15th C.S.R.A. Annual General Meeting
10th January 2004
Victoria, B. C.
Minutes
Meeting called to
order at 10:00am by President, Basil Gill.
Roll Call for
Year Ending: B.C., Manitoba, Ontario.
Introduction of
Guests:
V. Meachin, P.
Harkness, A. Milne, S. Fearn (FIFA AR)
Previous Minutes: These had been distributed in advance and there were no
errors or corrections. Accepted (1) Manitoba (2) B.C.
Matters Arising There from: None.
Pertinent
Correspondence:
Apologies had
been received from Hon. Life Member, Paul Avis,
G. Rogers, R. Sawtell, R. Sansregret and A. Sharpe ( CSA President).
President's
Address: (Basil Gill)
• Eastern Provinces and Quebec had made
little progress towards joining the CSRA although
reports had been submitted to our AGM.
• In Nova Scotia the provincial soccer
association appears to have scared away any interest
in re-forming the provincial R. A. for the time being.
• Our conference calls continue to be very
successful and productive.
• Our FIFA officials have
received a record number of international game appointments.
• Hector Vergara had become the first winner
of the John B. Meachin Memorial Soccer Award.
• As an
Association we must continue to promote the CSRA at grass roots level and the
President welcomed ideas.
Secretary's
Report:
(Eric Evans)
• 2003 had been
another busy and productive year in which electronic mail continued
to outnumber communications sent by
traditional mail.
• The CSRA Directory had been maintained and
3 conference calls held, each lasting 90
minutes.
• CSRA Promotional material had been
distributed to Malta, Switzerland and Holland as a result of inquiries received
via our web site.
• Special letter of
congratulations had been sent to Sonia Denoncourt and Denise Robinson upon their appointment to the FIFA Women's
World Cup.
• 3 dozen CSRA badges had been distributed
by Sonia and Denise at the World Cup.
• Raised over $1000.00 towards the John B.
Meachin Memorial Soccer Fund as a result of a letter writing campaign to
provincial soccer and referee associations and the CSA.
• Set up an evaluating committee to judge
applications for the Award and sent 3 letters to each of the 56 officials on
the National Referee Program.
• Contacted the national associations of
England, Scotland and Wales; made inquiries in the U.S., Caribbean and Central
America regarding eligible events for Award applicants
to attend.
1st V. President's Report:
(Tony Troughton)
• Maintained the CSRA web
site, having taken over the responsibility from Mary_ Sawtell.
• Completed the country wide survey on game
fees and would attempt a similar survey on
assessments.
• Arranged for VISRA member, Rick Firestone
to transform the CSRA badge into a workable
computer graphics format.
• Assisted fellow VISRA members
in making arrangements for the CSRA AGM on behalf
of the BCSRA.
• Arranged the brainstorming session the
previous evening.
Delegate Reports:
B.C. Everyone warmly
welcomed to Victoria
• Outline of officiating accomplishments of
B.C. officials provided.
• Membership in
the BCSRA had exceeded 700 with approx. 50% of them being Class IV. A target of 1000 members had been set for 2006
• Hosted visiting international officials
during their stay in the province.
• BC Soccer had introduced its own badge that
had seen the BCSRA badge relegated to being displayed on the left sleeve of the
game official's uniform.
• The BCSA's Referee Development Committee
is dominated by members of the - provincial R.A who occupy many of the
positions on the committee.
Ontario:
(Joe Licandro OSRA President)
• OSRA
membership had risen by 28 and was around the 1000 mark.
• Submitted a request to the OS A whereby a
game official would receive half game fee when
game is canceled without the official being notified and the official travels
to the venue.
• Three upgrading seminars
conducted for Class II candidates - hoping to do arrange similar sessions in 2004 for Class I and II candidates.
• OSRA executive reduced from 10 members
down to 7
• Prepared a promotional brochure which had
been sent to all Class IV officials as a means to recruit new members. A sample
had been distributed to those in attendance.
• 195 Class IV clinics conducted by the OS A
in 2003 and the retention rate of these officials
had risen from 55% to 57%.
• 9260 registered officials in
Ontario of which 3845 were new Class IV and 3495 Class IV officials had been retained from the previous year.
• 295 out of 422 candidates passed the Class
HI exam (70% pass rate)
• Two Class II clinics had been held with 41
of 61 candidates passing the upgrading exam.
13 out of 20 candidates had passed the Class I exam.
• The OSA will be introducing
major changes to the way in which the referee development program is to be delivered with many positions being offered
on a contract basis.
Manitoba:
(MSRA President
Larry Eloy)
• Membership in the MSRA had held steady at
122 during 2003, however, leagues had continued
to expand without the growth being matched with a proportional increase in the
number of registered officials.
