The minutes to the November 1, 1999 meeting were reviewed and approved.

The initiation of the new starting protocol was discussed. The discussion concentrated on any modification necessary to the protocol instructions, how to reach those officials not yet trained on the new protocol, and what, if any, special instructions should be given at the January Open meets where the protocol will be used for the first time. One issue of note was an explanation of how the referee regains control of the starting procedure once he/she has turned over the sequence to the starter by raising his arm. Where the referee stands and the dropping of the arm were also reviewed. J. Hirschmann took an action to check with USA Swimming for an interpretation and recommendation.

[Note: It was subsequently confirmed that the Referee can regain control by withdrawing the arm he had extended toward the starter. Also verbally advising the starter in most cases would be prudent.]

It was generally agreed that a renewed effort was needed to attract the remaining certified starters and referees to training on the new starting protocol. Each Club Liaison was asked to contact their Club Official Chairpersons and encourage any remain certified officials to attend the clinics in January.

Two actions were identified in conjunction with the January open meets. Referees for the meets are to be encouraged to meet with the coaches of the teams present and review the procedures with them. In addition, starters were to be encouraged to review the protocol with the timers for each session to make sure they knew what to expect.

The winter training schedule was reviewed and finalized. It was decided that the new stroke and turn videotape is more appropriate for the experienced stroke and turn officials. Therefore the older tape will be used at the January training sessions. Stroke and turn and Referee training will be held at GMU on January 9th. Stroke and Turn and Starter training will be held at the Madera School on January 12th. Starter and Stroke and Turn training will be held at MLK on January 15th. And the final training session for Stroke and Turns will be held at MAC on January 11th.

Hy-Tek and CTS training was tentatively set for January 8th, depending on Don Smith's availability.

At the conclusion of the discussion of the training schedule, it was recommended that a bunch of official's session work forms be included as part of the PVS meet boxes.

The list of officials was reviewed to identify those officials who would be extended an invitation to advance to the Referee level of officiating. The review resulted in a list of 10 officials. During this review, the board observed that more needs to be done to encourage stroke and turn officials to take the step to the starters ranks.

It was recommended and approved by the board that only PVS sponsored meets could be used as training sessions. "Out of LSC" meets could not be used as a training session.

The placing of the Officials Roster on the Web was discussed, with the decision that telephone numbers would not be included as part of the information available on the Web.

With J.O.s right around the corner, the attire for championship meets was reviewed, with the decision that the Chief Judge should be considered part of the leadership team. It was also decided that shorts were to be discouraged at finals for all deck officials.

The next committee meeting was set for 29 February 2000 at 7:30 pm at the Kaufmann Conference Center. Tyanna Ertter was thanked for providing a meeting place at the Kaufmann Conference Center.

The final portion of the meeting was spent on selecting officials for the December J.O. meet. The meeting adjourned following the selection of staff for the J.O. meet.