Officials Advisory Committee

Minutes
June 2, 2008 • 10 a.m.
Robert W. Hughes FHSAA Building
Gainesville, Florida


The Officials Advisory Committee met at the Robert W. Hughes FHSAA Building on Monday, June 2, 2008 at 10 a.m.  Those members present were:  Rusty Batcher (Volleyball, Sec. 4), Tony De Mello (Softball, Sec. 4), Carlos Fenn (Volleyball, Sec. 3), Stephen Fredrickson (Football, Sec. 1), David Hoppey (Football, Sec. 2), Diane Kendall (Softball, Sec. 1), Beryl Napoleon (Basketball, Sec. 1), Larry Norton (Softball, Sec. 2), Thomas Powers (Football, Sec. 3), Don Smith (Wrestling, Sec. 4), Newman Stemple (Soccer, Sec. 4), and Joe Underwood (Football, Sec. 4), Pat Fairfax (Wrestling, Sec. 1), Alvis Summers (Basketball, Sec. 2), Candy Gleason (partial attendance), (Soccer, Sec. 2).

FHSAA staff members present were: Dr. John Stewart, Executive Director (partial attendance); Denarvise Thornton, Associate Executive Director; Paul McLaughlin, Assistant Executive Director; Gary Pigott, Senior Director of Athletics; Jamie Roher, Director of Athletics; Shanell Young, Director of Athletics; Carrie Hardee, Officials Registrar; Matt Burgner, FHSAA Intern.

Members not in attendance were:  Michael Parks (Baseball, Sec. 1), Elaine Almond (Volleyball, Sec. 2), Tim Estes (Basketball, Sec. 4), Butch Goble (Baseball, Sec. 4), Mike Knowles (Baseball, Sec. 3/NFOA Representative), Mike Puleo (Wrestling, Sec. 3), Ben Buckner (Baseball, Sec. 2), Randy Abbott (Basketball, Sec. 3), Stephen Farinacci (Soccer, Sec. 3), Dan Hector (Softball, Sec. 3), Helen Kelchner (Volleyball, Sec. 1).

Welcome, Introductions, Purpose
M. Denarvise Thornton called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.  He welcomed the committee members and there were brief introductions of the FHSAA staff and officials in attendance.  The committee was also reminded of their purpose and the process of how agenda items are passed. 

Mr. Stephen Fredrickson appointed Chairperson for the meeting in place of Michael Parks who was not in attendance.

Committee members reviewed OAC minutes from the March Meeting.

1. Reviewed the notion of increased pay; deterred the idea due to budget cuts at the High School level including teacher’s pay decreases.
2. Reviewed an issue based on hearing impaired people. Stated that Jamie typed up the note for people who were hearing impaired which helped avoid a lawsuit, and became in compliance with ADA rules.
3. Talked about going to smaller patches; making them the same size across the board.
4. Spoke about the increases in brawls; and the video the Matt will be presenting at the Officials Leadership Conference.
5. Talked about a video/PowerPoint that has been developed to encourage and explain how people can become an official.
6. Budget Baseball, Basketball, Softball, Soccer, talked about how the 3 officials in attendance at games. If it in the schools contract they should honor the ruling, even if the budget is affecting it.
7. Inconsistency on how we calculate mileage for officials in attendance at state series games. Trying to come up with a universal plan to be fair to all officials.
8. Comments were made in regards to the once a year OAC meeting in June; comments related to consideration of the end of school years, and the notion of having the meeting in and around the Officials Leadership Conference.
9. Talked about starting the process of being a rank 1 official for 5 years in a row you will be exempt from taking the rules exam.
10. Revisited the Jessica Lunsford act which had been discussed during the last meeting. Concern was voiced about having to re-fingerprint every 5 years; felt that it was not necessary, but was told that that is a school district issue.
11. Terms were discussed and what does this meeting encompass as far as school year 07-08, 08-09 etc.
12. Candy Gleason arrived at 12 noon.

