Coaches / Officials Draft

[TASOTonyG]

Was wondering if there are any other chapters in Texas that hold a Coaches / Officials Draft similar to what the Houston Football Chapter has done for several years. If so, how are your drafts done?

I have been a TASO Official for a few years now after transferring in from another state and this year was the first draft that I attended. The board members did a great job running it IMO and the technology used was good, but it seemed the same top crews got picked each date during the 6A / 5A session in the morning with some crews ending up with over 30 games (Thurs, Fri & Sat) vs. some crews getting 7 or less (75 total crews).

This year the board did a random drawing of the games for the specific date to change up which coaches get to pick first for that date, I'm wondering if they can also do a random drawing of the crews for that date that the coaches can pick from to "spread the wealth" across all the crews to give everyone a fighting chance and help the process a little more fair.

For example, for week 2 on Friday for 6A-5A is about 32 games. Out of the 75 crews, only 32 crews can be selected and the 32 is based on a random order generated. The coaches still select which crew they want to work their game, but they can only select from the 32 crews that are in the random pool.

Anybody have thoughts on this? I am not trying to put down the process, because it builds relationships with the coaches and was pretty exciting to watch, but just brainstorming on how it can be better for all crews.

Thanks in advance for your feedback and I hope each of you have a great, safe upcoming season!

[TXMike]

You could do a search for Houston in the Search box and spend a day reviewing past posts about the Houston situation.  Bottom line..it works for them.  If coaches are content with 5 60 year old guys working 3 varsity games a week and the membership is content enough that they keep their total member numbers up, there is no real reason to change things up.  The system (in Texas, not just in Houston) is not designed to be "fair" to officials, it is designed to give the coaches maximum input in who refs their games.  We can most all agree that is NOT an ideal situation but changing it will be a lot harder than getting the Confederate flag hidden away.

[TexDoc]

SA voted and passed a policy limiting each crew to no more than 2 games in a given week.   It worked out fine during the picks. 

[JDM]

The random selection by date has always been in place. It's done electronically with a random number generator but used to be as simple as pulling numbered balls. With regards to coaches picking random order generated crews - fughettaboutit! That would take too much control out of their hands. While some coaches are more open minded, there are those who will only agree to utilize a small number of select crews.

[NorCalMike]

Wow you guys do it weird in Texas. In my section of California, coaches have no say in who refs their games. They are assigned by a contractor. Coaches can try to eliminate a certain official but they have to have a valid reason. We also have a rule that you can only see the same team twice.

[TxSkyBolt]

Wow you guys do it weird in Texas. In my section of California, coaches have no say in who refs their games. They are assigned by a contractor. Coaches can try to eliminate a certain official but they have to have a valid reason. We also have a rule that you can only see the same team twice.

The state governing agency (UIL) mandates that coaches mutually agree on officials for their contests. Some chapters have taken this to the extreme and allow coaches to actually pick the officials. Others (Austin comes to mind) assign crews to games and then give coaches an opportunity to agree. Much better system IMO.

[TXMike]

I doubt any system is perfect.  Even when you have an assigner there are stories about biases and good ole boy situations.  There are obvious problems in the "free market" systems where crews market and contract themselves. The one we use in most of texas is obviously flawed.  I would love to hear from someone working in the perfect system

[NorCalMike]

TxMike our system is certainly far from perfect. We still gripe about not getting good games or travelling to far. I was not commenting the whether your system was good or bad just that is so different that what I am used to. It is amazing how different things can be from state to state.

Do crew chiefs actually market their crew or is it just reputation that makes coaches choose certain crews?

[TXMike]

If a crew is "marketing" itself then it is likely violating the "solicitation"  policy.  Chapters can market themselves during certain parts of the year . But individual crews are not permitted to do that.  Coaches are picking based on their experience with certain crews or officials or on similar info they get from other members of their staff.  Coaches talk and I imagine some of that includes comments about past officiating so that "reputation" info is used also. 

[Coby]

I am still waiting on my Ebay system to be put into place.  I realize I have been talking about this for about 5 years on refstripes.  So basically it incorporates a free market approach to the whole search for officials.  Let me lay out my credentials and then you bid on me and my crew to work your game.  So if you want a 7 man all division 1 crew, along with 3 chain officials, and 2 clock operators we will start the bidding at $2500 and slowly move forward from that point as demand dictates.

Before you think I am more crazier then usual lets think about this for a minute.  The odds of getting an all Division I 7 man crew are slim to none right now.  Houston I believe only has 3 or 4 total.  Not saying an all D1 crew is the be all end all so work with me here for a second.  In 10 years what do you think the odds will be of an all D1 crew?  We all know that officials chains and clocks are a pain to provide so if I can go to 1 specific person to get all 3 for a big game I am all over it.

Bottom line is we are skilled labor.  We need to start charging like we are skilled labor.  Some schools will pay it and some will not.