Copyright 2011 Mass. Track & Field Officials Association. All rights reserved. All brand names and product names are acknowledged to be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Mike Meagher will be away beginning March 5th. Please make every effort to get your availability sheet to him before he leaves. Completed Availability Sheets will also be welcomed at the Thursday night meeting as well as via email.
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Merrimack Valley Outdoor Dates
Contact Mike Meagher
April 4, April 11, April 18, May 2, May 9, May 17
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Here are the dates and sites when officials are needed for the
Catholic Central League:
Austin Prep (At the school in North Reading):
Tuesday, April 10, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 1, 3:30 p.m.
Matignon (Dillboy Stadium in Somerville)
Tuesday, April 10, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 8, 3:30 p.m.
St. Mary's (Manning Bowl in Lynn)
Tuesday, April 3, 3:30 p.m.
Contact Bryan van Dorpe at bryanjvd@aol.com.
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Commissioner Paul Poisson is seeking officials for the Dual County League for spring 2012. Please use the form below to respond.
The Massachusetts Track and Field Officials Association periodically recognizes its members for outstanding performance through the presentation of “W. Scott McFetridge Award” to an outstanding track official and the “Ernie Mills Award” to an outstanding field event official. MTFOA members are invited to submit the names of officials for consideration for these awards. Submissions should be made to MTFOA President Chris Lane by March 1, 2012. Recipients will be chosen by vote of a MTFOA Executive Board.
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Minutes of the December 2011 general membership meeting have been posted.
As the indoor season schedule indicates a number of championships at both the high school and college level still to come, it's still not too soon to be thinking about the spring officiating season. But, before we get to that, please see the good news below.
• JIM WILCOX
Very happy to share news that was received that Jim has been released from MGH and has returned to his home. He has a long recovery period ahead, but his prognosis is good. I am sure that he would be very happy to hear from you with words of encouragement during this period. I'm sure he'd like to hear from you.
• SPRING CLINIC
Learning from our successful pre-winter season clinic, we have decided to offer a pre-spring clinic on Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center. The primary focus of this clinic will be on preparing officials to deal with the unique conditions and experiences they will encounter when officiating at spring track meets. We know from past experience that outdoor meets are very different and offer unique challenges for our members.
Any questions or comments about the clinic should be sent to Peter Meagher at PMeag21103@aol.com.
• ANNUAL DINNER
The dinner committee has been working very hard putting together a fun-filled evening including the now-famous door prize raffle. Now is the time for members to reserve their tickets. The dinner is at the Quincy Marriott Hotel on Thursday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. The cost is $40. Your check, made payable to MTFOA, should be mailed to Peter Meagher at 19 Barclay Road, West Roxbury, MA, 02132. Of course, when you see Peter at Reggie Lewis, you could save yourself a stamp and hand him your check directly.
posted Jan 15, 2012 1:58 PM by Paul Williams
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updated Feb 13, 2012 8:51 AM
]
Even though we are at the mid-point of the indoor season, the MTFOA needs to be looking forward to the spring track season. Here are some important topics that I want to bring to your attention and urge you to take action on as soon as possible.
• SPRING CLINIC
Learning from our successful pre-winter season clinic, we have decided to offer a pre-spring clinic on Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center. The primary focus of this clinic will be on preparing officials to deal with the unique conditions and experiences they will encounter when officiating at spring track meets. We know from past experience that outdoor meets are very different and offer unique challenges for our members.
Suggestions for specific topics or offers to be involved in the activities of this clinic should be sent to Peter Meagher at PMeag21103@aol.com
• ANNUAL DINNER
The dinner committee has been working very hard putting together a fun-filled evening including the now-famous door prize raffle. Now is the time for members to reserve their tickets. The dinner is at the Quincy Marriott Hotel on Thursday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. The cost is $40. Your check, made payable to MTFOA, should be mailed to Peter Meagher at 19 Barclay Road, West Roxbury, MA, 02132. Of course, when you see Peter at Reggie Lewis, you could save yourself a stamp and hand him your check directly.
