Save the Date!

June 23, 2018
2018 Metro Detroit Football Officials Clinic

7 Man High School Mechanics During 7 v 7 Passing Camp
Cost: $65 (includes: On Field Evaluations, Classroom Breakout Sessions, T-Shirt and Lunch)

For more information contact: Gaylon Williams refereegaylon@gmail.com

Learn 7 Man high school mechanics from officials in the following leagues:
NFL – B1G – MAC – MVFC – SWAC -CFO WEST (Big XII, MWC, Southland) GLIAC – MIAA – MHSAA

State Senator Hood is working on a project to increase awareness on SBs 200 and 201. SBs 200 and 201 would increase the penalties for assaulting and battering a sports official. Senator Hood is deeply passionate about these bills and would like to see that they are signed into law.

In order to raise awareness of this legislation, his office is coordinating the production of a video that is intended to educate Michigan residents about the dangers associated with being a sports official and to encourage people to contact their state legislators to support the bill to generate momentum for a Senate vote. Right now, SBs 200 and 201 have been voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee but have seemed to stall in getting a vote on the Senate floor.

How you can help: If you would like to participate, you can expect to be asked the following questions for the video production:

1.)    What is your personal story regarding fan/parent aggression?

2.)    Why do you think this bill would help?

3.)    What does this bill mean for you?

4.)    What would it mean for the future of sports?

5.)    What would it mean for future referee recruits?

6.)    What could the future of youth sports look like if nothing is done to help stop aggression against referees?

7.)    What lesson is aggression against referees teaching our children?

In order to participate, please send the best phone number to contact you at, no later than Monday, January 15^th at 5:00 pm to:

Nathan Kark

Chief of Staff Senator Morris W. Hood III

Minority Floor Leader Michigan Senate District 3

NKark@senate.michigan.gov

ph   (517) 373-1254

fax  (517) 373-5338

We’ll be in the little theater.

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee voted favorably to send sports officials assault legislation to the whole Senate for a vote, with a recommendation that the bills, if enacted, be given immediate effect.  The measure passed by a 3-1 vote with one abstention.  The bills, SB 200 and 201, are at the same point where they stalled two years ago.  We need to get them considered by the Senate as a whole.  The way to do this is by putting some pressure on individual senators and, particularly, Senator Meekhof, the Majority Leader.  A letter writing (email) and telephone campaign from officials can help.

 We urge you to contact your State Senator and Senator Meekhof by email, letter and/or telephone to ask their support.  Here is a link to identify your Senator and obtain contact information:  http://www.senate.michigan.gov/fysbyaddress.html.  Below is the outline of a letter you may use as a guide:

Dear Senator,

 I am a resident of ________ and a sports official.  I have officiated the sport(s) of __________________ for __ years.  I write to urge you to bring SB 200 and 201 to a vote by the Senate as a whole and support their passage.  These bills enhance penalties for assaults committed against sport officials.

 Assaults against sports officials have increased dramatically in frequency and severity over the past several years.  I am sure you are aware of the recreational league soccer official, John Bieniewicz, who was killed on the field in Livonia by a punch from an angry player: http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/07/michigan-senate-panel-increases-penalties-assault-referees/98872232/.  We need this legislation now.  Young people are not becoming officials, or drop out soon after starting, because of the increasing violence and abuse referees and umpires endure.  This threatens the long-term viability of youth, recreational and school sports programs throughout the state.

 I urge you to support these bills.

By now you’ve probably heard of the incident that happened to some of our fellow officials last week. The conditions and environment at Hazel Park High School that allowed this to occur have no place in high school athletics. It’s the responsibility of the site administration to provide a safe and secure setting for contests. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Have the public address announcer, team member, or cheerleaders read a sportsmanship statement and remain unbiased during the contest.
• Make sure an event supervisor on scene understands the duties and responsibilities pertinent to that contest.
• Make sure proper crowd control is visible and in place.
• Observe the crowd during the contest and prevent any disturbances that may occur.
• Work with the official during the game regarding crowd control.
• Escort the officials safely back to the dressing room or automobiles.

We’re following this situation closely and the MDAO will continue to support our membership however we can. Thank you for the professionalism you all continue to display on a nightly basis.

For rules questions or to share interesting situations, please send them to:

askmdao@gmail.com

We’ll work to reply as soon as we can with rules references and interpretation. This will help us as a group learn from our experiences and better plan for meetings.