IHSAA Policy for Selection of Officials for Baseball Tournament Series

  1. To be considered for a tournament assignment, the following basic criteria must be fulfilled:
  2. Must be a licensed IHSAA certified baseball umpire.
  3. Must have filed a “Baseball Tournament Application” with the IHSAA office by the designated date.
  4. Must have umpired a minimum of ten (10) varsity games.
  5. Must have received a score of ninety percent (90%) or above on the open book test entitled, National Federation Baseball Rules Examination.
  6. Must have membership in an IHSAA approved officials association.
  7. Must have received a minimum of ten (10) school votes.
  8. Must have attended an IHSAA Baseball Rules Interpretation Meeting in person or via the internet.
  9. Must hold a Certified Officials license.
  1. IHSAA Officials Rating –The ratings system for tournament officials is posted on the home page of the IHSAA Central Hub, on

C.Sectional Assignments (Total 192)

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.

a)Numbers 1-64 are assigned the #1 position

b)Numbers 65-128 are assigned the #2 position

c)Numbers 129-192 are assigned the #3 position

2.An umpire must have received a minimum of ten (10) school votes

  1. All umpires will be ranked and assigned based on the IHSAA Officials Rating.

D.Advancement from Sectional to Regional (Total 64) -- To receive a regional assignment the
following criteria must be met:

1.An umpire must have worked at least three (3) sectionals (not required to be consecutive)

2.An umpire must have received a minimum of ten (10) school votes

3.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.

  1. 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.

E.Advancement from Regional to Semi-State (Total 16) -- To receive a Semi-State assignment the
following must be met:

  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
  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.

F.Advancement from Semi-State to State Finals (Total 16) -- To receive a state finals assignment
the following criteria must be met:

  1. An umpire must have worked at least three (3) regionals (not required to be consecutive).
  1. An umpire must have received a minimum of ten (10) school votes.
  1. The following procedure will be used to assign state final baseball officials:

a)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 officials who will be completing their second consecutive year of working the state finals.

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

c)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.

d)Officials will be assigned regardless of school classification and all position assignments will be made by the Indiana High School Athletic Association.

e)Once an official works the state finals for the second consecutive year, he/she will be assigned at 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 every3years. If their ratings warrant, the official may return to the state finals by working each level of the tournament prior to returning to the state championship.

G.Selection of an official, or a team of officials, by the IHSAA to officiate a tournament 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 unassign any tournament official to any tournament contest, all as it deems expedient, appropriate, and in the best interest of the tournament and the IHSAA.