Contacting Partners
 

Over the weekend, I was assigned a game next week... what will be my first game as an official (a JV girls game). :D

On the forum, I've seen mention of contacting partners in advance of a game. How does that work? Does the R email the partner(s)? What usually gets mentioned?

Looking forward to the game and hoping to be a good partner on and off the floor.

I'd ask around your area to see what is the norm.

In the associations I've belong to, it's been policy for the R to contact his/her partner(s) at least 48 hours before the game...by phone or by e-mail. I personally like to contact my partner(s) earlier by way of e-mail, so that I have physical proof, if needed, that I tried to contact my partner(s). If they don't respond in a timely fashion, I will then contact by way of phone.

Whoever is assigned as the R should contact the partner(s). Often times I will call the R when I haven't heard from them as some of the more veteran guys are lax about it. And I never, ever, want to do a game by myself.

The Rome Around Here
 

Around here the umpire(s) contacts the R, then the R confirms the crew to the AD. That way the AD isn't plagued by an overabundance of emails. If the R doesn't hear from the umpire(s), he'll contact them about two days in advance of the game.
All contacts are by email. Phone is secondary method when nothing is heard via email.
May differ in your area. Check local listings. When in Nome, do as the Nomans do.
(BTW, haven't heard from Shishmaref Ref for a long time here. I checked his school district website and note that he's still on staff there off the Bering coast. Maybe he's lurking or perhaps not officiating anymore.)

Basketball Official Confirmation ...
 

Every Sunday night, I send confirmation emails to the athletic directors of every site where I will be working, as either the referee, or the umpire, that week, with cc's to my partners.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5259/5...e071a75e_m.jpg

December 9, 2012

BillyMac
50 Main Street
Little Corner, CT 06000
Home Phone (000) 000-0000
Cell Phone (000) 000-0000
Email: [email protected]

Environmental Chemical Analyst
Acme Environmental Laboratories, Inc.
100 Main Street
Little Corner, CT 06000
Business Phone (000) 000-0000

This is to confirm that I will officiate the boys varsity basketball game at East Oshkosh High School
on Wednesday, December 13, 2012, at 7:00 p.m.

Please contact me if there is any change in the schedule. My contact information is above.
During weekday business hours, it is best to reach me at (000) 000-0000. I do not have access
to the internet, nor to email, nor do I get a cell phone signal, at work.

Sincerely,

BillyMac
International Association of Approved Basketball Officials
Little Corner Connecticut Board #0

About 48 hrs out I will send an email to my P's acknowledging our game - doesn't matter if I'm R or not.

Confirmation Protocol ...
 

Here's the protocol for my local board:

Officials are expected to confirm their games. Email addresses for athletic directors, faculty managers, or site directors, as well as partners, are on the Arbiter website. The email should state the gender, level, site, day, date, and time of the game, along with one’s contact information, sent to both the school, and to one’s partner. A confirmation, emailed in this manner, looks professional, and assures everyone that the officials have been properly assigned for the game.

Guys, don't forget the most important
 

Most times I also include my wife on the list of people to contact regarding my schedule:rolleyes: Although, I will admit more than once over the years calling her from a gym with the ole "by the way, I have a game tonight at ____ School" Those always turn out good:eek:

Be sure to find out what is protocol in your association. But most have it where the R contacts the crew. However, if you haven't heard from them by the day before I would reach out to them, introduce yourself, ask them things like what time are they getting to the game site, do they have a long or difficult commute, are they coming dressed in their uniform or will they change in the coaches office/locker room. Also, be sure to give them contact information of your own so that they can contact you at a moment's notice.
Being your first game, remember two things: Look sharp - Work sharp. Smile every time you can.

I usually email partners about 4-5 days before a game, and confirm details (date, time, location) with them.

I email ADs (and athletic secretaries, if I can find their email addresses... athletic secretaries run the show anyway) on the Monday of the week of the game. (for Monday games, I email on Thursday or Friday before the game). Here's a my email template, replace the capitalized words with details as appropriate:

Doesn't matter if I'm the R or the U... about 90% of the time I end up being the one who contacts the school.

