TO: Members, Mid-Florida Officials Association
FROM: Ralph Messer, Secretary
SUBJECT: Minutes, 2009 Annual Business Meeting
The meeting, which was held on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at North Marion High School, was called to order by the President, A.F.”Bud” Holt, Jr. at 9:15 AM.
The Invocation was given by Larry Mayhew.
Elections: The offices listed below were filled for a two year period unless otherwise indicated. The winner of each race is indicated by an asterisk (*). Each office was opened for nominations from the floor and will be so indicated.
President *Al Summers Larry Mayhew
No nominations were received from the floor.
Secretary *Terri Adams Emma Rhodes Robert Coney
No nominations were received from the floor.
Booking Commissioner *Wade Clayton
Football/Basketball
No nominations from the floor were received and Wade was elected by acclimation.
Football Director
South Reid Sergent *David Jones (Nominated from the floor)
Basketball Director
North Saul Speights *Mario Coppock
No nominations were received from the floor.
South * Bob Leahy Kevin Townsend Richard Wilson
No nominations from the floor were received. On the 1st ballot no candidate received 50% +1 of the votes cast, making it necessary for a runoff between Leahy and Townsend. The second vote resulted in a tie with each candidate receiving 44 votes. In the 3rd vote, Leahy received the majority of the votes as required by the constitution.
Booking Commissioner *Richard Sullivan
Baseball/Softball
No nominations from the floor were received and Richard was elected by acclimation
Softball Director *James Law
No nominations from the floor were received and James was elected by acclimation
The election of Al Summers as President required that the floor be opened for nominations for Vice President. This will be a one year term and must be opened again in 2010. The following nominations were received:
Ricky Howard Bob Nelson *Paul Gery Larry Mayhew Reid Sergent
In addition, Mario Coppock was nominated, but declined the nomination. Prior to a ballot being cast for Vice President, Reid Sergent withdrew his name from consideration. On the first ballot no candidate received 50% +1 of the vote making it necessary for a runoff between Paul Gery and Larry Mayhew. On the 2nd ballot, Gery received a majority of the vote.
The election of Paul Gery to the office of Vice President required that the floor be opened for nominations for Baseball Director for a one year term and must b e reopened in 2010. The following nominations were received: Edward Carey was the only member nominated; therefore he is elected by acclimation.
2009-2010 MFOA Officers and Executive Board
President Al Summers Vice President Paul Gery
Secretary Terri Adams Treasurer Jeff Pole
Booking Commissioner Wade Clayton Booking Commissioner Richard Sullivan
Football/Basketball Baseball/Softball
Football Directors (South) David Jones Football Directors (Central) Ted Bedford
Football Directors (North) Carl Dill Basketball Director (South) Bob Leahy\
Basketball Director (Central) Terry Lee Basketball Director (North) Mario Coppock
Baseball Director Edward Carey Softball Director James Law
Proposed Amendments to MFOA Constitution and Policies and Procedures (Constitutional change requires 2/3-majority vote. Policy change requires majority vote).
Proposed Changes to Policies and Procedures
Submitted by Reid Sergent
Sections changed 003 booking policy #14 currently reads: Five man crews will be booked for varsity games. Change to read five man crews will be booked for varsity and JV games. Reason for change # 1 JV games pay less and require more work. #2 to assure proper training at back judge position for varsity games. #3 to aid in experience for week two and on football playoffs. #4 other associations use this policy. #5 there will be fewer games to work due to cut back in schedules. Motion by Jeff D’Amelio to accept and seconded by Carl Dill. It was poi9nted out that due to budget restrictions for all schools this is not a good time to pass this amendment. The motion failed.
Section to add 008 scholarship program. #1. The MFOA will provide 500.00 annually for a scholarship to high school senior who will be athletically involved in college. #2. the requirements for this scholarship will be GPA, athletic involvement, community service, a school the MFOA contracts with, a sport supervised by the MFOA, #3 the MFOA board of directors or a board assigned by them will choose the recipient, #4 the choice will be made prior to annual meeting, #5 the recipient will be invited to annual banquet, #6 the scholarship will be in memory of Will Bleakley a Crystal River athlete and USF football player ( Will Bleakley 's parents are in charge of the Crystal river chain crew who has served us well for many years), and #7 the scholarship program is for 5 years and must be renewed periodically.
