Varsity Crews

Beaumont Chapter Football Officials Association
Chapter Business Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2001

The Beaumont Chapter met at 1900 hours in the Jury Impaneling Room of the Jefferson County Courthouse for a scheduled business meeting.

The meeting was called to order by President Gary Downey and was opened in prayer by George Bryant.

President Downey welcomed the membership and guests to the beginning of the 2001 football season and reiterated the statement that has adorned the cover of all the chapter newsletters; "Excellence is what you get when you strive for Perfection." Mr. Downey offered a quote from a distinguished panelist at the State TASO Meeting regarding Concentration: "at the end of the game you should be totally exhausted not just physically but also from the concentration by your mental energy that has been expended." President Downey thanked Beau Hicks for those words.

President Downey asked the membership to look around for someone they didn’t know and take a moment to introduce themselves. He then asked the membership to introduce any new members that they had just met.

Mr. Downey recognized the college officials in the Beaumont Chapter: B.J. Hicks in the SWAC, Will McDonald in the SunBelt, Robert LeBlanc in the SWAC, Mike Defee in the Southland, and Frank LeBlanc in the SWAC. Mr. Downey also recognized Beaumont Chapter member Eddie King, the new Assistant Executive Director of TASO.

Mr. Downey continued the President’s Report by stating some items from the TASO State Meeting in El Paso. Nine members of the Beaumont Chapter attended, including meeting panelist and presenter Beau Hicks, and convention assistance from District 9 Director George Bryant and the Assistant Executive Director Eddie King. Mr. Downey noted that the 2002 State Meeting will be August 1-4 in College Station. The 2003 State Meeting will be held in Austin, in combination with the Volleyball and Basketball conventions. Mr. Downey also reported some ideas being worked between TASO, the UIL, and the UIL Legislative Council, which includes scrimmage control guidelines, Pre-Game and Half-time recommendations, a "Scratch Fine" for schools who scratch officials, and a possible assignment fee for schools.

Finally, Mr. Downey offered congratulations to George Bryant, who has been named to Referee the 6-man All Star Game in Lubbock the coming Saturday, and to Miss Kelly Pratt, the scholarship awardee for 2001.

Secretary Geoff Kret reviewed the chapter packets prepared for the membership. The packet label shows the standing for the member, his 6-digit TASO ID number, and the crew chief he works for, in not open board. Included in the packet were copies of all approved board minutes from the 2000 season not previously distributed to the membership, a financial statement for the year 2000, a proposed chapter budget for 2001, a 2001 NCAA Rules Book for the members in good standing, and a database information form.

Secretary Kret went over the database information form, explaining what type of data the fields were intended to capture. Members were encouraged to make corrections to the form and return same to the secretary for updating. Besides the usual name/address/phone number information, Mr. Kret emphasized the requirement to update and submit conflicts of interest.

Mr. Kret reviewed the C/A/R classification system. In response to a question from the floor, Mr. Kret stated that the season summary forms for 2001 were not yet available, due to revisions to the C/A/R proficiency units structure initiated by Mr. George Bryant. Forms would be available on-line, and also paper copies made available to those members who chose not to download from the Internet.

Finally, Mr. Kret stated that the rule exam that would be administered at the chapter level on August 27 was a much improved and straightforward test over the 2000 version. Only one version per test location would be administered. Copies for the chapter have not yet been received from TASO.

Mr. Downey called the meeting into order as a business meeting. The minutes from the last chapter business meeting of November 6, 2000 were read by the Secretary. Following the reading, Sandy Turner moved that the minutes be approved as read, second was by Ed Nantz, and the motion carried on voice.

 

• No unfinished Business was brought forth.

 

• President Downey displayed on overhead projector and read a proposal for a revision to the Chapter Constitution to Article XX-Policy Number 5, Scrimmage Uniforms. The proposed change substituted the regular striped shirt into the scrimmage uniform in place of the white sport shirt. A question from the floor offered the opinion that the board had acted prematurely in asking Spring Practice Game officials to wear the striped shirt. An answer from the 2^nd Vice President was that these were not official scrimmages, so the change was not yet in effect. All this discussion was ruled out of order. This was the First Reading of the Article XX, Policy 5 proposal.

 

• President Downy also read the First Reading of a revision to Article VIII of the By-Laws, Registration and Dues. The proposed revision would waive the local dues for first year new members.

Following the readings, a motion to adjourn the business meeting was made, seconded, and passed. Prior to dismissal, President Downey reminded the chapter of important chapter meeting dates: A "White Hat" meeting on August 6, with the remainder of the chapter obtaining 3-man mechanics refresher. The Mandatory Rules Clinic will be August 20, along with Steve Oaks from Purchase Officials Supplies. The Rules Exam will be August 27 only, which makes that a can’t miss meeting. Finally, Mr. Downey implored the chapter membership to recruit new members.

The next chapter business meeting will be a regularly scheduled business meeting on Monday, July 23, 2001 at the Jefferson County Courthouse Jury Impaneling Room.