Volume I Issue 6

Serving the Basketball Community since 1952

June 2009

Next Meeting: Tip Off, September 10, 2009 St. Mary’s HS 7:00pm

Opening Tip

President’s Message

Don HermanHi,The 2008-09 season is now over and what a season it was! Four Nationalappointments at the CIS & CCAA level resulting in 3 gold medal games and abronze medal appointment. Big congratulations go out to Michael Weiland, TroyEager, Doug Carter and Melanie Gray. In addition, Keith Uthe and SergioGiordano both did the gold medal finals in the Canadian National Wheelchair Clubchampionships and the Canadian National Wheelchair Provincial championshipsrespectively. Finally, let’s not forget to mention all those individuals who officiatedthe medal games at the provincial level this year. All-in-all a job

EXTREMELYWELL DONE!

With the talent we have here in Calgary, it simply makes our job atthe Executive that much more difficult and rewarding. Thank you all!As most of you know by now we had our elections in May and with that some newfaces have joined us. I would like to welcome Ian Pollard to the Executive asEvaluation Chairperson. Ian is keen to get the mentorship program going full tiltagain and will be working closely with Mike Bittante on implementing the newnational certification program from CABO. Rod Davidson has changed portfoliosand is now the Vice President. Rod Davidson will continue to work closely with allmembers of the Executive but will also be the main contact for the MembershipCommittee. Finally I would like to thank Stephen Anthony who “retired” from theExecutive this year. His effort and contribution to our group will be missed. Goodnews is that he will now be eligible to do twice as many games given his newfound free time!There is one other change I want to let you know about. The Executive has hiredKen Runquist to the position of Webmaster and Assistant Assignor. Ken was themain developer behind the ABOA’s website and has agreed to continue with theupgrading of our website. In addition he will be working closely with DickVanderstam over the next several months in getting up to speed with some of theassigning duties in preparation for John’s “retirement”. In John’s case, retirementmeans that he will simply be moving over to do more education and evaluation inthe future. Welcome aboard Ken!!Well that’s it for now. I hope to see you on the court this summer and maybeeven at a camp! Have a great summer!

2009 – 2010CBOA Executive

President:

Don Herman

president@cboa.ca

Vice-President:

Rod Davidson

vicepresident@cboa.ca

Past President:

Fino Tiberi

pastpresident@cboa.ca

Treasurer:

Evan Picton

treasurer@cboa.ca

Secretary:

Don MacDonald

secretary@cboa.ca

Evaluation Chair:

Ian Pollard

evaluation@cboa.ca

Education Chair:

Mike Bittante

education@cboa.ca

Member-at-Large:Newsletter:

Grant Hoe

mal@cboa.ca

Commissioners:

John WielandDick Vanderstam

commissioner@cboa.ca

Executive Email:

executive@cboa.ca

CBOA online:

http://www.cboa.ca

Volume I Issue 6

Serving the Basketball Community since 1952

June 2009

Next Meeting: Tip Off, September 10, 2009 St. Mary’s HS 7:00pm

1st Quarter

ImportantDates:

June 5 – 7

Shooting StarsTournament

June 12 – 13

Tournament

June 26 – 28

Canada WestCamp, Edmonton

July 3 – 5

Prairie Dog Camp,Saskatoon

July 2 – 5

StampedeShootout

July 10 – 12

Tournament

September 10 -

Tip off meeting

September 11 -12

Superweekend,Red Deer

November 3, 5,10, 12

Rookie, 1

& 2

Year Clinic

November 21

CBOA Clinic &Exam

Treasurer’s Report

Evan Picton

Thank goodness busy season is over! Now that the games have decreased, the chequeshave been written, and the financial statements are up to date, we can address two issues thatI think are and will be quite important to CBOA members.First, the advance process for CBOA members. As you may know, the CBOA providesadvances on game fees EARNED. These advances typically have been on a monthlyadvance; however, “one-off” requests are also available. The maximum amount of an advanceis calculated according to the following formula:Game fees earned from the last pay period cut-off to the request date LESS CBOA 11% LESSa holdback for fines ($100 for every $1000 in games refereed) LESS Amounts withheld (i.e.ABOA fees, equipment purchases, etc.) LESS Amounts previously advanced since the lastpay night.Holdbacks are applied for two reasons. The most obvious one is to ensure that no official ispaid more than he/she has earned. The second is to ensure that in months where cash flow isa little tighter (i.e. in January and February) we can still distribute payments to those officialswho require the funds. Holdbacks will be paid at the next pay night.In the event where an official has inadvertently or otherwise been paid more than he/she hasearned the CBOA may choose carry the amount as a receivable and deduct it from theofficial’s next cheque. In order to request an advance, please send an e-mail request totreasurer@cboa.ca. Advance cheques will be mailed to the address on Arbiter on the

