PRESIDENT S MESSAGE JULY 2017 2017 OABO SEMINAR GUEST SPEAKERS I am very pleased to announce our lineup of 7 excellent Guest Speakers for our Educational Sessions on Saturday, September 30 at the Toronto Airport Marriott. Our Keynote Speaker will be Debbie Williamson. She is a former NCAA Basketball Coach and Official, former NCAA Secretary Rules Editor and National Co-ordinator of Women s Basketball Officiating. She is currently serving as Co-ordinator of Women s Basketball Officials for the American Athletic, Big East, Atlantic10 & Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences. Her topics will be Professionalism on and off the court & How to become an Elite Official at the College & University Level. I had the opportunity to hear Debbie speak at a recent IAABO Fall Seminar and she is absolutely dynamic. We will be receiving a training/education presentation around sexual harassment in sport and awareness training with respect to how gender impacts the experiences of officials. We will joined by Doctor Lori Livingston and Doctor Susan Forbes. Dr. Livingston is the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at UOIT, is a noted administrator and scholar. She previously served as the Dean of Health and Behavioral Sciences at Lakehead University. She is a former National team player, coach and international administrator in the sport of Women s Field Lacrosse. Dr. Forbes, owner of Stillwater Consulting, is a sport researcher, consultant and a part time University instructor. She has held academic posts at a variety of Canadian Universities including Brock University and St. Mary s University. She has participated as an elite official in basketball, softball & lacrosse. Since 2005 both Dr. Livingston & Dr. Forbes have conducted research on the topic of sports officiating, including why officials discontinue their participation. More recently, their focus of their research has shifted to understanding why officials enter into, develop, and remain active in their roles. They are constantly collaborating with provincial and national sport organizations in effort to establish a validated framework for long-term officiating development programs. IAABO Executive Director Tom Lopes who officiated in numerous conferences and appeared in 20 consecutive NCAA Men s Division 1 Basketball tournaments including 3 NCAA Final Four tournaments will speak on How to be a good Partner.
Associate Executive Director Donnie Eppley who currently officiates in 11 Conferences and has appeared in the last 7 NCAA Men s Division 1 tournament will speak on Characteristics of a Good High School Official & Knowing when it is time to retire. OUA & TABO Official Georgia Risnita who has played, coached and currently officiates at the University Level will speak on Working with Coaches. Our Provincial Interpreter and FIBA Rules Guru Mike McPhee will of course in his concise fashion bring us the latest on FIBA Rule Changes and FIBA Interpretations. HOW TO REGISTER Please go to our OABO website www.oabo.ca and click on the top right hand corner titled AGM WEEKEND and then click the first link to register for the Seminar. You can also book your accommodation by clicking on the second link provided. The cost per night is $130.00 plus $5.00 for parking. There is also a link provided to review what the hotel offers in the way of amenities. 15 th ANNUAL WALL OF FAME DINNER I am very excited to announce a fantastic night of entertainment in conjunction with our annual Awards Ceremony. Following dinner, we will have the opportunity to enjoy a Comedy Improv performance from two outstanding Canadian Comedians Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath. Colin Mochrie is alumnus of Toronto s famous Second City Comedy Troupe and is widely considered to be one of the leading improvisers in the world. In 2013 Colin was named Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the Canadian Comedy Awards. He has appeared for the past 5 years on the CW network with the show called Whose Line is it Anyways. He has received a Writers Guild of Canada award, three Canadian Comedy awards, a Gemini award and an ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence. Deb McGrath is also an alumnus of Second City Comedy Troupe and has worked extensively in television, film and theatre. She has a rewarding career in voice doing everything from commercials to animation including being the voice of Winners. Deb has won two Canadian Comedy Awards and won Best Actress award at the 2016 Canadian Film Awards. She has also starred in many Comedy shows with her husband actor Colin Mochrie.
