referee has family in high school game
 

my high school team is in a 1a division that is made up of seven schools. two of the refs that is working our games are brother-in laws. they have a nephew that plays on a team that is in our conference. they always work together at the game. should they be booked in our conference or ref at their nephews games?

No, perception is reality IMHO.

Unless there are just simply no other choices, this does not protect the fairness and integrity of the game. No way.

It's up to the folks involved in scheduling. Personally, I would avoid such a game, but I live in a larger city where there are plenty of schools and plenty of officials. Smaller towns may not have the same luxuries.

I can say this...I did a game the other night were the brother of the head coach was my partner. The opposing coach also new it. My partner called a great game with complete unbias but the knowledge of this made the coach feel he was being "hommerd". It caused a lot of problems for me. The coach was constantly on me about being on the same page with my partner. So I guess what I'm saying is it's not easy and would probably avoid it if at all possible.

Let's call the teams 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. If the nephew is on team #1, I would be okay with those two officials working any game not involving team #1, but I can see the point of those who believe that they should refrain from games in that conference altogether.
My state has a regulation preventing an official from working a varsity contest involving a relative. I would avoid the situation even if there were no such prohibition here.

I think it is fair to say, its ok for them to work the conference, but not the game involving a family member..

May not be true. What if they work a game in which a certain team losing would greatly benefit their nephew's team? Or what if one of the teams in that game plays their nephew's team next and they eject their top player so he must sit out that next contest?

There can be many problems.

Happened here too!
 

Happened to my team too!
The team I serve as official scorer for visited another league school.One of the officials was the uncle of a guard on the host team.The crew did a good job but even the appearance of impropriety should be avoided.That means turning the game back!

Note-This is the second time in two years that uncle has officiated a league game that his nephew's team participated in.

Concur About Perception.....
 

I can certainly understand it......

We have two Associations here. One is larger, closer and does my kids' school/conference. The other is smaller, further away, and more spreadout. I joined the smaller, further away Association because I was prohibited from doing my sons' school or anyone in the Conference (understandable). While I have a much longer drive for my games, it turned out to be a good move for me in the long run.

One of my regrets though is that I coached a lot of kids for many yrs and now as they approach their junior and senior years of HS, I rarely get a chance to see their games. Oh well, that's by choice.

I have done a few of their JV/V Summer HS League Games though. Close as I'm going to get.

From Our Code Of Ethics And Conduct ...
 

Board members shall recognize that anything which may lead to a conflict of interest either real or
apparent must be avoided. Gifts, favors, special treatment, privileges, employment or personal
relationship with a school or team which can compromise the perceived impartiality of officiating must be
avoided.

I remember a few years ago a stink was raised about Rick Hartzell (AD at Northern Iowa) working games outside of his conference that could affect UNI's Tournament prospects (bubble teams and all that).

I'm not sure how much you took, but I certainly wouldn't put up with a coach insinuating he was getting cheated, even in this situation.

How far does it go? Should Hartzell be forced to give up working D-I basketball cause he's an AD at a D-I school?

Around here we have a lot of conferences. I live in town A, been here for 2 years now. We get games 2 years in advance. I worked the last 2 years in town A (one game each season). I have no ties to the community, no kids in the district (yet). There's no way I was turning them back. I work about 6 games a season in town A's conference. I'm not cutting my schedule back by 6 games to avoid the conference.

And if you look at subvarsity, many schools hire district teachers and local residents to work those games. Nobody bats an eye at that.

So you are saying that if someone thinks there is a conflict, there is a conflict? That opens up a whole lot of cans of worms if that is true. ;)

Peace