Cumberland Area Supervisor’s Report
April 25, 2004
Evangeline Middle School
New Minas, N.S.
It is my pleasure to once again state the success experienced by officials in the Cumberland County region.
The season was a busy one with over 500 games played in the area again this season culminating with two highly competitive provincials championship tournaments.
Our year started as it always does with a number of clinics, one for returning officials and the second for new officials and those working towards their Level I designations as per our NSBO certification program. It was pleasing to note that one up and coming official from our group returned to working status after a two-year hiatus and that a second new official joined our board this year and by all accounts looks as though he will be a great addition to our board this year.
Exam marks were an issue for a number of our veteran officials this year and it was duly noted that those people who did not obtain the 86 per cent or higher would have their game assignments reflective of their pre-season efforts. Those people who did not fair as well as they should have on the exam made concerted efforts to get in the book and review their rules and to their credit were no complaints about misinterpretation of any of the rules.
The season was a taxing one from an officiating standpoint for all of our officials. Not only do we have busy personal lives, tough jobs, and families to be concerned with, the number of games seemed to keep all of the officials extremely busy this season. The games were not as skilled as they had been in past years, but because of great parity at all levels in this region, each and every game was a tough one.
Officials in Cumberland remarked on several occasions how few cakewalk games they had this year and because of the vast quantity of those tough games, found the season taxing at times.
The type of games our officials experienced helped each and every one of them to be better prepared for district, regional, qualifying and provincial tournaments and again by all accounts, the officials that earned assignments represented themselves and Cumberland well in these events.
Of the 15-officials active in Cumberland this season, 33 per cent of those were active during the final weekend of the NSSAF season. Doug Wortman and Sam McNeish both served as assignor and evaluator for tournaments this season, while Reg Caulfield, Ray Burns and John Bushen all officiated well at their respective events.
In order to keep the level of officiating moving forward in Cumberland County next season and beyond, a conscious decision has been made to help spread the workload around and with the rule changes for next season, will help us as officials educate the coaches of the region with the CIS men’s rulebook.
Sam McNeish will return as area supervisor and for the first time, Cumberland will employ an assistant supervisor of sorts to help with organizing clinics, dealing with minor issues of ejections and protocol. Ray Burns will assume this role.
Doug Wortman has been outstanding in the assignor’s position over my eight years and this year may have been one of his toughest in terms of getting the right people to the right gym each night. He will be continuing in this position, acting as treasurer, and stepping up his role as evaluator for all officials next season. Reg Caulfield, the provincial supervisor will be the area evaluator with assistance from Doug Wortman and Sam McNeish.
A final position that has been added for next season is the area liaison. If someone has an issue with another official, coach, player, fan, administrator, etc, they will be taking those concerns to John Clarke, a 25-year member of NSBO. John is the guidance counselor at Springhill High School and is very good in dealing with issues of this type.
As area supervisor, I appreciate the support of the officials in this area and look forward to working with them on all of our initiatives again this season.
The Cumberland officials will be meeting again next week to discuss the outcome of the NSBO annual general meeting and set forth the plan to change over to CIS rules. We want all coaches in this area to be aware of the changes and we will be working in concert with the NSBO rules interpreter to ensure everyone gains the same information across our region.
Best Regards
Sam McNeish