Minutes for the June 17, 2013 meeting of the State Referee Committee Held at 1150 New London Avenue, Cranston Members Present: Steven Mauricio, SRA Brian Sperlongano, SYRA Joe Giblin, Treasurer Joe Carriero, SDA Jack Breetveld, SAC Kathy Souza, Member at Large Al Ricci, Mentorship Steve Votolato, President of Soccer RI The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM. Note: Officer reports provided in writing are enclosed as an appendix. 1. Approval of the Minutes a. The minutes from the May 20, 2013 meeting were approved as distributed. 2. New Business a. American Challenge will be present at the July 20 clinic in order to distribute uniforms and sell other referee equipment. b. A change in registration fees was approved for 2014. All fees will increase by $5. Late fees for same-year recertification will be $10 per month. The late fee will be waived for January recertification for active college students who present a valid college ID. c. Matt Gallagher turned back his appointment to the Presidents Cup regional tournament and was not excused. Matt is suspended from interstate travel through 2014. 3. Scheduling of the Next Meeting a. The next meeting will be held on July 22. 4. Adjournment a. The meeting was adjourned at 9:13pm.
Officer Reports received in writing State Referee Administrator Steve Mauricio HOW CAN WE MAKE IT BETTER, A MODEL FOR OTHER STATES TO COPY Special thanks to Kathy Souza for obtaining the conference room, tables and other office furniture and arranging to have it transported here. Special thanks to all those that assisted her in doing the moving, including but not limited to Lee Baldwin, Brian Sperlongano, Tim and Mark Souza, and Lisa Carter. As the office becomes more functional, there is now a mailbox in our room that can be used for leaving messages, items etc. We will finish setting it up. In addition, you can see the industrial strength white board but will need professional assistance to install. Suggestion was made to contact Ruddy Cabrera. Congratulations to Miguel Lara for his selection to the ODP Final tournament this weekend in Kirkwood, DE. He was selected from the truncated ODP tournament held on June 8-9 in New Jersey. The tournament was shortened by the rain we received that weekend which cancelled the U13 and U14 groups altogether. This affected our referees assignments as neither Victoria Williams nor Ian Geyer got middles. Miguel Lara got a U16G middle, Andrew Galbraith and Nick Linacre got 15B middles. Dave Kalen got a 17G middle. Joe Giblin was our assessor. From the games I witnessed Linacre needs to work on positioning, foul selection, value of red card and presence. Galbraith needs to work on substitutions and bench management. Referees only got one game on Saturday due to the reduced schedule. The transportation took over the day and I was unable to watch games on Saturday. One car sat all day on Saturday and was useless for transportation, we may want to reconsider how we transport for travel. In addition, I think the concept of one travel team may be the best way to move forward to enable those individuals interested in regional assignments to be designated early enough and prepared differently. The familiarity with regional events and staff would also be to their advantage. Congratulations to Michelle Krol for her appointment to the Presidents Cup Nationals, I m sure Brian will have more in his report about President s Cup and the female referee initiative. Updated Assessment Requirements for Grades 5 and 6 As discussed and agreed upon by the U.S. Soccer Referee Committee, the following certification and recertification assessment requirements for Grades 5 and 6 will go into effect for the 2014 registration cycle on July 1, 2013:
Grade 5 Referees Minimum of 2 passing assessments on affiliated games with a minimum of 40 minute halves that meet the sufficient test criteria completed by a minimum of 2 different State Assessors, and a minimum of 1 of these assessments must be from an adult division game Grade 6 Referees Minimum of 1 passing assessment on affiliated games with a minimum of 40 minute halves that meet the sufficient test criteria completed by a minimum of 1 State Assessor, and a minimum of 1 of these assessments must be from an adult division game These updates will replace the existing requirements and the Game Category Matrix that was previously used to reference applicable matches for assessment. This updated information will be posted in the Refereeing section of the Resource Center in July once the change goes into effect. Based upon the work of the budget committee, we are recommending an increase of $5 per all registrations for 2014. All assessment rates will be raised as previously voted upon. I propose a $10 increase per month after January 1, 2014 Please review the comparison of state cup fees in this month s folder for discussion. Disciplinary action was taken against David Kalen for showing up 35 minutes late for a state cup appointment Erich Simmons came as a guest speaker Please review the SRC Operators Manual for discussion
