Minutes of Officials Committee Meetings
MINUTES OF
PVS OFFICIALS COMMITTEE MEETING
SEPTEMBER 11, 2005
Members present: Jim Van Erden Chair, Boots Hall, Jim Thompson, Jim Garner, Sue Schwartz, Denice Wepasnick, Pam Starke Reed, Jack Schaeffer, Tim Husson, Jim Carey, and Rita Page.
The meeting convened at 2:20 pm at Denice's house.
Swimposium: Jim VE reported that he has spoken to Pat Lunsford and Pat is in agreement with addressing topics for discussion at the Swimposium. There were over 30 people registered by the beginning of August.
New Referee Recommendations: Jim has contacted all but Andrew Ladas and Chris Loeser of those previously recommended to attend the clinic for new referees. Rita Page contacted Chris Loeser at a meeting later that day and she accepted; Jim has had some difficulty contacting Andrew Ladas. Jim Garner will either contact him or send Jim Van Erden his contact information. Lou Hepp, Mary Eull and Steve Traylor also accepted.
Conduct of Officials: Jim Van Erden has drafted a letter to send to individual officials asking to reevaluate their behavior and will forward to the committee for review before mailing out.
Clinics for 2005-06 Season: Boots announced that attendance at the Swimposium would count for clinic attendance for recertification for Referees and Starters as well as the initial Referee certification. New referees will also need to attend a new referee clinic to be announced. New Starters and Stroke & Turn judges will still need to attend the required clinics.
Currently there is a Stroke and Turn clinic scheduled for September 25 at Burke Center and a Starter clinic scheduled for October 9 at 7:30 pm also at Burke? We are tentatively scheduling clinics during the Harvest Moon meet but must play that by ear for the time being since the facility is being upgraded and we are not sure it will be ready in time. DCPR would like to host clinic on September 24 at the Takoma Park facility. Jim Van Erden and Tim Husson will contact to firm up plans. We will need to schedule a Referee clinic in mid-October.
Jim will send a note to John Hirschman asking him to send out a flashmail to coaches asking for interest in holding clinics during a scheduled practice for a minimum of 5 people.
Clinic materials are being reviewed and updated. Jim Van Erden and Dick Griffith will review the Referee materials, Jared Wisor and Denice Wepasnick will review Stroke and Turn, John McDonald and Rita Page will review Starter materials, and Don Smith and Jim Garner will revise Colorado and Hy-tek materials to include some instructions on the newer version of Hy-Tek. It was suggested that we create Timing Judge Training and Jim Van Erden, Jack Schaeffer, Ron Whalen and Jim Garner will develop those materials.
It was suggested that guidelines be handed out for what to do when you have less than a full compliment of officials to run a meet. After some discussion it was suggested that this be covered during a referee clinic rather than passed out in writing so that it would not be considered a rule but rather guidance.
Data Collection for Meets: Jim Thompson has no update on the current data collection system for meet officials. The program is working very well. Entering this data will be covered in the referee clinic and the program will be distributed prior to meet so it can be entered during the meet by the referee or someone they assign. We are looking for more consistency in getting this information entered.
Officials Webpage: Tim Husson reported the new web page is up and running all agreed it was much easier to use. It was suggested that officials who have allowed their certification to expire be purged from the list or at least separated from the rest in hopes of making it clearer as to who needs to recertify.
On-line Officials Tests: Boots Hall was appointed to the USA Swimming committee that prepares the online tests and reported that this year's test should be clearer and simpler. The committee is working on a new referee recertification test that should be available before December. This test should be simplified and easier to understand.
Recruiting and Marketing: It was suggested that some materials be distributed to coaches for their bulletin boards and to meet managers to put in their meet programs for recruiting for officials. Jim Van Erden will prepare these handouts.
Officials Club Chairmen Meeting: Jim Van Erden sent out a notice to all club officials' chairs to schedule a meeting to discuss their rolls, duties and helpful hints to better staff meets. A date of Tuesday September 20, 2005 was selected. Response was very poor and it was suggested that we try to contact them by phone or other means.
Meeting adjourned at 4:00 pm.
Next Meeting: TBD
Respectfully submitted,
Rita Page
Committee Member