Nick Apostolides has stepped down from his role as Director on the chapter executive board. Nick has served the chapter for many years and we are all indebted to him for his service. Nick’s integrity and tireless work for the chapter is unsurpassed. I am grateful and honored to have worked with him over the past few years. We hope he will continue to participate with the chapter, especially with the recruitment of new officials from the Long Island Soccer Referees Association.
While nobody can replace Nick, Klaus Mueller has accepted an appointment as a Director on the executive board. Klaus brings a wealth of officiating and assessing experience to the board.
Dues for the 2008 season must be sent to Joe Danbusky by November 1, 2007. The dues for renewing active members are $160. Please check the dues schedule for assessor dues as well as dues for other membership categories.
Members who are currently “inactive” must notify Joe Danbusky of their intentions for the 2008 season and pay the applicable dues by November 1, 2007. Please make your payment out to “NYMISOA.”
Each year at the annual awards dinner, the NY Metro chapter recognizes local collegiate soccer programs that exemplify good sportsmanship and fair play. Awards are based on input from chapter members from their experience throughout the season. Please make a note of deserving teams. Chapter members will receive a separate email requesting your input for the sportsmanship awards in a couple of weeks. We need your input. Thank you.
This year’s NISOA Preseason Guide includes this point of emphasis regarding professionalism:
There are many issues surrounding professionalism. The point of emphasis only focuses on one area. Do not over extend yourself and accept multiple assignments on any given day. Games can go overtime, traffic can develop and more. You cannot do justice to any game if you accept multiple assignments at the collegiate level or accept high school or other games in addition to the college game you are doing. As a NISOA member, you must give 100 percent to the game you are assigned. Working a game(s) before or after the college assignment or accepting multiple college games in one day will only result in doing a game that is not at your top performance level. Before accepting games, review the calendar and make a professional decision.
Accepting multiple assignments on a single day is strongly discouraged by the Executive Board. Ethics infractions caused by accepting multiple assignments will be severely dealt with by the Ethics Committee.
If you have a chance to visit the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York, make sure to see the memorial on the exterior of the building. Many important members of the New York metro area soccer community, like our own George Snizek are recognized and remembered in the ‘bricks.’
The Hall of Fame in Oneonta is the only facility of its kind in the world that formally recognizes soccer referees amongst the players and builders of the game. NISOA referees and administrators who achieve Hall of Fame status are recognized in a section of the Hall dedicated to college soccer officiating.
During the off season, the Executive Board, led by Jerry Stoopack, has been reviewing our constitution, specifically the categories of membership. The existing categories in Article III-Membership of the chapter’s constitution do not correspond with the categories in NISOA policy.
The Board prepared a new membership article which will be presented at the annual rules interpretation meeting. According to our constitution, if this revision is accepted as proposed, a general vote will occur at the September 5 chapter business meeting. The new membership article is now available for review. A summary of the changes follows:
Our constitution requires us to hold the mandatory annual rules meeting on the fourth Saturday of August. The Executive Board has discussed moving the mandatory annual rules meeting for the following reasons:
- Competitive games are scheduled as early as August 20th. Scrimmages (with officials) start in mid-August.
- The last weekend in August is a popular family vacation time.
Traditionally, the college soccer season didn’t start until Labor Day. Rule changes were presented and discussed well in advance of the first games of the season. With many institutions starting their season in August, our rules clinic is presented too late.
Since the rule changes and new rule books are not distributed until June, the mandatory rules meeting can not occur before July. The second Saturday in August is a potential date for the mandatory rules meeting.
Changing the meeting date will require an amendment to the constitution so the 2007 meeting schedule remains unchanged.
Recently, the NCAA announced they will enact rule changes on a two-year cycle. It’s not clear when they will begin this procedure for soccer but this new procedure will alter the content (and duration) of the mandatory meeting. We could have the mandatory initial meeting on a weeknight when the NCAA rules do not change.
If you have any suggestions, recommended dates or opinions on this issue, please share them with us here. We want to hear from you. Thanks.
