IAABO EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2007
9:00 AM
CONCORD BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB – CONCORD, NH
MINUTES
Attending: Benjamin, Dedopoulos, Donnelly, Fronk, Jenness, Kyle, Marcotte, Mason, Mayo, Peterson, Rossetti, Talcott, Vickery, Walsh, Wolff, Zecha (Ordway as observer)
Absent: Driscoll, Strand (to be replaced by 118 for the December meeting)
Call To Order: By President Jenness @ 9:04 AM.
New Members: Donnelly, Zecha
March 18, 2007 Meeting Minutes: Reviewed, motion made to accept (Walsh/Peterson), approved.
Secretary/Treasurer: Mayo handed out current internal financials showing a balance of $ 8,487.24 in the checkbook, with several major expenses (interpreter travel, insurance policies, NHIAA registration) to be paid in the near future.
A new Schedule of Insurance policies was handed out, showing that the General Liability and Directors & Officers policies are being renewed with no changes in premium or limits, and that a new 3-year policy covering $ 10,000 in dishonesty insurance on the treasurer renewed in the spring.
Mayo requested that any District Boards needing a Certificate of Insurance for their pre-season meetings contact his office right away to facilitate issuance of the certificates. Subsequent to the meeting, 118 requested a certificate for Littleton High School.
Mayo gave the current NHIAA list to the District board Secretaries for review prior to admission to NHIAA by September 30; Rossetti requested that Provisionals be added so that he can use them for Varsity games on an emergency basis. All District Board Secretaries responded subsequent to the meeting, and Mayo sent the final list to NHIAA with payment on September 28.
Motion to approve the report (Peterson/Walsh), approved.
Apprentice: Each District Board reported on its Apprentice Program, with all programs either under way or slated to start in the new future. Fewer officials than usual (less than 20 so far) were signed up to take our program around the state.
Motion to approve the report (Kyle/Zecha).
Interpreter: Marcotte reported that the website was current as of this week, with information from 117 subject to change in the near future.
Marcotte reported on his trip to the IAABO Fall meeting in Orlando in early September, and gave Mayo a summary sheet of his expenses for trip; Mayo paid him immediately.
Marcotte will be conducting rules and interpretations at the following meetings:
1) District Board 122 is at Portsmouth High School at 7:00 pm on 10/16/07.
2) District Board 117 is at Pinkerton Academy at 7:00 pm on 10/17/07.
3) District Board 118 is at Plymouth Middle School at 9:00 AM on 10/28/07.
4) District Board 128 is at Keene’s Park and Recreation Center at 9:00 AM on 11/4/07.
5) A Make-up is scheduled for Pinkerton Academy at 7:00 PM on 11/7/07.
6) Interpretations will also be given at coaches meetings during the pre-season. These do not count for 32 members.
Marcotte reminded 32 members that this season, the home team must wear white uniforms; this was announced several years ago, but schools were given time to budget for the expense if they did not wear white at home previously.
Change in the 3-man mechanics in college (going opposite table side after reporting a foul) was discussed at length, including the decisions of Maine and Massachusetts to follow the colleges, and Vermont to remain table side. This item was tabled for discussion later in the meeting under New Business.
With respect to the Mechanics Test and Rules test, Marcotte provided the District Board Secretaries and Mayo with a copy of the questions and answers to the Mechanics test. He proposed that the tests be placed on the website for downloading by members in addition to having them passed out at District Board meetings. The Rules test will be completed by Marcotte and Rossetti and forwarded to District Board Secretaries prior to their meetings. Deadline for returning both tests to the District Board Secretaries is 11/26/07.
Motion was made (Walsh/Peterson) to approve the report, approved.
Supervisor: Rossetti met with Pat Corbin of NHIAA and Bruce Labs (new NHIAA Basketball Committee Chair) about the mandatory 3-man officiating clinic right before the tournament, and found them agreeable to considering our proposal to take tournament games away from officials who do not attend.
With respect to coach ratings, Rossetti does not believe we can get more participation, and received relatively few complaints during last season; after discussion, consensus developed that we should step away from this issue unless it is brought up by the coaches themselves in the future.
With respect to 3-man crews in the quarter finals, it was determined that there is not sufficient support at NHIAA to achieve this in the near future. Rossetti agreed to attempt to expand the use of 3-man crews during the regular season by having discussions with individual athletic directors, particularly as it relates to important games on their schedules.
Rossetti gave out Officials’ brochures for District Board Secretaries to give to members at their meetings; it was agreed that this information should also be placed on the website. Discussion ensued about the Policies and Procedures of NHIAA that are available on its website, and consensus developed that we should link to it so that our members know what schools are told.
Rossetti reported that the National Federation of High Schools is concerned about the relative lack of new blood in the officiating area, and will be considering methods to improve recruitment of new officials in the near future.
Rossetti also reported on a possible change in NHIAA registration for officials starting in 2008-09. Each official will pay NHIAA $ 20.00 for a single registration for all sports that they work, and the fee will include liability insurance. Rossetti will report further on this as information becomes available.
With respect to tournament fees for the next three years, NHIAA has set $ 90.00 as the fee for preliminary and quarter final rounds, while semi-final and final rounds will pay $ 102.00. In the regular season, rates for Varsity/Sub-Varsity in 2007-08 are set at $ 76.00/$ 56.00, while a 3-man regular season officials earn $ 61.00.
