Now that the off-season slump has set in, I just wanted to hear from some of you who work more than one league/conference. How do you deal with scheduling for more than one assignor, especially when both want schedules at the same time (i.e., you can't see how many games you have with league A before you submit your availability to league B)?

Not a whole lot you can do.
 

I think it depends on the guys you work for. Or better yet where you want to work. I deal with guys that have games literally all over the state. So I summit different availibility sheets, if for no other reason because I would rather work closer to home on certain dates. I would not like to be going very far on weekdays, or days I know that I have to work or tend to other obligations. Or better yet, sometimes you know what assignors are used to giving everyone. Some will assign you 2 or 3 games no matter what. So you do not have to worry about them interfering with you other schedules that much. But some schedule you 10 games if you are open, and unless you want to do 10 games in their league and see every team in that conference. Or worse, see the same team 2 or 3 times, you just limit the amount of games you are availible for.

After all the availibility sheets are in, then I just take what comes in first. After that there is not much you can do about it. Unless you know that giving back games is not going to hurt you. And sometimes I do will do that or have to do that when assignors just send me games in the mail after not hearing from for months. I might have already been called by one assignor and taken a few from him.

I guess you just have to know your people. And ask them when they plan to assign the games and go from there.

Peace

For me, I have decided that assignor A is my #1 guy. I give him blocked dates only for family, work, etc. reasons. Guy #2 gets all of the family, etc. dates and the dates taken by guy #1 and so forth until my schedule is filled.

stripes, what do you do if assignor A and assignor B want your availability at the same time? i do essentially the same thing as you. my college assignor gets a wide open schedule, then a month later, my HS assignor gets a wide open schedule minus my college games.

but i understand that some guys have multiple assignors for the same level of games. what do you do if two HS assignors want your availability around the same time? just curious.

chuck

P.S. -- sorry for all lower-case. i just got done typing some informal emails! bad habit.

I basically work for five different assignors for high school varsity and it isn't as chaotic as one might think. Three of the five meet before sending out contracts to officials, so they prevent overlaps there. I get contracts from those three and one other late in February, accept or reject the dates individually, send the contracts back in along with the availability sheet. The fifth guy gets what's left over as far as dates, as do any JV tournaments, etc. Not too bad since they don't ask for availability sheets before sending out first wave of games, they assume you are wide open and if they hit a date where you aren't you just reject that particular date and accept the rest. Then a month later you get the second wave of calls to fill in for the "rejects" based on the availability sheet you provided. Clear as mud?

Mark,

I work for five different assignors during the course of a season. They way I normally handle it is, I submit my schedule to them prior to each season and then let them fill it. I like to call it "a first come, first serve" type of set-up. I have a couple of assignors that are sometimes late with schedules, I try to save dates for them as long as I can, but I do not wait for a real longtime. I hope this helps.

John

WARNING!! Tangent Alert!
 

Ok, maybe this is a new "assignment" thread, but are you saying that you get assignments in February for games that are scheduled for the following February (the end of the new season)?!?! That's amazing. I get my college schedule (games start in November) somewhere around the beginning of October! I get my HS schedule on the second Sunday of December! HS games then start 2 days after I receive my season's schedule.

Honestly, I'm not sure which way sounds better to me. But have I read your last post correctly?

Chuck

That's probably the situation I'll be in, but I should have a slightly easier time (doing clock/book type stuff, I just go directly through the schools). Once game schedules come out in the fall, I'll block off home games for my college, then let the other two battle it out for days where both have games and need me.

Thanks for the good suggestions, guys.

I make a decision based first on money. Highest pay gets 1st priority. If that is equal then I go with who does (or can do) the most for me. If all things are equal I choose based on who I like most or who is easiest to work with. I guess it is totally self-serving, but that is how I decided to do it.

Re: WARNING!! Tangent Alert!
 

Yes, Chuck you have read my post correctly. I received contracts between the last week of February and the first two weeks of March contracts for the 2002-2003 season, sometimes as much as one year away. Not sure about NFHS, but I do know my state association has rules about how early they can send out contracts and they usually get them out immediately after that date. I think somewhere in between our two extremes would be better in both cases.

Not too hard really. I give each assignor (3 currently)
all my open dates then decide which ones I want to keep if
there's an overlap. Lots of "give & take" during Oct/Nov!

I guess that I am lucky in the fact that I only have 1 assignor -- actually 1 for HS and 1 for rec ball, but the same association. We do not individually contract with a school. Our association does all contracting. We give the HS assignor a "close-out" sheet in early August (our AA girls play in the fall) and again in late Nov. or early Dec. I receive a schedule for "fall ball", one for Dec. to mid-Jan, and one for the remainder of the season. Tourney time is handled separate. The rec assignor takes whatever days are vacant, but HS ball takes precedent, at least for me. Although, we have some officials (usually newbies) that do not do HS ball. Not sure I would want to work for more than 1 assignor.

Pluses and minuses.
 

What happen if you fall out of favor with that one assignor? What if you have to give back a game for a very legitimate reason, and he gets made at you and assigns you very little the next time?

Yes it can be a pain to have more than one assignor, but at least you have options. I only get about 2 or 3 from each. And believe me that is enough. Work too much more, than you have more possibilities of messing up or hearing complaints from coaches, or any other thing that can go wrong. I like it they way I have it, because I can scratch them just as well as they scratch me. I like options.

Peace

In HS conferences that I want to work in (9 conferences - 6 commissioners), once I get dates from the first conference, I send out a communication to the remaining commissioners advising them that I am filled on these dates. As other commissioners send me dates, I keep sending the remaining commissioners the updated fill dates. This process is repeated until I have heard from all the commissioners.

This is not too time consuming as it seems as email makes this very easy. In fact one of the commissioners sends dates via email to confirm before sending out contracts.

I can't believe some of you get your schedule only a week before the season starts. Coference commissioners here in WI are already scheduling Varsity level games for the 2003-04 season.

WOW! Although it must be nice to know about games two years in advance, I don't see how the schools do it. In all of my years helping out the athletic department, we never knew the basketball schedule until late October/early November at best! Even in college (where things are a bit more set), we don't have dates for the winter games until the beginning of October.