ArbiterSports Information
The ArbiterSports system is in use for officiating assignments for
selected western schools in the Berrien - Cass - St. Joseph Conference (BCS) in the following sports:
football, girls and boys basketball, volleyball, wrestling, baseball and
softball. While not directly associated with the Fruit Belt Officials
Association, some of our members are involved in the assigning process, and
almost all of our members officiate regularly in these conferences. Below is
some important information concerning the ArbiterSports system.
We are confident that the ArbiterSports system is the
ideal one for our officials. Not only has it been a leader
in the industry for many years, but it was also recently
acquired by the NCAA. This ensures increased stability
moving forward.
If you are a member of either the Fruit Belt
Officials Association or the Southwest Michigan
Officials Association, your ArbiterSports fees
are paid when you pay your dues. Your
association will pass on the technology fee on your
behalf to the Athletic Assignors Association.
Registration and Log-In
Area officials who would like to be considered for assignment to games in
the conferences listed above first need to get registered in each sport
specific section of the ArbiterSports system. New
officials to the system must be invited by each sport assignor.
If the new official is an existing user of ArbiterSports, he/she will be
invited to join the new group the next time logging in. If a matching email
address is not currently in the system, users will get a welcome email from
ArbiterSports with log-in instructions.
Regardless of how many "groups" an official is a part of, there is a
single username and password for ArbiterSports. The username is
always the user's email address. The welcome email will contain a
temporary password, which must be changed after logging in the first time.
Important ArbiterSports Information
- The web address is www.arbitersports.com.
- Users must accept the invitation to be a part of the new group.
- It is important for each official to check the box that they are
"Ready to be Assigned" for each group.
- If you belong to more than one group, you can log in to the group of
your choice after your initial log-in by clicking on
the black "head-and-shoulders" icon to the right of the appropriate
group.
- It is highly recommended that our officials take advantage of the
new "Sharing" feature, which shares your schedule from any Arbiter
assignor with the others. This greatly cuts down on the work you have to
do blocking closed dates.
Assignors
Enabling the Sharing Feature
- Once logged in, click the Profile link at the top
of the page.
- Click the Sharing link underneath on the next
screen.
- Click all the boxes and then click Save.
Using the Blocks Section
One of the most important parts of the ArbiterSports system is the
"Blocks" section. The Sharing feature outlined above only blocks the
officiating dates from ArbiterSports assignors. You must block the
dates/times you are unavailable for other reasons yourself using the
"Blocks" section of the website. Keeping your calendar updated in each sport you work
is imperative to the success of the system. The assignors assume that if a
date is open, you are available to work! The assignors have each undertaken
their roles to help keep officials in our area working area games. Although
they are compensated for their efforts, it is only a part-time position.
Officials who turn back games simply because they did not keep their
availability updated place a tremendous burden on the assignors and schools,
who depend on the system to get their contracts out in a timely manner.
Below are the steps to update your calendar once you're in the system:
- Click the link for "Blocks" at the top of the page. (It doesn't
matter which group you are logged into. You can block dates for multiple
assignors from any group.)
- Look at the upper-left section of the screen. All of the groups you
belong to will be displayed by number. You can see which group is which
by resting your mouse over the number. It will show you the group name
in the form of a little "sticky note." Make sure you have clicked in the
box beside all groups that you'd like to include in the block.
- Click "Block All Day" or "Block Part Day" depending on your choice.
- If you have chosen "Block Part Day" use the time range drop-down
boxes to choose the time range you are unavailable to work.
- On the calendar, click on the date you would like to block.
- Continue blocking dates for that month until finished.
- Choose another month by clicking the next or previous month links at
the right and left side of the top of the calendar, or by selecting a
month from the drop-down list at the right side of the screen.
- Repeat for the entire season.
Other Blocks Info
- If you would like to include a note each time you block a date,
click the "Add Notes" box at the left side of the screen. This will
prompt you to input a short note about that block. This note can be for
yourself or for your assignors.
- If a date that you have blocked later opens up, you can click the
"Clear Blocks" option on the left side of the screen and then click the
date or dates you would like to unblock.
- You can also block larger date ranges, using the "Date Range"
section at the top right of the screen. Just put in the starting and
ending range, and click the boxes for which days of the which to apply
the blocks in this range and click Apply.
- Keep your
availability updated throughout the season, not just prior to the initial
game assignments.
Working with Your Schedule
You will be notified via email if you have new or changed assignments in
the system. It is important that you react to these messages in a timely
manner. Be aware that occasionally you will get such an email and nothing
will appear different to you. It may be that your partner has changed or the
time is different. In these instances, just check that you show as having
accepted the assignment and take note of your current partners,
the date and time of the game. It is not necessary to alert the assignor via
email that you got sent an unnecessary notice. Instructions for using this
part of the system are as follows:
- Click on the link for "Schedule."
- Click either "Accept" or "Decline" for each assignment as
appropriate.
- Click the "Submit" button at the top or bottom of the page when
finished.
Other Schedule Info
- You can view partners, send out reminder emails, etc. by clicking on
the game number at the left side of an assignment.
- The Standard View will show you all assignments from today's date
forward for all groups you are in. You can filter the
list if desired to show only assignments from a particular assignor by
unchecking the boxes for other assignors at the top left of the screen.
- To show all assignments, including those in the past, click the
"Show All" box at the left of the screen. This is helpful if you need to
submit a report on past assignments. (The "R" icon is the link to submit
a game report.)
- Although the Standard View gives you the most information on one
screen by using a table format, you can also view your schedule by day,
week or month by choosing the appropriate option on the left side of the
screen.
- IMPORTANT: WHEN TURNING BACK AN ASSIGNMENT, DO NOT ASSUME
YOU ARE OFF OF THE ASSIGNMENT UNTIL YOU NO LONGER SEE IT ON YOUR
SCHEDULE. IF NECESSARY, KEEP CONTACTING YOUR ASSIGNOR VIA PHONE OR EMAIL
UNTIL THE MATTER IS RESOLVED.
- To individually accept or reject assignments, click the "Detail ID"
button at the far left for the assignment in question.
Other ArbiterSports Tools
In addition to what is listed above, there are several
tools you can use to your benefit on the site. They are too numerous to
explain in detail here, but if you poke around a little they are fairly
self-explanatory. Below is a list of some of the features available:
- Announcements: important information from your
assignor -- listed on the main screen once you log-in to a group.
- Evaluations: If your assignor has made online
evaluations available to you, they will be found by navigating to the
Evaluations section of the site.
- Lists: This section has contact information for
officials and athletic directors (use the links for Officials and
Contacts).
- MyReferee: This section has informative information
from Referee Magazine (quizzes, articles, etc.).
- Profile: You can change your email address,
password, address and phone information here as well as your Sharing and
other preferences.
Important note about changing your email address: If
your email address changes and you belong to
multiple groups, it is important to change it in the system
AFTER the initial log-in but BEFORE you have logged in to a
group. Since your username is always your email address, this
insures it will change for ALL GROUPS.
More Help for New Users
ArbiterSports has put together an extensive PowerPoint presentation for
new users. Click below to view that presentation:
ArbiterSports New User Presentation
(PowerPoint)