II. Committee Reports

A. Baseball- No Agenda Items

B. Basketball
Mercy Rule Discussion
Recommendation #1
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Underwood 15-0 Approve

Promotional Points for Games Worked During Season Discussion – Withdrawn

C. Football- presented by Joe Underwood
Recommendation # 1
Various Items (email) “Registered Timer”
If an association’s Recommendation Committee then places a Registered Timer on a playoff crew as Exclusive Timer Only, the Local Association will be asked to  provide an Additional Alternate Field Official at no cost to the FHSAA or the two participating schools.
Motion - Summers
2nd - Batcher 15-0 Approve

Recommendation # 2
An Unsportsmanlike foul on a team will cause that team to be penalized in accordance with the rules, and that team Will Be Charged With a Timeout Without Timeout Privileges.
Motion – Batcher
2nd – Kendall 15-0 Approve

Recommendation # 3
During the Mercy Rule, no timeout will be allowed to be taken by the team in the lead during the LAST 2 MINUTES.
Motion – Summers
2nd – Norton 15-0

Recommendation #4
When a foul is committed by a player, that player’s number shall be announced by the Referee in games where the Referee is equipped with a microphone.
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Smith 15-0 Approve

Recommendation #5
A player who commits a personal foul or who is charged with Unsportsmanlike Conduct shall be removed from the game for a minimum of One Play. This stipulation is ignored if the halftime or overtime intermission occurs.
Motion – Summers
2nd – Stemple 15-0 Approve

Withdrawn
Elimination of Scratches for Officials

Discussion
Uniform Shirts will be required to wear black and white One Inch stripes approved will be changed for 09-10 season.

D. Soccer-presented by Newman Stemple
Discussion
New Referee Uniform Shirts discussed and decided upon.

E. Softball – No Agenda Items

F. Baseball – No Agenda Items

G. Volleyball – Rusty Batcher
Recommendation #1
FHSAA Coaches Box Experiment Approved by NFHS
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Underwood 13-2 Approve

H. Wrestling
No action items. 

Discussion – Dr. Jon Stewart discussed items relating to a new officials recruiting campaign to get new officials onboard. Related to Mr. David Voss and the marketing campaign he and his organization have come up with for this recruitment purpose. Shanell Young also discussed and explained what is involved with the campaign.
Discussion – Very serious discussion relating to budget issues, budget cuts, mileage etc.

Recommendation # 2
Toll Reimbursement should be a separate fee paid, and not included under mileage (Underwood).
Motion – Underwood
2nd – Norton 15-0 Approve

Discussion Random Items 8. C. - 1
Reduce the OAC terms from 4 to 2 years
Motion – Gleason
2nd – Kendall 14-0 Deny

Develop a procedure to allow smaller associations to have a representative on the OAC.
Motion – Underwood
2nd – Batcher 15-0 Approve to have Steve Epstein to have a plan for this.

Appoint Runner-up in each section as an alternate
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Kendall 15-0 Deny

When assigning playoff contests inform the association of the distance the FHSAA is using for mileage expense.
Admin. Staff

Officials working playoff contests should be reimbursed at the same mileage rate as FHSAA employees.
Motion – Batcher
2nd – Stemple 15-0 Approve

When sending notifications to schools regarding the amount of the check to be issued to pay playoff officials, include a copy of the “Schools Responsibilities to Officials.”
Admin. Staff

Use a round patch
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Smith 15-0 Deny

Discussion D. Jamie Roher
Officials Ranking System (email) open discussion. How to better evaluate the officials.
Decision to create an adhoc committee to discuss and revamp the Officials Ranking System. 7 persons elected to the committee: Batcher, Norton, Napoleon, Fairfax, Underwood, Kendall, Stemple.
Motion – Stemple
2nd – Kendall 13-0

Discussion
Security of Social Security Numbers (Underwood) Withdrawn

Recommendation # 3
Officials Guidebook 1003.01 (2nd Reading)
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Underwood 13-0 Approve

Recommendation # 4
Consider modifying the rules clinic requirement. (2nd Reading)
FHSAA Consider modifying the rules clinic requirement to include attendance at a field clinic every 4 years. This could be phased in over time across regions/sports to spread out 4 year requirement.
Motion – Summers
2nd – Norton 12-0 Approval to deny

Recommendation # 5
Cumulative Yellow Cards (2nd Reading Stemple)
Currently no provision to penalize repeated misconduct from game to game.
Motion – Stemple
2nd – Summers Recommendation to Table in support of local experiment 13-0 approval.

Recommendation # 6
Cumulative Red Cards (2nd Reading Stemple)
Notion that if a team accumulates 4 or more red cards in a soccer season they will be deemed ineligible for postseason.
Motion – Fairfax
2nd – Summers 10-3 Approve

Recommendation #7
Deals with the player who receives a second caution (yellow card) in the same game, wants to add to the guidebook paragraph “This player shall be subject to the provisions of the FHSAA policy on unsporting conduct.”
Motion to table with the experiment – Fairfax
2nd – Gleason 13-0 approved to table

Discussion
Idea of developing a recognition program for retiring officials.

Recommendation #8
To propose the idea of having some sort of recognition program for retiring officials.
Motion – Gleson
2nd – Underwood 13-0 Vote to approve.