Reason for addition.. our revenue is gained from school athletic contest, by having this policy we are "giving back" to the program that supports us. this policy will be a wonderful connection to our community, and a great public relations venture. It was felt that this is a worthy cause, but pro0bably should be named in honor of an MFOA official or ex-official who has made noteworthy contributions. A motion was made by Ralph Messer and seconded by Tinker Bowen to table this amendment until the next meeting of the NEW Executive Board, at which time they can either pass this amendment or appoint a committee to study and make recommendations regarding same. The motion passed.
Proposed Changes to Policies and Procedures
Submitted by Larry Huxley:
Section.... 002 - Booking Policy:
Sub. - 7 -Current - All rookie official, transfers, 2nd and 3rd year officials, state rated 3s, and others deemed necessary by the Directors must attend a minimum of two (2) field clinics (on court / field work). These may include scrimmages, jamborees, all day clinics or FHSAA field clinics. If they do not attend, they will not be assigned. This applies to all sports officiated by the MFOA.
Add the Following: The directors of each appropriate sport and area (North, Central and South) shall be responsible for compliance, and shall report the information to the booking commissioner, advising as to whether or not the aforementioned officials have met the requirement and can be booked for games.
The reason for this addition is that currently no specific authority is responsible for making sure that said officials have complied with the above policy. A motion was made by Larry Huxley and seconded by Jeff D’Amelio to accept. The motion passed.
Section ...004 Playoffs:
Sub.- 1 - Playoff crews, based on the selections made by the Recommendations Committee and approved by the Membership for football, basketball, baseball and softball, shall be submitted to the FHSAA by the Board. Sufficient crews to allow all eligible 1s and 2s shall be selected in all sports and shall be in a manner prescribed by the FHSAA.
Add: In addition to meeting the FHSAA requirements: state rank 1 or 2, Attendance at a state field clinic within the past four years. Officials must also meet MFOA requirements as follows in order to be playoff qualified:
1. Attendance at the MFOA all day clinic for the current year and sport, or attendance at a board approve field clinic of another association.
2. Officials must attend one third (1/3) of the current seasons meeting dates, this is to include classroom clinics and scrimmages authorized by the board.
3. The playoff crew selection meeting and any meeting thereafter will not be included to meet the requirement.
4. Officials must have been assigned to a minimum number of dates, this shall include dates that are after the playoff selection meeting, that have already been posted on the website schedule.
The following assignment dates are required:
Baseball/Softball - 10 assignment dates
Basketball - 12 assignment dates
Football - 7 assignment dates
Reasons for change: Since according to our current policy, attendance is mandatory at the all day clinic, this adds a penalty for non attendance. Additionally, in order to keep current and maintain officiating abilities both classroom and scrimmage work is important and attendance at a minimum of one third of all clinics/scrimmages should be criteria for playoff selection. Assignments to a minimum number of dates assure that all playoff eligible officials have worked regular season contests and have maintained their on court skills. A motion was made by Larry Huxley and seconded by Jim Curington to accept the amendment. A motion was made by Bob Nelson and seconded by Terry Lee to amend the proposal by eliminating mandatory attendance at the all-day clinic a requirement. A motion was made by Jeff D’Amelio and seconded by Carl Dill to specify that the assignment dates are Varsity assignments. The motion to amend by Bob Nelson passed. The motion to amend by Jeff D’Amelio passed. The original motion, as amended passed.
Proposed Changes to Policies and Procedures
Submitted by Wade Clayton
3. Penalty Scale for Game Cancellations after accepting an assignment:
1st- Free, letter of explanation to the Commissioner.
2nd- $5.00 fine (automatic), letter of explanation.
3rd- $10.00 fine (automatic), letter of explanation.
4th- $15.00 fine (automatic), letter of explanation.
5th- $25.00 fine (automatic), letter of explanation.
6th- Suspension and mandatory appearance before the Board
Assignment is done by website; we need to update theses section to reflect these changes. A motion was made by Wade Clayton and seconded by Carl Dill to accept. The motion passed.
