Using Lists to Rank Officials

[Green]

Our group, at one time had each official on a posted list, six list in all. The first one was considered our best officials. The lists were revised at the end of each season.

Assignments where made according to what list the official was on. A crew (for a varsity game) might consist of officials from three lists to give balance to all of the games assigned for that particular day. A game that was considered to be high profile would have officials from the top two lists.

During the section playoffs, assignment were made from the lists, starting from the top down. With four divisions (eight teams in each) in the first round, a number of official were assigned. Obviously, less in the next round.

The upside of having lists, is that an official has a goal to strive to and when reached has a feeling of accomplishment. The downside, is that over a period of time some of the officials didnÂ’t maintain their skill level or in some cases were moved up because of who they knew and not their skill level. Another downside, is that once moved up rarely was an official moved down. So, an official working his way up the ladder had to wait for someone to quit, moved out of the area, die or whatever to advance.

A new approach was used, no lists. A breath of fresh air for some officials a disappointment for others. The downside, no goal or list to shoot for, just ones playoff assignment would indicate where they stood in the ranging. No one knew where they stood.

A change was made, each official is ranked by a committee of officials into a number of levels.
Assigned Playoff games — Assigned to Varsity level — Assigned to JV - Freshmen
The commissioner of officials (solely) decides which officials will be assigned Playoff games.
An official is the only one aware of his or her ranking. If an official feels he or she should be ranked higher, they can appeal.

The upside, an official has a goal to shoot for and the feeling of accomplishment and he or she knows were they stand. If their skill level falls off and is moved down in the ranking, theyÂ’re not embarrassed in front of their peers which would happen on a posted list.

I mentioned in another post about attracting new officials, that management has to step up. In this system, a new official is well aware they can move up in the ranking system without someone leaving the group. ItÂ’s possible but not probable, that most all of the officials could be ranked, Assigned Playoff games.

How does your group rank officials?

[Edited by Green on Nov 9th, 2004 at 02:45 PM]

[ABoselli]

Ah - you've touched on a sore subject for me.

Coaches rate us on a 1-5 scale. 1 being superior and 5 being terrible. We get our playoff assignments from our rating the prior year. One 5 and you're dead.

Throw a DPI a coach doesn't like? 5. Sideline warning? 5. Displease him in any way - you're sunk. "You're all getting 5's!" is a coach's threat heard every so often during games. One coach left a game card up in his office from the prior week with a 5 next to each official's name. Class guy, he is. Implicit threat to the guys working his game that night.

Nobody can/will address it. We're stuck with it.

[MJT]

Originally posted by ABoselli
Ah - you've touched on a sore subject for me.

Coaches rate us on a 1-5 scale. 1 being superior and 5 being terrible. We get our playoff assignments from our rating the prior year. One 5 and you're dead.

Throw a DPI a coach doesn't like? 5. Sideline warning? 5. Displease him in any way - you're sunk. "You're all getting 5's!" is a coach's threat heard every so often during games. One coach left a game card up in his office from the prior week with a 5 next to each official's name. Class guy, he is. Implicit threat to the guys working his game that night.

Nobody can/will address it. We're stuck with it.

In Iowa we are rated in the same way, but if a coach ever even mentions that he "will/may" give you a 5, it is an automatic ejection. They know it, and we know it. A 5 means that you are "not qualified to work a varsity contest" and that you do not want to have that crew assigned in the tournament series. I believe you also have to state "why" you are giving them the 5. Fives do not come about very often.

[FredFan7]

Illinois also has 1-5 system and the more ratings you have, the higher percentile you are in. These determine state playoffs. A "5" requires a written explanation by a coach as to why that crew deserves a 5. If a coach is really mad at the football crew, they either hand out a 4 or simply don't send in a rating.

[JRutledge]

We have apart of our playoff system a Top 15 list for officials. Associations, schools and assignors all have an opportunity to put out a Top 15 list. You get a percentile based on how many lists you are on. I understand that if you are #1 on the list, you get 15 points and 14 points for #2. The score goes down as you go lower on the list. But this percentile has nothing to do with assignments for regular season and only is considered for varsity officials. It is just one of many ways to decide who will work the playoffs and you need many other factors in your favor. Just being on one list is great, but the more lists you get on, the higher your percentile will be.

Peace

[JasonTX]

Originally posted by ABoselli
Ah - you've touched on a sore subject for me.

