How to respond to assigners.
 

I accepted 5 games from Varsity assigner A. No teams. Just dates and times. Never worked for him before. Recommended to him by fellow officials. Send varsity assigner B new closed dates reflecting accepted dates from assigner A.

Assigner B gave me 14 games the previous season.

Assigner B sends me 14 games for this season some of which have dates which conflict with assigner A's dates. again no teams. just dates and times.

Four dates which conflict I could work both a 4pm and 7pm game (1 from each assigner). But I have no idea which schools i'll be going to and may have trouble getting to the 7PM game by 6:30.

HOW should I handle this?

Does the 2nd assigner have a turn-back policy?

No assigner is ever thrill with turnbacks.

Will give teams in the fall.

Most schools from assigners are about 40 minutes from each other. But in an extreme case could be an hour.

Understand that my answer my not directly apply to all the rules or policies in your area. But what I would do is simply take the first games given to you by the first assignor and tell the second assignor of the conflicts and why. Just simply be honest and that should eliminate most of the situation. Now if there are other policies in place that could change exactly what you do, but I treat my schedule as a first come, first serve basis.

Peace

If it were me, I point out to assignor B that I sent him a list of closed dates, and some of those dates conflict with what he gave me. Sounds like it's his fault to begin with, since you correctly updated your availability schedule. I'd never accept games from 2 different assignors which are that close to each other timewise. If it were a weekend and I had an 11am game and a 3 or 4pm game, that might be different, but a 3 hour weekday time window is too close for my comfort.

A multitude of things could go wrong:
- Like you said, you have no idea how close they are to each other. You can't predict traffic conditions on any given day. What if there's an accident on the road you expected to travel on? What if you get a flat tire? Suddenly the 45-60 minute arrival time before the 2nd game turns into 5 minutes or worse...
- What if something happens in your first game? Player gets hurt and the game is delayed while an ambulance is called. Game goes into OT. Double OT. The last thing you want is to let the style of game you call be dictated by where you need to be in an hour or 2.

Yes, you don't want to upset assignor B and turn back games, but look at it the other way: How do you think assignor A is going to react if it's 5 minutes until tip-off and he's only got 1 official at a game site?

Way too many what-ifs in my opinion. Turn back the conflicting games and just do 1 per day.

This is a difficult balancing act because you don't want to piss off one assigner so that he stops giving you games. Obviously, if the games are different levels, always accept the higher level game. I think most assigners understand if you have to turn back a game for this reason. If the levels are equal, I would make sure that you are somewhat available to each person. There are a lot of reasons why I believe this is the best policy, but I think the main thing is to try and keep as many doors open in your career possible.

Never go to overtime with a 4:00 game. Isn't that a rule in your area? :)

I've never had a game go longer than about 1:40 and most are in the 1:20 range so the law of averages would be with me. If you're sure the two schools aren't more than an hour apart, I'd go for the double assignments.

Maybe B made a mistake. Give B a call & tell him he assigned you on closed dates.

Maybe you told B you're working for A and they hate each other's guts and he did it on purpose. Give B a call & tell him he assigned you on closed dates.

Maybe B doesn't care about your closed dates, he expects you to take his games no questions asked. Give B a call & tell him he assigned you on closed dates.

(Getting the idea?)

Be honest & open with your assigners. Anything you do otherwise will get back to them eventually - then you look bad.

Add to that: When you call B, approach him with a question - "How do you want me to handle this?" not accusingly - "I blocked those dates and you gave me games then anyway"...your tone/approach can make all the difference in the world.

It sounds like Assigner B either made a mistake or expects you to accept his assignments. It looks like you are going to have to figure out how to balance multiple assigners.

Factors that can be considered are:

Long term potential- Which assigner has the most to offer in the long term. If Assigner A has 20 schools and Assigner B has 40 schools. B likely has more potential.

Assignment patterns- Does the Assigner give everybody 5 games regardless of seniority on the staff and skill level. Or does he give more games to his top officials.

Quality of assignments- Are one assigner's games more attractive than the others. Higher quality of play, more convenient locations, better partners all can make an assignment more attractive.

Which are boys' games and which are girls' games? :p

I disagree. You should keep whichever assignment you accepted first; unless you already have been told by the lower level assigner that he/she understands you may turn some back.

Turning back games because you got a higher level assignment is, IMO, unprofessional, tacky, and just plain rude. Again, this assumes you don't have at least spoken permission from the lower level assigner.

Oh my!!
Let the games begin.

This is where local standards are different. But I never think working a higher level game is unprofessional if you have been given a lower level game first. But if you have a contract you need to square that situation with who you first signed on with. And most official's goals are not to work lower level games and you cannot work post season games in many cases by working a lower level game. I do not care what level I am working, but if the Division 1 level came calling, I am working the Division 1 game six days a week and twice on Sunday. And if an assignor cannot deal with that, then I do not need to work for them. The key is being honest. I would only think that would be a problem if you tried to decieve the people involved or worked a similar level.

Peace

This is very dependent upon your location.

I work in an area where it's expected that you will turn back lower-level games for higher-level games. As long as you are good about letting the assignors know as much in advance as possible, you are fine. Even day-of calls to fill in varsity games take precedence over JV games.

Of course, part of that is that almost all JV and MS games around here are assigned 3-man, so having to go 2-man in a last-minute scenario like this is possible.

All of that said, I thought Dan_ref's advice was best. Call and simply say, "I was assigned 4 games on closed dates - what's your policy on closed dates?"

That's a biggie, at least it is in CO but there are professional ways to go about it. I took several upgrades this past season (lower-level for varsity not girls for boys) as I work for 4 different assignors. Never on game day though!!
First, I'd find at least 3 replacements options for him, then tell the assignor the "truth" about wanting the higher caliber game opportunity & ask for his blessings. And each time it was approved & the assignor even gave me congrats for landing the assignment. Of course whenever he needed a "favor" I felt obligated to work for him. I guess a two way street is what it all boils down to.

Thanks
 

Thanks. Emailed B with copies of emails of closed date. Gave him the option of keeping me on the games (if location is close to A's games). Let A decide what he wants to do.

More info. Both varsity assigners. More work from B. Better quality from A. Not sure of B or G games.

Reminds me this year I had a jr high date coming up and an assignor called with a good varsity game(Hey, they're all good) for that day. I called jr high assignor who I'm friendly with and he was a little put out. I was shocked. It was a week in advance, and I had a sub lined up. Most guys would say, have fun.

I should probably clarify. My problem with Tio's post was the word "obviously." It isn't obvious that you should take an upgrade, as there may be situations where an agreed-to contract should be fulfilled. Most lower level assigners would, I think, understand these things. But I would propose that there needs to be an understanding in place, or do what Ch1town talks about and work with the assigner to find replacements.

Bottom line, it's nowhere near "obvious."

I hope you meant let B decide what he wants to do. From your post, A seems to have done nothing wrong, and closed dates for you first. Seems to me like any decisions that need to be made are by you and/or B.

If I were A, and knew I gave you games before another same-level assignor (I agree with others that a JV --> V upgrade is a special circumstance), and you asked for my decision, then my decision would be to yank your schedule and say thanks but no thanks.

edit: I just re-read your OP, and you say that you've never worked for A before. I now stand by my suggestion even more, as this is definitely not the type of 1st impression I'd want to be making with a new assignor...

This is great advice. Assigning is done differently everywhere so you will need to talk to some veterans in your area and get their take.

Be honest and don't delay dealing with the issue.

The best thing to do is to find an assignor like ours who gives you 2 or 3 games all at the same place. Then you don't have to worry about traffic. ;)