This may start some controversy but that is okay but I have a injured foot and time to think while I am on break.I just read a article in Referee magazine where the author says the only way to move up is by availability.I'm not bitter I'm happy doing Var.H.S. and lower H.S. as needed but I had a bitter older guy say once that the only reason the avail. issue is constantly brought up by assign. guys is they need bodies for the as he said crappy games.I will say this seems more true in basketball than softball.From my view it seems word of mouth from coaches,other officials and political connections mean way more than availability.I see lots of guys move up who aren't the most available.Like I said I have no problem with this I just think its a myth and maybe I'm wrong.

From my experience, availability is not the be all and end all to "moving up", but it is a factor.

I live in a state with two large cities and a large rural area. In the rural areas, there are fewer officials. Some of these officials (in all sports) are working games at a level that they probably would not work if they lived in one of the large cities. The reason is that they are available to work these games in the rural areas. So perhaps these folks are getting some opportunities to be seen and develop that they might otherwise not have due to their availability.

Don't know whether availability plays a large factor in Fed around here. They try to schedule the whole season before it starts, and the senior—not best, senior—umps seem to get all the good games. But availability certainly matters in ASA. If they know you'll say yes, you're the first guy they call. This is of course assuming that they can trust you with the game.

You're the assigner. You make calls all day and work under harried conditions. Suppose you have learned that when you call Ed Jones, the standard procedure is (1) telephone tag, (2) "Gee, I'm not sure, I'll have to check my schedule and get back to you," (3) more telephone tag, and finally, (4) "No, sorry. Can't make it." Suppose you know that when you call Mike Smith, (1) you either get him personally or get a return call soon, and (2) he almost always accepts the assignment.

Who gets the call, Ed or Mike?

In addition, a lot of umps accept assignments and then turn them back later. Do you want to assign your games to those umps?

Availabity and ability both have a lot to do with it. The schedulers in my area have a lot of games to fill and if you worked for them before and have no major complaints about the way you handled past games you should be able to get some decent games. I've been working softball for 3 years and I made myself available to two different assigners and came up with 65 games of which 20 are JV and 30 are varsity. I had my schedule filled by the end of last November. They remember who helped them out of jam and who else they can rely on. You could almost guarantee they will be taken care of. One of my assigners has a game to fill this weekend and is looking for a taker. I wouldn't want an assigners job for all the tea in China.

I agree with you guys I don't envy assignors and I don't think they do a bad job.I agree with Grey if two guys are fairly even rated the guy who says yes and answers his phone gets the job.I guess thats my point as long as your not turning back games or screwing up your availabilty its not much of a factor in moving up in fed. ball.

I think in softball as well in baseball- given the nature of the game
and fickle weather-- availability is a very important factor in
getting games and getting exposure for the "better" games.
I did assigning for HS and local ASA for a few years and what
you read in this thread is absolutely true !
If you are doing a horrible job- word will get back and you will
not get the "better" games---- no word, or better yet, good
word-- and you are more likely to "move up" !!
most sport's officials try hard and want to improve-- the more
experience you get-- the more you are exposed to situations that
allow you to hone your judgement and perception !
Although, I have known some umpires who worked for nearly
20 years and never improved !
Every season you work-- pick up on one of your weaknesses
and strive to overcome it---- you should improve your
skills !!

Greymule:

Are you guys not evaluted during the season, and subsequently ranked according to your skills? We are around here.

Scott

Fed has plenty of evaluation, but there's no real evaluation in ASA around here. Basically, it's as others have said: word gets back to the assigners as to who's good or not so good. The assigners deal pretty closely with the various leagues, so they find out fast who's doing well or not.

There are other matters, too. For example, one SP league complained about an ump who was too inflexible and simply wouldn't listen to anything at all. The players felt "dissed." In another case, a girls' FP league in a very competitive township asked that certain umps not be assigned their leagues, for the following reasons: (1) bailing out on pitches, (2) chastising the catcher for allowing pitches to get by and hit the ump, (3) arriving late, (4) displaying a lack of "people" skills with the girls, (5) saying things like, "My, you're looking fine today" to batters. Of course, enough just plain incompetence can get somebody removed, too.

Our association has 92 members. Everybody knows which 8 or 10 do the high-level FP, which 8 or 10 who do the tough SP games, who does middle-level this and that, and who does the "company picnic" games. I do know that any competent ump who works hard and is reliable will get plenty of good games. Like many associations, we need good umps who want to work. However, we have plenty of warm bodies who simply want to do 20 or 30 low-pressure games a year. They couldn't care less about moving up and would be happy to move <i>down</i> if the games paid.

Pay is one odd aspect of umping around here and I suspect in other places. You get $40—cash—for doing a girls' game where you hardly need a mask, the offense is limited to 6 runs an inning, and as long as you know more about the rules than the average recent immigrant, you're fine. You get $31—later—for a high-pressure, biker league slow pitch game that constantly tests your abilities and your temper—and lasts longer! Guess which games most people want to do.