to another obligation and he kinna figured the rest out from there and told me to go with my conscience. He's hurting for good officials on High School nights. But I was already committed to these other dates. He said he can fill MS games whenever but really needs the better officials on HS games. If something happens where Im free - He gets first dibs by 2:00 PM. After that my other scheduler has me for emergencys. Has it henderd me getting some games? yeah probably. I dunno what I'll do next year becuase I'll be game for all levels from both assignors. I guess work one HS night with one scheduler and the other with the other. But yeah... Usually one official doesnt work for two scheduler because of the regions and legistics of it all. But in this area things are a little different because of that outlying area. I try to make it up to the chapter sec. by working tourny games AFTER other games. Like i'll work 2 tourny games in the morning with one sec.- then have 2 more that afternoon/night with the other.

I thought it was a common thing for an assigner to understand if you "trade up" for a game. This isn't normally a scheduling thing since assignments trickle down from D1 to middle school. If you are needed at a higher level it can cost you. It can cost you money and let's face it we would do some games for free maybe but on the whole we do not do this for free. It can also cost you when you are trying to move up. College schedules normally reflect how an assigner feels about you. It increases from year to year until it levels off and then decreases. This is normally so some things may differ. If that college assigner gets turned down for a high school game how do you think he will feel? Even a JUCO assigner will normally understand if you get a call for a higher level game.