thirdSunday of each month

.Of course, exceptional circumstances may require ad hoc advances to some officials and wewill always endeavour to meet these in the promptest ofThe second issue that I would like to address is that the CBOA is looking for an AssistantTreasurer for the upcoming season. While accounting knowledge is preferred, it is notnecessary as I will be assisting in your tutelage. Duties may include creating invoices,collecting outstanding accounts, and payroll and remuneration will depend on the amount ofwork done with the maximum amount earned being 1% of the CBOA’s billing for the periodworked. This is a great learning opportunity for a referee who is also working toward anaccounting designation or someone looking for good part time income.Additionally, the candidate should be willing to consider and able to assume the Treasurer’srole by May 2010. If we are not able to find an internal candidate, we will have to consideroutsourcing the accounting role which would increase the cost to the CBOA significantly.If you have any questions regarding the above please feel free to call me at (403) 618-2810.

Volume I Issue 6

Serving the Basketball Community since 1952

June 2009

Next Meeting: Tip Off, September 10, 2009 St. Mary’s HS 7:00pm

2nd Quarter

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

Tom Lopes

Originally published FIBA Assist Magazine Issue 31 March/April 2008 Pages 32 - 33

Tom Lopes is the Executive Director for the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association. He is a Division I collegiatebasketball official and officiated 20 consecutive NCAA tournaments including three Final Foul appearances. In 1995, hewas selected as the Naismith Official of the Year. In addition, he is a clinician for the International Association ofApproved Basketball Officials, Inc. (IAABO).

Depending on the dictionary you choose to use, “communication” can be defined in any number of ways: a technique forexpressing ideas effectively; an interchange of thoughts or opinions; an idea imparted, interchanged or transmitted.Translated as it applies to basketball officials, however, it takes on a meaning that is much more practical application, onethat involves having good listening skills and treating people with respect, the same as you would want to be treatedyourself. In the simplest of terms, it means little more than knowing how to handle people.The game of basketball has many stakeholders: players, coaches, officials (not only the floor officials but also those whosit at the scorer’s table) and fans. All of these stakeholders have something in common: they are all human, people withstrengths and weaknesses and varying moods that sometimes react in some unpredictable manner when under stress. Itis the better officials stand out from their less effective counterparts.A basic fact in the human condition is that the most common set of the reasons for why someone loses emotional control,whether in sport or otherwise, is twofold: first, that person is of the opinion that he or she has been somehow treatedunjustly; second, he or she wants to express an objection, in words or actions, to that perceived wrong. Essentially, theperson is saying “what you did was unfair and I want you to know how I feel about it.”This reality applies as much to basketball officiating as it does to any perception of having been wronged. When such asituation arises and an official’s decision is challenged, the easiest way out might be for the official to penalize thechallenge immediately by assessing a technical foul, a technical foul that could very well have been avoided by usingeffective communication skills and recognizing that what could be taken as a blatant and very personal insult was really nomore than an objection, misguided or otherwise, to a perceived injustice.This is where communication enters the picture. In officiating, a brief moment’s well-placed and effective interaction oftenmakes the difference. Such skill distinguishes the mediocre, “every day” variety referee, and the one who is usuallyassigned to less challenging contests, from his or her fellow official who by contrast seems to draw all the importantgames. Arguably, they both could be at the same level of knowledge when it comes to rules and floor mechanics, but theofficial who is in demand is the one who demonstrates an ability to interact effectively with players, coaches and even withhis or her partners on the officiating team.It has been said that experience is the best teacher and this certainly applies to officiating. As young and inexperiencedreferees we all made the common mistake of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. There are few of us who can’tremember that occasion in our early years when we said to a coach, “you coach and I’ll referee.” In most cases, such acomment only opened the door for a response from the coach, like “when are you going to start?” The rule of thumb thatsays “for every action there is a reaction” is as true to human relations as it is to physics!