OFFICIALS COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

Proposed: January 2004

POTOMAC VALLEY OFFICIALS COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

The Officials Chair shall appoint a Regional Officials Coordinator for each of the listed regions with the approval of the PVA Executive committee. To be a Regional Coordinator, that person must be a PVA member, a certified official, and reside in the district he/she represents. Terms are for two years, and are renewable. Regional coordinators will assist in organizing and certifying officials in their respective districts under the guidance of the Officials Chair, and will work closely with the Subcommittee on Officials recruitment and certification. Regional coordinators will also work closely with the Subcommittee on Officials Assignment for assignment of officials to meets to be held within their region.

The regions are as follows:

Baltimore area and eastern shore (Baltimore, Caroline, Cecil, Harford, Howard, Anne Arundel, Queen Anne’s, Kent, Wicomico, Talbot, Dorchester, Somerset Counties).
Southern Maryland (Prince Georges, Calvert and Charles Counties)
Western and Central Maryland (Montgomery, Carroll, Frederick, Washington, Garrett, and Allegany Counties)
D.C. and Northern Virginia (Fairfax and Arlington Counties and Alexandria and Falls Church Cities)

The Officials Committee shall elect a Secretary for a term of two years. The term is renewable.

The Regional Officials Coordinators shall elect one of the Regional Officials Coordinators to serve a Vice Officials Chair for a two-year term, with a limit on the number of terms being two consecutive terms. The Vice Chair shall serve as Chair in the absence of the Chair, and shall be active in Officials Committee business.

Elections and appointments will be at the officials meeting following the scheduled biannual PVA elections.

The Executive Committee of the PVA Officials Committee shall consist of the Chair, the Vice Officials Chair, the Regional Officials coordinators, and the Secretary.

There will be 4 standing subcommittees of no less than three or no more than five members. The Officials Chair with the approval of the Officials Executive committee appoints members. At least one of the subcommittee members shall be a member of the Officials Executive committee. The subcommittees are:

1. Officials Database Subcommittee - Maintains an up-to-date electronic database of certified PVA member officials. The database should include information on specific meets individual officials' work plus their specialty. The database shall serve as a mailing/Email list as well as a reference for meets individual officials have worked and the position they served.

2. Officials recruitment and certifying subcommittee. This subcommittee shall serve as a resource for Regional Officials Coordinators to provide educators for official's certification and specialized officials clinics. Each region shall hold at least one official's certification clinic per calendar year. In addition, the subcommittee shall sponsor at least one officials training course per year. The course is suggested to be a hands-on course at a competition area taught by Masters certified officials for all levels of officials. The course should be of sufficient length to insure that individual officials get adequate up-to date training.

3. Officials Assignment Subcommittee. This subcommittee shall serve as a resource for the Chair and Regional Coordinators of assigning competent certified officials for meets being held within the PVA area. This subcommittee shall work closely with the Officials database subcommittee in searching for and soliciting competent officials for the meets. The Officials assignment subcommittee will mail/email all officials at least two times per year listing all the upcoming meets, the positions that need to be filled, and the particulars on each meet. The response from these mailings shall serve as a base for assigning officials to meets. Officials that routinely work the association-sponsored meets shall have preference to working the paid and more elite meets. For meets for which an institution (e.g. High School or College) in a given region is responsible, and requests that PVA provide officials, a member of the Officials assignment subcommittee, the Coordinator for the Region of the institution's residence, and meet administrators shall work together in making officials assignments and in coordinating the officials at the meet. For national meets where the National Officials Selection Committee is not involved, the Officials Chair, the Officials vice chair, the Chair of the Officials assignment subcommittee shall work with the meet director to make the assignments, and the Officials Chair or the vice Chair shall coordinate the officials at the meet. In National Meets where the National Officials Selection committee is involved, Officials Chair, the Officials vice chair, the Chair of the Officials assignment subcommittee shall work with the National Officials Committee in selecting and coordinating officials for the meets.

4. Officials Evaluating Subcommittee - This subcommittee is responsible for evaluating PVA officials. They are to work closely with the other three subcommittee to obtain data in order to evaluate officials. They may choose to develop a peer review survey sheet to have chief officials at meets fill out and return for evaluation. Information for evaluating chief officials shall be obtained from subordinate officials and from the referee or meet director. Information on evaluating a referee or meet director may be obtained from the subordinate officials. Also, coaches and athletes may also be a source of information to be used in evaluating officials. At least twice a year, the officials evaluating subcommittee shall prepare a report to the Officials chair and the Officials Executive Committee on the evaluation of Officials. This information is to be used by the Officials assignment subcommittee in assigning officials to meets.

FINANCIAL MATTERS:

Any money received or expended by the committee must be processed through the PVA Treasurer.
Any expenditure in excess of $250 annually must be approved by the PVA Executive Committee.
The Officials Committee may enter into a contract to provide official to a track or cross country meet, or a road race, but must have the approval of the Officials Executive Committee and the PVA Executive committee.