Athletic Directors & Coaches – What To Do & When

AD’s “What To Do & When” Guide WHAT ASSIGNORS NEED FROM ATHLETIC DIRECTORS AND WHEN Effective August 1, 2014

1. Assignors will send AD’s a letter and a form requesting that schedules be submitted so that schedules can be loaded into Arbiter. These are due by the date specified and agreed to with the WCD (see attachment). NOTE: This applies to ALL high school, junior high and middle school AD’s.

a. These forms MUST include the name, cell and work phone numbers and email address of the athletic director and the name, cell phone number and email address of the head coach. It is optional to provide this same information for the Athletic Secretary but if you want that individual to have access to Arbiter then the information is needed. Schools must identify one main contact to work directly with assignors to reduce confusion and maximize efficiency in dealing with schedule additions and changes.

2. Once all schedules are loaded into Arbiter, AD’s will be notified to review the date, time, and opponent for all home matches/games. Any discrepancies should be immediately emailed to the Assigning Secretary to be resolved. If everything is acceptable, the AD will email the Assigning Secretary and indicate that all matches have been verified and are correct. This must be done by JUNE 15th for football, volleyball and soccer; OCTOBER 1st for basketball and wrestling; and by FEBRUARY 1st for softball, baseball and soccer. This then allows the Assigning Secretary to begin scheduling within an appropriate time frame.

3. Schedule Changes. If a schedule needs to be changed, contact the Assigning Secretary to review your options BEFORE you contact the school or make transportation changes, to confirm that your request can be accommodated. On some days, coverage is impossible and by checking first with your assignor we can identify and resolve schedule conflicts.

4. We recommend that AD’s check Arbiter every Friday to make sure that assignments are covered for the upcoming week. If you do not see an official assigned for a match/game email the assignor and bring it to their attention. There may be mitigating circumstances as to why it is not assigned but occasionally match/games may get inadvertently overlooked. Checking and notifying an assignor on Friday allows assignors the weekend to arrange for coverage. If you wait until Monday to notify your assignor it may be too late. We also recommend you re-check the schedule on Monday if an assignment was missing when you checked on that previous Friday.

5. A “Not-To-Exceed” Purchase Order number may be requested in advance by your assignor and this request is accepted and approved by the West Central District Executive Board. The purchase order should be provided to the assignor within three weeks of the start of the season. See attached detailed explanation on how to calculate the amount to be budgeted for that particular sport. Fees for games, mileage and administrative purposes will be provided by the assignor to the AD’s to calculate the costs. The purpose of this process is to expedite the payment process for officials, most of whom are paid one time at the end of the season.

6. AD’s and coaches are encouraged to go through a trial run prior to the first match/game of the season. For volleyball this involves setting up the gym to make sure that equipment is properly padded, scoreboards work, forms printed and available, obstacles can be easily moved to avoid injury, that bleachers are working, team benches spaced according to rule, coaches box properly marked (for basketball) and the officials changing room should be adequately clean with 3 or 6 chairs and able to be properly secured. Each sport has its own requirements and this information will be conveyed to you by the assignor for that particular sport.

7. It is the responsibility of the school to ensure that support crew staffs are properly trained. In volleyball this would be the scorekeeper, scoreboard operator, libero tracker and two line judges. These individuals are supposed to report 20 minutes prior to the match in order to have adequate time to get ready and review responsibilities with the officials. Power point training programs may be available on the local association’s website or that of the WIAA as well as specific forms to be used for the contest.

8. To enhance the level of communication and facilitate emergencies, especially after regular school hours, Athletic Directors are required to “Provide Association/Board with the names, email addresses, and telephone numbers (including cell phone numbers) of the Athletic Administrator and Head Coach to the assigning secretary for the specific sport”, as per the Statewide Agreement.

9. In accordance with the Statewide Agreement, “Contest management will greet the officials upon arrival at the site and be available throughout the contest. Contest management cannot be an individual who has coaching responsibilities for the contest”.

10. Please inform your coaches to send videos to assigners and the WOA office for use in the RTO program.

11. If you have any questions about these procedures and policies contact your assignor and they’ll be happy to clarify any concerns.

Marc Blau
Assigning Secretary
Tacoma-Pierce County Volleyball Officials Board
253-677-2872 cell
253-848-1360 home
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