Assignment Policy

Introduction

The BAFRA assignment policy applies to all assignments of members to officiate American football games.

It will come into effect on 1st April 2006.

Principles

The principles that underpin our assignment policy are as follows:

1. One of the aims for BAFRA stated in our constitution is to enable all American football games in Britain to have neutral officials.
   
   
2. We aim to provide as many assignments as possible for our active members.
   
   
3. Our ideal, wherever practical, is to assign a seven-man crew plus an assessor for every game. However, as long as demand for officials exceeds reasonable supply, we will aim to assign a minimum of four officials per game. On occasion, we may send three officials to a game, but normally only if someone drops out and cannot be replaced.
   
   
4. We aim to reach a fair balance between the demands for officials to work a game and the supply of officials within a reasonable distance of the venue.
   
   
5. We have a duty of care to our members and to teams not to assign officials who are incapable of officiating to an adequate standard.
   
   

Implementation

Responsible officers

The Director of Operations is responsible for determining the means by which officials will be assigned to games, bearing in mind the principles above.

The Executive Board may appoint one or more Scheduling Officers to assist with this.

Membership categories

Full members of BAFRA are considered to be in one of three categories relating to their capability to officiate. These, and the routes between them, are shown in the following diagram:

After joining, a member must pass a competency test in order to be able to officiate. Once 10 games have been worked satisfactorily, the member becomes qualified. A qualified member who does not sit the annual exam will have to pass the competency test and work 10 games as a "competent member" before regaining "qualified member" status.

The Director of Training (subject to review by the Executive Board) may deem a member "competent" or "qualified" on an individual basis if they have evidence of considerable experience of American football officiating (e.g. in another country or as a BAFRA member in the past). This procedure will not normally be used to give "qualified member" status to someone who has been inactive for more than 2 years or who has not sat the most recent BAFRA exam.

Eligibility

1. Only "qualified" or "competent" members will be assigned to friendly or league games.
   
   
2. Only "qualified" members will be assigned to playoff or international games. (Exception: "competent" members can be assigned if there are not enough qualified members to cover all games.)
   
   
3. Junior members are not eligible to be assigned to games.
   
   

The terms "friendly", "league", "playoff" and "international" here have the meanings defined in the BAFRA Terms & Conditions.

Availability

All members must keep their Scheduling Officer (by default, the Director of Operations) informed of their availability.

During the regular season, many assignments are made several weeks in advance so we need as much notice as possible. Of course, we recognise and accept that people's jobs, families or even emergencies mean that sometimes there will be a need to drop out at short notice. Contact your Scheduling Officer if any problem arises. An availability form is distributed periodically. You should not complain about not being given games if you do not complete and return the form promptly.

An official who turns down a game will normally not be switched to another game; he/she will have to sit at home. Officials who repeatedly turn down games without good reason are likely to find themselves relegated to the bottom of the list for assignments. Good reasons include medical, family and work emergencies, but not anything that could have been foreseen or avoided.

Unless the official is down on the Director of Operations's game assignment sheet, they will not be covered by the Association's insurance policy.

Always we take into account the distance that an official would have to travel to a game to try to keep this to reasonable proportions. However, everyone should be prepared to do one or two "long-distance" games a season, though this will vary according to what part of the country they are based in.

Occasionally, crews are shuffled at short notice because of games that are cancelled or officials who drop out. Officials who are assigned to games that are subsequently cancelled should be given preference when shuffling crews over those who were originally left unassigned and these in turn over those who make themselves available at short notice.

Transitional arrangements

On 1st April 2006:

• all members who have worked at least 10 games will be deemed "qualified members"
  
  
• all members who have worked from 1-9 games (or recently passed a competency test) will be deemed "competent members"
  
  
• all other members will be regarded as inactive