The reduction from 50 miles to 40 miles 1-way as the threshold for receiving an extra $ 10.00 is welcome, but a question has developed about the way that the Arbiter calculates mileage. Arbiter’s use of “as the crow flies” isn’t fair to officials who lose out under that scenario; Rossetti will be working with Tia @ NHIAA to accurately estimate actual road mileage wherever possible
With respect to tournament cancellations, Tia @ NHIAA wants to be able to have a text message sent to each official in an effort to improve communication; consensus developed that this would be advantageous for some officials but not for others. Rossetti reported that on several nights during tournament season, games are played at multiple sites; he plans to have a discussion with Pat Corbin @ NHIAA about this, and supply NHIAA with information on designees that he would send to a site in such a situation.
Motion to approve the report (Peterson/Walsh), approved.
John Burke Award: Rossetti reported that he was involved in both presentations of the Award, at Groveton and Spaulding; in both cases, 32 earned good PR by presenting these awards to the students involved.
Assigner: Rossetti report that as of August 1, 40 schools did not have their schedules completed and forwarded to him; as of today’s meeting, 10 schools had still not reported. At today’s meeting, Rossetti was only able to distribute first-pass schedules to the 118 and 122 District Board Presidents; he promised 117 and 128 that their schedules will be sent as soon as the schools in their areas submitted their schedules. His goal was to publish all schedules by 11/09/07.
Rossetti will remind officials at the district board meetings of the 32 position on turn back fees; in recent years turn back reasons have been acceptable, so the collection of fees was not necessary. Rossetti also reminded members of the importance of confirmation calls to Athletic Directors before working at a school.
With respect to off-night big games, Jenness commented that he wants to make sure that schools that set up their schedules this way will get top-rated officials whenever possible; Rossetti agreed that this would be a point of emphasis for him.
Since the recent release of ratings on the Arbiter, Rossetti reported that only one of the 15 calls he received was not settled during the call; the single case that was referred to the district board level was settled amicably there.
Motion to approve the report (Peterson/Walsh), approved.
Old Business:
(1) IAABO Life membership: Walsh reported that he submitted all biographical information on Tony Haley prior to the 6/1/07 deadline; that information was to have been discussed at the Fall IAABO meeting in Orlando in early September, and if approved the award would be presented @ the spring 2008 IAABO meeting.
(2): John Clark Award – Rossetti reported that of the four officials nominated last year by 32, Moe Bilodeau was selected to receive the award. Nominations for 2007 need to be submitted by 9/25/07. Subsequent to the meeting, we were able to determine that all past nominees are held over for future consideration, but the resubmission of those nominees often makes a stronger impression on the committee.
With respect to the John Clark Award, motion was made (Walsh/Peterson) that all relevant information about the award be sent to Marcotte, so that he could place it on the website (including qualifications, past IAABO winners, etc….) so that all members could nominate officials in they choose to, motion approved.
(3) Election reminder: Mayo reported that Interpreter, Assigner, Supervisor, Secretary/Treasurer will all be voted on at the March 2008 meeting. The President/Elect will be chosen by District Board 128.
(4) Constitution: Dedopoulos reported that the revisions to the Constitution and By-Laws were finally complete; Jenness thanked him for all the work involved taking care of this for 32.
Ordway had a question on District Board Officers, asking about the flexibility that the District Board has in replacing its officers. After a brief discussion, consensus developed that District Boards do indeed have a fair amount of flexibility in respect to these issues.
(5) Regional Assigners: Jenness reported that there have been many conversations statewide among athletic directors about this, and Rossetti reported that he spoke about it at the athletics directors meeting in May, and that it will be discussed again in October. Rossetti asked that the topic be discussed at District Board meetings this fall, with the goal being a 32 position on the issue no later than the March 2008 meeting, to give him the opportunity to have a 32 position to discuss with the athletic directors in the spring.
Motion was made (Zecha/Vickery), that 32 reject the Regional Assigner System for use in basketball. Discussion ensued, but then motion to table until the March meeting (Walsh/Peterson), was approved.
Further discussion ensued about how presentations to the District Boards about this should be made, and Jenness agreed to talk with Kelley Carey (AD Association Past President) about where they stand on this topic.
(6) IAABO International Meeting: It was reported that Tony Haley would not advance to the presidency of IAABO until about the year 2010, which means we would have time to set up the logistics for the customary hosting of the event at that time; it was agreed that discussion would be continued on this item in December.
(7) Pregame Jewelry and Mouthguards: It was agreed that this topic will be a point of emphasis at both the District Board meetings and coaches meetings during the preseason.
District Board Concerns: 118 brought up the process for selecting recipients of the John Burke Award; with more candidates being submitted to the Arbiter, it was agreed that the process of selecting winners needs to be stream lined; this will be continued for discussion at the December meeting.
New Business:
(1)Motion was made (Walsh/Peterson) that Provisionals be placed on the NHIAA list for use by Rossetti in emergency situations, motion approved.
(2)Motion was made (Peterson/Walsh) that respect to foul reporting in 3-man crews, to adopt the new college mechanic of going opposite from the table after reporting a foul, motion approved.
(3)With respect to member discipline Appeals, it was reported that one case was settled at the District Board level while the other was not; motion was made (Peterson/Rossetti), to go into executive session, motion approved @ 12:05 (Ordway left the room).
At 12:07, motion was made (Peterson/Rossetti), to leave executive session, motion approved. Ordway returned. No action was taken as a result of the executive session.
Next meeting: Sunday, December 9, 2007 @ 9:00 AM at Concord Boys and Girls Club
Adjournment: Motion was made (Talcott/Wolff), and approved at 12:10.