Mid-Florida Officials Association
FROM: Ralph Messer, Secretary
SUBJECT: Executive Board Meeting of August 10, 2008
The meeting, which was held at the Ocala Star Banner in Ocala, was called to order at 5:10 PM the President, Bud Holt.
Attending: Board members attending were Bud Holt, Al Summers, Ralph Messer, Paul Gery, Wade Clayton, Reid Sergent, Carlton Dill, Saul Speights, Richard Sullivan, Jeff D’Amelio, and Bob Leahy. Also attending were Larry Mayhew, Kevin Townsend, Trevor Iverson, and Richard Morales.
Not Attending: Jeff Pole, Ted Bedford, Dan Cannon, and Terry Lee. James Law was not in attendance because of a death in his family.
Old Business:
A Motion was made by Ralph Messer to accept the minutes of the 07/13/08 minutes as posted. Second by Carl Dill. A Motion was made by Reid Sergeant to amend the minutes by adding comments made by other board members during the meeting. Second by Al Summers. It was pointed out that the comments were exactly that and not to be construed as part of the officials minutes. The motion to amend failed. The original motion to accept passed.
Bob Leahy, the Inspector, briefed the Board on his investigation regarding the booking of baseball and softball during the 2007-08 season. Bob explained that that all accusations of illegal booking regarding softball bookings were unfounded. However, he indicated that several errors were made in the baseball bookings, to wit, booking new officials for varsity games before they took the FHSAA exam and booking officials for varsity games after they failed to make a passing score on the exam. Bob explained that his investigation revealed that these mistakes were made primarily based on a misinterpretation of the FHSAA rules. Bob indicated that some fault also rests with the Baseball Director, the Chairman of the Assignments Committee, and the President, as well as the individual officials who accepted the bookings.
During the discussion Carl Dill and Bob Leahy expressed their concern that members of the association are not following the MFOA constitution and are making their complaint(s) directly to the FHSAA, the majority of which should be handled within the MFOA. Most members of the Board agreed with their concern.
A Motion was made by Ralph Messer to fine the Booking Commissioner $20.00 for each violation, there were a total of eight, and place him on probation for a period of one year. If any violations of FHSAA and MFOA policies occur during this period the booking commissioner will be removed from office. Second by Paul Gery. After much discussion, both pro and con, with some members feeling that the penalty was not severe enough, the motion passed, with 5 members voting for the motion and 2 opposed.
NOTE: a copy of this investigation and the findings by the Board will be hand delivered to Denarvis Thornton by Bud Holt and Ralph Messer.
New Business:
Committee Appointments:
The President appointed various board members to chair the following committees.
Education and Training Ted Bedford Evaluations Carl Dill
Assignments Al Summers Recommendations Dan Cannon
Grievance Paul Gery Recruiting Reid Sergent
Members of the association are encouraged to volunteer to serve on these committees. Committee responsibilities are listed in the FHSAA Officials’ Guidebook on pages 16 and 17.
There were no new items to be discussed by the Vice President or the Treasurer.
Secretary’s Report:
The Secretary advised the Board that we have a total of 127 members this year, 28 of which were not members in 2007. A few, mostly returning members have not registered with the MFOA, the FHSAA, or both. Members of the Board were given these members names and they will contact them. It was stressed that it is very difficult to prepare and Temporary Relative Rating or an address roster until these individuals are registered with both the FHSAA and the MFOA.
The Secretary advised the Board that the FHSAA has revised their fiscal year calendar. A new date, October 1, 2008, has been established as the deadline for registration for Winter sports.
The Secretary also advised that it has been confirmed that Honig’s will be at the Field Clinic at North Marion High School on 8/16/2008.
Members who take an FHSAA exam on-line normally receive a temporary result of their test. The Secretary requested that these members forward that test score to the Secretary. This will assist the Secretary in preparing a current Relative Rating Roster in a timely manner. It was requested the Web Master posted this on the MFOA Web site.
Commissioner’s Report:
The Football/Basketball Booking Commissioner stated that he is currently working on the booking for the entire season. He stated that he is placing the Referees first and will later fill in crews.
Scrimmages were discussed and Wade stated that these scrimmages will be placed on the Arbiter, as he receives them from the Directors and officials will have to select View All Games to see if any scrimmages are scheduled if they have not been notified by the Arbiter that they have been booked to work a scrimmage. Wade will also post this on the MFOA web site under bookings.
Wade advised that he will be booking games for the Marion County Youth Football League (MCYFL). Bookings will be the same as in the past. Larry Mayhew requested that 1st and 2nd year officials be given as many games as possible. Larry also volunteered his services to Wade to assist in the booking of the MCYFL.
The Baseball/Softball Booking Commissioner had no new items to discuss.
Web Master’s Report:
Jeff D”Amelio stated that he will post information regarding sending test scores to the Secretary and will also post schedules for scrimmages as received.
The Inspector and Basketball Directors had no new items to discuss.
Baseball/Softball Directors’ Report:
Paul Gery, Baseball, reported for baseball and softball in the absence of James Law. Paul stated that he accepts his share of the blame for the booking errors that occurred last season in baseball and softball and he will do his utmost to ensure that errors of this type do not occur in the future.
Football Directors’ Report:
Reid Sergent stated that they are prepared for the Field Clinic on Friday and Saturday, August 15 and 16, 2008 at North Marion High School. The Friday session will be a two hour scrimmage during the NMHS practice and members will receive 2 point for attendance. Saturday will be a round robin type of meeting with the 1st and 2nd year officials being split from the main group and items they need to know covered. Members will receive 10 points for attendance at the Saturday session.
Reid also advised that he is working with the local TV stations in Citrus to get the MFOA coverage and possibly assist in the recruitment of new officials for all sports covered by the MFOA. It was suggested that the same be done with the Marion County School Board’s TV program. Jeff D’Amelio stated that he was sure that Joel Hartley, who runs this program, would be glad to do so since he telecasts the Marion County game of the week each week.
Other New Business:
Larry Mayhew suggested that the Board schedule a Board meeting for the purpose of reviewing FHSAA and MFOA policies and procedures to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Larry also suggested that the Board appoint a parliamentarian.
Larry discussed an Awards Evaluation form that would evaluate the chain crews, availability of game equipment, ball persons. This evaluation would also cover the performance of members who could be considered for the Outstanding Rookie and the Most Improved Official awards. Larry stated that the form he presented to the Board would be modified to include all MFOA sports. He suggested appointing an Awards Committee. The members of the Board liked the idea and suggested to the President that Larry be appointed Chairman of this committee. This appointment was made and Larry will select members to serve on the committee with him.
Larry also discussed contact with the various organizations that supply equipment for officials.
Reid Sergent advised the board of possible misuse of the MFOA Tax ID number. The President appointed Bob Leahy and Jeff Pole to investigate the matter.
There being no further business to come before the Board. A motion to adjourn prevailed.