Working in Crews

[Mike L]

Crew for our JV/V double headers. Everything else is individual. All assignments done by the assign secs.
We also have something of an unusual crew system. Each June the crew chiefs meet to draft their crew. Any certified official (a number of requirements for that) is eligible to be drafted. The only restriction on the crew chief is he may not draft anyone who he drafted the year before (or anyone who became a permanent replacement during the year).

[Rich]

I am my crew's chief. I choose who I work with and I am the one who builds our schedule (varsity and non-varsity). I've fired 2 members of the crew (early on), but I've had the same 5 guys now for 6 years.

I wouldn't like to be forced to pick a different crew each year. I officiate with these guys not just because they're officiating colleagues -- they're also some of my best friends.

[JRutledge]

For all varsity night games we work in crews. I do not see why you would want to do it any other way. You know your partners and their tendencies and can work off of previous situations and learn from them. Also we can have a crew philosophy that will help us know what to do when the games get crazy.

Peace

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

For all varsity night games we work in crews. I do not see why you would want to do it any other way. You know your partners and their tendencies and can work off of previous situations and learn from them. Also we can have a crew philosophy that will help us know what to do when the games get crazy.

Peace

I agree with this. Most sub-varsity games are worked as individual with various ways of assigning and there tends to be a lot of miscommunication and inconsistency regardless of the experience of the officials. At higher levels with more experienced officials I think individual assigning would work better.

[JasonTX]

My chapter uses individual assignments. It gives me the oppurtunity to work with many different officials and being a small chapter (95 members) there isn't much change amongst each official with the mechanics. I have seen Crews work and you can see that each crew has their own deviations from the prescribed mechanics. Not that its a bad thing but it tends to be inconsistent from one crew to the next. I also work college and that is a crew and I wouldn't change it at all. If we were a larger chapter for high school I would like to be on a crew. On a crew system you have to have a way to get younger guys on the field. The problem with making crews with a small chapter is that you may get stuck with a guy that isn't as dedicated to getting better than others. Right now if I get a game with that guy, I can rest easy because I know next week I will be working with someone else.

[footballref]

We work in crew at the varsity level and we have another crew for sub-varsity. The sub-varisty crew will change throughout the year since people are more apt to turn down or get out of a sub-varsity game.

Personally I like working with the same guys on Fridays week after week. You know what you are in for and that makes things enjoyable. Of course, I may have a different view if I was on a different crew.

[TXMike]

I am in a large chapter (@400 members) where we always did individual assignments until several years ago when we switched to self-forming crews.

If you are recognized as a good official in your chapter, our system is great. It got me on a crew with some dedicated guys who are fun to be with. I always feared a crew system would get me stuck with guys who were not really committed but that did not happen. I know some guys who are not hapopy where they ended up but they have a chance every 2 years to switch crews.

To Jason's point, we did have a system that guaranteed younger officials would get a chance to get on the field but we will be having a chapter meeting tomorrow night and I think that system is about to go away. We will likely end up with a system that puts no restrictions on the crew make-up. That is going to be great for my crew as it will let us keep a guy who is no longer a younger guy. But I am worried of what it will mean for the Chapter as a whole.

Similar discussions on this topic: http://www.refstripes.com/forum/index.php?topic=7294.0

http://www.refstripes.com/forum/index.php?topic=5046.0

[Welpe]

Mike, I have heard about your chapter's crew system before and really like the way it sounds. Here the only restriction is who can be a crew chief (minimum Division 2) and a few requirements for formed crews to stay together in future years such as a minimum number of coaches picks over a couple of years.