Billy Mac - IAABO
 

BM - I am a IAABO member and I thought that IAABO was a "teaching" organization??? How can the state board tell you what you can and can't work ???? It seems to me that the assingers don't want you to work becuasse the fees will be under what he would ask for and this is eventually taking money out of their pocket....

Looking foward to hearing your reply........

Like Glue, We Stick Together, Except When We Don't ...
 

They can't. They thought that they could, but when a few officials, and AAU tournament directors, started "rattling sabers", and throwing around litigious terms like "self employed", "independent contractors", and "restraint of trade", the state board, and thus our local board, put "their tails between their legs" and backed down.

Basically it was an attempt by the IAABO state board to increase AAU fees by creating a monopoly over all AAU assignments, like IAABO presently has over all public high school assignments, all high school prep school assignments, and a very large number of middle school assignments.

The coup failed. Now the state board, and our local board, have simply "discouraged" members from officiating AAU tournaments that have not "signed on" with IAABO. We have been told to "hang together", that eventually, if enough of us refuse to officiate in AAU tournaments not affiliated with an "official" IAABO assigner, AAU tournament directors will "come running to us", "begging" to pay us the fees that the state board thinks that we deserve.

Besides being "discouraged" from accepting such AAU assignments, we have been reminded that while officiating such assignments, we are not covered by the IAABO insurance policy, we may not wear the IAABO patch, and that we cannot work with a non-IAABO member.

Say an official decides to go ahead and work in "non-approved" tournaments...I'm guessing that wouldn't help his/her schedule during the regular season?

And this is where organizations are going to get themselves in trouble. Unless we are employees and they are paying some other bills and expenses of those employees, they are a lawsuit away from that practice stopping.

Peace

That is completely nuts. Having off-season work allows officials to focus on points of their games that need strenghtening. I couldn't imagine going from mid-February until mid-November WITHOUT working in between. Glad my IAABO chapter didn't take that view.

The Plot Thickens, Don't You Just Love A Thick Plot ???
 

I probably should have mentioned this in my earlier post, but there was another reason for this "hostile takeover" attempt. As stated "This policy is to guarantee that IAABO members are fairly offered the opportunity to service AAU and other independent tournaments in their respective regions working for fair and guaranteed fees".

AAU tournament directors were employing very small groups of officials to work their tournament games, and these small group of officials were working as many games, and making as much money, as they could physically, and mentally, bear. If you were an official who wanted to work AAU games in the offseason, you had to know the "secret handshake". AAU tournament directors would use a very small group of officials as "assigners" for various tournaments, and these "assigners" would only assign games to their close friends.

Because so many officials, eager to make some offseason money, or eager to get in some offseason experience, were getting "shut out" from working these games, the IAABO state board, and the local boards, wanted to try to "spread the wealth", thus allowing all officials who wanted to work such tournaments the opportunity to do so. The hope of the state board was that instead of a very small group of officials working a dozen games each over a weekend tournament, that a larger group of officials would work two, or three, games each over the weekend.

AAU tournament directors, wanting to keep their fees as low as possible, and small groups of officials, wanting to protect their "cash cows", got together, throwing out terms like "independent contractor", and "restraint of trade", and that stopped the state board "dead in its tracks".

I'm no attorney but I wonder if this section of the IAABO constitution may come back to bite your state board?

Where's Perry Mason When You Need Him ???
 

I'm not an attorney either, nor do I play one on television, but the following advice has been given to all our members, in writing:

"If you officiate for a non-approved assignor you are not covered by the IAABO insurance and may be asked to officiate with a non-IAABO member. If you do officiate with a non-IAABO member you cannot wear the IAABO patch and represent yourself as an IAABO member. That would be a direct violation of the Constitution".

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4123/4...5ef05648_m.jpg

Are CT schools members of the FED, and thusly are IAABO members also considered members of the FED? FED insurance policy would cover members in that case.

Would that even apply in an AAU situation? It's not school teams playing in these tournaments.

Of course, if someone is a NASO member then they'd be covered in case of any problems.

Found something else that seems like the IAABO version of Rule 2-3

That appears to leave boards a good deal of wiggle room.

From the NFHS Officials Assn. website:


Insurance coverage includes:

• Coverage for all levels of officiating (youth, recreational, adult and collegiate) in sports recognized by the state high school association

• Excess General Liability

• Excess Accident Medical and Dental

• Accidental Death and Dismemberment

The key is whether IAABO members are also Fed members in that state.

Crazy, I work with non members regularly, as our middle schools do not have to use IAABO officials (IAABO membership is required to be certified for high school ball), and I sometimes wear a patched shirt (not often). I've never been told it's not allowed.

Let's Play Monopoly, I Want To Be The Top Hat ...
 

All Connecticut high school basketball officials are IAABO members. 100%. We're the only game in town. Unless we officiate another sport, we are not members of the NFHS, in fact, we aren't even allowed to join the NFHS as individuals due to the NFHS "all or none" policy. We get our NFHS rulebooks, and NFHS casebooks, as part of our IAABO manual, which also includes the IAABO constitution, an IAABO directory, and an IAABO mechanics manual. We have IAABO insurance, and those of us who do not officiate any other sports only have IAABO insurance, we do not have NFHS insurance.

Teamsters? UAW?
 

Sounds more like a union than an officials association. Not that there's anything wrong with that...jus' sayin'.