Dissappointed official

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by REFVA

I have had the best season of my short seven season career. This is my third year doing Varsity games. Post season games start on Monday 2/12. we have a voting among the association. I'm not sure why becuase we don't follow the results. I was voted in many catagories with 8 and 9's with 10 being the best and my assignor only chooses to assign me one post season game. I even recieved great votes from the coaches. I am dissapointed tremedously. I never turned down any assignments not matter where or what they were. I was jerked around from location to location last minute many times. I was always praising and giving confidence to all my partner for trying their hardest and giving all they had. I went to 3 camps this year to learn as much as I could. I felt more confidence in myself. All he had to say was you earned it, but you didn't prove yourself. Yet he was never out there evaluating me, not once in seven years. I am ready to shelf this association. This association is true good ole boy network. One of my partner two weeks ago never did a game till this year and he had a Varsity level boys game he was one of my partners. I had to wait my way and work hard for my opportunity. This is a downer. I am ready to hang my sneakers... Do all association work the same way??

Do all associations work the same way as what? You only gave us your perception of your experience. I'm not going to jump to conclusions about your association based on that.

No association is perfect nor is any system. It sounds as if you are improving and advancing, even if it isn't as fast as you want. You got a playoff game this year. Congratulations.

If you love officiating, I don't think you should hang up your sneakers just because you did not get as many playoff games as you had hoped. But that is just me. You'll have to figure out that one for yourself.

[mplagrow]

Ask yourself why you got into officiating. Then ask yourself if you are getting out of it what you wanted to get out of it.

When all else fails, learn the serenity prayer.

[JRutledge]

Why are you complaining? At least you got a post season game.

BTW, the Serenity Prayer works well.

Peace

[Camron Rust]

You've only got 7 years behind you and you worried about only 1 post season game???

I had the opportunity to hear from one of our top officials recently when the topic of state tourneys was being discussed. This is a guy that goes to the top tourney in any year he is eligible. I found out that he worked 17 years before making his first (lower level) tourney. He's now at around 30 years. Imagine if he bailed after 7.

It's quite pitiful that so many young officials expect to shoot to the top in just a very few years when many of the ones there now worked for a very long time just to get there.

Keep working on your game and your time will come. It has nothing to do with "good ole boys". It's called experience and all the things that come with it.

[SMEngmann]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

You've only got 7 years behind you and you worried about only 1 post season game???

I had the opportunity to hear from one of our top officials recently when the topic of state tourneys was being discussed. This is a guy that goes to the top tourney in any year he is eligible. I found out that he worked 17 years before making his first (lower level) tourney. He's now at around 30 years. Imagine if he bailed after 7.

It's quite pitiful that so many young officials expect to shoot to the top in just a very few years when many of the ones there now worked for a very long time just to get there.

Keep working on your game and your time will come. It has nothing to do with "good ole boys". It's called experience and all the things that come with it.

As a younger official I'm gonna have to take issue with some of the things that Camron said here. I think it is very good for officiating that young officials put the time and the effort required to get to the top and if they make it, they deserve to be there. I am fortunate to be in an area where there are plenty of opportunities for younger officials, but there are many others who aren't that fortunate and they are stuck in groups where it takes 5 years to just get a varsity game, and another 15 to have a shot at playoffs. Young officials are the future of officiating and the future caretakers of the game and the avocation, by refusing to give them games that they deserve, or by telling them to pay their dues, while inferior officials work the big games constantly only leads them to quit.

I don't know how it was in the past, but now I know a lot of young people dedicated to officiating who are students of the game, constantly attend camps, know the rules inside and out, are in great shape and learn from some of the top officials around, and do so 365 days a year, working many games to get better. Many of the older officials have stopped going to camps and have grown deficient in 3 person. The young guys pay their dues and should be so rewarded with games that they deserve, so it is baloney to say they haven't paid their dues just because they haven't toiled in the lower leagues for 15 years.

In regards to the OP, I don't think you should quit after 7 years or blame politics. If there's another venue in your area to pursue officiating (another association), try it, even if it means a longer drive. The playoffs are a different animal from the regular season, and experience plays more of a role in these games and how to manage them. If you earned your way onto the playoff list this year, be honored, learn from your game this year, and continue to work hard and you will move up. Give the assignor the benefit of the doubt in terms of him having your best interests at heart, it is always better to be a little late and ready than too early and in over your head.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

As a younger official I'm gonna have to take issue with some of the things that Camron said here. I think it is very good for officiating that young officials put the time and the effort required to get to the top and if they make it, they deserve to be there. I am fortunate to be in an area where there are plenty of opportunities for younger officials, but there are many others who aren't that fortunate and they are stuck in groups where it takes 5 years to just get a varsity game, and another 15 to have a shot at playoffs. Young officials are the future of officiating and the future caretakers of the game and the avocation, by refusing to give them games that they deserve, or by telling them to pay their dues, while inferior officials work the big games constantly only leads them to quit.
.

Hold on now.

I'm not saying ALL younger officials should have to wait. There are some that should and do move up quicker. However, there are a lot more that think they should that just simply aren't as good (yet). I know. I used to think I should have been getting better games over other poeple. Only after I worked a few more years have I learned that I didn't know what I didn't know.

In our area, it does take an average 5+ years to get to the first varsity assignment. It can be and has been done faster and can take longer (and never for some). There ARE a handful of 20-25 year-olds working varsity and SOME even the top varsity games. But, even if the rest THINK they're just as good, they're simply not. (of course, that applies to all ages, but it's more prevalent with younger officials).

If the upcoming official is only equal and not better, they don't deserve to displace someone who is already there. Why should the person who was there first have to give up games? Yes, to move someone up, someone up must come down. Some do need to step down but is it as many as there are young officials that think they should be moving up? No.

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

I don't know how it was in the past, but now I know a lot of young people dedicated to officiating who are students of the game, constantly attend camps, know the rules inside and out, are in great shape and learn from some of the top officials around, and do so 365 days a year, working many games to get better. Many of the older officials have stopped going to camps and have grown deficient in 3 person. The young guys pay their dues and should be so rewarded with games that they deserve, so it is baloney to say they haven't paid their dues just because they haven't toiled in the lower leagues for 15 years.
.

A lot of those veterans spent many years learning the game and going to camps just the same. Just because they haven't been to camp in a few years doesn't mean they forgot everything. It really hasn't changed THAT much.

There is also a thing called loyalty. I know it's a tough thing for some young guys to understand. If the older official can still do the job, and have bailed the assingor out of bind after bind, year after year, they deserve to get and a good assignor will keep them the varsity games until they either can no longer do it or want to retire. You don't push people out just to make room for new people. Just like any venue, you've gotta be better than the guy there to knock him out of the spot...not just his peer.


Think about the numbers too. In our association of about 330 people, we cover from 7th grade through varsity and have, at most, ~30 boys 6A varsity games per week out of a total of about 600 games per week. Only about 25% of the games we cover in an average week are varity games (boys AND girls). That means only about the top 75 officials are going to get a varsity schedule on a regular basis with a few others (20-30) getting occassional assignments....and that is ALL varsity games from 1A to 6A, not just the big games. That means 75% get few, if any, varsity games. It's simply math, there are not a lot of the "good" games to go around.

I don't think anyone can devise a way to, on a broad scale, move young officials up fast without pushing older officials out. To make room for the new official, you'd have to push someone out. It would mean the career span of an average varsity official would be no more than about 5 years. So, you'd have to keep that recruiting and training pipeline humming like an assembly line. But, its a lot easier and more effective to use officials through their useful career life rather than ending it prematurely to make for for an impatient newcomer.