All officials assigned by DCHOA are independent contractors. They are not employees of or contracted by DCHOA.

It is the responsibility of the requesting organization to pay officials’ game fees in accordance with the current DCHOA Rate Schedule and the Payment Periods section in the DCHOA Rules.

For WIAA assignments, contracts are to be used for all officials assigned by DCHOA. Individual contracts are between schools and the officials and are required to be sent directly by the schools to the officials.

DCHOA will only assign properly registered and certified officials for the requested game. If the game includes teams registered with different national governing bodies, officials will have proper certification with both national governing bodies.

The acceptance of a request for officials does not guarantee that DCHOA will be able to assign officials for your game. See Insufficient Available Officials for more information.

All WIAA games require the assignment of three officials (two referees and one linesman).

All other game requests require the assignment of at least two officials.

Regular weekly assigning applies to most youth and adult games.

The DCHOA scheduling week runs from Friday through Thursday.

To have games assigned as part of the regular assignment, teams must have their requests for officials submitted by the beginning of the assigning process.

Scheduling dates are listed on the DCHOA Scheduling website.

The DCHOA Scheduler is responsible for all regular assigning. After the assigning has been completed, the DCHOA schedule on the DCHOA Scheduling website will be updated. Schedules will be sent to any official who has been assigned to one or more games during the scheduling period.

If there are scheduling conflicts between game requests, those conflicts must be resolved before officials will be assigned.

Special Events games, as defined in the Special Events and WIAA Policy, are scheduled by the Special Events Committee.

The season is split into blocks for the purpose of Special Events assigning. Games should be entered by the deadline for each block. Special Event deadlines are available in the Upcoming Events section on the DCHOA Scheduling website.

Requests for officials that are submitted outside of the scheduling block will be handled on an individual game basis.

If there is a block of Special Events games (such as an applicable tournament) added to the schedule during the season outside of the scheduled blocks, a unique invitation may be sent out to eligible officials for that block of games. The Special Events Committee or the DCHOA Scheduler will schedule the block of games.

When all game requests cannot be filled, for requests submitted by the required deadlines, the following priorities are used

• Special Events games are given priority over regular assigning
• Tournament games are given priority over non-tournament regular assigning
• Blocks of games are given priority over single games
• Games including a team from out of town (significant distance/travel time) will be given priority over games with two local teams

The DCHOA Scheduler has final discretion when assigning games.

All officials must be fully registered with DCHOA to be assigned games. This includes having their DCHOA fees paid for the dates of the games.

DCHOA officials shall receive all games assigned through the DCHOA from the Scheduler or the Special Events Committee. Officials accepting games from other sources are personally responsible for avoiding conflicts and making arrangements for payment of game fees.

Game assignments will be posted on the DCHOA Scheduling website. It is the responsibility of the official to know their schedule.

If an official is assigned a game for a time or rink that they did not make themselves available, they must email the Scheduler at Scheduler@DCHOA.org immediately.

If an official is unable to work a particular DCHOA game assignment, the official is responsible for the game until a replacement has been made or they are removed from the game by the Scheduler. The official must place the game(s) they are unable to work on the Open Games list and the replacement must request assignment through the DCHOA Scheduling website. Officials may find replacements and notify the Scheduler, but the replacement process must be through the Open Games list on the DCHOA Scheduling website.

If an official fails to show up at a game to which they are assigned, the official will be fined and disciplined in accordance with the Promptness and No-Show Policy.

Should a DCHOA member official cover a game for another official due to a no-show or some other special circumstance, the official must be qualified to officiate at the game level based on their registration with the appropriate governing body or bodies. The official working the game must email the Scheduler as soon as possible and provide the following information:

• Their name
• The name of the official they replaced (if known)
• Game date
• Game time
• Game location
• Names of officials who did work the game, and positions if applicable
• Game Level and teams

If an official is assigned a game and one or more of their assigned partners fails to show, is late, or tardy, the official should notify the Scheduler via email. The Scheduler will update the game assignment on the DCHOA Scheduling website to ensure proper credit for the official(s) working the game and the official(s) will be paid based on the number of officials that worked the game.

No official shall be obligated to officiate a game in which fewer officials are present than originally assigned.

Any requests that were unable to be fully assigned during Regular Weekly Assigning or Special Events Assigning will be added to the Open Games list.

All requests for officials made after the Weekly Regular Assigning has begun will be added to the Open Games list and will be charged late request fees in accordance with the current DCHOA Rate Schedule.

The Open Games list will be published to officials on the DCHOA Scheduling website and regularly sent to officials via email.

When an official requests assignment to an Open Game on the website, they do not receive the assignment until notified by the Scheduler. They are assumed available for that game until their request is acted upon by the scheduler or they withdraw their request through the DCHOA Scheduling website.

DCHOA will cancel game assignments when unable to assign the minimum number of officials per the Minimum Number of Officials section. Canceling a game means that DCHOA will not assign officials for that game. It is the responsibility of the organizations to find officials.

For games that are not fully assigned, the DCHOA Scheduler will send email notification to the requesting team for those games a minimum of 3 days before the DCHOA scheduling week begins. This notification does not indicate that a game will be canceled
for lack of officials, but is meant to inform teams that there is a possibility that the game may need to be canceled by DCHOA and include when we expect to make cancellations.

Games for the upcoming DCHOA scheduling week that do not have the minimum required officials assigned and are within 48-72 hours will be canceled on the DCHOA schedule.

If the DCHOA Scheduler has assigned any officials and those officials are on the Late Call list, the name(s) of the official(s) may be shared with the requesting organization when the game is canceled.

When DCHOA is unable to fully assign a game and the request is canceled by DCHOA, teams may elect to use the Late Call list. The Late Call list consists of officials that are willing to take late requests from teams. The Late Call list can be found on the DCHOA Scheduling website.

When a team finds officials through the Late Call list, the games are not put on the DCHOA schedule. It is the responsibility of the officials and the requesting team to agree on payment.

DCHOA may revoke access to the Late Call list for anyone who abuses the Late Call List. Abuse of the Late Call list includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

• Uses the Late Call list to send mass emails
• Uses the Late Call list to send mass text messages
• Shares the list with others who do not have access to the Late Call List on the DCHOA Scheduling website

If there is a game that the requesting team wants added to the Open Games list early, the team has the option of paying a nonrefundable service fee in accordance with the current DCHOA Rate Schedule. The game will go to the Open Games list prior to the regular assigning period.

Requests for Early Assigning must be made through the DCHOA Scheduling website using the Display Early page. Once an Early Assigning request has been submitted, the service fee will be charged and officials will immediately see the game on the Open Games list and may request assignment.

In order to assign officials for a game, DCHOA must be informed of all teams’ registration status with an affiliate/sanctioning organization. DCHOA will verify registration when necessary. Should a team provide false information, DCHOA may impose a permanent ban on assigning officials for that entire organization.

All games will be played in accordance with the rules of the sanctioning organization(s).

DCHOA may choose to schedule games that are not sanctioned by a national governing body. Teams requesting officials for unsanctioned games are encouraged to have a liability policy that includes officials.

DCHOA officials can specify that they will officiate unsanctioned games. Only officials who have indicated that they will officiate unsanctioned games may be assigned to an unsanctioned game.