Metro DC-Virginia State Referee Program

Minutes for SRC Meeting August 13, 2007

The meeting was called to order by Pat Delaney, SRC Chairman, on Monday, August 13, 2007, at 7:00 PM at the Sheraton Richmond West in Richmond, Virginia. Committee members present were:

Pat Delaney, Chairman Scott Meyer, SRA Paul Mungra, SDI Don Torrenti, SDA Alan Liotta, SYRA Jim Sadowski, MDCVSA Representative Christie Bernas, Youth Representative Bonnie Ahearn, State Assignor Liaison

Absent were the VYSA Liaison Representative to the SRC and Bill Robertson, Registrar.

Minutes The minutes from the April 30, 2007, meeting were reviewed and approved as submitted.

Financial Report Scott Meyer presented the financial report which was an accounting of income and expenses from the start of the fiscal year through July. Areas showing significant deficits against the planned budget included SDI (primarily in equipment and supplies), SRA (unplanned Ad Hoc SRA Meeting) and SYRA (referee development events). While additional funding is expected to come in, it is likely that the year will end with expenses exceeding the budget by about $20,000. The report was accepted as presented.

Reports SRA Scott Meyer reported about a pilot training CD that has been produced by Harvey Snyder of the DCV referee program. This CD presents Law 1 in video with a short quiz at the end. The material on the CD could be sent out to students in advance of the class and might enable instructors to spend more classroom time on other significant referee topics

As this is the last SRC Meeting that Scott will attend as SRA, he extended his thanks to the SRC Committee members for their support over the years while he

1 served in this position. The committee then acknowledged the great job Scott has done for the state referee program.

SYRA Alan Liotta discussed the successes of the referee and assessors who attended the ODP and Region 1 tournaments. Special recognition should be given to the heads of the delegations – Phil Yanchulis for ODP and Mark Turner for Region 1 – who did outstanding jobs as HODs and ensured that the referees and assessors were taken care of both on and off the fields.

The next event on the schedule will be the Fall State Cup with semi-finals and finals to be held the last weekend in October in either Virginia Beach or possibly Williamsburg.

SDI Paul Mungra provided statistics regarding the numbers of clinics held for the 2007 certification year. In 2007, the program conducted 89 New Grade 8 clinics, 21 New Grade 9, 10 New Grade 12, 138 recertification clinics, 7 “senior” recertification clinics, 5 Upgrade to 7 clinics, 1 State Upgrade clinic and 2 New Assignor courses. A highlight of the training year was that DCV hosted a successful Pro Clinic and has been requested to host it again in 2008. VISOA invited the DCV USSF referee program to participate again in their training weekend. Also noteworthy was that a certification clinic was held in Spanish with instruction, books and test materials provided in Spanish.

SDA Don Torrenti reported that all four National Candidates have completed requirements for National Camp in January and Pat Jordan successfully completed the State Assessor Course. (He and Ben Jones both have now completed this course.)

In the upcoming year, Don would like to provide mentoring assessments to referees for their first game at the higher levels.

Registrar Not present – no report.

State Assignor Liaison No report.

Youth Amateur Representative No report.

Amateur Representative

2 Jim Sadowski reported that three referees (Brad Skotko, JP Rike, and Charles Carson) and 2 two assessors (Paul Rapalski and Dick Cote) participated in a Select Team Tournament.

It is expected that player registration will approach 17,000 this year and leagues continue to get bigger which demonstrates the need for more referees.

Jim will request an update from the SDI about assault and abuse report training as reports continue to be submitted that are not prepared properly.

Jim also stated that he will try to provide more and better information about upcoming events to be included in an annual planning calendar.

Two teams from MDCVSA advanced to national cup finals.

Jim added his thanks to Scott for his service as SRA.

SRC Chairman Pat Delaney pointed out that National Referees must now pass the FIFA PT instead of the Cooper test and stated that more information will be needed to determine how this will affect what is done at the Pro Clinic.

The program must strongly emphasize to the senior referees that they must complete all requirements for certification by the end of the year. The program will have approximately 7-8 senior recertification clinics in the coming year to meet training needs. Automation via the online system is improving and hopefully, the checklist form that provided confirmation of senior referee requirements can be eliminated and the issuance of badges can be expedited.

New Business 2008 Budget Scott presented the latest version of the proposed budget for FY08. Projected expenses currently exceed income by approximately $41,000. Scott offered three suggestions to have a more balanced budget: cut costs on some line items, raise the clinic fees (potential for $30K), and/or pursue increases to contributions from the state associations to support referee development programs.

There was some discussion about cost-cutting measures.

A motion was passed to reduce the budget to the extent possible ($20K suggested as a target) and then prepare a presentation to each state association to request additional funding to support the referee development programs in the tournaments and academies.

Academies Discussion

3 Pat Delaney described referee academies that have occurred in recent months and presented his ideas for academy opportunities in conjunction with various tournaments throughout the state. The committee discussed the tournaments that are scheduled in the course of a year and noted the referee grade levels that could be targeted at each.

A motion was made and passed that the assignors for the specified tournaments be contacted and interest determined about possible involvement with an academy and whether funding would be needed. Following that, a budget and strategy for implementation would be drafted,

2008 Referee Development Program Strategy and Calendar Pat requested that dates for all events, meetings, trainings, workshops, tournaments, etc. be forwarded to him for inclusion in a master calendar for the program.

Online Database Review Changes and Discussion Pat discussed developments in the online database systems including the assessment component, mass e-mail function, and referee status. A determination will have to be made at some point about the value of the current system and if all needs can be met and whether to extend the contract.

Registration Process and Online Database Requirements A message will be sent to the “senior” referees (Grade 7 and above) stating that all requirements (clinic, PT, assessments) for certifying for the next year must be completed by December 31.

Update on SRP Personnel and Background Checks Interviews have been completed for the position of part-time bookkeeper in the State Office. Pending the results of a background check, it is expected that a hire will be made within the week.

USSF Assignment and State Cup Priority Policies Scott distributed copies of the policy for game priority in referee appointments as outlined in the Referee Administrative Handbook. Also provided were copies of a page from the State Cup assignor’s website noting precedence of State Cup games.

A motion was made, amended, and passed to establish the priority of State Cup games (90 minutes in length as defined in USSF policy) scheduled with less than 48 hours notice over regular league play. State Cup games scheduled with more leadtime do not have precedence.

Pat requested that the SYRA analyze the responsibilities of the State Cup assignor and State Cup coordinator and provide recommendations to the SRC

4 that could be brought forward to VYSA for discussion about effective use of personnel.

Annual Meeting Feedback from Assignor Survey Bonnie Ahearn presented the results of an assignor survey requesting preferences for times in the year for meeting to discuss assignor issues. While the survey results show that a majority of respondents would prefer a shift for attendance to January, it was noted that assignors would also benefit from attendance at the June meeting, therefore, it was decided that assignors will be invited to both the January and June meeting events.

Upcoming SRP Meetings  January Meeting – January 26, 2008  VYSA Workshop – February 1-2, 2008  June Meeting – June 21, 2008

Jim Sadowski had two announcements: 1. Shaun Papperman was named 2007 Referee of the Year 2. Jim was appointed to the US Soccer Foundation Grants Committee for a 3- year term.

Next Meeting The next meeting will be October 29, 2007, in Richmond.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 PM with an Executive Session to follow.