How do you get games?
 

I am curious how officals in other states get games.

Are all of your varisty games assigned through conferences or associations?
Do you go out and find your own games?
Or is it a combination?
What state are you from?

Here is my situation.
Two out of the three large school conferences have an assignor.
All other games are contracted by the schools. The official(s) are contracted as independant contractors. Play-off games are assigned by the state; the officials are independant contractors paid by the host site or by the state if at the state tournament.

In Northeastern Ohio most teams are in conferences. Most conferences have an assignor. All JV and Varsity games within the conference are assigned through this office (not every one does the freshmen games--usually they have separate assingors.)

Tournament games are assigned by the OHSAA.

All officials are independent contractors of the schools. MOst places make us fill out tax forms the first time we are there.

Texas has Chapters, and those Chapters take on schools. Schools have the choice of which Chapters they will use and at what levels (and in some instances Chapters have the choice too). Some schools will use one Chapter for their JH and Sub-Varsity games, then use another Chapter for their Varsity games. Most schools use one chapter for all levels in which they compete. As for little dribblers and rec leagues, usually that is left up to whoever runs the league in that area; however, our Chapter (in the past 2 years) has begun contracting with several Little Dribblers and Recreational Leagues to assign their games as well. Each Chapter has an assignor, and that person is responsible for handing out games. Officials can be members of more than one Chapter if they want to be. We have about 10% of our Chapter that has dual membership.

Each Chapter member must pay State Dues and Chapter Dues to be "in good standing" and receive games. Most Chapters also charge game fees for the assignment. Usually around $0.50-1.00 (LD & RL), $1.00 for JH and Sub-Varsity, and $2.00 for Varsity. In tournaments the fees go up a little.

Hope that helps.

In NW PA (District 10), we have 4 different assignors for the 7 regions. They assign the varsity games, and there are other assignors within the chapters that hand out JV games.

My area sounds very similar to yours. I work for 3 conferences that have an assignor and we fill in the rest of our schedule with schools that find their own officials.

In Mass.: HS conferences hire assignors for their games. I now work for three assignors -- who have games for five conferences. Travel leagues and AAU usually rely upon (different) assignors, but some towns like to hire their own officials.

For those of you that predominantly get games from assignors, associations, etc., do you have any say in the game fees?

Not really. You can turn games back if you want, but that's about it.

High School game fees in Mass. are set by the state HS athletic association. Fees for travel, rec leagues, tournaments, etc. are set by each league or tournament director. Your choice is to accept the fee or find another league to work.

Not at all. Fees are set by the conferences.

Georgia has associations and the state determines which schools we service. The bigger or better the association, the more schools with geography playing a role. The schools pay the association and we get paid at the end of the season by the association. State tournament officials are chosen and paid by the state after the first round. First round chosen by association and paid by home school.

In my area you need to get on the good side of the assignor(LOL). otherwise you either get poor games or he'll send you 100 miles away or he'll assign you games that he knows you won't make and say see he turned another down.

He assigns all games under contract with the association..

In Indiana it's a mixed bag. Right now I have to get some games from the schools themselves. I also work with one assignor and possibly another 1 to 2 more next season. The trend appears to be moving toward assignors and the assignors that currently exist have just gotten a number of schools to use them as assignors. I'm newer to the area (about 3 yrs) and still haven't figured out all of the schools that the existing assignors currently assign for.

Makes for quite a bit of frustration getting games.

Stand on a street corner with a sign that says, 'will ref for food'

otherwise, most games from smaller schools in Iowa are assigned by ADs for the schools. Some of the major conferences have assignors.

Here the AD contacts you or you contact them.

I beat up other referees in the locker room and take them from them. :cool:

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Only difference in this part of the state is one conference with larger schools that area long way apart. Those are assigned.

In WV we have a couple of conferences that have assignors for conference games. Out of conference games the school usually gets an official to assign the remainder of the games. This often leads to a LOT of sucking up by some officials and/or scratching the hand that scratches yours. The schools involved in each sectional "agrees" on the members of the crew and the state assigns the regionals and state tournaments games.

In NH, we have one High School assignor and all Varsity games are done through him. Most sub-varsity games are assigned through him, but schools have the option of doing their own assigning for this level. Pay is pre-set by the NHIAA for all high-school games. JH varies from site to site and you have to get those games from the league or the coach. Most of the time they will contact you about games.

In Missouri, you can assign your own games and/or join one of our local associations. If you live in a big city in this state, such as Kansas City or St. Louis, you most likely will join a association because those schools do not assign their own officials to ref their games. They use the local association to get their officials. Also with local associations, you have a better chance to get state play-off games. If you live in a small place, you can assign your own games and you normally do this around the area you live in.

I think it would help if you put what state you're from. I think that would be simpler than having 50 different responses.