State Youth Referee Administrator Brian Sperlongano SYRA Report 1. Our referee delegation had a great showing at the Presidents Cup regional tournament in Manchester, NH. Michelle Krol of Smithfield was appointed by Region 1 as first selection (female) to the Presidents Cup National Finals in Auburndale, FL. Two referees were assigned as center referee for regional finals (U17G, U13G). 2. Two referees (Sam Mokalled, Amilcar Sicaju) were selected to the Development Academy Playoffs and Showcase in Texas, which is a national identification event. Since both referees were rostered for the Region 1 Championships, and the tournaments overlap, so we have replaced both referees for Regionals. 3. Four referees have been nominated to the ODP Camp July 6-10 at URI. There is room for additional nominees, and I will be making additional appointments shortly. 4. We will be taking steps to increase our pool of female referees. I have asked Kathy and Lisa to start a new working group that will look specifically at women's issues in refereeing, in order to identify and address barriers to advancement. 5. I attended the Super Liga championships on June 9. Super Liga was receptive to our recommendations for referees at this event, and it was a valuable forum for referee identification. I recommend that we have an SRC representative at this event going forward into the future. 6. We are using Rhode Island Cup semis & finals June 22-23 as a referee identification event. Referee mentors and assessors will be on site in order to work with referee crews and help us identify referees that are ready to move up. This is an "all hands on deck" event and we will need help with setup/teardown and observations. 7. I received complaints via Soccer RI from two games (one State Cup, one RI Cup), however, there was no allegation of actionable wrongdoing on the part of the referee. Both complaints challenged determinations of fact and referee discretion under Law 5, and therefore are not grounds for disciplinary action. I am following up to determine whether there is any opportunity for continuous improvement. 8. I am planning a Summer Cup academy to run in 2 2-week sessions in opposite ends of the state. The schedule for Summer Cup will be set by June 20 and will accept 6 referees for each session.
State Director of Instruction Adel Cabral 1. Dates for grade-9 and grade-8 courses are set and on gameofficials. 2. Will complete the on the field recertification courses on gameofficials tonight. Two are already in and just need to add the others. 3. I would like to use feedback from RI Cup to help with an on the field curriculum for re-certification classes. 4. When I return from my two trips I will have to work on a grade-9 curriculum with the help from US Soccer and using the instruction committee members to help set up the class. After that it will be time to make instructors aware of curriculum. Need to complete the online test as well. State Director of Assessments Joe Carreiro 28 assessments complete need more ref that need assessments D&G Schedule is complete for the RI Cup...need to send out.
Member at Large Kathy Souza Received written complaint against referee Jacob Marcantonio - pending review. Received verbal complaint against referee John Carvahlo - pending review. Received written complaint against BGYSA coach Amy Cardone against a referee - pending review Waiting for direction as what to do with the Inaria uniform inventory Score is still holding the current negotiations pending the outcome of the July 20 class in Coventry As requested by Brian Sperlongano, to host a round table discussion with female referee between the ages of 16-21 regarding the issues faced by females as referees and try to determine what can be done to keep the female population in the referee program. Our first meeting is set for July 18 at the Warwick Public Library from 6:30-8:30pm. I am emailing the 70 or so female referees over the weekend inviting them to participate. A session has been set up on Game Officials for the individuals to register as seating is limited. Received the President's Cup presentation presented by Angelo Bratsis
President of Soccer Rhode Island Steve Votolato The following survey of Region 1 states and the referee fees paid at their respective State Cup tournaments is provided below. Mentorship Al Ricci Report from the Mentoring program, Program is moving forward and has had some very positive results. Although not all of the participants have been involved. The fall rec program is actually our target time. In the next few months I will follow up with each mentor and town referee coordinator. All mentors have been invited to come to the RI Cup finals weekend