I think this is probably a theme that is abundant in many associations around the country.

In school, athletics, politics, work, life, etc., etc., etc......

Yup, and it's just the way it is.

One day I would like to ask the following question, though:

Rather than picking the same people for the 6th or more time, wouldn't it be better to identify qualified people who never got to reach out for the brass ring to work?

I mean, this is a very, very subjective business that we're in -- there's no way that someone can be SO good at this that it's a no brainer to take that person 6, 7, 8 or more times and there are people who are well qualified and do a great job on the court that it would hurt the quality of officiating to pick the person that never went.

Rich, are you saying that officials are calling State Finals many times in a row or that they are part of the playoff tournament year after year?

I thought most States had rules like Camron describes Oregon's. I believe my state is two State Finals and you are done. You have to go back to the beginning and work 2 years at each level of the tournament before advancing to the next. It would take at least six years to get back to a State Championship game.

Here, state (currently) is the semis and finals (and the quarterfinals in the big school division) played over the course of 3 days at the end of the season (boys play one week and girls another). If chosen, you get assigned to one game there. And that's what I was talking about.

The people that are selected are great officials, but there are other great officials who never get the call. I worked with 2 this year with over 30 years in who have dotted every i, crossed every t, and work a solid 3-person game who probably will never get chosen. And that's too bad.

In Oregon, the state begins with the quarterfinals at all 6 classifications. At each classification, both boys/girls are held at the same venue in the same week and includes 11 games each (the 7 towards the championship and 4 on the consolation side of the bracket). 12 officials are selected for each classification. Those 12 officials work all of the games through the finals....including consolation games...either 3 or 4 games each. Those 12 slots are allocated to each association proportional to the number of schools they service in each classification. Ours get 19 officials out of a total of 72.

The state (Oregon) limits officials to no more than any 2 tourneys in a 3 year period. There is no maximum.

Associations can choose to select their allotment of officials any way they wish. Ours has chosen to be more restrictive than the state....no more than 1 tourney every other year. Aside from that, we have a requirement that effectively says that of our allotment of 19 officials, 6 can not have been in the last 2 years. The first 13 are chosen by vote. The other 6 are independantly selected by the commissioner regardless of their vote position....as long as they meet the other state requirements (90% on the test and have taken the state training class). Our commissioner often uses some of those 6 picks to select people like what Rich described....great officials that have just not made it through the vote after many years...but also up-an-coming officials that just haven't gotten the recognition yet.

I Assume It's Not Basketball ...
 

What sport?

Underwater basket weaving!

Boys Or Girls ???
 

I thought that was a spring sport?

Not for girls.

I'm working the state javelin catching finals. EWWWW!

I'd like to add to Camron and Smitty's description of how officials are chosen for the State Tourneys. The process they described is how our assocation chooses the officials that we send to the tourneys.

There are six tournaments in Oregon, one per size category of schools. Associations ( I think there are 9 or 10 in Oregon) are to send a number of officials to each tourney based on the percentage of schools they serve in that size category. So our association serves about 2/5 of the 6A schools in Oregon, so we send the most officials to that size, but only two or three to some of the smaller categories where we don't serve as big a percentage as other associations. Each association chooses within themselves who to send, and different associations use different methods.

I Think You Need To Practice More ???
 

Congrats!
 

Congratulations to everyone who is selected to work a postseason tournament!
My postseason won't start until next Wednesday with a first round boys game.

Does That Count ???
 

I got a Catholic middle school second round playoff game.