Officiating in Arizona
 

Anyone here work in Arizona? I'm curious as to how things work there with football, as I may be relocating there during this season (or after). I know school starts really early (first week of August) - when does the season start, how do you deal with the heat, etc?

We had our kickoff meeting on the 17th of July...first and second year classes have begun already.... classes for level 2 and transfers begin this week. If you are coming in DURING the season, you will be brought in as a level 5 and evaluated on Freshman/varsity games. Before the start of next year, you will be notified about the level you have been placed.


The Varsity season has a few games on the 24th of august, and starts really heavy on the 31st and 7th.

The procedure I outlined is for the Phoenix area. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. The heat is easy....drink a LOT of water....

In the Casa Grande area (about 1 hour south of Phoenix), we have our meetings start next week.

Mid-season transfers are the same as the Phoenix area.

The heat takes some getting used to. The main keys are to stay hydrated and be in shape.

Send me a message and we can discuss it in more detail.

Thanks, guys. I've not worked varsity (fourth year - on a sophomore crew), so it's not a big problem for me to come in (if I come in during this season) and work whatever lower-level games I can pick up, just to stay active and then deal with it after that.

I was just a little surprised that the season starts so early, given the heat. But as long as everybody's okay with it, that's great.

Do y'all wear shorts? ;)

Are you available to work in the northern part of the State?
We are having to find crews from outside the area at times.
Contact the Region 8 commissioner or the one in Flagstaff. You didn't say where you would be living.:o

We wear black shorts for everything under varsity level. For Varsity, we wear the full uniform.

With 3 years experience, you can probably pick up some Varsity games as a fill in after you have been evaluated. In our area, we have a shortage of qualified officials and good 2nd year guys will be getting varsity games this year.

Let us know where you will be and we can put you in contact with the right people.

Are assignments are given by area commissioners who work for the AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association www.aiaonline.org). We usually use set crews for the varsity level, but there is always fill in spots available. For the JV and Freshman games, it will vary by game which crew you will be working on.

Check out the following website for more info. This is mainly for the Phoenix area officials.

www.azfoa.org

Thanks, guys. If and when it happens, it will be the Phoenix area.

Find me when u get here..

[email protected]

Will do. 'Preciate the help, AZ guys.

While it does cool off in the evenings, the heat is BAD and will definitely take some adjustment. I've visited Phoenix twice - both times in August (what the HELL was I thinking?). The first day I was there, I burned my hand on a seat belt buckle. I don't care what anyone says about "dry heat", when it's 115 in the shade, it's just *#!^&@% hot! :cool: