Florida High School Athletic Association
Officials Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
Monday, September 10, 2007
10 a.m.
Robert W. Hughes FHSAA Building
The Officials Advisory Committee met at the Robert W. Hughes FHSAA Building on Monday, September 10, 2007 at 10:02 a.m. Those members present were: Randy Abbott (Basketball, Sec. 3), Rusty Batcher, (Volleyball, Sec. 4), Ben Buckner (Baseball, Sec. 2), Tony De Mello (Softball, Sec. 4), Pat Fairfax (Wrestling, Sec. 1), Carlos Fenn (Volleyball, Sec. 3), Stephen Fredrickson (Football, Sec. 1), Candy Gleason (Soccer, Sec. 2), David Hoppey (Football, Sec. 2), Helen Kelchner (Volleyball, Sec. 1), Diane Kendall (Softball, Sec. 1), Mike Knowles (Baseball, Sec. 3/NFOA Representative), Grant Merrill, Sr. (Soccer, Sec. 1), Beryl Napoleon (Basketball, Sec. 1), Michael Parks (Baseball, Sec. 1), Thomas Powers (Football, Sec. 3), Mike Puleo (Wrestling, Sec. 3), Don Smith (Wrestling, Section 4), Newman Stemple (Soccer, Sec. 4), Alvis Summers (Basketball, Sec. 2) and Joe Underwood (Football, Sec. 4).
FHSAA staff members present were: John Stewart, Commissioner; Denarvise Thornton, Senior Director of Athletic Operations & Officials; Paul McLaughlin, Director of Athletics; Gary Pigott, Associate Director of Athletics; Tamara Forrester, Associate Director of Athletics; Shanell Young, Associate Director of Athletics; Jamie Rohrer, Associate Director of Athletics; Kyle Gerberding, FHSAA Intern; and Shaterra Reed, FHSAA Intern.
Members not in attendance were: Elaine Almond (Volleyball, Sec. 2), Tim Estes (Basketball, Sec. 4), Stephen Farinacci (Soccer, Sec. 3), Butch Goble (Baseball, Sec. 4), Dan Hector (Softball, Sec. 3), and Larry Norton (Softball, Sec. 2).
I. Welcome, Introductions, Purpose
Mr. Denarvise Thornton called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. He welcomed the committee members and there were brief introductions of the FHSAA staff and officials in attendance. Dr. Stewart gave a brief welcome and invited the committee to the Sportsmanship Summit being held on Friday, September 14th at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. Dr. Stewart stressed that it is time for those individuals involved in interscholastic athletics to live the message of good sportsmanship, and to not just preach the concept.
II. The committee unanimously elected Mike Parks as Chairperson.
III. Mr. Thornton updated the committee on several topics:
a. There are updated staff sport assignments this school year. Mr. McLaughlin will no longer work with the sports of volleyball and wrestling due to his increased responsibilities with coaches education and online testing. Mrs. Forrester will take on girls volleyball, Mr. Pigott will add wrestling to his work load, and Ms. Young will pick up boys basketball to go along with girls basketball. These new assignments will affect the breakout sessions for this meeting.
b. A document was presented to the committee in regard to regular season travel. This information clarifies the intent and interpretation of the maximum regular season travel fees that may be charged to member schools.
c. Due to the Scantron grading machine not working, the football and volleyball written tests are in the process of being hand graded. Additionally, there is a slight delay in the wrestling association mail-out. The FHSAA apologizes for this inconvenience and will work to remedy the problem this week.
d. Some local officials association groups have expressed concern that since they submitted to host a field clinic, they should be awarded the field clinic. The FHSAA works to rotate annually the field clinics and will assign hosts based on this principle.
e. The FHSAA is still looking at restructuring the Officials Advisory Committee to reduce the meetings to once a year and then to have an official represented on each sport advisory committee.
f. A recruiting campaign is in the works through Dr. Stewart and an outside advertising company. More information will follow.
g. The Jessica Lundsford Act is still not being implemented uniformly throughout the state. The FHSAA will continue to reimburse first-time officials up to the maximum $34 registration fee through the 2007-08 school year. As of June 2008, there will be no more reimbursement fees. Some officials did not submit their reimbursement forms prior to the extended deadline in the spring, and were denied a refund. Please remind the new members of your local officials association to submit their reimbursement information on time.
h. Online testing was launched this year. The number of officials who registered to take the online test this year exceeded the FHSAA’s expectations; there were about 70% of officials pre-registered for football and volleyball. There was a problem on the last date for testing, August 26th. The FHSAA online testing end date was entered as August 26th, but the cut-off time was 12:01 am. Once the problem was corrected, the system’s bandwidth was overloaded and crashed. Those who were unable to complete their test on the 26th will be able to utilize the make-up test on September 14-16th. The FHSAA is transitioning between two different companies for hosting our database and online testing. As we try to work with both groups, we will address the issues that arose and plan to more forward with this year’s dates. There was a lengthy discussion from the committee on concerns and input about online testing and philosophies.
IV. The current agenda and amended minutes from the March 5, 2007 meeting were approved. With a correction to the date on the first line of the minutes to read March 5, 2007, not September 11, 2006.
V. Committee Reports
A. Baseball
No agenda items. Discussion of upcoming playoff system, which includes the best 2-of-3 in the region finals.
B. Basketball
No agenda items. Discussion of the submission of evaluations of the top 3 crews from the associations with their recommendations and their play-off evaluations to help in the FHSAA Finals assignments.
C. Football
Recommendation # 1
Limit the ball boys in football to 2 per team.
