NY Metro ISOA News

Steve Meyers Appointed to the Chapter Executive Board

Steve Meyers has accepted an appointment as a Director on the chapter executive board. Steve is currently the president of the Westchester Soccer Refeees Organization and will help us to expand our recruiting efforts.

We are grateful to Steve for accepting this appointment and unselfishly giving his time to serve the chapter membership.

Chapter Elections

The terms for all elected chapter executive board positions expire on December 31, 2008. If you are interested in running for any of the positions, please contact Bob Soskis, Chairman of the Election Slate Committee as soon as possible. Nominations will be accepted at the October 6, 2008 chapter business meeting. Nominees for elected positions must be present at the October 6, 2008 meeting to accept the nomination. Nominees who are absent will only be considered if they notified the Executive Board, in writing before the meeting that they will accept the nomination. Elections will be held at the October 22, 2008 chapter business meeting.

Chapter Assessment Program

The Executive Board is pleased to announce Klaus Mueller has agreed to manage our chapter’s assessment program. All new members must be assessed within the first two years of their membership so please provide Klaus with your assignments so he can arrange an assessment for you. These initial assessments are provided free of charge to our new members. All other members including those who may be interested in the National Referee program should also contact Klaus for assessments and the current assessment fee structure.

Congratulations to Joe Miller, NISOA President-Elect

Congratulations to Joe Miller, past president of the New England Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NEISOA) and member of the Greater New Haven chapter of NEISOA, for his nomination as President-Elect of NISOA. Joe is currently the Vice President of NISOA and officiates in the New York Metro area occasionally. We wish Joe all the best in his new position leading the National organization.

2007 Ethics Cases

The following ethics cases were presented to the Executive Board for consideration in 2007. The results of the cases are summarized below:

• Five members did not attend the requisite number of business meetings. Members were fined $50. Appeals were denied.
• Two members did not attend the requisite number of business meetings. Appeals were partially upheld. Members were fined $25.
• Twelve members did not attend any business meetings. Members were fined $50. Nine members placed on one year of probation based on the information provided in their appeal.
• One member did not attend the requisite number of business meetings. Appeal was approved. No fine imposed.

NISOA requires members to attend two business meetings in addition to our chapter annual rules interpretation meeting (where we conduct a business meeting). Our ethics committee used the following guidelines (considering mitigating circumstances provided by the member) for these cases:

• Attended only one business meeting during the season. Fine imposed.
• Did not attend a business meeting during the season. Fine plus probationary status imposed.

Ethics cases are reported and processed in accordance with our policies and our chapter constitution.

Jerry Stoopack

Jerry Stoopack has informed the Board that he will be inactive this season. As such, Jerry is not eligible to retain his position as a Director on the Executive Board. Randy Vogt has accepted the nomination to the Executive Board as a Director to fill the vacancy.

Jerry’s service to the chapter is too extensive and distinguished to summarize briefly. He is the chief architect of the chapter’s constitution and led the Eastern ISOA negotiating team for the current agreement we have with ECAC. We are extremely fortunate that Jerry intends to remain available to the chapter to lend guidance and advice while he is inactive.

Rethinking the Chapter Awards Dinner

For those of you who regularly attend the annual Awards dinner held at the end of each collegiate season, you may have noticed over the past few years that:

• Many of our fellow officials fail to make the dinner,
• Officials who receive chapter recognition are not present to acknowledge the honor bestowed upon them by their peers,
• Honored guests are conspicuously absent.

Are we at a turning point in our efforts? Should we make a big deal of awards? Read the rest of this entry »