Long Island Swimming Officials Association  
Serving Long Island Swimmers and Divers since 1957  
September 2019
Let's see how this goes ...

This season, we begin a new three year contract with Section VIII which has some new procedures. Some we have to live with - i.e. $50.00 fine for every meet that we turn back. But as with most negotiations - we did get some changes that we like.

For the past five years, swimming was the only sport that did not receive compensation for extra work that we performed. Each varsity meet, the teams could swim two extra heats and we were not paid for that extra work.

Numerous communications and meetings last spring with our Board of Directors, the OCC, and the Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director of Section VIII got that corrected in this new three year contract. So beginning this year, for each extra heat that you work in Nassau County, you will receive $3.50 compensation.

Please familiarize yourself with both the Section VIII and Section XI contracts (if you work in both sections). They are on our website under - Rules and Forms. I have highlighted the major contract changes in previous editions of this newsletter .

The Turn Back fine can be appealed if you have a legitimate reason . Complete the Turn Back Appeal Form from the Download Forms tab on SportsPak Online and send it to me (not to BOCES). Working with the OCC, we have successful appealed hundreds of dollars in LISOA members fines the past few years.

Thank you,
George Fleckenstein
President 
NYSPHSAA Announces First Ever Officials Appreciation Day
Student-Athletes Can Thank and Celebrate Officials on October 2nd
 
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association Inc. (NYSPHSAA) is proud to announce its first ever Officials Appreciation Day on Wednesday October 2nd, a day student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans are encouraged to thank the officials who make interscholastic athletics possible.
 
Officials Appreciation Day was established to recognize officials at every level, including Modified, who officiate games or events during the Fall, Winter or Spring season within the NYSPHSAA. The concept was initiated by the NYSPHSAA Sportsmanship Committee over a year ago. An Officials Appreciation Day will take place each year on the Wednesday of Week #13 on NYSPHSAA’s Standard Athletic Calendar. In 2020, Officials Appreciation Day will be celebrated on Wednesday, September 30th.
 
“We are excited to honor the officials across New York State on October 2 nd  “ said Dr. Robert Zayas NYSPHSAA Executive Director. “Without officials there would be no interscholastic athletics for our student-athletes to participate. It is important for us to thank officials for the job they do and show them how much we value and appreciate them.”
 
NYSPHSAA has offered student-athletes, school districts and fans several ideas to encourage participation in the 2019 NYSPHSAA Officials Appreciation Day including:
 
  • Like and follow NYSPHSAA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Tag your photos, videos and messages with #NYSPHSAAOfficialsDay.
  • Greet and escort officials on day of the game
  • Announce the officials over the PA before the game
  • Meet and greet with officials after the game
  • Take a picture with both teams and the officials after the game
  • Thank you card signed by one or both of the teams
  • Provide water and/or snacks for the officials
  • Say thank you to an official you see before, during or after a game or contest
  • Post a message on the marquee of your school
  • Bring a sign to a game that says thank you to an official
  • Shake hands after a game or contest and thank an official for their service
  • NYSPHSAA will send all section representatives a PA announcement to recognize and thank the officials at the games
 
NYSPHSAA has also established the hashtag #NYSPHSAAOfficialsDay for all social media posts for anyone who wants to share their favorite memories and stories throughout the day.
WELCOME NEW OFFICIALS
Christine Duong, North Bellmore
John McShane, Baldwin
Luis Lugo, Levittown
George Blessing, Floral Park

They will now begin their journey as LISOA officials and will be paired with a mentoring official for their first year as part of our mentoring program. Please warmly welcome them and provide them support and encouragement.
SWIM GOGGLES WITH SMART DISPLAY
Great for coaching and practicing - illegal during a competition!
green-swimming-goggles.jpg
NFHS Rule 3-5 (pgs. 30-31) prohibits the use of this type of equipment in high school competitions.

Also review 3.5 Situation D (pg. 31) on this same subject.NFHS rules state that, "Electronic devices shall not be used to transmit information to the competitor(s) during a race or dive."

The penalty for using an electronic device is as follows: "A competitor and other team personnel (e.g. coach manager, etc.)involved in the violation shall be disqualified from further participation/coaching in the meet, including all events in which the competitor previously qualified, for unsporting conduct."
"  One new piece of equipment are goggles with a minicomputer and heads up display. These goggles were developed by  Form  . The goggles enable a swimmer to use the smart display to know split times, distance, and more, as they swim. Another developer is the VUZIX who has developed the Smart Swim™ head-up display for swimmers providing workout status and information in real-time, during uninterrupted swimming activities ."
LISOA DIVING CLINIC
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21
7:00 P.M.
HAUPPAUGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
1373 VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY
HAUPPAUGE
YOU HAVE ASKED FOR IT - NOW SECTION VIII HAS AGREED TO IMPLEMENT IT!

