Crews or No Crews

[Forksref]

We make up our own crews and we stick to them all the way through playoffs. There is always some turnover, but we keep filling spots with younger guys who are deemed as having potential and we develop them.

For playoffs, we have a rule that rookies and inexperienced officials are replaced with experienced officials.

I like the 'team' aspect of our crews. Working with the same guys week after week allows you to know each other better and we build confidence in one another and we communicate well. It's also fun to go out each week with the same guys. When someone has a conflict, we fill the spot with someone we know and have confidence in.

It doesn't take long for good young officials to get on a crew. We have a shortage of experienced guys. The young ones gain experience and are noticed when they are doing sub-varsity games. In the sub-varsity games we don't have crews since the games are mostly played in the afternoons and most crew guys have job conflicts. Younger guys get experience there under the guidance of an experienced official who white hats the game.

Our association rates the crews when playoffs come around. This is done by the FB reps who get input from coaches and other officials. We try to get all crews who are deemed playoff caliber a playoff game each year and the best crews will work farther into the playoffs. There is no perfect system that makes everyone happy, but the FB reps are voted on by the members of the association, so there is some accountability here.

Good luck.