The Enlightened One wrote:A question, how far in advance are the scrimmages scheduled? When and who does that? I assume that the scrimmages are used to sort kids out between varsity and jv and cut for these teams so you would want a close game rather than a blow out. How about the during the season tournies and those "optional" games?
Pretty far in advance, I believe--probably around the same time official schedules are being drawn up. The coaches (and perhaps ADs, in some cases?) do the scheduling. However, I think most teams tend to go to the same set of scrimmages every year, so there often isn't too much doubt. The teams that do move are probably responding to a change in talent level, as they will want competitive games and may feel out of their league in the old field, one way or the other.
It's similar for in-season tournaments, which are officially drawn up when teams first make their schedules in late spring or early summer. (It may vary some depending on who's organizing the tournament, as many of the holiday tourneys and such have private sponsors pulling it all together.) Most teams know where they're going, as they have longstanding agreements with certain tournaments, and there is only a little bit of movement from year to year.
Not sure exactly what you mean by "optional" games, but regular season schedules are made in late spring/early summer. Conferences will create in-conference schedules for their own teams, while it's up to coaches and ADs to do the rest. Still, even a team like Duluth East with its independent schedule only changes about 2-3 teams on its schedule each year--with everyone else, they just keep alternating home-and-home meetings and work those games in when their opponents aren't tied up with conference play.