Thanks for the replies and examples.

I will contact one of our association trainers to see if there is an approved protocol for our area/association and proceed from there.

Through your career every once in a while you'll come across jerks who find it bothersome to contact their partner(s) before games. When my crew chiefs haven't contacted me by a certain time I will contact them via text and email. If I don't get a reply then on the day of the game I will call them.

Our assigner "desires" that we contact him if we haven't heard from partners in a timely fashion....

If we haven't heard from one of our P's by game day, we "must" call our Assignor.

+1

Part Of The Problem ???
 

If we don't confirm our assignments with both the school, and our partner, and then somebody, either our assigning commissioner, the school, or our partner, screws up, then we are considered part of the problem, even if we did nothing else wrong. When something goes wrong (wrong site, wrong date, wrong time, no partner), the first question that our assignment commissioner will ask us is, "Did you confirm your assignment?".

I've already had two college games where I didn't hear fom the R and reached out to the crew on my own (I was U2). Our assignor wants us to narc on the guys who neglect to pick up the phone or send an email. Oddly enough, for my high school games there's no protocol at all. All they recommend is calling the school to make sure the game hasn't been moved or canceled. I do that and I also email my partner since I, like others, hate working alone.

So the assignor assigns you the game and then his work is done?

That makes no sense to me.

In my corner of Nevada the R contacts the other official(s). For high school we have an Assignment Administrator that handles all contact with schools if a game is cancelled, times are changed, etc. This procedure is basically the same for college.

Bad Weather Cancellations ...
 

Cancellations due to bad weather are a "free for all" here in my little corner of Connecticut. Athletic directors are supposed to contact the officials, and then the assignment commissioner, who then makes the change on Arbiter. In reality, athletic directors seldom contact the officials, and just contact the assignment commissioner. Because of this, officials are expected to try to contact the school (good luck if it's after office hours, or if it's a Saturday, or a school vacation day), and keep their eye on their Arbiter schedule, when bad weather is in the forecast. Communication between the officials, and the assignment commissioner, is discouraged because he's so busy with athletic directors, and Arbiter changes. There is seldom, if any, communication between officials assigned to the game. There has got to be a better way?

Exactly. The assignor communicates with the AD and assigns the games. Why wouldn't he have the same responsibility in the event of a time change, site change, or cancellation?

That's why I pay him a booking fee. It's not my responsiblity to confirm that the game he is sending me to work is still being played.

A Reason To Confirm Games ...
 

Maybe once, every other year, my email confirmation (or a post card back in the olden days), will "spark" something in the mind of the athletic director: holiday, or winter, vacation; Martin Luther King Day; mid year exams; boys and girls site, or time, conflict; home and away site mistake; Saturday game; conflict with another school activity (holiday concert, holiday dance); no subvarsity game, leading to an "odd time" varsity start; games that were changed (site, or time) where he forgot to contact my assignment commissioner; etc. Over thirty-two years, my confirmation has prevented about a dozen such "mistakes", "mistakes" not created by, and having little to do, with my assignment commissioner, "mistakes" that may not have been prevented without my confirmation with the athletic director.

In my neck of the woods the vast majority of games are on the arbiter. You get an email reminder. Most assigners require that we confirm games with the school. If there's a discepency that I learn of I'll contact my partenrs. Other than that my partners are adults and I assume that they will act as such and show up on time which is at least 45 minutes prior to a varsity contest and at least 30 minutes prior to a lower level contest. Notice I say "at least". I consider myself "late" if I don't meet that criteria.

You got it. Surprisingly, we don't end up with uncovered H.S. games all that often.

I remember it being the same for the NYC Catholics and private schools, at least in Manhattan and The Bronx.

I haven't worked the last two leagues for 7 or 8 years but if memory serves me correctly I didn't even get the name of my partner with those assignments (it was still on paper, no assigning program). All I'd get was the game site, date and time. The schools knew who the officials were and if someone was missing they'd call the assignor.

