STATE REFEREE COMMITTEE MEETING
NC Soccer Office, Greensboro, NC
10:30 am, Saturday, November 19, 2011
MINUTES
In attendance: Ken George (Chairman), Jim Carpenter (SDI), Paul James (SYRA), Ernie Fisher (SDA), John Bouda (SRA), Keith Price (NCYSA President), Steve Halstead (At-large Director), Herk DeGraw (At-large Director), Bob Kepner (NCASA President), Kathy Robinson (Treasurer)
Regrets: Rene de la Cruz (At-large Director), Darius Ejlali (Secretary)
1. Presence of a quorum was reported.
2. Since Ken George had been appointed as SRC Chairman only a few days earlier, it was agreed that Keith Price would chair the meeting.
3. Minutes of the 7/23/11 meeting were approved.
4. Minutes of the 9/8/11 meeting were approved.
5. Financial report:
a. A checking account for NCSRA, Inc. was set up by Bob.
b. Referee registration funds that had been mailed to John were carried or mailed to the NC Soccer office and Kathy arranged for deposit of the funds into the account.
6. Reports
a. SRA: Referee registration data should be mailed to USSF during the first week of December; December through February is the next busy period
b. SYRA: Referees will soon be able to use Arbiter to register on-line; this will be used by assignors; ARAs can access all of the referee information; there are approximately 90 sub-assignors; Ralph (Jordan) and Eric (Johnson) currently provide the primary support to the program
c. SDI: Plans are in place for a December 11 Futsal clinic; Jim is the only Futsal instructor in NC.
7. Old Business
a. A decision was made to not revisit the suspension of referee assignor Rick Marion.
8. New Business
a. National Standards vs. N.C. Standards for Assessment: Research by Keith and John determined that a state referee program is permitted to have more stringent rules than those of USSF. They both spoke with staff members of the USSF Referee Office.
b. MOTION: For maintenance certification, grade 5 and 6 referees must achieve a composite net result of +1 (positive 1) on their annual maintenance assessments.
(Example: A FAILURE (-1) must be matched by a PASSING (+1), yielding a NET of 0, and then another PASSING, providing a COMPOSITE NET of +1.)
The motion was approved.
c. Bob reported a complaint of NC maintenance-assessment practices that had been submitted by referee David McPhun. Based on the above action, the complaint was set aside. However, given the length of time taken to consider the complaint, it was agreed that David should be allowed extra time, if it is needed, to complete his requirements. John pointed out that the current system gives him several months to fulfill the requirements and that it would be unnecessary to give extended time to David.
d. Assignment standards and practices: After a brief discussion, it was agreed that a member of the SRC should be assigned to prepare a compilation of existing standards and practices, with the possible purpose of establishing statewide uniform standards and practices. The point was made that there is a “Best Practices” section in the NC Referee Handbook that provides guidance on the subject of assignment practices.
e. Filling the SAC position: Paul James was appointed on an interim basis to fill the position.
f. On Line Registration: Paul and Kathy reviewed the steps that are being taken to put an on-line registration system based on Arbiter into place.
g. Update on transition to NC Soccer Office: Kathy, Keith and John reviewed the steps that have been taken to transfer administrative operation of the referee program to the office. It was agreed that the Operations Manager should move in to the office no later than the end of December.
h. Selection of an NCSRA, Inc. representative to the NC Soccer HOF, Inc, Board of Directors:
MOTION: John Bouda shall serve as the NCSRA representative to the NCSHOF Board of Directors.
The motion was approved.
i. Bob reviewed the steps that were taken by NCASA and NCYSA to bring about the legislation passed by the NC General Assembly to authorize the issuance of “Support Soccer in NC” license plates. A brief discussion followed about the program support that is being requested of NCSRA, Inc., chief of which is dissemination of information to referees about the steps that can be taken to apply for a plate. The program website will be www.supportsoccerlicenseplatenc.org.
j. Update on "Old NCSRA" actions: Keith, Kathy and Bob briefly reviewed the steps that have been taken and are ongoing to bring the Old NCSRA to a close and to transfer assets and administrative responsibility to NCSRA, Inc.
9. Open Discussion
a. It was agreed that the method of refunding referee registration payments that was used in the past should continue to be used. Decisions as to whether or not to issue a refund should be handled on a case-by-case basis.
10. Date & Time of Next Meeting: Saturday, February 25, 2012
Location: NC Soccer Office
The meeting was adjourned.