Coaches rate us on a 1-5 scale. 1 being superior and 5 being terrible. We get our playoff assignments from our rating the prior year. One 5 and you're dead.

Throw a DPI a coach doesn't like? 5. Sideline warning? 5. Displease him in any way - you're sunk. "You're all getting 5's!" is a coach's threat heard every so often during games. One coach left a game card up in his office from the prior week with a 5 next to each official's name. Class guy, he is. Implicit threat to the guys working his game that night.

Nobody can/will address it. We're stuck with it.

We don't use the rating cards the coaches send in. We just use them as laughing material. I am thankful that we don't use them because I once went to a game and during the pregame with the coach I glanced at his desk and the card was already filled out before the game was even played. How could that possibly be fair in rankings if the card was already filled out. As you mentioned a call that may be right could earn you a 5 because it goes against his team. Coaches have the ability here to scratch us and both schools have to mutally agree upon the crew assigned, but their ratings have no importance.

[OverAndBack]

Has anyone ever come up with a fair and reasonable system to rate officials? Is such a thing even possible?

[Warrenkicker]

Coaches rate us here and we can only get "Yes" votes. They vote for as many officials as they want as to who they feel are playoff quality officials. They don't even have to be officials that work their games that season. They could be officials who work a game that the coach reviews on tape between other teams. Every school is required to send in their recommendation list but are not required to recommend a certain number of officials or even any.

[Jeff Drahozal]

MJT, I to am in Iowa and I know nothing about a 1-5 rating. I do know it was discussed last spring by the Offical's Advisory Committee and got no farther than that.
In Iowa, we get no feedback at all about performance. Good or bad. Local associations have no authority, it all is controlled at the state level.
I would actually like to get some feedback from coaches, good and bad. The coach's recommendation are what it takes to get playoff games in Iowa.

[jfurdell]

I'm glad my state doesn't use a coaches rating system to decide playoffs. What a terrible idea. It's a conflict of interest on a huge scale.

[JRutledge]

No matter what system you work, someone is going to find flaws in it. Whether it is coachÂ’s ratings or a bunch of officials, someone will complain and say they did not get a fair shake. Just work the system you are in and deal with it. If you are a good official and work hard someone will notice. If they do not, then it was not meant to be. But I think officials worry too much about what their rating is or where they are ranked when everything is subjective to begin with.

Peace

[MJT]

Originally posted by Jeff Drahozal
MJT, I to am in Iowa and I know nothing about a 1-5 rating. I do know it was discussed last spring by the Offical's Advisory Committee and got no farther than that.
In Iowa, we get no feedback at all about performance. Good or bad. Local associations have no authority, it all is controlled at the state level.
I would actually like to get some feedback from coaches, good and bad. The coach's recommendation are what it takes to get playoff games in Iowa.

I was messed up in my thinking. We, as officials rate the fans, coaches, and players on a 1-5 rating. The schools recommend 3 crews to the playoffs. The number of ratings is what determines who gets playoffs.

It is the girls union in Iowa where the officials get a 1-5 rating like I discussed. Then each year you get your rating in a letter from the state.
Sorry for the confusion.

[ABoselli]

All systems are flawed, but some are more flawed than others. Good officials get lost in the shuffle more under a total coach rating system than any other, in my opinion.

We had an official in our chapter that got two varsity games his last year in HS (before he quit HS in frustration), he went to college (where they use observers to grade out officials) and he worked 4 Big East games this year after working his way up to the A10 first.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by ABoselli
All systems are flawed, but some are more flawed than others. Good officials get lost in the shuffle more under a total coach rating system than any other, in my opinion.

We had an official in our chapter that got two varsity games his last year in HS (before he quit HS in frustration), he went to college (where they use observers to grade out officials) and he worked 4 Big East games this year after working his way up to the A10 first.

I guess you have not heard of the associations that do the assigning thru one official and the many that claim they were not in the loop and never got an opportuntity? I have heard bad things in all systems. I have heard "politics" used in all systems that officials talk about. Even when officials are deciding these things, they can be bias and hold grudges just like coaches. And in many cases they might be competing or have interests that are competing with each other. There is never a perfect system that everyone is going to be happy with.

Peace

[ABoselli]

I've heard of them.

What I'm saying is that the coach rating only system leaves a lot to be desired, more so than other systems, including the one you mentioned.

I'll take my chances on that one as opposed to a system where on-field officials have the coach's rating in the back of their minds at all times. That has more of a potential to cheat the official and the game.