• The FIFA Club had resumed
after a break of several years and was being spearheaded by Willie Laidlaw and Hector Vergara.
• 10 out 12 candidates had passed the Class
II exam - the two that failed had not been active
members of the FIFA Club.
• The Manitoba Soccer Association had
allocated $4500 for referee development and had enabled two Nominated National
referees to travel out of the province for assessments.
Referees, instructors and assessors are also benefiting from these funds.
• The MSRA was pressing the 3
indoor soccer facilities in Winnipeg to standardize the playing rules.
• Former CSRA Treasurer, Thorn Lamont, had
been made an Honorary Life Member in
the MSRA.
• The goal for 2004 was to increase thee
number of qualified officials to meet the demand.
Alberta:
(Submitted by Kevin Jones &Read by E. Evans)
• Medicine Hat was attempting to become the 7th
area association of the ASRA.
• Aprox. 1200 registered officials in Alberta
with 212 being members of the ASRA.
• ASRA had hosted the CSRA AGM in Calgary the
previous year.
• Mike Seifert had reached the mandatory
retirement age of 45 and been retired from the FIFA list of international
referees.
• Alberta currently has 4 Nom. Nat. Referees,
2 Nom. Nat. Instructors and 1 Nom Nat. Assessor.
Newfoundland
and Labrador:
(Read
by Basil Gill)
• 7 officials had
been sent out of the province for tournaments and competitions.
• 2 went to All
Star Competitions - 3 sent to A-League game appointments
•
2 candidates had been sent to a Class I clinic outside the province but had not
been successful in the exam.
• Funding for out of province trips was being provided by
the provincial soccer
association as well as the Ross
Arlett Memorial Fund.
• All officials must take and pass the fitness if they want to officiate
in the Challenge Cup, Jubilee Shield or in
University Games.
• Those Class II & III officials that pass the fitness test
are also used in University games.
•
Common problem of too many games and too few officials - up to 4 hours travel
each way was necessary to reach some
games in the province. 2004 will see the retirement
of several senior officials that will compound the problem.
Delegate Reports
accepted (1) Ontario, (2) Manitoba. Treasurer's
Report and Auditors'Certificate:
Treasurer, Larry
Eloy presented the accounts and balance sheet, indicating that we were
relatively sound financially. It was his recommendation that the CSRA
subscription fees for 2005 did not have to increase from the current level of
$3.00 per member.
Joe Licandro (Ontario ) and Pat Harkness (B.C.) volunteered
to act as auditors and would review the
accounts after the meeting.
Treasurer's report accepted (1) Manitoba (2) B.C.
Unfinished
Business:
The question was
raised about the untimely delivery of the Law book. It apparently arrives at
different times of the year in each province, in some cases it is already 1
issue out of date when received. Secretary asked to write to the CSA in the
hope of having the situation
improved.
Amendments to the
Constitution: None.
John B. M each in
Memorial Soccer Award:
Former CSRA 1a
V.P., Pat Harkness, introduced the widow of the late John Meachin, Virginia. Virginia provided a brief outline of John's
career and his strong views regarding
Canadian officials need to promote themselves outside of Canada. Following
John's sudden death a Fund and Award had been established in his name that had
culminated in Hector Vergara becoming the inaugural winner. Hector had been
unable to attend as planned because of an international appointment. A suitably
inscribed trophy was presented Larry Eloy on Hector's behalf. Hector would have
$1000.00 to defray his travel and
accommodation expenses to travel to Peru later in the year.
Roll Call for Year Ensuing:
B.C., Manitoba and
Ontario were present, registered and eligible to participate in the proceedings.
Elections:
1st V.
President: Tony Troughton (B.C.) Acclaimed for 2 year term
2nd V.
President: Andrew Foster (B.C.) Acclaimed for 2 year term (incumbent resigned)
Secretary: Eric Evans Acclaimed for 2 year term.
Any Other
Business:
Joe Licandro asked
if it was feasible for the CSRA to approach the CSA to collect referee registration fees for all provinces which would see the
profile of the CSRA raised significantly and funding flow down from the CSRA to
the provincial R.A.'s. There would be a number
of logistical problems with this approach.
Virginia Meachin
asked if it would be possible for the CSRA to make contact with the Canadian
Futsol Association in an attempt to increase our area of influence.
In a response to
the ongoing problem in Nova Scotia where the provincial soccer association
appeared to be discouraging the revival of the R.A. the Secretary was asked to
write to the CSA President following a motion (1) B.C. (2) Ontario. " The
Secretary to write to the Andy Sharpe with a view to have him openly endorse
the concept of an active referee
association existing in each province."
Following the
recommendation of Treasurer, Larry Eloy, it was agreed to set the fees for 2005
at $3.00 per member - unchanged from 2004.
There being no more business the meeting adjourned at
12:03pm.