Associations ratings

[Ohioref3]

How do different areas around the country rate their officials. Where I come from we rate our top varsity officials 1a and 1b. 1a and 1b are the top boys varsity officials. We then have 2a which would be our top girls varsity officials and 2b which would be our lower rated girls varsity officials. We then have 3a and 3b which is our junior varsity and freshman officials, then the last rating is 4 which is our new officials. We re-rank all the officials with our evaluation and ranking committee after the summmer is over and the officials that attend camp and work summer ball that are evaluated are the first officials that we look to move up.

I know some parts of the country use different rating systems. Do you like splitting the officials up and ranking them either a boys varsity or girls varsity official?

What is the criteria involved in moving an officials ranking up or down?

What systems do you feel work the best in determining a rating and the actual ranking system?

[LarryS]

In Texas, officials earn points...0-74 is Div. 5…75-299 is Div 4…300-749 is Div. 3…750-1499 is Div 2 and 1500+ is Div. 1.

Points are earned as follows:

Attend State Meeting = 25
Regional Clinic = 15 (Max 1 per year)
TASO Camps = 5 (Max 2 per year)
District Meeting = 2 (Max 2 per year)
Test Score = 8 (90+), 4 (89-80), 2 (79-70)

Maximum of 60 points from these, to which is added 2 points for working a 3 hour scrimmage, 1 point for each sub-varsity game and 2 points for each varsity game….Max of 100 points per year.

As for the type of games…in my chapter D5 and the low end of D4 get strictly sub-varsity at the small schools and/or lesser programs…upper D4 and lower D3 get sub-varsity at the larger schools and a LITTLE small school and/or lesser program varsity…upper D3 and lower D2 get mostly varsity at mid sized/mid level schools…extreme upper D2 and D1 get the big schools/upper programs.

Obviously there are exceptions. There are some officials in our chapter that have a lot of experience but, for whatever reason, cannot document “points” from another area or state. They will get what the Assignment Secretary feels they can handle. Similarly, if he thinks you have stepped up your game to a point higher than your point total would suggest he adjust you schedule (this is what I am hoping for). You may also get a “test” early in the season by having him put you with a strong partner(s) in a bigger game to see what you can do.

Many in our chapter complain about their schedule but I think he does a fair job. I usually tell the complainers to do what it takes to improve your schedule or stop complaining. I know what was working against me last year and have taken a lot of steps to fix those problems. Early feedback at camps has been very good. My best chance comes in three weeks when our chapter puts on their three-whistle camp.

[garote]

In Utah we have 2 rankings, one for men's and one for Womens.

100,150,200,250,300. 100 being the highest.

so you can have a 100m/100w rating or any other combination.

The ranking are done by evaluations, board member observations..etc


JV same but start at 400 - 700

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by Ohioref3

1a and 1b are the top boys varsity officials. We then have 2a which would be our top girls varsity officials and 2b which would be our lower rated girls varsity officials.

How do you get away with rating officials differently for boys and girls?...seems like the state assn. or the local NOW chapter would freak out if they heard something like that. Not saying I disagree, but I don't think I've ever seen it spelled out as a "lesser" rating.

[tjones1]

Here how it works in Illinois. Rating of 1 through 5 can be given. Here's how they are defined (from our Sports Official Handbook):

1 = State Final Official -- Must be good enough to be assigned to the State Final Tournament. Must be in the top 10% of all officials in the following categories: rule knowledge, physical appearance, mechanics and signals, positioning, game management, attitude/professionalism, consistency, judgment and reaction to pressure.

2 = Sectional Level Official -- Must be good enough to be assigned to a Sectional tournament. Must be in the top 25% of all officials in the following categories: rule knowledge, physical appearance, mechanics and signals, positioning, game management, attitude/professionalism, consistency, judgment and reaction to pressure.

3 = Regional Level Official -- Must be good enough to be assigned to a Regional tournament. Must be in the top 50% of all officials in the following categories: rule knowledge, physical appearance, mechanics and signals, positioning, game management, attitude/professionalism, consistency, judgment and reaction to pressure.

4 = Varsity Level Official -- The official is good enough to be assigned to varsity contests but needs more game experience to become a Regional level official.

5 = Lower Level Contest Only -- This official should be assigned to lower level contests to gain more game experience to become a Varsity level official.

