Assigners:

🟪Girls Volleyball

Megan Cusick
📧 cusickfarms@gmail.com

• Preferred contact: Email

• Off-season: Mid-Nov – Mid-Aug

🟩  Boys Volleyball

Robert Wilson
📧 rswilson04@aol.com

• Preferred contact: Email

• Off-season: Early June – Mid-March

🟪 Substitutions / Game Issues

• Contact the assigner who assigned the game

• Do NOT contact the school

🚨  Emergency Coverage

• Megan Cusick and Robert Wilson support each other

• If you cannot reach one, contact the other

🟪 Communication Policy

Off-Season

• Email only (no calls/texts)

• Responses may be delayed

In-Season

• Email remains primary

• Call/text for urgent situations only, especially day of

• Before 10AM for day of subs please

Varsity Crew Formations and Alignments:

To facilitate networking and coordination:

1. Please utilize the OK Conference Facebook group to connect with other officials. [link here].

2. Reach out to crews directly to inquire about any officials who may be relocating/shifting/free agents.

3. Contact your local training association Trainer or Recruitment/Mentorship Coordinator for assistance in aligning skill sets (association links in next section):

   • • 1. • WMVOA: Betty Near (Trainer) or Jeff Harp (R&M Coordinator)

          • USAOA: Lori Spelde (Trainer) or Jack Vanderboegh (R&M Coordinator)

          • MMOA: Ray Bauer & Chris Calkins (Trainer) or Ron Mousel (R & M Coordinator)

     • Names of all officials in the O-K Conference as of Feb 2025 for brainstorming/alignment ideas. ⬇️  OK Conference Official Roster

     • All contact information can also be found on the MHSAA officials directory.  

     • ⬇️ 2024 Crew List.

After your crew is formed, provide all the necessary details in the volleyball registration form, link at the top of this site. There will be a dedicated section for crews, and the registration information you provide will be used to update the arbiter crew list. Please refrain from sending separate emails. 

Disclaimers:   Assigners do not participate or advise in crew matchmaking or alignments, as cannot assure compatibility or success. Officials are expected to take initiative, conduct their own research, and make informed decisions.  

Also, while the OK Conference will attempt to utilize crews as an initial assigning process, officials please know the following:

1) Crews are assigned as a collective group - (i.e. if one official is blocked by a particular school, or your crewmate has a date blocked, or if one of your crew members has has notably different ratings, the entire crew will be impacted at assignment time).    Choose your crews wisely.   **The OK Conference has no role in crew formation.  If you need advice, please work with your peers and local associations for recommendations.     

2)  Assigners retain the sole discretion to opt out of utilizing a crew and/or individuals.  This could be based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, past performance, feedback from coaches or ADs, or historical turnback's/needs for reassignment.  

3) The number of games and 'quality' of assignments are based on a multitude of factors in no particular order, including, but not limited to: 

• film analysis

• observations

• coach ratings

• coach feedback

• AD feedback

• association trainer feedback

• MHSAA ratings

• late MHSAA registration

• failure to watch the MHSAA preseason meeting

• failure to be an active member of an officials association

• participation in camps/training 

• willingness to mentor younger officials

• support of recruitment

• support of training others

• willingness to travel to all OK Conference schools

• declines from past seasons

• failure to manage Arbiter

• failure to have a picture and/or phone number in Arbiter

• etc.

4)  IMPORTANT: You need to have realistic expectations of communication from your assigners.  There are over 175 volleyball officials in the OK Conference system.   Too often, we get individuals seeking individualized guidance, feedback, or requesting special treatment or accommodation.   Nearly every official believes they are deserving of more games and "better" assignments.   Unfortunately, the OK Conference assigning team is not resourced to be able to have individualized conversations, nor manage the expectations of each of these people.  

If you are unsatisfied with your games, here are the recommended steps you should take:

A) Self reflect - many officials believe they are better than others/compare themselves to other officials they see.  This is dangerous and will cause frustration.   Review your film and challenge your own perception of yourself.   Where do you need to improve?  How do you look on the court (confident? over-confident? are your calls actually usually correct as you review?  what can you improve? etc.) 

B) Take care of business.   Keep yourself off the "causing extra work list"   Have Arbiter up to date, try to avoid turn backs, and especially avoid declined games/needed swaps as much as possible.   You do not want to be known as an official or crew that creates more headache and rework than your peers.  

C) Attend camps - which creates networking opportunities

D) Extend your assigning network.   We have fewer OK schools than we did in 2023 - there are fewer OK games to go around.  

E) If you choose to work outside of the OK , which you should if you’re seeking more games or faster assignments — please understand that we cannot schedule you for games if you already have games from another assigner.  When we begin assigning and your selected dates overlap with existing commitments by another assigner, we move on to the next available crew/official. We don’t replace those games or search for new dates during the initial round, as that causes too much shifting. We do our best to make up for it in future assignments, but cannot guarantee. 

F) Your officials association is designed to support you.  Association leadership can guide you and answer questions about how you can improve, etc.  

Thank you for your cooperation, your collaboration is essential to our success.