Board Meeting Minutes

May 2009

May BFOA Board Meeting – Minutes                                                      5/31/09

Meeting took place at the residence of Tye Sager

Start: 1:09 pm  Present: Taglienti, Epstein, Gazzano, Simpson, Baker, Bowen, Davis, Sager, Craven and Tom Zace (guest)

Not Present: Winston

Coaches Meeting: The BCAA Coaches meeting will be at Lockhart on 8/5/09 at 7pm. There will also be a Athletic Directors meeting, most likely 8/12. Taglienti and Epstein will make contact with the private schools to set up a meeting with them. There was some discussion on what (as an association) we will do for the lack of a chain crew prior to the game. That will be discussed with Rocky Gillis and Damian Huttenhoff.  Epstein suggested bringing that issue up at the Officials Leadership Conference to see what other associations are doing throughout the state.  At the coaches meeting, there will be a discussion on new rules, delay of game – chain crew, and coaches will be provided a scratch form.

FHSAA Officials Leadership Conference:  Taglienti’s room and expenses will be covered by the Broward Schools and not the BFOA. So, Epstein will also attend and a motion was made by Bowen to pay for Epstein’s expenses (room and gas) to attend.  Simpson second’s, all in favor, motion passed. Taglienti and Epstein will bring back rules books. FHSAA registration online should be open on June 8^th, 2009.

BCAA Issues: Epstein would like to meet with BCAA to discuss security, water, chains, lightning, pay etc. Taglienti will try and set this up within the next two weeks.  Reminder to members: Make sure you are using the correct form with vendor number provided to you by the BCAA for payment when you show up at BCAA games.

Lightning Forms: Lightning forms will be given to Crew Chiefs this year and it will be their responsibility to get their crews forms turned into Rocky Gillis. This can be done via fax or in person. Simpson will send an email prior to the season to all Crew Chiefs explaining the procedure.

Mechanics: Sager asked that as an association whatever mechanics our rules interpreter sets, that all crews consistently follow it. This will be especially important with the new horse collar foul and its interpretation as an association.

Committee Staffing: Sign up sheets for interest in becoming a member of one of the association committees will be available at the June general membership meeting.

Banquets vs. Shirts Survey: The online survey will wait till after the next general membership meeting and will be discussed at the next board meeting.

Meeting Format Improvement: Time limits will be added to the agenda for the general membership meetings to keep the meetings interesting and changing.

June 15 Meeting Agenda: Preliminary….Registration, Introduction, USA Football demo, New Rules for 2009, Booking Commissioner, Social/Networking conclusion (pizza & drinks).

New Candidate Training Program: Tom Zace advised this should start around July 18, will last for at least 4 weeks and will most likely be at the Sunrise Gators AYFL site.  There will be a strong emphasis on mechanics during this training. Communications between Tom Winston/Zace and the new candidates will be very important. When the training coordinators send out communication to the new candidates and there is an expected reply requested, they strongly suggest it is replied or you will not see the field.

Referee Candidate Interview Process: Interviews will be conducted before the July 13^th general membership meeting starting at 5pm.  Davis suggested by the next board meeting the board should have criteria set and Epstein would like to have all the on-field evaluations printed out.

Personnel Issues:
a)      Moving up from JV to Varsity – 142 members right now, 90+ varsity eligible officials. Sager suggested the board seriously consider moving to 17 crews for the coming year. He doesn’t feel there would be any difficulty with finding qualified to work or fill in if needed. He also gave the names of 4 officials the board will vote on to move from JV to Varsity and Alternate Varsity at the next board meeting.

b)      Officials not “making the grade” – 3 Officials will be asked to come before the board at the next board meeting. Sager will notify those officials.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:20 pm