One thing I will add: thanks to Mr. Camron Rust and Reftown I get a confirmation e-mail at the start of every week for my girls' H.S. games in NYC. :)

In this region of the country there have been too many occurences of a single official showing up at the wrong site or mis-reading the date/time, including NCAA games. So supervisors at all levels around here expect the crew to contact each to ensure everyone is on the same page. Being right and being an 'adult' are no help when game time is upon us and there is an official missing.

I still contact my partners if I am the Referee and it is required at the college level. Just usually want to touch base so that they know when I am showing up or any other items that might be not known. And the thing I hate about Arbiter is the schools do not use it or put the correct information on the site. In one of the conferences the assignor for some strange reason does not want us calling the school. Well I went to the wrong school or site for the game and thank God I went early enough to get to the other school. And the problem was the school did not make it clear on any website where they played their games. I wish they would blow up the Arbiter honestly for this reason.

Peace

Yeah, contact information on Arbiter does not seem to be updated as Athletic Office staff changes. I've found our state association's site to be more up-to-date with contact information and use that for my school contacts.

Our state's page is also more up to date. I would just think that the site information for the school would be accurate on the Arbiter. We have several schools that have multiple campuses and do not play at the listed HS gym. It just would be helpful to have the right address if a conference makes a big deal over us calling the AD (calling the Administrative Assistant works better anyway) to confirm the dates and all we are allowed to do is email them. It is just stupid that is all.

Peace

It used to be around here that the "junior" official on the crew was responsible for contacting the "senior" official(s) to confirm assignments.

All of the HS assignments come through the state association, even for regualr season and tournaments, so the schools are usually pretty good about communicating changes in a timely manner and the state office is usually pretty good about getting that info out to the officials.

Now, the expectation is "Contact your partner, it doesn't matter who initiates the contact."

Home (or away) Alone
 

How many of you would (or have) worked a Varsity game alone?

Not me. Not allowed here.

Count Me In ...
 

Me. Unless I could 'dig up" a certified IAABO member to help me. Otherwise I'm working the game alone, and here in Connecticut we have some "unofficial" one man mechanics to use. Of course, before doing a game alone, I would be on the phone with my assigning commissioner, who, of course, would want to talk about the situation with the site's athletic director, or faculty manager, or the site director, as well as talking to both head coaches. Lots of hoops to jump through, but one could possibly have a one man varsity game here in the Constitution State.

Still Verboten ???
 

Injury to an official with one minute to go in the fourth period of a completely lopsided game? Injury to an official with seven minutes to go in the first period of a game between arch rivals, in a packed gymnasium? Injury to an official as he is about to toss the ball for the openng tap, in a game between arch rivals, in a packed gymnasium?

State rules forbid starting a basketball game at any level (from freshman on up) with fewer than 2 officials. Once the game starts, however, we could work with one, if necessary. At least that's how I read it.

I dislocated my kneecap six years ago in a boys game where we had 11-0 against 9-1. It ended my season. The other guy is a great official, but we decided to call halftime 2+ minutes early while they found someone to work with him. They did -- a guy that worked a lower level game at a nearby school. He was over his head and mainly called out of bounds lines, but it was still better than having just one official try to keep up with everything.

One Is The Loneliest Number That You'll Ever Do (Three Dog Night) ...
 

Agree. Even if the "certified" official is just a warm body, it's a lot better than working a game, on any level, with just one official.

Thread is taking a little detour here.....

In my neighborhood, there is rarely a HS V game without a lower level game preceding it. We would simply press one of the lower level refs into duty for the V game if needed.

I don't know that I wholeheartedly agree with BillyMac's quote above....I once worked a HS V Boys game with a last minute replacement ref. I don't think this guy had ever stepped foot on the floor before. He wouldn't blow his whistle for anything. I ended up sending him home at halftime becasue I was basically calling the game by myself anyway.

The JV officials had left. Few around here are still in the building when the V game tips.