RAOA Operating Intent
The Rochester Area Officials Association
Rochester, Minnesota
General Operating Intent
The membership belongs to this organization to:
Provide a common clearinghouse for schools to hire the officials they wish to have officiate their games.
Have a common fellowship for people that work the sports so they might gather experiences for the betterment of all concerned.
Provide a public image of cooperation.
The secretary is a clearinghouse, not an “assignment secretary”. Members may accept contracts from schools directly providing the secretary is kept informed. However, the officials are not to solicit games from the schools or “beg ball games”. The intent is for an official to work the ballgame with no regard to “worrying about being hired back” or “buttering up the Athletic Director”.
All officials are treated alike. When a school requests officials for a specific date, all available officials’ names are submitted to the school for selection. The school selects their choice. The secretary does not influence this to help a friend or cut down on someone’s games because of the number they already have. Likewise, the official with few games should not be promoted. The philosophy is that the official must perform to be hired.
The official has a responsibility to be loyal to the association. Constructive changes are considered by the general membership. Complaints should be aired to the individual sport vice-president. However, one should remember that personal beliefs regarding how the membership is governed or how many games are on the schedule for each official are not the secretary’s duty. The secretary merely records who the school chose on the master schedule to know who is available when the next school requests officials for the same date.
Officials that cannot accept the way most of the membership has chosen to run the association should either air their differences with the Executive Committee or part ways with the association if they cannot come to an agreeable solution.