Patches

[eyezen]

Yes wearing a patch does not an official make, but it does, in the world of HS sports at least provide a minimal (and I do mean for extremely small values of minimal) amount of accountability to the state that the officials on said list has done at least *something* towards being an official in the chosen sport, namely having passed an open book test and sending in $45. Cause otherwise you know that there would be some school somewhere that would offer just anybody a game. Again, to us having a patch doesn't make you not "just someone". But in the eyes of the state and schools involved it does.

Typically in the college world, there is at least some person(s) accountable for every official that walks onto the court. Until the HS world moves fully into an assignor based system (which will never happen), then having an xxSHSAA patched official on a game shows both schools that he/she has at least a minimal (and again I do mean for extremely small values of minimal) amount of accountability towards working said game. That and he paid $45.