MOTION: Underwood/2nd Fredrickson
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Deny (This should be handled locally.)
Recommendation # 2
Require an official football for the entire season.
MOTION: Underwood/2nd Fredrickson
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Deny (This should be handled locally.)
Items for Discussion Only:
· The clock operator for the semifinal games shall be paid the same as the on-field officials and be able to fill any position on the field if needed.
D. Soccer
Recommendation # 3
Substitutes must wear vests/pennies when warming up during a game.
MOTION: Gleason/2nd Knowles
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Deny (This should be handled locally.)
Items for Discussion Only:
· Review email from Thom Smith regarding a survey of coaches and referees. As for paid evaluators, BCAA has offered to help. Those associations who are not inline with the FHSAA philosophy may not be asked for input. Videos might be supplied to officials association who are in attendance at the FHSAA Finals.
E. Softball
No agenda items.
F. Volleyball
Recommendation # 4
Establish a “Coach’s Box” area.
AMEND TO READ: The FHSAA will seek an NFHS experiment with establishing a “Coaches Box.”
MOTION: Knowles/2nd Hector
OAC 1st Reading: 20-1 Approve
G. Wrestling
Recommendation # 5
Increase fees for Individually Bracketed Tournaments (IBT”S) to a fee based on current varsity dual meet rate divided by the number of weight classes to determine the fee per match.
MOTION: Fairfax/2nd Fredrickson
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Approve as amended
ADAC 1st Reading: 9-0 Disapprove
OAC 2nd Reading: 21-0 Approve as clarified
Recommendation # 6
Utilize (require) weigh-in cards for all tournaments.
MOTION: Fairfax/2nd Underwood
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Approve
ADAC 1st Reading: 9-0 Approve
OAC 2nd Reading: 21-0 Approve
VI. General Recommendations
Recommendation # 7
In the FHSAA Officials Guidebook section 1003.01, delete the words “…when it is practicable. However…”
MOTION: Fairfax/2nd Stemple
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Approve
Recommendation # 8
In the FHSAA Officials Guidebook section 204.03, add an additional recruiting committee.
MOTION: Fairfax/2nd Summers
OAC 1st Reading: 19-2 Deny
Recommendation # 9
Reinstate the rebate policy for the 07-08 school year along with an announcement that it will not be continued in the future.
MOTION WITHDRAWN
Recommendation # 10
FHSAA modify the online rules presentation requirement to include attendance at a field clinic every four years for coaches in all sports.
MOTION: Fairfax/2nd Kelchner
OAC 1st Reading: 21-0 Approve
Recommendation # 11
If an official registers by June 30th, the registration fee could be $29 instead of $34 or give a coupon for FHSAA items for purchase.
MOTION: Fredrickson/2nd Batcher
OAC 1st READING: 11-10 Approve
ADAC 1st Reading: 9-0 Disapprove (Fall sports only, financial impact to FHSAA.)
OAC 2nd Reading: 12-8 Approve
Recommendation # 12
Development of a recognition program for retiring FHSAA officials.
MOTION: Summers/2nd Buckner
OAC 1st Reading: 16-3 Approve
Recommendation # 13
Add to the FHSAA Officials Guidebook section 1006.04(3), “This player shall be subject to the provisions of the FHSAA policy on Unsporting Conduct.”
MOTION: Underwood /2nd Fredrickson
OAC 1st Reading: 15-2 (2 Abstention)
Recommendation # 14
A player or coach who has received a total of five cautions in one season shall be subject to the provisions of the FHSAA policy on Unsporting Conduct. Each three additional cautions shall result in additional FHSAA action.
MOTION: Fairfax/2nd Underwood
OAC 1st Reading: 17-2 Approve
Recommendation # 15
Any team that receives four or more red cards during a regular season will be declared ineligible for all postseason play.
MOTION: Fredrickson/2nd Fairfax
OAC 1st Reading: 10-9 Approve
VII. Open Discussion
1. The nomination procedures for the NFOA Recognition Awards were presented by Mrs. Forrester
and Mr. Knowles. The award information was emailed to all association president’s on September 6th and will be placed on the FHSAA web site. The deadline for this year’s nominations is October 12th.
2. Mr. Thornton updated the committee on the review of active and inactive FHSAA officials. The FHSAA loses money each year when an official registers and does not work any FHSAA games. A sample fee structure was presented to show how another organization handles membership dues with differentiating levels.
3. Officials’ fees – a handout of officials’ fees from throughout the nation and NFHS Section 3 are shown in comparison. Some states include mileage in their game fees, and there was no information collected on ancillary fees. Committee members were asked to develop what they feel are appropriate fees, and to submit them to the FHSAA for incorporation with the Board Agenda.
4. FHSAA Sportsmanship Summit Report – Dr. Stewart spoke to this topic at the opening of the meeting. The committee believes that the Friday date is tough during the fall for the attendance of many student-athletes, coaches and officials.
5. The committee was presented an email by registered FHSAA official, Kenneth Newman, about instituting mandatory physical fitness tests for all officials in all sports. A discussion on officials as independent contractors ensued.
6. Official’s integrity – An article was shared on NBA official Tim Donaghy.
7. Mrs. Forrester shared with the committee the current results of the Field Clinic Attendee Surveys. Mr. Underwood presented an idea of having an athletic trainer available for field clinics.
8. The Officials Leadership Conference will be in Jacksonville at the Sea Turtle Inn and a local school on June 13-14, 2008.
9. Mr. Puleo recommended the group review the last recommendation on soccer teams being held out of postseason and to look at this recommendation across all sports.