September 6th, 2008
12:26 pm
General
From John Van de Vaarst and Mario Donnangelo:
It is with great sadness that we must inform you that Dr. Ray Bernabei passed away on Friday, September 5, 2008 from complications that resulted from his illness. We will inform you as soon as the family notifies us of the arrangements for the funeral. Let us continue to keep them in our prayers.
Dr. Bernabei has been NISOA’s only Executive Director, serving in that role since 1975 and for most of us, the face of NISOA. He will be missed.
Please remember your pre-match communication requirements. The recommended procedure is:
- At least 72 hours before the match, the assigned referee will contact both of the assigned assistant referees to confirm the assignment and coordinate specific details. If you use email or leave a voice message, you must make sure you get confirmation that the message was received.
- 48 hours before the match, the assigned referee must make sure both assistant referees have confirmed the assignment or attempt to contact them again. If an assistant referee has not been contacted by the referee, the assistant referee must contact the referee and the other assistant referee to confirm the assignment. At this point, telephone contact is preferred to email.
- 24 hours before the match, if all three officials have not been in contact with each other, we strongly recommend the referee and the assistant referee contact the match assignor and advise them of the situation while continuing attempts to contact the unresponsive official.
This procedure will only break down if ALL 3 officials do not do their job.
At the August 23, 2008 mandatory rules clinic, Alan Wharton presented two separate, proposed constitutional amendments regarding business meetings. They are:
1. An official who is assigned to work a Collegiate Soccer game on the night of a scheduled business meeting shall be excused from that meeting and be given credit for that meeting.
2. The annual dinner will be considered a business meeting.
In addition to these two proposals, the Executive Board will request discussion of the following administrative constitutional amendment:
Change Article 4, paragraph 1: “Elections shall take place with nominations brought to the floor at the fourth business meeting of that year.”
to:
“Elections shall take place at a scheduled business meeting. Nominations shall be brought to the floor at the business meeting immediately prior to the elections.”
This notice satisfies the requirement for written notification to the membership. These proposals will be discussed at the September 10, 2008 business meeting and, if approved, voted upon at the September 23, 2008.
Thanks to John Leavy for providing the following nearby NISOA chapter testing schedule for 2008:
- NJ Metro ISOA – August 9, Saturday – Drew University, Madison, NJ – Physical fitness test and Interpretation meeting – 8:00 am registration, 8:30 start.
- ISOA-NJ – August 9 – Mercer County College – Fitness test at 8:00 am. Interpretation meeting follows the fitness test.
- Eastern PA and Delaware – Saturday, August 16, Saturday – Villanova University – 7:30 am start for the fitness test. Interpretation meeting follows the fitness test.
- Westchester/Rockland ISOA – Rules Interpretation information is here.
NY Metro ISOA members who attend these (or any other non-NY Metro ISOA) rules interpretation meeting are required to attend three of the four scheduled business meetings to meet the NISOA requirement to attend 3 business meetings.
The 2008 NISOA Refresher Test is now available for download. This year, members will submit their answer sheet online. Answer sheets must be submitted before the annual rules interpretation meeting on August 23, 2008. All active members (including new members) are required to submit an answer sheet to maintain their good standing status. The procedure for taking the refresher test is:
- Download the test from our website. We recommend printing the test and writing your answers on the test itself.
- Log on to the web site and fill out your answer sheet. You do not have to fill out the entire answer sheet in one session. When you click on the ‘save and submit’ button, your answers will be saved. You may come back and finish at any time before August 23, 2008.
As always, you may use the NCAA Soccer Rules Book as a reference when you take the test. Please post any questions in the comments section.
The 2008-9 NCAA Men’s and Women’s soccer rule book has been published and is available for download (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).
Overall, the rule changes are minor (more details here). The most significant rule changes include:
- The penalty for a team which fails to provide an official game roster before the beginning of the game is a forfeit.
- The diagonal system of control shall be used. There are listed exceptions for using the dual system only when an assigned official fails to appear for the game.
Rule changes will now be considered on a two year cycle. The current edition of the soccer rules book will apply for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Specific rule interpretations and points of emphasis will be presented at the mandatory rules clinic in August.
The ECAC now requires new officials to apply for ECAC membership and pay an application fee of $75. New chapter members should fill out this form to officiate ECAC assigned games. This requirement does not apply to veteran officials who have previously officiated ECAC assigned games.
From John Van de Vaarst and Mario Donnangelo:
