Tournament Officials

[Dirty D]

Can someone enlighten me on how tournament officials are selected? Apparently assignments have been released and our crew did not get one.  We are all certified, went to over the meeting required, supposedly had good coaches points. Is there a way to find out why, so we know for the future. 

[Bobref]

21 minutes ago, Dirty D said:

Can someone enlighten me on how tournament officials are selected? Apparently assignments have been released and our crew did not get one.  We are all certified, went to over the meeting required, supposedly had good coaches points. Is there a way to find out why, so we know for the future. 

The tournament selection process is outlined here: https://myihsaa-prod-ams.azurewebsites.net/api/resource-library/categories/ae986c23-f281-4845-0927-08d5f70ac583/documents/8301415b-a9e9-4fd9-73bc-08d5f70b225e/file

But that won’t tell you much about “why.” Has your crew been observed recently?

Edited October 15, 2020 by Bobref

[Dirty D]

No, but I am sure 122 crews weren't either.. Thanks I understand why officials are needed and why many dont apply. We were by more than one politics is involved. Probably just officiate on Fridays and not worry about tourney. Then no association fees, meetings, where cussing was prevalent, and get what we got this year and not spend as much time. As former coach i always thought the voti g was a joke. One year every coach in sectional listed the same crew as not being wanted, yet they they were.

[Bobref]

4 minutes ago, Dirty D said:

No, but I am sure 122 crews weren't either.. Thanks I understand why officials are needed and why many dont apply. We were by more than one politics is involved. Probably just officiate on Fridays and not worry about tourney. Then no association fees, meetings, where cussing was prevalent, and get what we got this year and not spend as much time. As former coach i always thought the voti g was a joke. One year every coach in sectional listed the same crew as not being wanted, yet they they were.

The frustrations many officials have with the tournament selection process have been well documented here. My advice to you is to take pride in your officiating. Be the best official you can be. Make your crew the best crew it can be. Control the things you can control, like meetings attendance, test scores, clinics, video review, etc. Let the other things take care of themselves.

[Yuccaguy]

1 hour ago, Dirty D said:

No, but I am sure 122 crews weren't either.. Thanks I understand why officials are needed and why many dont apply. We were by more than one politics is involved. Probably just officiate on Fridays and not worry about tourney. Then no association fees, meetings, where cussing was prevalent, and get what we got this year and not spend as much time. As former coach i always thought the voti g was a joke. One year every coach in sectional listed the same crew as not being wanted, yet they they were.

Is your crew a relatively "new" crew?  Would the average "experience" of the top 3 members affect the vote/ranking?  

There are a myriad of factors that weigh into the system that is in use, that are beyond just meetings/games.  

As Bob said, "Control the things you can control, like meetings attendance, test scores, clinics, video review, etc. Let the other things take care of themselves."  I have told numerous crews/indiviudals the same thing.... It's frustrating, but it can be educational as time goes forward to reflect on things that hadn't been considered as impactful...in the future.

Having said that...let's take any further convo to PM on this subject.  

[Bobref]

2 hours ago, Dirty D said:

No, but I am sure 122 crews weren't either..

My point was that if you’re looking for the “why,” an evaluation by an observer might help you understand that.

[Impartial_Observer]

5 hours ago, Bobref said:

The tournament selection process is outlined here: https://myihsaa-prod-ams.azurewebsites.net/api/resource-library/categories/ae986c23-f281-4845-0927-08d5f70ac583/documents/8301415b-a9e9-4fd9-73bc-08d5f70b225e/file

But that won’t tell you much about “why.” Has your crew been observed recently?

This is my 38th year, to the best of my knowledge we have never been observed. 

[JustRules]

Observer feedback while helpful to the crew to improve has little or no direct impact on advancement. Crews get good observer feedback and don't advance beyond the first or second round. Other crews get negative reviews and work much deeper. Factors mentioned such as crew and previous tournament experience could hurt if the crew is very limited on those points. Most crews max out in those areas at least against the crews they are "competing" with. The biggest factor for most crews is the coach/school vote. There is no way Dirty D's crew knows their vote. They may know a few coaches who voted positively for them, but they don't know the full results until after the season. The number of votes is also a big factor. The crews who advance deep get a large number of votes which would explain his observation that a crew received negative votes from all schools in a sectional. If they received 100+ votes the number of positive votes would shadow the negative votes. If your crew only received a 10-15 votes then a negative vote will have a much bigger impact.

It's a bad system, but it's our system for better or worse. The others have provided good advice, especially control what you control. Based on the way you are asking the question I'm guessing you are either a new official or your crew is a new crew. That likely means you have limited crew experience. That can be difficult to overcome as well. The top 3 officials by experience need to average 12 years of experience to get maximum points. Limited tournament experience would keep you from advancing to the second round, but there are several crews who have only worked 1 round so they are your main competition.

Keep working at being a good official and crew and try not to let the ranking process determine your worth. Continue to watch video and ask those outside the crew to review your video and provide feedback.

[5GetsYou1]

I'm not sure how true it is, but I received an email saying about 15% of crews didn't get an assignment this year. 

I spoke with a Referee that didn't get assigned this year, his crew made it to the second round last year. For what it's worth, they were observed this year and got high marks.

This year wasn't supposed to count against points for next year, right? 

[JustRules]

2 hours ago, 5GetsYou1 said:

I'm not sure how true it is, but I received an email saying about 15% of crews didn't get an assignment this year. 

I spoke with a Referee that didn't get assigned this year, his crew made it to the second round last year. For what it's worth, they were observed this year and got high marks.

This year wasn't supposed to count against points for next year, right? 

Per Robert there were 140 crews who applied and 122 received 1st round assignments. 13% is pretty close to 15% I guess.

If you've worked 2 rounds you are still eligible for a sectional final so not getting a game this year has no bearing on next year. That message was more about a crew opting out being considered a new crew next year and starting the process over.