H-5.IHSAA Selection of Baseball Officials for Tournament Series Policy

  1. To be considered for a Tournament Series assignment, the following basic criteria must be met:
  2. Must be a currently licensed IHSAA baseball umpire.
  3. Must have filed a Baseball Tournament Series application with the IHSAA office by the designated date.
  4. Must have at least Three (3) years of experience in the sport of Baseball.
  5. Must have umpired a minimum of Ten (10) games the current season.
  6. Must have received a score of 90% or above on the open book, NFHS Part II Test.
  7. Must have membership in an IHSAA approved officials association..
  8. Must have attended an IHSAA Baseball rules interpretation meeting.
  9. Must have attended an IHSAA certification clinic within the last two years.
  10. Must have received a minimum of Ten (10) school votes on the IHSAA Officials Rating; the ratings system for Tournament Series officials is posted on the home page of the IHSAA Central Hub, on
  1. Sectional Assignments (Total 192 officials) – Sectional assignment shall follow the following criteria:
  1. Assignments will be made according to the following procedure unless geographically impossible. Officials will be assigned in the following positions regardless of the classification of schools.

(1.)Numbers 1-64 are assigned the #1 position.

(2.)Numbers 65-128 are assigned the #2 position.

(3.)Numbers 129-192 are assigned the #3 position.

  1. An umpire must have received a minimum of Ten (10) school votes.
  2. All umpires will be ranked and assigned based on the IHSAA Officials Rating.
  3. Advancement from Sectional to Regional (Total 64 officials) -- Regional assignment shall follow the following criteria:
  1. An umpire must have received a minimum of Ten (10) school votes on the IHSAA Officials Rating.
  2. The top Sixty-four (64) rated umpires meeting these criteria will be assigned a regional so long as approximately Fifty percent (50%) have never umpired the state finals.
  3. Assignments will be made according to the following procedure unless geographically impossible.
  4. Officials will be assigned regardless of school classification and all position assignments will be made by the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
  5. Advancement from Regional to Semi-State (Total 16 officials) -- Semi-State assignment shall follow the following criteria:
  1. An umpire must have worked at least Three (3) regionals (not required to be consecutive).
  2. An umpire must have received a minimum of Ten (10) school votes on the IHSAA Officials Rating.
  3. Approximately Twenty five percent (25%) of those umpires have never worked the state finals.
  4. Assignments will be made according to the following procedure unless geographically impossible.
  5. Officials will be assigned regardless of school classification and all position assignments will be made by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc.
  6. Advancement from Semi-State to State Finals (Total 16) -- State finals assignment shall follow the following criteria::
  1. An umpire must have worked at least Three (3) regionals (not required to be consecutive).
  2. An umpire must have received a minimum of Ten (10) school votes on the IHSAA Officials Rating.
  3. State finals assignment shall follow the following criteria:

(1.)The top Eight (8) rated umpires will be assigned to the state as long as Fifty percent (50%) of those umpires have never umpired the state final. These top Eight (8) officials will work with the Eight (8) officials who will be completing their second consecutive year of working the state finals.

(2.)The Eight (8) rated officials will be assigned their second consecutive state finals the next season.

(3.)Once an official has worked two consecutive state finals, he/she will be assigned at the sectional level only the following year. There will be no limit on the number of times an umpire could work the state finals, but he/she could reach that level again only once every Three (3) years after competing Two (2) years of state final work.

(4.)Officials will be assigned regardless of school classification and all position assignments will be made by the IHSAA.

(5.)Once an official works the state finals, he/she will be assigned at no higher than the sectional level the following year. There will be no limit on the number of times an official could work the state finals, but he/she could reach that level once every Three (3) years. If ratings warrant it, the official may return to the state finals by working each level of the tournament prior to returning to the state championship.

  1. Selection of an official by the IHSAA to officiate a Tournament Series contest is a privilege, not a right, and the IHSAA, in its sole, unfettered discretion may assign, may choose not to assign, may assign, or may un-assign Tournament Series official to any tournament contest, all as it deems expedient, appropriate, and in the best interest of the Tournament Series and the IHSAA.

412439 (H5) (8.2014)