Unexpected email

[M&M Guy]

I guess I'm one of the unique people that deals with both the schools directly for some leagues, and through an assignor for other leagues. Most of the smaller schools hire the officials directly, so we deal directly with the AD's when it comes to contracts, getting paid, changes in schedules, etc. The schools set their own fees. The advantages are the schools don't have to deal with a "middleman" and pay for that service, so all of the available money for officiating goes directly to the officials. There are plenty of downsides as well - fees are widely different from school to school, sometimes a school will save time by hiring a "crew" instead of individual officials, so one official will now have the responsibilty of making sure they have a partner(s), and the obvious potential conflict where a school might hire officials they "like", instead of hiring the "best".

I also deal with 5 different assignors at both the HS and college level, and they all require/recommend that at least the "R" assigned to the game contact both the school and partners a couple of days ahead of time to verify the date and time of the game, and that the crew will be there. Also, any weather issues have been handled both by the school and the assignor contacting the officials. The schools still pay us directly, either by check the day of the game, or it is mailed to us within a week or so after. The assignors are paid directly by the leagues.

I'm not sure I like the "all or nothing" approaches. Obviously dealing only with the school can present problems if there is an issue between the official and the team/coach/player. However, I would think dealing only with an assignor or association can present its own set of possible problems, or conflicts of interest.

I guess there's no consistency from area to area. At least we all use the same rules...oops...never mind.