In WA state "Associations" do boys and "Boards" do the girls. Both come under the auspices of The Washington Officials Association. We both wear the same patch, same clinics and most areas share the same pool of officials. The girls do have some specific rules ie 30 second shot clock, no backcourt 10 second count (but do have over and back once front court status is obtained) and closely guarded holding the ball (not while dribbling. Seems to work OK but it presents recruiting difficulties as most rookies want to work boys ball.

Not quite true for the whole State...the bigger areas - Seattle, Tacoma, Snohomish County, etc. - have Boards vs. Associations...us piddly little places have Assoc. for both...and btw: Snohomish is a Native American term meaning "the Mariners couldn't beat the Angels even if the Angels didn't show up at the stadium"...sigh....

[ Not quite true for the whole State...the bigger areas - Seattle, Tacoma, Snohomish County, etc. - have Boards vs. Associations...us piddly little places have Assoc. for both...and btw: Snohomish is a Native American term meaning "the Mariners couldn't beat the Angels even if the Angels didn't show up at the stadium"...sigh.... [/B][/QUOTE]

Actually it is true even though you may not be involved enought to be aware of it. You may all meet at the same time and place etc but you have an assignor for boys and one for girls (Ottini and Shaw if I remember)and two organizations even though it may be "all in one". If you do boys basketball (designated 1st sport) you must register with the "association" and if you also do girls ball you must register with WOA through the "board" as well.

DJ not involved enough to be aware?!? Wha.... ??

My thought exactlyJuuli...although I have no idea who Ottini and Shaw are, I have spent a number of years on the "board" of my local "association", and I know that the Evergreen Basketball Association has ONE assignor who does ALL HS games in our area - and we all work for ONE Association (already named)...we pay two different sets of dues to the State (WOA), but I belong to only one Association...so as I said before, the larger areas of the state blah, blah, blah...and now Snohomish simply means "the Mariners can beat the Angels every 5th time they play"...2-7, baby...2-7!

As I said, in Iowa, boys and girls are done separately at the state level. The Iowa High School Athletic Association (sorry, Juulie, but they only sanction boys' stuff) is not affiliated, technically, with the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. Assignments are generally done at the conference or school level, though, and most refs here do both. In Des Moines, boys' and girls' games are all assigned by the DMOA (Des Moines Officials' Association) by arrangement with the conference. I think our structure is actually quite simple compared to some I've seen; yet it's a bit more complex than sending postcards to the athletic directors.