• CONCUSSION TRAINING
The latest interpretation of the Massachusetts law concerning concussion training for sports officials indicates that ALL officials must complete this training on a yearly basis. Those that hire officials can ask individual officials for proof of this training. If you have not already done so, you are very strongly urged to complete this training as soon as possible. A free training course can be found at www.nfhslearn.com, which is the National Federation of High Schools website. For additional information, please go to our own website, MTFOA.com/resources. Note: When completing the training, print for your own records a copy of your certificate of completion.
• JIM WILCOX
I am sure that many of us have missed seeing Jim Wilcox at track meets this winter. Jim has been hospitalized and is now at Mass. General Hospital. I am sure he would appreciate hearing from you. The MGH address is 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114. His room is Ellison 9-#926 and should be noted on the envelope.
REMINDER: MFTOA officials please remember when the rear lot (adjacent to Tremont St.) behind the center is full you MUST go to the Islamic center and park. The rear lot has about 20 spaces and is on a first come, first served basis.
As stated on the website - the Islamic center is the overflow lot. Some of you who have parked there actually told me it’s easier access in and out over there.
I instructed Gerry Lake (man in the white Camry) last Saturday not to park cars to the left when you come in because that plaza is Madison Park HS property. We have an agreement with the headmaster of the school not to park there because they have Saturday/Sunday events also.
Lastly, we still have officials parking in the employee lot on the Malcolm X boulevard side. After this letter dated 1/10/12, I will instruct Stanley Towing to tow unauthorized cars in the employee lot. They have been copied on this letter.
Five of the presentations delivered at the November, 2011 winter clinic are now available for downloading in PDF format from mtfoa.com. The presentations are:
-- Throws officials' checklist
-- Some rules differences among NFHS, NCAA and USATF for the shot put
-- How to clerk high school meets
-- How to work the finish line as judge or timer
-- What new members need to know
Besides being attached here, the presentations are at http://www.mtfoa.com/resources along with presentations from previous clinics.
posted Dec 5, 2011 8:08 AM by Paul Williams
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updated Dec 7, 2011 2:13 PM
]
Four MTFOA officials are among the USATF New England association officials selected to officiate the 2012 USA Olympic Trials Track & Field meet in June. The selections were done at the USATF Annual Meeting.
The MTFOA officials heading to the Trials in Eugene, OR are Joe Bullock (Swansea MA, shot put), Nicole Bullock (Swansea MA, hammer), Justin Kuo (Brookline MA, Electronic Distance Measurement) and Tom Meagher (Duxbury MA, starter). Other USATF-NE officials selected are Rick Lajoie (Holyoke MA, long/triple jump), Pat Lavelle (Holyoke MA, hammer), Bob Gidari (Deering NH, discus) and Lance Turley (Laconia NH, hammer).
Several other MTFOA officials received assignments at major USA Championships. They are Dave Grant (Keene NH, Junior Nationals, shot put), Sarah Grant (Keene NH, Junior Nationals, discus/javelin) and Jim Wilcox (Fall River MA, Indoor Nationals, Clerk). Nicole Bullock will also be head throws official at USA Indoor Nationals in Albuquerque, NM and Joe Bullock will be on the Shot Put crew at Junior Nationals, which will be in Indianapolis.
posted Nov 28, 2011 10:23 AM by Paul Williams
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updated Nov 29, 2011 8:17 AM
]
The agenda for the general membership meeting on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7pm, has been posted. Among the agenda items will be a discussion of NFHS rule changes for 2011-2012. The agenda is below. The meeting will be at the West Roxbury Education Complex on VFW Parkway. Minutes from the October membership meeting and the November Executive Board meeting has been posted at http://www.mtfoa.com/administration/executive-board and http://www.mtfoa.com/administration/minutes.
posted Nov 18, 2011 12:50 PM by Paul Williams
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updated Nov 18, 2011 1:05 PM
]
A successful and well-attended pre-winter clinic for officials was held Thursday evening Nov. 17 at Reggie Lewis Center. Those who participated were awarded certificates for completing the clinic.
The evaluation form for the pre-winter clinic is available below in .pdf and .doc. Peter Meagher asks that attendees fill out the form and return it to him for compilation. Peter's email is pmeag21103@aol.com.