23. If it is necessary to cancel an assignment after an official has accepted a game, members must notify the Commissioner immediately by telephone, e-mail or fax, unless personal contact has been made. If verbal notification was given, it must be followed-up by written notification. The reason is then provided in writing to the Commissioner.
a. The written notice must be received by the Commissioner within 7 days following the cancellation.
b. Any cancellation shall subject the member to the fine schedule in this manual.
c. If a pattern of abusive cancellations, in number or timeliness is demonstrated, a member may be fined and/or suspended. Assignment is done by website; we need to update theses section to reflect these changes. A motion was made by Wade Clayton and seconded by Jeff D’Amelio to accept. The motion passed.
Proposed Changes to Policies and Procedures Submitted by Bob Leahy – All proposals for change submitted by Bob Leahy were withdrawn at Bob’s request because he would not be able to attend the meeting and discuss his reasons for the change with the membership.
Old Business:
Reading of Minutes of 2008 Meeting: Prior to the Secretary reading the minutes, a motion was made by Ted Bedford and Seconded by Jeff D’Amelio to waive the reading of the minutes and accept as posted. The motion passed
Treasurer’s Report/ Proposed Budget: The Treasurer’s report and proposed budget was presented by Jeffrey Pole. There were questions in some areas, all of which were answered satisfactorily by Jeff. A motion was made by Carl Dill and seconded by Jeff D’Amelio to accept both the Treasurer’s Report and the proposed budget. The motion passed.
Registration for 2008-2009: The Secretary covered forms that must be completed for 098-10. It was stressed that since there will be a new Secretary for the upcoming school year and that officials log on the MFOA Web Site and get the new registration form in addition to the W-9 and Independent Contractor forms.
Annual Banquet Update: An update on the annual Banquet was given by Terri Adams, the Banquet Chairperson. The Banquet will be held on June 20, 2009 at the Elk’s Lodge in Ocala. Members are requested to send their RSVP to Terri ASAP in order to have an accurate number of those who intend to attend. You can RSVP Terri at 352-694-6507 or drop her a note about your attendance and guest at 3351 SE 4th Street, Ocala, FL 34471.
Clinic/Meeting Schedules: Tentative schedules of meetings for each sport were presented by Ted Bedford, Football Director and Chairman of the Education and Training Committee. These schedules will be posted on the Web by Jeff D’Amelio.
Other Old Business: No additional Old Business was brought before the membership.
New Business:
Re-Sanction of Individual Sports with FHSAA: The re-sanction of all sports supervised by the MFOA was approved by the membership.
Awards:
Football
Outstanding Rookie – William Adams
Most Improved – No nominations received.
Outstanding Ball Person – Belleview (Ted Bedford will get the name of ball person and invite that individual and parents (if applicable toe the banquet.).
Outstanding Chain Crew: Crystal River High School. The athletic director will be notified in order to obtain the names of the crew members and invite them to the banquet.
Basketball
Outstanding Rookie – Steve Berg
Most Improved – Darshion Bacon
Linda Abbey Award (Outstanding Score Keeper) –
Outstanding Clock Operator -
Baseball
Outstanding Rookie – Zachary Andrews
Most Improved Official – Jeff Schultz
Softball
Outstanding Rookie*
Most Improved*
*Selection of these officials was previously made by the softball membership and, at the request of the Softball Director will not be published until after the annual banquet.
Bill Gier Recruiting Award: The count for this award is taken from Registration Forms submitted by new members, which is maintained by the Secretary. There were numerous officials who worked and recruited new members. However, the winner of the 208-2009 award is Larry Mayhew. Larry recruited 15 new members for 2008-09. All members who recruited new members are to be congratulated for their efforts. The MFOA had a total membership for 2008-2009 of 276.
Lee Scruggs Memorial Sportsmanship Award – (All Sports Outstanding Sportsmanship Award) – Forest High School was unanimously selected.
Other New Business
A request was made by Ron Martin to make it mandatory that when a school scratches an official that they must put the reasons for the request in writing. It was pointed out that this is already the policy of the MFOA, but the official in question is not notified of the scratch.
Richard Sullivan brought up the fact that several softball members have never been reimbursed for the Jessica Lunsford Act. It was the desire of the membership that the names of these members be determined, given to the Treasurer and the members paid. A motion was made and seconded to that effect. The motion passed.
Special thanks to Carl Dill for preparing the slide presentation for the agenda and all business items.
There being no further business to come before the membership, a motion to adjourn prevailed.