[TwoDot]

Montana rates officials into three categories. Master, Certified and Apprentice. You must be a certified official to work varsity games unless there is a shortage of officials in an area. Post-Season work is mainly Master officials, some certified can work if shortages in one area.
Apprentice officials are new officials less than 2 years experience. To move up to Certified takes two years score 70% on open book exam, and have approval of the pool assigners. Certified to Master takes another 2 years, score 80% on closed book exam and approval of assignors. Should also have worked 10 varsity contests. Also, all officials must pay dues on time and attend rules clinic each year or lose rating.
No Difference any more on boys and girls. They consider it one sport.

[rainmaker]

Put me in the group of people who don't understand rankings that put a top women's rating lower than a top men's rating. Or if it's high school, then boys/girls. Are you really saying that boys' refs are better than girls' refs? Even if you believe that, it's hard to imagine institutionalizing it in that way. So I"m guessing that's not what your association means. But I bet it takes a lot of explaining of whatever the meaning is.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

How do you get away with rating officials differently for boys and girls?...seems like the state assn. or the local NOW chapter would freak out if they heard something like that. Not saying I disagree, but I don't think I've ever seen it spelled out as a "lesser" rating.

How about coaches? If they knew, they'd go nuts. "Why do the boys get the better officials!?!"

[dblref]

My association ranks you as sub-varsity, swing, varsity. Swing means you are varsity qualified, but your schedule is usually more non-varsity than varsity. As a varsity official, I am not rated as ladies vs men. A varsity official does both -- and IMHO, that is the way it should be. My varsity schedule last year was about 60-40 to the ladies' side and I had some really good teams. Because of the number of schools we have to cover, on some nights I will work a freshman game at 1 school and a varsity game at another school, or work the freshman game, sit out the JV game, and work the varsity game at the same school. The coaches are not allowed to rate us, but they can scratch 2 officials for the year. Each varsity official rates his/her partners each game. Near the end of the season (usually the next to last week), we submit ratings to the assignor, with copies to the association VP (also handles training) and once the season is over, I get a rating telling me where I rank within the varsity listing -- i.e., number 22 of 100.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

Put me in the group of people who don't understand rankings that put a top women's rating lower than a top men's rating. Or if it's high school, then boys/girls. Are you really saying that boys' refs are better than girls' refs? Even if you believe that, it's hard to imagine institutionalizing it in that way. So I"m guessing that's not what your association means. But I bet it takes a lot of explaining of whatever the meaning is.

I sincerely believe it (if we're talking about those who do ONLY boys and ONLY girls). Sweeping generalization and there are exceptions, but in general (on average) I believe this is the case.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by garote

In Utah we have 2 rankings, one for men's and one for Womens.

100,150,200,250,300. 100 being the highest.

so you can have a 100m/100w rating or any other combination.

The ranking are done by evaluations, board member observations..etc


JV same but start at 400 - 700

Those sound like Arbiter rankings.

[Zack]

Here in the Seattle area we have observers that rate us and just have a varsity and JV list. Varsity officials rate JV officials while we have paid observers rate varsity officials. We then use interpolation and spit out an average. Top 7 JV officials move up to bottom of varsity while bottom 7 varsity move down to top of the JV list.

Curious as to what they do in Wisconsin, anyone know?

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by Rich Fronheiser

Those sound like Arbiter rankings.

They are, although our ranking system may pre-date our use of The Arbiter.

[stripes]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

They are, although our ranking system may pre-date our use of The Arbiter.

Those rankings have been used here for at least 12 years...long before we started using the arbiter.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Zack

Here in the Seattle area we have observers that rate us and just have a varsity and JV list. Varsity officials rate JV officials while we have paid observers rate varsity officials. We then use interpolation and spit out an average. Top 7 JV officials move up to bottom of varsity while bottom 7 varsity move down to top of the JV list.

Curious as to what they do in Wisconsin, anyone know?

Wisconsin? We solicit our own games from schools and leagues. The state has 6 levels of officials and only L5 and Master (the top 2 levels) can work playoffs. To be Master (you can only increase 1 level a year, 2 if you attend a clinic), you only need score 90 on Part I and Part II open book, attend a state meeting, send everything in on time, and have a schedule of 16 varsity dates.

It was my 3rd year here before I became playoff eligible and my 4th before I became Master level even though I've been officiating since 1987.

The coaches rate officials on a scale of 1 to 6 for each game and they send those out in the summer. Not sure how the state uses those ratings and how much weight they receive.