Assignor an active official

[crabber]

I'd like as many replies as possible to these questions:

1)Should an active official serve as an assignor for leagues that he is working?

2) Should a coach hold office in an officials association in which he works?

These situations exist and I would ike to have them changed!

[bluezebra]

In some associations, like the one(S) I've been involved with, active officials do the assigning. The one I'm with now (volleyball) is small, so there is little choice. I do the assigning, but believe I'm very objective. I planned on mainly working in emergency situations, and just do a few to keep in shape. As it turned out, I developed leg problems and couldn't work at all. Frankly, this is the best situation. I'm retired and am almost always available to athletic directors and officials. I have received calls from a.d.s at noon asking if I have any officials available for a 3:30 match, because they forgot to list it on their original schedule. This has happened more than a few times, also when I was assigning softball. I hope to be back next season, and plan to just assign. The ideal situation would have the assignor be a retired official, so he/she has a knowledge of the sport, and officiating experience.

Bob

[rskinner]

My vote is YES to both situations. Here's my rationale:
1. In NH, our association has less than 200 members working games, most of which start at 4 PM. The state is broken into 6 regions, each of which are assigned by a member living in that region. As working assigner, I handled 283 games with a core of 26 umpires with only 65% availability, in 43 game days. Our assigners have to work in the district they live. That's how I get to know my talent to insure the product on the field is credible.
2. We have had active coaches on our board, one of whom was a respected member of the Executive Board of the NHBUA. We encourage this because we feel this will help insure our membership will use the association mechanics and the product will be checked by another pair of knowledgeable eyes. We have also had some problems with a member coach taking advantage of his situation. This was quickly rectified by the assigner and the veteran umpires in the region in which he coached.
Good Luck!

[Ranger]

The answer to both of these questions is obvious. The problem in both cases is real or perceived conflict of interest.

My field is primarily NCAA DI Baseball. Unfortunatly almost all of the assignors and even the National and Regional umpire supervisors are working umpires. I would not say that they are not fair but most of the "have nots" would question the whole concept.

Coaches working as association officers will obviously breed the conflicts of interests that could not only impact assignments but the entire fee structure as well.

[crabber]

I agree that a retired offical makes the best assignor, and that if a current assignor is active he need to asign himself only under extreme circumstances. (last minute notices, injuires etc.)

However, the second question needs to be clarified. The coach in question is an active offical, and coaches in the same sport! In fact he was pres of the association prior to taking the coaching job, but did not resign his post. In fact he wants to run again.

[Bfair]

I use approx 40 officials on typical weekend. Not huge, but respectable. I officiate and assign. The officials working with me have been told the the standards I use to assign and I offered to all the ability and freedom to review any and all of my master schedule to assure things concur with the standards set. Few care to take the time. I am not afraid to have my work scrutinized. Don't know if all assignors would do this or expect them to.

Some assignors have a philosophy of putting the best officials on the best games. Not saying that is wrong, but my goal is to put QUALIFIED officials on all games. That provides greater opportunity to help with advancement. I attempt to spread the higher profile games among the qualified, always attempting to challenge the official (within the set standards) without putting him in overdemanding situations. When I challenge someone, I try to be sure to work him with one of the best officials for additional aid on the field. It also provides a better learning experience for the younger official. It is to my benefit to allow opportunities for advancement. When an official proves to the league he can handle higher caliber contests, it makes my job a little easier.

What I need from the higher ranked officials is the understanding they are not going to get the icing on the cake every week. The guys working with me know my goals and see known standards practiced to reach those goals. Of course, trying to keep the guys happy is part of the goal. I have lost very few official to competing assignors.

Don't be surprised to see a working assignor calling the worst games because nobody else wants them. He does this to help keep his guys happy with better games---which makes his assigning job easier to do. It may also be due to last second changes and difficulty in changing soneone else's schedule.

Bfair