It has arrived, the officials can now rate every single coach in Section VIII. Now up and live on the Sportspak website - and customized for each official. As it is required for each coach to rate each official, every official is required to rate each coach. We will go over the process at our LISOA Meetings.
"BETTER AND CONSISTENT WORKSHOP"
Our November 12 Pre-Season Workshop will be held at the Robert E. Lupinskie BOCES Center, One Merrick Avenue, in Westbury from 7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.

At this meeting we will review the 2019-2020 NFHS exam, vote on suggested by-laws changes, have break-out sessions, and review the new Ratings of Coaches procedures in Section VIII.

The content of the workshop will be very relevant - a few weeks prior to the start of or season - so that we can all be "Better and Consistent".
LISOA Meeting Dates 

Monday,  October 21  - Diving Clinic -  7:00 p.m.  - Hauppauge Library, Vet's Hwy, Hauppauge

Tuesday,  November 12  - Pre-Season Meeting - BETTER AND CONSISTENT WORKSHOP - 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. - Robert E. Lupinskie BOCES Center, One Merrick Avenue, Westbury

Tuesday,  December 3  - Relay Carnival, Sect. VIII  -  NCAC - clinic

Wednesday,  December 18   - Business Meeting

Thursday,  January 9  - General Meeting

March 2019  - Annual Recognition Dinner Meeting

Active members are required to attend  a minimum of three (3) meetings and/or clinics . As prescribed in Article I of the By-Laws,   attendance at a rules interpretation meeting is required.

diving-board.jpg
Things Every Diving Judge Should Know...
Judge independently of the other judges. 

A judge must judge independently of the 
other judges. If a judge’s award differs from the awards of the other judges, then that 
judge should, in principle, be convinced 
that he or she is the one who is right. This
 “quiet confidence” is an important 
component of judging. A judge who has 
done his or her conscientious best to judge fairly should not worry if his or her opinion happens to differ from that of the rest of the panel. Judges sit in different positions and on different sides of the pool. From these 
different vantage points it is reasonable 
that scores awarded may also differ 
somewhat. Judging diving is not an exact 
science, which is why more than one judge is used in a contest. If a judge starts to 
adjust his or her scores to the others, the 
judge can easily lose consistency in his or her judging. Remember, the goal of a judge is to give the right award for the dive.
For those of us that officiate swimming in Suffolk County, the Winter availability is now open, the deadline to submit your Varsity is Oct 1st.  Please block out any dates that you are not available on your calendar. Please update your calendar to reflect available times for school vacation week games (ex: Christmas break 12/23-1/3, and winter recess 2/17-2/21).


From the Section XI Contract:
A service charge of a ½ fee will be paid by an official for each rejection or turnback, (unless THE REASON FOR REJECTION OR TURNBACK IS COMPLETELY ACCEPTABLE TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SECTION XI.) A service charge of $65 will be assessed if the turnback is on the day of the contest. If the turnback is two hours or less before game time, the fee will be $85. A consultation with the president of that sport may take place regarding individual matters if the president so desires. Each official will be entitled to one rejection/turnback per season per sport without charge if the official notifies the Section no later than 5 business days prior to the contest. If both contests of consecutive assignments are turned back, the fee is $85 plus $20.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO MAINTAIN YOUR AVAILABILITY or it will cost you!
To All Boy’s Swimming Officials,
It is that time of the year again. Time to enter your availability for the 2019 Boy’s Swimming Season.  Please enter your availability as soon as possible It is due back by Friday, October 11 th . The season starts November 18, 2019 and ends January 31, 2020. Make sure when you are entering your availability you check the boxes next to the days of the week that you are available to work. If you do not check the boxes, you will not get any games. Also please be sure you go into the calendar and close out any dates you might need to close out. Please make sure you click on submit after performing both of these tasks. If you are not working, please notify the office asap.
 
Laurie –  lgandolfo@nasboces.org
 
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.

From the Section VIII Contract:
1.       Fees Assessed to Officials
a.        Late confirmation of acceptance of their original assignments (High School - not within ten (10) days of receipt, Modified - not within five (5) days of receipt) will result in the official being fined $50.
b.       If an official turn back any assignment, there will be a service charge of $50 assessed to the official. Note: If an official is offered and accepts an on field/court playoff assignment in lieu of a lower level assignment no charge will be assessed.
c.        If an official is offered a contest within the framework of his/her availability and declines to work the contest, there will be a service charge of $25.00 assessed to the official. Note: If an official decline or turns back a playoff assignment the official will be assessed the full fee associated with the playoff round.
The 2020 NYSPHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving Championships
return to the Nassau County Aquatic Center
on Long Island on Friday March 6th and Saturday March 7th .
KEY POINTS FOR HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING OFFICIALS 


  • Mentally review what is required for a legal performance and 
what would render the performance illegal.

  • Make timely decisions.

  • Call only those violations you specifically observe. Do not guess or anticipate. Be prepared to explain the “who,” “what” and “when” of the violation, as well as where you were positioned to see the violation. Do NOT notify swimmers or coaches that a swimmer was close to being disqualified. Swimmers are either in violation of the rules or they are not in violation. Do not discuss close calls with coaches or competitors. A close call is a no call!

