JULY 14, 2013 SRC MEETING MINUTES
School of Education Building, UNC Greensboro
4pm, Sunday, July 14th, 2013
SRC Committee Members Present
ChairKen George
SRA, SYRA, SACPaul James
SDAErnie Fisher
SDIJim Carpenter
SACCliff Clement
NCASA PresidentBob Kepner
NCYSA President Keith Price
NCASA/NCYSA At-LargeHerk DeGraw
NCASA At-LargeRene de la Cruz
NCSRA Operations ManagerDavid Hall(non-voting)
Excused Absence
Demp Bradford, NCYSA At-Large
Kathy Robinson (non-voting), NCSRA, Inc Treasurer
Call to Order
Ken George called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.
Determine Quorum
A Quorum was determined to be present.
Approval of Minutes – February 10, 2013
Motion to approve minutes, Bob Kepner. Seconded by Paul James
Financials
Motion to approve financials (for year to date) with updated budget.
Motion by Jim Carpenter, seconded by Paul James
Reports
SRA/SYRA – Paul James
1)Arbiter web site was redesigned and updated to reflect current events, referee selections to tournaments and other important news worthy activities. The Arbiter site technicians also added helpful tabs sections to improve user experience in locating proper registration and certification information. This was done at no cost to NCSRA.
2)Paul also announced that NCSRA is in the 2013-14 new referee registration period. New referee courses and clinics will be opened by Area Referee Administrators and instructors through the local assignors throughout the season subject to approval by theSRA/SYRA and the NCSRA Operations Manager.
3)NCSRA and TISOA (Triad Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association) hosted a weekend clinic for over 200 officials that featured various speakers and presenters. This clinic included in class training sessions in addition to a PFT (physical fitness test) for all participants enabling them to meet annual requirements. This clinic provided its participants an opportunity to meet yearly requirements with respect to testing and in class instruction for both the USSF and collegiate referee members.
4)NCSRA conducted an assessors, assignors, and instructors clinic in May for recertification in 2014 and intends to continue this practice each year to provide better training and communication among these groups.
5)NCSRA sent 19 members to the USYS Regional Tournament in June to Oklahoma and all performed well with evaluations being above standards. One referee was selected to officiate at the USYS National Tournament, another referee was selected to attend the USASA Presidents Cup.
6)NCSRA announced 14-15 members were upgraded to Grade 6, State Referee Level for this upcoming year. Most are in the age group of 21 to 30 years of age and will continue to serve in the program for many years.
7)Paul mentioned that USSF national candidates were sent to NCASA events as part of their requirements and if they qualify each candidate would be reimbursed for their expenses and time.
SDI -Jim Carpenter
1)Jim announced that there will be an instructor clinic in the fall of 2013, between now and December. An attempt to hold one in May fell through.
2)A Futsal Tournament was help in Greensboro, June 26th through June 30th and featured a youth national championship and international professional competition with teams from around the world. There were132 youth teams from 32 states with over 100 matches and 32 teams actually from North Carolina. Two of the NC teams made it to the finals, losing in their final matches. Attendance at the professional matcheswas not as good as expected, possibly because of lack of awareness or local publicity.
SDA – Ernie Fisher
1)Ernie announced that the State Cup assessor/mentor program continues to do well. Each event is attended by 10 to 15 assessors and mentors to provide useful feedback and valuable input for officials working these tournaments.
2)Ernie also stated that Grade 5 State Referee must have 2 maintenance assessments in the middle (whistle) and they must be adult amateur 1st division matches.
3)He announced that the upgrades for younger referees was encouraging as we continue to need these type of officials developing in our program so we provide quality officiating for regional and national tournaments.
4)We currently have 4 – Grade 3, 6 – Grade 4, 12 - Grade 5, 25 - Grade 6, and 131 - Grade 7 referees in the association. There are close to 2,000 Grade 8 officials.
5)Ernie said we have an assessor course coming in December including State Assessor course.
SDA – Cliff Clement
1)Cliff mentioned that at the assessors, assignors and instructors clinic we conducted all attending recertified for 2014 with the exception of 5, those remaining would be recertifying before the end of this year. This year we separated these three groups from the State Referee Clinic (for upper level referees) and focused on a specific training event weekend geared for assessors, assignors and instructors.
2)Cliff announced that he is revitalizing the NCSRA mentor program and reinvesting in our top referees to utilize their experience, education and training, filtering it to fit our current lower level and newer referees. Once a referee identifies themself as wanting to advance to upper levels of competence, they will be assigned a personal mentor. This mentor will be assisting them, answering their questions and helping their development in preparation for their advancement. We will use National, State referees and assessors to participate in this mentor program. The cost for this program will be minimal.
3)Cliff also mentioned that his role of State Assignor Coordinator has been well received among the associations, currently working with a few clubs that need assistance with locating, hiring or replacing assignors. Cliff stated that he is working with Ralph Jordan and Colby Morton to facilitate assigned matches, and coordinate with the Soccer in College web site.
NCSRA Operations Manager – David Hall
1)David announced that the NCSRA online store was proving to be popular among the referee association members, enabling them to purchase branded materials to wear and use at tournaments and regular season matches. NCSRA receives a rebate for each purchase and we have already received our first check for those purchases.
2)New referee registration for the 2013-14 season is continuing and NCSRA is working with associations, clubs and assignors to facilitate an easy to use process and working to immediately process referees so they are active and ready for assignments. Individual areas may request status updates for new and current officials in order to make them assignment ready.
3)David produced a job description for the administrative assistant for approval by the NCSRA staff and subsequently the SRC committee. This job description identifies the duties and daily tasks for that position and the specific hours determined to complete the assigned tasks.
Old Business –
Keith Price announced that the IRS has approved the non-profit status and the funds are to be transferred/released and all that remains is for the trustee to transfer those funds to the NCSRA account. The amount is still undetermined, there is a CD that will mature in November and it is proposed to let it mature and then transfer the monies. Bob Kepner suggested that the money be withdrawn and to ignore any additional interest that may be gained to complete the transaction and be done with this matter.
Motion for the SRC Committee to recommend the transfer of all funds by Bob Kepner. The motion seconded by Paul James. Motion carried to transfer all monies and funds to the NCSRA account via the trustee(s).
New Business –
Ken George sent out the current NCSRA budget for the committee to review. Bob Kepner is assisting with all yearly budget numbers and expenditures. Financials are detailed as having an ending budget of $68,000 as of July 30th, 2013. Paul mentioned that additional, yet unidentified monies will be coming in for referee registration (both new and recertifying). There is an additional $3,000 is coming in for uniform sales made within the association from Crown Sports. NCSRA recommended that this relationship continue as it benefits the organization. Motion to accept the financials as presented, Bob Kepner, seconded by Paul James.
Paul stated that Arbiter has been updated and modified to improve user experience and ease of use at no cost to NCSRA. We will maintain and announce current events, upgrades and selections of our top officials to regional and nation tournaments.
Paul stated the referee fee increase proposal in the form of a survey to both the associations and the NCSRA membership. The results werethat both the associations and the referees are in agreement for an increase. The survey from referees was positive for a 20% increase across the board. The vast majority were in agreement that an increase was due and based on a 20% increase. They would like to be paid in the current fashion, mostly by check or RefPay through Arbiter. Bob Kepner proposed a motion to support an increase in the referee fees by 20% with a cap in place to limit additional increases. This was seconded by Jim Carpenter.The motion passed.
Paul recommended increasing the budget for youth regional staff expenditures and attempting to reduce costs from our end. The South Carolina tournament was approximately $8,300 to fund versus $30,400 needed to cover the Oklahoma tournament. Most of the costs are generated from transportation and housing split between NCYSA and NCSRA. This increase includes costs for the attending staff, assessors, administrators and referees with respect to travel, food and housing. We may be sending less referees in order to reduce the costs and numbers of staff attending versus other states.
New computer equipment (laptop models) are needed for the NCSRA staff which includes instructors and ARAs across the state. NCSRA has shopped and priced a range of $2,500 to $3,500 for new laptops. Immediately NCSRA needs one for Dan Adams, as his personal computer crashed and should be replaced. Motion for the one laptop at $300 was set by Bob Kepner, seconded by Paul James for that purchase.The motion passed.The remainder of the computer equipment will be on hold pending approval of the next SRC meeting and NCSRA providing comparative costs.
USSF maintenance assessments at a cost of approximately $1,000 was approved.
NCSRA announced that they would be deciding and procuring a replacement for the Area 1 ARA, Ivan Batts. There are two candidates currently being considered – Peter Fritz a current USSF Instructor and Eric Varone, a current and active Grade 6 referee from that area. Cliff Clement will serve as an interim ARA until a decision is made. There are approximately 94 referees in that area that need guidance and assistance by an area referee administrator.
Next Meeting will be in October20, 2013, 12 noonand will be an in person meeting lasting approximately 2-3 hours.
Motion to adjourn, Paul James. Seconded by Keith Price.The motion passed.