NH Track Officials
Association
Supervisor of
Officials Annual Report
March 7, 2008
I would like to take a moment
to thank everyone for their kind words, cards, and most of all, assistance,
patience and understanding following the sudden death of my husband, Gary, last
April. It is all greatly appreciated.
As most of you are by now aware, lifetime member Ed
Thibodeau passed away on Wednesday, March 5.
NHIAA Executive Director Patrick Corbin has stated in a memo that “Ed was 78 years old and was an educational and interscholastic athletic
icon in the State of
There has been a shift in
duties performed by individuals in the NHIAA and Tia Bergeron will be the NHIAA
liason for track and field and cross country.
If you wish to contact the NHIAA for any reason, that contact
must be made through me.
The Class Meets for Outdoor
Track will be held on Friday and Saturday for the first time ever. Hopefully this will help alleviate the
problems of not having enough certified officials working at the meets. Also, hopefully many of you will volunteer to
work both the Friday and Saturday meets. The Class L meet will be held on
Friday, May 30 at
The Cross Country Class Meets
are scheduled for Saturday, October 25 at
Also during September, please
be aware that the Manchester Invitational usually needs many officials to
assist with this very large meet. I
believe the date is the second Saturday in September.
Officials will receive $76
for each regular meet that they are assigned.
If 5 or more teams participate (with 10 or more athletes per team), then
that official, if only one is assigned, will be paid at twice the regular
rate. A $10 mileage stipend will be paid
for travel over 40 miles one way while a $20 stipend will be paid for travel
over 80 miles one way for varsity and sub-varsity meets.
We are fortunate to have in
our midst three officials who have been chosen to work at the USATF Olympic
Trials in
The NHTOA will now be
required by the NHIAA, beginning next year, to use a computer system called The Arbiter for the assignment of
officials in regular meets. The arbiter
will also be used by the Outdoor Track Committee for the assignment of
individuals for the class meets and the Meet of Champions. We will be piloting this process this year. We
have a few wrinkles to work out but all officials requesting to be assigned
this spring will be notified of the procedures required for this pilot.
Assignor fees are $15 per
meet this year and will be $60 per school schedule next year when The Arbiter
is in full use.
The following paragraph was
discussed at the Supervisors’ meeting with the NHIAA in August.
"Beginning in the
2008-2009 school year the enrollment fee (NHIAA) will
be $20 per official. Twelve dollars ($12.00) of this amount will go
to the NFHS thus enrolling all officials in the NFHS Official's Program with
all benefits of membership to include liability insurance, educational
training, and a subscription to the NFHS Officials' Quarterly magazine.
There will be no additional fee for officiating more than one sport and the
NHIAA will use the $8.00 difference to cover administrative costs."
There are still questions
that need to be answered concerning this process. More information will follow.
I am once again reminding you
of the NHIAA Lightening Policy: “If you
hear it, clear it; if you see it, flee it.” When you first hear thunder or
see lightening, suspend activities and seek shelter immediately. Athletes are
not to carry their javelins or their vaulting poles. Athletes are not to seek shelter in baseball
dugouts. They must seek shelter indoors,
possibly in the gymnasium if it is available, or on their bus. An announcement should also be made to spectators
sitting on the bleachers that they should also seek shelter from the
storm. The meet may not be resumed until 30 minutes has passed after the last
observed thunder and lightening. Please adhere to this policy as lightening has
been known to strike as far as 10 miles away from the storm, even when no
clouds are apparent.
Please enforce the rules from
the beginning of the track season. The jewelry
rule should be strictly enforced. Use
common sense when enforcing the uniform rule.
“Spring” track has been known to have some very
cold winter-like temperatures.
Please remember that no
athlete may warm up in any jumping or throwing venue unless an official or
coach is present at that venue.
Please know the rules and be
especially familiar with rules of the event you are officiating. Review these rules prior to the event and pay
particular attention to the rules for breaking ties(
in the throwing and jumping events in particular as they are not the same for
all events). Bring your rule books to
all meets.
Please act in a professional
manner when dealing with athletes, coaches and spectators. If an athlete is
disqualified from a meet, I must be notified immediately. Please advise me of any problems that you
encounter at the meets. If you find any safety issues I must be notified
immediately. Be fair and be consistent. Remember, we are there for the
athletes. If you have questions or
concerns – call me.
Have a great outdoor
season. Hopefully the season will begin
before June – if it ever stops snowing!!!
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Eastman
NHTOA Supervisor of Officials
332-7327 or neastman@metrocast.net