Officials Advisory Committee

Minutes
September 12, 2005 • 10 a.m.
Robert W. Hughes FHSAA Building
Gainesville, Florida


The Officials Advisory Committee met at the Robert W. Hughes FHSAA Building on Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 at 10 a.m. Those members present were: Randy Abbott (Basketball, Sec. 3); Elaine Almond (Volleyball, Sec. 2); Elliot Blake (Volleyball, Sec. 4); Christine Epperly (Soccer, Sec. 2); Pat Fairfax (Wrestling, Sec. 1); Carlos Fenn (Volleyball, Sec. 3); Stephen Fredrickson (Football, Sec. 1); Dan Hector (Softball, Sec. 3); Mark Hewitt (Wrestling, Sec. 2); David Hoppey (Football, Sec. 2); Leonard Kapacinskas (Baseball, Sec. 2); Helen Kelchner (Volleyball, Sec. 1); Diane Kendall (Softball, Sec. 1); Mike Knowles (Baseball, Sec. 3/Florida Representative to NFOA); Grant Merrill Sr. (Soccer, Sec. 1); Beryl Napoleon (Basketball, Sec. 1); Larry Norton (Softball, Sec. 2); Michael Parks (Baseball, Sec. 1); Thom Powers (Football, Sec. 3); Mike Puleo (Wrestling, Sec. 3); George Sansone (Wrestling, Sec. 4); Thom Smith (Soccer, Sec. 4); Bill Tallant (Baseball, Sec. 4); Joe Underwood (Football, Sec. 4); Ed Whipple (Softball, Sec. 4); and Freddie Williams (Basketball, Sec. 4).

FHSAA staff members present were: Sonny Hester, Senior Director of Athletics for Athletic Operations; Cecelia Jackson, Director of Athletics; Paul McLaughlin, Director of Athletics; Gary Pigott, Associate Director of Athletics; M. Denarvise Thornton, Associate Director of Athletics; Tamara J. Wilsey, Associate Director of Athletics; and Shanell Young, Athletics Coordinator.

Members not in attendance were: Bob McKinney (Basketball, Sec. 2) and Stephen Farinacci (Soccer, Sec. 3).

I. Welcome, Introductions, Purpose
Sonny Hester called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. He welcomed the committee members and introduced himself to them, giving a brief history of his tenure before joining the FHSAA. There were brief introductions of the FHSAA staff and officials in attendance.

II. The committee unanimously elected George Sansone as Chairperson and Ed Whipple as Vice-Chairperson. The current agenda and amended minutes from the Mar. 15, 2005 meeting were approved. The amendment was to the basketball section dealing with NBA logos, which are NOT legal on officials’ uniforms.

III. Paul McLaughlin gave an update on football, soccer, and volleyball online rules meetings. DISH network is not in every school as originally discussed. FHSAA will develop a DVD for associations who will need it because of lack of technical accessibility. Discussion from the committee members on the positives: the same message is getting out to coaches and officials, less travel time to see it, and no fines yet, compliance is requested. Negatives: had to watch coaches information, access to get to a school and the DISH network was sometimes challenging.
FAQ’s need to be emailed to the sport administrator to be posted on the FHSAA website. Mr. Whipple asked for the FHSAA to look into having veteran officials review the rules meeting videos prior to releasing them, and to develop discussion questions.

IV. Sonny Hester read to the committee a draft of what he will present to the House Education Committee on the Jessica Lunsford Act and how it has affected the 7,000 + people that work as sport officials at Florida schools. Mr. Hester will request to have officials exempt from the Act and in turn will confirm that an FDLE website check of all officials for “sexual predators.”
Joe Underwood will speak at the meeting also as a representative for all officials in the state of Florida. Items to be asked include: inconsistent application of the law, the financial burden on officials/local associations, lack of timeliness in reporting results, and the lack of reciprocity between counties.
After a lengthy discussion by committee members on how the Act has affected their areas and officials. Mr. Hester copied the Technical Assistant Paper that has been published by the Florida Department of Education and distributed to members of the committee.

RECOMMENDATION # 1
Separate local associations into 3 divisions by size, and then develop a cost of doing business fee that can be passed onto the schools.
Motion: Withdrawn by Merrill

V. Committee Reports
1. Baseball
Reviewed the baseball JV 2-hour time limit modifications passed by the Board of Directors during the June meeting.

2. Basketball (reported by Mr. Williams)
RECOMMENDATION # 2
E-mail evaluation of officials by coaches to be completed within 24 hours of game completion beginning at the regional level
MOTION: Getzoff/2nd Whipple
OAC 1st READING: 23-0 Disapprove (3/04)
MOTION: Williams/2nd Powers
OAC 2nd READING: 26-0 Disapprove (9/05)

3. Football (reported by Fredrickson-all discussion only items)
A. NCAA Football Rules/Mechanics-Discussion on wanting to utilize NCAA rules instead of NFHS to help football officials advance within the college system.
B. Utilization 7-man play-off crews for all games-will see again on the March agenda
C. Halftime clock display set-up for count down
D. Announcement of players numbers when violations occur-Prohibited under NFHS rules
E. Amend the NFHS rules to include socks as part of the uniform code.

4. Soccer (reported by Jackson)
A. Reviewed the new 1-minute re-hydration procedures passed by the Board of Directors in June.
B. Double-dual was reviewed again for future inclusion
C. Field Clinics-Associations need to hold/apply to host them. Many officials are in need of completing this requirement.
D. NFHS Spanish Exam-FHSAA will send an email out to all associations to gather information on the need for these exams.
E. RECOMMENDATION # 3
Blue Card-Clarification that the blue card is used so that the infraction does not carry the same penalty as the red card. Remove the words “non-contact with opponent”.
MOTION: Smith/2nd Tallant
OAC 1st READING: 26-0 Approve (9/05)
F. RECOMMENDATION # 4
Out-of-State Officials-Field Clinic Requirements
MOTION: Withdrawn by Smith
G. Standardized roster form was reviewed by the committee and will be placed on the FHSAA website for use.

5. Softball (reported by Whipple)
No action items, there will be future play-off evaluation and selection of officials action items.

6. Volleyball (reported by Kelchner)
A. RECOMMENDATION # 5
Coaching box-Allow coaches to have a coaching box in which they can stand and coach during a match.
Motion: Kelchner/2nd Knowles
OAC 1st REDAING: 26-0 Approve (9/05)

7. Wrestling (reported by Puleo)
A. RECOMMENDATION # 6
Standardization of officials’ training in the sport of wrestling. Modify the original amendment by striking the actual number of officials (5-8) for the “teaching faculty” and to meet the field clinic requirement every third year instead of every other year.
Motion as amended: Puleo/2nd Fairfax
OAC 1st READING: 26-0 Approve
WCAC 1st READING: 7-0 Approve 3/04
ADAC 1st READING: 10-0 Approve 4/04 amended for all sports
WCAC 2nd READING: 7-0 Approve 3/05
ADAC 2nd READING: 8-0 Approve 4/05 amended for wrestling only
B. Development of a dual meet pay scale (discussion only)

VI. General Recommendations
1. Test Score Effective Date-There is still a 10-day window allowed for scheduling changes from the time tests are posted until
NO ACTION NEEDED
2. Testing Dates- Soccer tests after the date of the first contest.
RECOMMENDATION # 7
Motion: Smith/2nd Fredrickson
OAC 1st READING: 4-22 Approve-- Motion fails

VII. Open Discussion
1. Open Book Testing Procedures--Change from the original procedures. Now associations are mailed all NFHS Part 1 Exams and answer keys. The open book test takers, registered site code “00,” will have to have theirs held out and then the rest of the membership to get their practice.
After discussion the following items were discussed and answered:
a. All members received the Part 1 and the answer key at the same time.
b. The closed book exam will still be administered separately due to staffing issues at member schools.
c. The percentage of officials who took the open book exam is relatively low.
d. Could the FHSAA create a “new officials” page to help them?
2. Officials ID cards—Staff was able to get the Officials’ ID cards back for this year. They are a little different and must be filled out. Free admission may be given to the card-holder.
3. Strategic Plan—Mr. Hester passed out a copy of the new FHSAA Strategic Plan to all committee members.
4. Volunteer Interpreter—Mr. Smith brought forth the idea to have a “volunteer” interpreter for rules that will be trained by the FHSAA, but not funded to foster greater consistency among officials.
5. Soccer Season Dates—Mr. Smith presented to move the soccer season to start after the winter holiday break to 10-weeks, lower the number of games to 20, and allow one preseason tournament. This is a FHSAA administrative decision and responsibility.
6. Ejector Program—The online officials program to revamp the system is on its way.
7. Officials Guidebook—Mr. Fredrickson brought up concerns with regular season school responsibilities to officials under the FHSAA Officials Guidebook section 600. The concern has to do with the words “shall” and “should” in the responsibilities. It can be a negotiable item with your contracts.
8. Exemption Update— FHSAA Officials Guidebook section 103.02.
9. NFOA Nominations—Mr. Knowles presented the criteria for the National Federation Officials Association applications and the process. Applications and resumes are due by Oct. 17, 2005.
10. Gifts for FHSAA Finals-Working on new ideas, please submit to Ms. Wilsey.
11. Mr. McLaughlin thanked Mr. Abbott and his local association for their recruiting effort at the state baseball tournament. The FHSAA staff will work on getting together a PSA-type DVD for all associations.

VII. The meeting was adjourned at 4:03 p.m.