OABO SEMINAR PRICING FULL WEEKEND PACKAGE $175 (Includes Friday & Saturday Hospitality Room, Saturday Educational Sessions, Saturday Buffet Lunch, Wall Of Fame Dinner (Plated Meal) - Please note price will increase to $250 after September 1 st. SATURDAY SESSIONS $100 (Includes only Educational Sessions and Buffet Lunch) - Please note price will increase to $125 after September 1 st. WALL OF FAME DINNER - $75 Plated meal. Full Menu is on OABO website. - Please note price will increase to $100 after September 1 st. HOSPITALITY ROOM FRIDAY NIGHT ONLY $50. Please note price will increase to $100 after September 1 st. HOSPITALITY ROOM SATURDAY NIGHT ONLY $30 - Please note price will increase to $50 after September 1 st. GOLF Friday, September 30 $120 which includes Green Fees, Cart and Lunch. Tee off 8:30am at the Woodbridge Country Club - Please note price will increase to $150 after September 1 st. Please make all cheques payable to OABO and mail to Secretary/Treasurer Don Thorne at 563 Westheights Drive, Kitchener, Ontario N2N 1M6 PROVINCIAL EVALUATORS CLINIC The OABO Executive will be hosting a two day clinic to include current Provincial Evaluators, members who are interested in becoming a Provincial Evaluator and for Local Boards that currently don t have a Provincial Evaluator on their Board. The Clinic will take place Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10 location still to be determined. I want to thank Basketball Ontario for funding in the amount of $14,000 to assist in the necessary funding needed to run this important two day clinic. Tim Laurain Provincial Supervisor is taking the lead in arranging the curriculum for and I know has been in touch with current and prospective Provincial Evaluators and will be providing more updates in the near future. OABO DEADLINES As already published in the Spring Edition of The Whistle by Don Thorne and again in my June Presidents message this is another reminder of deadlines that need to be met by Local Boards. Your Local Board orders for the IAABO/FIBA rule book needed to be submitted to Don Thorne by Friday, July 1 st. The OABO Executive encourages all
members to purchase the IAABO FIBA Handbooks. Please note IAABO members receive the FIBA handbook as part of their IAABO Membership. Any Nominations from Local Boards for the OABO Award of Merit to be sent to Don Thorne was July 1, 2017. The OABO Award of Merit is presented annually to OABO Members in recognition of their contribution to a Local Board. The OABO Executive can select up to two recipients per year. Local Board Reports are due no later than Tuesday, August 1 st. Please email them to Don in either Word or PDF format and he will forward them on to me for the Seminar Booklet. Reports should include the names and contact info of your Executive Committee, number of officials, number of games assigned, accomplishments of the members of your Board, i.e. OFSAA or OCAA Championships etc. and anything else you want to include preferably on 1 page. Any proposed changes to the Constitution must be submitted to Rick Parnham no later than Saturday, July 15 th. The Constitution Committee will send back all proposed changes which Don will send to Local Board Presidents and Secretaries by email on or before Thursday, August 31. BASKETBALL ONTARIO On June 23 rd I sent a copy of a joint press release to all Local Board Presidents and Secretaries officially announcing our OABO-OBA Partnership Agreement which will run until May 2019. It also included the debut of a fantastic recruiting video titled Grab a Whistle to be used by all Local Boards in attracting new officials. If you have not taken the time to see the video please do so on our OABO website www.oabo.ca under the News Tab for the month of July and please share it with your Local Board members. LOCAL BOARD 2017-2018 EXECUTIVES By now all Local Boards have had their 2017 AGM s. If you have not done so already, it would be greatly appreciated if you could send an email to the OABO Executive updating any changes to your Executive(s) and as well please make the necessary changes on the OABO Admin System and your respective Local Board websites. THE WHISTLE The deadline to submit articles to Tino Decastro to be published in the Summer Edition of The Whistle is August 1 st.
CLOSING REMARKS It is great to see all of our OABO Development Camps full. I had the privilege of being on Camp Staff both the Pre-Elite & Elite Camps in May and as well be part of the Camp for the U14 Girls Camp July 17-19. I also plan to attend both the U12 Novice Girls and Novice Boys and U14 Boys 3 person Camp in the month of July. Our next OABO Executive meeting is Sunday, July 16 th. My next Presidents message will be sent out on Tuesday, August 1. Yours Truly Jaime McCaig President, OABO