assigning games- issues

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally posted by blewthat
I am sure that some of you assign games and I wanted feed back about how it is done in other areas. I just left an area where they have one assigner who assigns games and he does the assigning a month or two before the season starts. I was going to start varsity basketball this year. Instead, I get to my new area and discover that the assigners, there are many, do their assigning two years in advance. I have been seen by a couple of the assigners and they all say they would give me varsity games right now except all of them are filled. Not only are they filled this year but they are filled for next year as well. So I can only get varsity games starting in 2006-7. Are you kidding me?

Why in the world would you assign games years in advance. How tough is it just to assign a couple months before the games start. It was never a problem in my last area and I cannot see why it would ever be a problem unless you are so lazy that you cannot get it done in a month.

How can I agree to a contract for next year, I have no idea what my life will be like next year. I am an official who moved up quickly through the ranks, 2 years in JV and now starting varsity, but now I have to waste two more years of JV ball because the assigners have this system of working years in advance. I think it is completely lame and it really hurts the "new" guys in the area: guys getting back into the game after taking some time off, guys that move, and guys that are ready to move up a level.

Do other areas assign like this or did I just get lucky?

Sounds like you moved to Ohio. OhioHSAA rules currently allow schools and OhioHSAA Certified Assignors to assign games as far as two school years past the current one. At one time schools and leagues could assign as far in advance as they wanted. I know it is goofy but that is how it is done at the varsity level and in some cases at the jr. varsity level.

When I attended college in Miami in the mid-70's, we received our Greater Miami Athletic Conference Basketball Officials Associaion (all of the public schools and the two largest Catholic schools) and our South Florida Basketball Officials Association (all other schools in Dade County) assignments every two weeks. I do not know how it is done in Dade County now, but I know that several of the LOA's across Central Florida give their officials their assignments before the start of the year and it is for that season only.

When I lived in Los Angeles (1982-84) the Los Angeles and Southern California sections of the CIF required all of its officials to submit their availability for the comming school year in September and the assignments were mailed out in October.

I know of one urban myth here in Ohio, where an basketball official died during the off season and his wife did not bother to let assignors know that he was dead. But the best story is a true one. The officials for the Regionals and Finals are assigned by the main office of the OhioHSAA in Columbus. Three years ago the OhioHSAA assigned an official to a state championship game, who had been retired for two years and was living in Florida. No one can figure out how it happened because it was obvious that the official had not attended an LOA meeting or State Rules Meeting in two years.