Iowa Tennis Association Fall 2016 Meeting

Iowa Tennis Association Fall 2016 Meeting Committee: Officials Committee Chair: Donna Farley Committee Members: Meg Nixon, Matt Bender, Joanne Rickert -Educational requirements for 2017 recertification: The deadline of Oct. 12th, 2016 has passed and 19 of the 25 certified officials in the Iowa District have completed the 5 required courses. I assume the others no longer desire to continue officiating. These modules take about 8-10 hrs. in total and incorporate assessments of concise 20-30 questions after each module. Five officials also completed a sixth module for Referee certification. -New officials, after taking the Safe Play training and passing the background screening, were also able to access the appropriate module to complete the on-line training. Only one new official, Kathy Reis from Des Moines area, has met all the training requirements for 2017 so far. Once the recertification process is complete, the modules will again be available on-line for new officials. - USTA certified tennis officials for 2017, “names-only”, will be displayed on the ITA website under the “Officials” tab once approved by Sectional and National. Currently the names of the 2016 certified officials are listed and certification is good until 12/31/2016. Please make use of these qualified umpires at any tournament events in the coming months. -Umpire Matching Grant: The 2016 form can be found on the ITA website, under “officials”. This grant will provide 50% of the usual fee ($12-$20/hour) paid to roving umpires. The new maximum for one event is $250 due to ITA budget reductions. See the grant form for eligibility and preferences. Between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2016 four events received grant funds totaling $875.50. --New USTA Officiating Uniform: S&H Uniform Corporation (not Honigs) is now the supplier of all uniform components and accessories. The required shirt is royal blue with the new USTA logo, cost at $24 plus shipping. I am requesting that the Umpire Shirt Grant for new officials be set at $300 since so few new people are expected. -Collegiate Officials: The USTA is no longer certifying this group but for the time being, a USTA umpire certification is still required as well as a USTA membership. This has caused much frustration with the collegiate-only officials in Iowa. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body with their own required online training through webinars, testing, work record entry, newsletter and rulebook: all accessed via one’s account at ZebraWeb.org. The annual ITA dues are $48. -Special Olympics: The Iowa Summer Games were held in Ames on May 19-20th with 6 officials chairing the matches. The All-Star event in Eldridge took place Aug. 27th with 4 officials. The athletes, coaches, organizers AND officials really enjoyed both of these wellorganized events.

Requested Budget for 2017: $2200 ($300 for shirts; $1500 for grants; $400 for travel for mentoring of new and inexperienced officials).