MO info (please!)

[PSU213]

Hello all--

I recently moved from Pennsylvania to Missouri--specifically St. Louis. A couple of questions:

1. Do I need anything special to register as an official here in MO? (besides $ and a passing test grade--neither of which should be a problem)

2. What are my requirements to officiate in a given year? I read about the rules meeting. Will I need to join a chapter/association/etc? Who does the scheduling? Is it too late for this year?

3. I am certainly not naive enough to belive that I will be out there on Friday nights my first year, but just curious if anyone has a general idea of how long in takes to make it up to doing more that JV, middle school, etc. (I know that sounds stuck up, impatient, etc., but I do have 3 yrs experience on a varsity crew in PA...was just wondering what kind of a wait there was here.)

Any other info you would like to pass along would be great! Either reply on here, or you can email me at [email protected]

Thanks!

[Lintner5]

PSU,

You are correct, the $$, a consent to a background search, & passing the NFHS test will suffice for registration with MSHSAA (see www.MSHSAA.org - I believe you can get all but the test done there).

All officials must attend a rules meeting. Also, "new" officials must attend a mechanics meeting (often held in conjunction with the 4-school jamborees one week before the season). I'm not certain if MSHSAA treats immigrants to "new" status, but most officials in our area take advantage of the mechanics meeting/jamboree format as an opportunity to warmup for the season.

You'll probably want to join a local association because (I'm 90% sure this is the case in STL area) the association handles almost all assignments at all levels (Jr. high - Varsity).

The St. Louis Officials Association (http://www.stlofficials.com/football.html) is likely your local chapter. I believe JimD (I know he's on NFHS board if not here) is a member. They have a dedicated link on their FB officials association page for "becoming a new official".

Timing - MSHSAA's technical requirement is for all officials to register (or re-register) by July 1, but I believe I heard they won't assess late penalties until after July 15th so I'd see what you can do ASAP and give them a call if you're having trouble getting everything done/turned in on time.

How long to work your way up? I don't know. Hopefully you can make personal contact with someone from the local association & find out. Our association (www.semofoa.org covering area from Jefferson County south to Arkansas & west to Poplar Bluff) is looking for more officials & some varsity experience is probable in the first two years for competent officials, but I'm not sure how the officials to game assignments ratio is in St. Louis.

Also, there is a statewide clinic held in Columbia, MO on Saturday, July 26. The info is available on the SLOA website.

I hope this helps. Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have more questions that you think I could help with. Welcome to the Show-Me State! Good luck this fall.

Jon

[Jim D]

Jon explained it pretty well. First of all, you have to register with the state association - MSHSAA and then you are legal to work in the state. Assignments are made on the local level- usually by leagues.

The main association in St. Louis is the St. Louis Officials Association(SLOA) - contact them and they can get you started. The key is to get on a crew and to do that, you need to work some games and get seen and known. If you're good, somebody will grab you for their crew.

Let me know if you need any help.

[grantsrc]

First of all, sorry to hear you are on the "bad" side of the state. At least in terms of football. 5 out of 6 state champs last year came from the "good" side, that being Kansas City.

As for "new" officials, yes, you will have to attend a mechanics meeting/clinic. When I moved here, I had four years of experience in Minnesota but I was still required to attend the mechanics meeting for 3 years. The best thing about the mechanics meetings is it's a great way to get seen. That's how I was picked up. I worked a full varsity schedule my first year registered here, which might be a little out of the ordinary.

Good luck. If you have any other questions, drop me a line too. I can answer general questions about how the state works but Jim will be a good resource as for how things happen on the other side of the state.