  • Give your undivided attention to your specific assignment.

  • Avoid coaching athletes, but a reminder as to legal starting position prior to the start of a race is acceptable. At lower levels of competition, specifically junior high, the explanation of legal starting position may be given in much more detail than at higher levels of competition.

  • When discussing the circumstances surrounding events that occurred during the meet with other officials, wait until the meet is over or there is a scheduled break and you are away from fans and coaches.

  • As an official, never publicly criticize another official or an official’s decision. Report any concerns about another official to the meet referee.

  • Comments or discussion on a call should not take place with representatives of the media.

  • Refrain from cheering or verbally supporting participants or a team while serving in an official’s role.
  • Mentor less experienced officials, as long as it is not a distraction during a meet.
Do you have trouble visualizing dives? What's a 5223 supposed to look like? How about a 5131? The NFHS has an online dive score sheet with video clips.

Clicking below takes you to a diving table with video clips. Click on the DD and it will take you to a video of that dive:

Talk Yourself Into a Good Game
Referee Magazine  - September 2019


Have you ever wondered how rah-rah pep talks can move athletes toward great performances? It’s because the athletes themselves have an innate desire to perform well and that outside stimuli merely provides an emotional shove.

Officials too may benefit from a pep talk, and psychologists say that the most persuasive talks are those we give ourselves. People often have maps in their heads of how they are going to perform. Those blueprints may have been inscribed by previous experiences, including training (overt) or subtle conditioning (covert), or they may be outlined by deliberate (or inadvertent) self-programming.

Here are some axioms that can help program people into operating in positive and productive modes. The suggestions are from a list offered by Minneapolis author and columnist Harvey Mackay and can be applied to the outlook of sports officials.

“Do more than receive; reciprocate!” That is one of Mackay’s maxims, recollected as a result of his father’s philosophy of life. What do you do when an official presents you with a useful tip for working a game? “Always hold your ready-for-play whistle after an incomplete pass until all receivers have returned across the scrimmage line,” former Big 10 football referee Tom Quinn once advised at a meeting.

Referees who heard that not only adopted his philosophical tip, but also passed it on to their crew members and to officials not at the meeting. As a result, that practice became standard in Quinn’s home area of Chicago. Many officials reminded players that once they were moving toward their own huddle, the play-clock would be started.

Quinn also advocated having the timer stop the clock at one minute to go before game time, giving pregame activities an opportunity to finish before the seconds turn to zero. That was a psychological ploy to give the impression that the game was starting on time. Officials again passed the word on, and the tactic slid into regular status, widely accepted.

That adage could easily have been restated: If you help others, you’ll be helping yourself. One other way of reciprocating is to help someone else advance. Someone undoubtedly helped you get games or move up the ladder. Why not return the favor?

Herman Rohrig, former supervisor of football officials in the Big 10, once stated that officials are often their own worst enemies. “Some people spend much of their careers knocking each other,” he asserted. Why? Envy is an insidious thing. It drags you down to the level of an idle gossip.

In addition to chipping about other officials instead of boosting them, another thing officials don’t do enough of is to pass on discoveries of useful techniques. Big 12 basketball official Denny Freund once said to a colleague, “Whenever I whistle a foul, I freeze for a second and let the whole scene sink in. That gives me a chance to process the act, to pick up the players’ numbers and to make sure no retaliatory action erupts.”

Former Mid-America baseball umpire Charlie Esposito agrees. “I hesitate for at least two heartbeats on steals … to make sure the ball has been caught and a genuine tag applied. And if there is a post-play reaction such as a runner coming in with spikes up, I want to be right on top of it in an instant.”

Reluctance to share potentially useful hints is often not deliberate. Officials don’t analyze their own moves sufficiently so that they can articulate them to others. Mackay would say that overlooking chances to assist others means that a person is short-changing himself in two other categories of philosophy, namely those covered in these aphorisms: “ Do more than encourage; inspire! Do more than change; improve!”

Inspire means pushing others to excel. Improve means to inspire yourself. The first step toward making yourself better is to be forthright. Am I moving into position fast enough?Am I helping my partners to operate effectively? How are my judgments?
The primary role of the official is to ensure fair competition which is conducted in a positive,
safe and healthy environment and that actions of the competitors, coaches and other team personnel are in compliance with the rules. in fulfilling this task, the official must establish the best possible competitive climate for fair competition with the attention on the athletes, rather than on the official.  The conduct of each official affects the public’s attitude toward all officials. Therefore, every official must uphold the honor, integrity and dignity of the profession.  

liswimofficials.com
The purpose and goals of the LISOA and its members shall be to:   
Officiate all meets in a competent and professional manner.
Have its members actively work to improve interscholastic swimming and diving officiating.
Provide a consistent interpretation and administration of interscholastic swimming and diving rules.
Service and collaborate with the swimming and diving community for the improvement of swimming and diving.