Summer 2014 CRAOA Newsletter

Executive Secretary Report:  This was my first year serving as your Executive Secretary and I want to say even though it had it's ups and downs I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I take alot of pride in what an association is supposed to represent as do most of you.  The dedication that we get from our members is outstanding and I look forward to serving the CRAOA and it's commitment to excellence in the future.  A BIG THANKS to Bill Yeisley and Joel Duffy for their dedication to training our new officials.  After talking to other association members from several different organizations I know that we have the best training in the state for our new members and this is due to the above and beyond effort we get from our trainers.  As always, if any of you have any ideas for training our new members or our full membership please submit them to me and I will pass them onto the board.  We will start meeting in June for FB so please feel free to give us your thoughts.

Arbiter Update:  Next year we will be utilizing the Self Assign tab for all games except for the sophomore level.  This tab will allow you to put an already accepted game up on arbiter for a sub to fill in your place.  This will give you a second option when trying to find a sub in addition to the group email.  If you have a change of address or get a new number do not forget to update in Arbiter.    Arbiter is a great tool for assigning games when used appropriately.  The overwhelming majority did a tremendous job of accepting/declining games but we still have a few that seem to struggle with this as well as having a somewhat accurate availability calendar.  This was without a doubt my number 1 struggle this year and my hope is the 2nd year gets better.  The reason I bring this up is when talking to other assignors this is also their biggest challenge so I am trying to create an awareness so we can improve and make the assigning process a little more efficient.

Soph FB Crews:  If you plan on working FB this year I am trying to put 2-3 sophomore crews together.  If you are interested in this send me an email.  The only stipulation is you have to be committed to the assigned Friday nights.  Last year we had several nights where we were scrambling last minute to fill the games due to various circumstances.  Our soph games are tough to work and we are just trying to give them the attention they deserve.  Having the same 5 people work together as a crew every Friday should help all involved not only get better as an official but give our sophomore games the best possible officiating.

Social:  The 2014 social will take place July 4th at a Cedar Rapids Kernels game.  The game starts at 5:00 and after the game the Dueling Pianos will be playing followed up by their fireworks show.  All members will get in free and any other additional family members will have to pay $26.  If you have extended family in town they are more than welcome to come at the same price. This years awards will be handed out before the game.  More information will come out at a later date.

Dues:  State dues need to be paid by May 31 and CRAOA dues need to be paid by August 1.  This year CRAOA dues will be going up $5.  The main reason is the Social cost us $26 and we still have to pay our Arbiter fees each year which doesn't leave much  for incidentals such as training materials, trainer stipends, etc.  Anytime after April 15 you can send a check or pay online again at www.craoa.com.  Send checks to Chris Heidelbauer at 3470 Crown Ave, Marion, IA 52302 and make out to CRAOA.

Official Fees:  Working hard this off season to get get our pay more in line with what other association and schools are paying.  No guarantees here but the response from AD's has been  positive to this point.

New Officials:  As always we need new officials that want to put the work into becoming good officials.  If you know of anyone that fits this description have them get in contact with me and I will get them pointed in the right direction.

Honorary Officials:  Don Haugen was granted Honorary Membership in the Fall Business Meeting.  Jerry Winter is currently working on getting correct contact information with past honorary members.  These members will be posted on our website at a future date.  We are hoping to include such members on future socials and newsletters.

Officials Working  Football  Playoffs:  Jim Spicer, Doug Knickrehm, Tim Nye, Mike Mitchell, Kevin Fink, Fred Griffith, Brad Johnson, Roman Mitchell, Allen Averhoff, Bill Yuska, William Wilson, Brandon Yuska, Rick Swan, Charlie Plathe, Brad White,
Mark Murphy, Lenny Mais, Kent Sesker, Ron Van Hoeck, Ronnine Blocklinger, Kevin Tann, Kevin Shrader, Jack Jaspers, Matt Nost, Dave Baker, Loren Wood, Johnnie Johnson, Dave Messerli, Bill Keel, Todd Ambrosy, Brad Butchi, Gordon Freeman, 
Jerry Winter,  Dan Hilby, Cory Burkle, John Winter, Shane Remington

Officials Working Girls BB Tournament Series:  Joe Gatto, Jeff Frese, Craig Murray, Tyler Turner, Chris Heidelbauer, John Dvorak

Officials Working Boys BB Tournament Series:  Shane Remington,  Jerry Winter, Cory Burkle, Joe Gatto, Jeff Frese, Craig Murray, Tyler Turner, Chris Heidelbauer, John Dvorak, Joel Duffy, Jack Jaspers

Officials Working D-3 NCAA FB Tournament:  Jack Jaspers, Pat St. John, Joe Schmall, Larry Walderbach, Dave Baker,         Ron Van Hoeck, Jerry Winter, John Winter

Northeast BB Official of the Year:  Joe Gatto

Applying FB Members to Step 2:  Joel Murphy, Shane Remington, Derrick Samson, Matt Edwards, Owen Lamphier

Step 2 FB Officials to Full Membership:  Todd Ambrosy, Bill Connolly, Mark Murphy, Troy Patrick, Matt Smith, Noel Wilbur, Mike Pond

Applying BB Members to Step 2:  Ron Major, Jeff Koolbeck, Joel Murphy, Mike Koolbeck(granted full membership)

Step 2 BB Officials to Full Membership:  Todd Ambrosy, Mike Bonwell, Sam Burdt, Bill Connolly, Bill Johnson, Ken Koske, Rich Ripley, Bill Wilson

Longevity Awards: 
5 Year FB:  Bob Barta, Brad Johnson, Bill Keel, Doug Kelley, Christopher Kenney, Jared Kesling, Dennis Languth, Roman Mitchell,  Steve Schaub, Jim Spicer, Kyle Tlecky, Bob Varian,

10 Year FB:  Charlie Plathe, David Sherman,

25 Year FB:  Steve Hamilton, 

5 Year BB:  Jon Jaschen, Brad Johnson, David Law, Roman Mitchell, Chris Oberbroeckling,

15 Year BB:  Craig Murray, Kim Patik

25 Year BB:  Ron Peifer

35 Year BB:  Sonny Deke

CONGRATULATCIONS TO All