PARAMETERS
Assigning Priorities
Games and tournaments will be assigned based on the following factors:
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Official availability
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Experience and expertise of each official
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Demands of the assignment (how competitive / challenging the game(s) could be)
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Membership fairness
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Travel distance of each official
LBOA Exclusive Assigning Privilege
Individuals assigned to each game / tournament contracted to the LBOA are considered the ‘best suited’ candidates to ensure the game is officiated successfully, while still maintaining appropriate crew balance across all assignments that day. The above-listed factors routinely affect decision-making by the Association. This is why all assignment decisions are rendered exclusively by the Assigner (sometimes in consultation with the Executive). External (client) influence on these decisions will not be acceptable / tolerated.
Assigning Decisions
Under all circumstances, the following decisions will be made by the Assigner:
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LBOA Primary members will be given first priority to the most appropriate number and quality games – but not necessarily “exclusive” priority to the most appropriate number and quality games.
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LBOA Dual members will be given second priority.Dual members could be provided mileage (based on our existing policy) under the circumstance of Association necessity, but otherwise will not.
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External officials (from other Associations) will be given third priority.These individuals must be currently certified and qualified to officiate the level of game that we need covered.Mileage policy will apply.
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External officials (non-carded) will be given fourth priority.These individuals will ONLY be assigned games under dire circumstances, and their use will be approved by the Executive in advance of assignments being made.
Transparency
Whenever reasonable, and demands on the Association necessitate, the Assigner will provide our booking clients with an estimate of charges associated with their request for officials. This rough estimate should include the expectation of mileage requirements for travelling officials that may be necessary to fulfill the request. It is understood that this quote is simply an estimate for each client’s financial planning purposes, especially important on those weekends when LBOA membership availability is taxed.
Non-Traditional Bookings // High Demand Weekends
In the instance where the LBOA receives a request for officials that seems out of the ordinary, or on weekends when we receive a significant number of referee bookings, it is expected that the Assigner will advise the membership of these situations early enough so that each member’s availability can be clearly identified through his/her blocks in Arbiter.
Declining Games
Members “declining” Arbiter assignments should be kept to an absolute minimum. It just doubles the work of our Assigner, and becomes quite frustrating when our season becomes quite demanding. Officials need to keep their Arbiter ‘blocks’ up to date, so that when games are assigned, the expectation would be that the membership will accept them. Only under extenuating (i.e. last minute) circumstances, should games be declined.
As of the start of the 2019 season, we have not imposed a “fining system” for declining games. Many other larger Associations across the province do implement this strategy to overcome the problem. Their members would be given a defined number of declines without penalty, but beyond that stated number, they are then charged a ‘fine’ ($25-$45 range) for the next decline. We would prefer to not adopt such a strategy, but if “declines” are not kept to a minimum, then we will be forced to do it to ensure that our Assigner is not being asked to do way too much.
Dual Membership Elsewhere
We understand that officials within the LBOA might choose to also join other Associations within the ABOA or SABO. Many personal circumstances may dictate this; home location of the official, the official having multiple residences, interest of the official in receiving higher calibre games, officiating with the college or university panels and having available days to officiate in those communities, etc.
If a member chooses to be affiliated with another Association, we ask that availability priority is extended to the LBOA first and foremost, especially on busy weekends – and that personal blocks are updated as early as possible within Arbiter.
Created: November 20, 2019
Adopted: November 28th, 2019
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