Bd 10.COMmuniquéThank You For Your ServiceSometimes we can get so caught up in what we do on the basketball court, that we may forget the bigger picture. There’s no question that we

perform a valuable service. But remember that there are men and women in uniform all over the world who perform a service so important that it deserves our ap-preciation and gratitude, espe-cially for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Now that Memorial Day 2011 has recently come and gone, we are devoting a fair amount of this newsletter to recognizing Board 10 members,

as well as their family members, who have served, are serving, or are about to serve in the United States military. We will list their service in a special edition of the “Member Profile” feature. We also have news of some basketball events connected to our armed forces. We haven’t forgotten about our high (cont. on p. 2)

2011-12 Board 10 meeting scheduleMark your calendars – the digital and analog kinds – with the following dates for our Sunday morning meetings for the 2011-12 season. NOTE: You must attend at least 4 of the 5 meetings to get full credit. This is one portion of your rating that you can control. All meetings will take place at Lyman Hall High School in Wallingford with at-tendance taken at 8 AM and meetings starting promptly at 8:15 AM. Our interpreters and meeting organizers will once again make these meetings as informative and benefi-cial as possible. A great deal of important information is imparted at these meetings, so try and attend all of them. Here’s the meeting schedule:Sunday, November 13, 2011 (Mandatory rules clinic)Sunday, December 4, 2011Sunday, December 11, 2011 – (Rules Refresher Exam)Sunday, January 8, 2012Sunday, February 5, 2012 (Annual Meeting)

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Also this issue...• Banquet honors service to Board 10

• Post-season wrap-up

• New Board 10 website

• Rule changes for 2011-12

• Bd 10 officials volunteer for Special Olympics

• News and Notes

• President’s Message

• Commissioner’s Commentary

• The Doctor is In: Diabetic ulcers

• Member Profile: Saluting our veterans

• Knowledge Bank: Referee schools, camps and tryouts

• Ask the InterpreterClick any headline to go to the article

Thank You For Your Service...(cont. from p.1)school basketball season, though, and we do have a post-season wrap-up along with other important news that you need to be aware of that will have some bearing on next season. They include our Sunday morning meeting schedule and the rule changes for 2011-12, as well as a discussion of rules, mechanics and procedures that interpreters at the local and national levels believe need more attention on the part of all officials. Plus, we have a new Board 10 web site that will be a constant conduit for important infor-mation throughout the year. See the article for more details. Happy reading, and enjoy your offseason. [Page-1 photo courtesy of MemorialDay2011.org]

Banquet honors service to Board 10 and to the game of basketballOur annual Board 10 Banquet at the Villa Rosa in Waterbury paid tribute to members who have 10 to 40 years of service with our board and to our coaches and A.D. of the year as well as our newly named honorary members. Congratulations to all our award winners.

Service

40 years John Anquillare

30 years Marty Dituccio, Pat Paulson, Jim Powers

25 years Gary Aurio, Anthony Bagnoli, Ray Vanacore

20 years Ron DeNuzzo, Jeffrey Smith  

15 years Paul Murray, Sal Perugini, Ed Pulaski, Wesley Thorpe

10 years Jason Crockett, Ken Devoe, Kerry Ervin, Ed Preiss, Art Thayer

Sportsmanship

Phil Casman Award (Boys varsity coach) Tim Swaller, Foran High School

Rudy Canelli Award (Girls varsity coach) Sarah Mik, Cheshire High School

Tony Barbaro Award (Boys sub-varsity coach) Jason Shea, Notre Dame of West Haven

Hank Luzzi Award (Girls sub-varsity coach) Tina Gonyea, Platt High School, Meriden

Babe Amendola Award (Athletic Director) Jerry Ciarleglio, Holy Cross High School, Waterbury

Honorary Members

Frank Redente New Haven -- Farnam League

Peter Eyler Notre Dame of West Haven

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IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Postseason Wrap-upThere’s nothing like post-season high school basketball for fun, excitement, and a lively challenge for officials. Once again our Board 10 officials acquitted themselves extremely well at the conference and state tournaments. The players de-cided the games, not the officials. It was also nice to see some of the schools whose games we cover during the regular season make it to the finals and win state championships. That speaks to the quality of basketball we offi-

ciate. Congratulations to all the coaches, teams and officiating crews for another great finish to an outstanding season.State Tournament FinalsThe Boys L Final was officiated by Board 10’s Brad Chernovetz, Bill Murphy and Dave Scasino. #3 New London defeated the top-ranked team, Northwest Catholic, 63-55.The Girls M Final crew from Board 10 consisted of David Gross-man, Judy Ruthko and Al Carfora. # 2 Windham downed #21 Weaver 54-46.Other Results:Boys LL Final: #2 St. Joseph, 79, #9 Fairfield Prep 53.Boys M Final: #1 Career 49, #4 Enfield 37.Boys S Final: #1 Valley Regional 70, #2 Classical Magnet 46.

Conference FinalsSCCBoys: Hillhouse 55, Career 43. Crew: Dan Scavone, Ron DiOrio, and Mike BlakeGirls: Hillhouse 50, Mercy 43. Crew: Steve Kirck, Bill Murphy, and Judy Ruthko NVLBoys: #2 Crosby 77, #1 Holy Cross 61. Crew: Jeffrey Smith, Rich McInnis, and Steve Kirck IIGirls: #1 Holy Cross 65, #2 Torrington 48. Crew: Rich McInnis, Gary Aurio, and Gary RispoliShorelineGirls: #2 Coginchaug 42, #1 Portland 41 Crew: Dan Tammaro and Steve Kirck II Girls CT All Star GamesClass S vs. Class M crew: Trevor Brown, Mike Arico and Ken BoisvertClass L vs. Class LL crew: Dan Akier, Kevin Moffett and Vin DeNuzzo

[Some tournament photos courtesy of Will Paul, SportsPageMagazine.com]

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CIAC STATE TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS from BOARD 10

John Anquillare Jim Frank Ed Preiss

Gary Aurio Anthony Gambardella Ric Raffone

Anthony Bagnoli Mike Gambardella Gary Rispoli

Mike Blake David Grossman Judy Ruthko

Steve Cain Ed Hamilton Frank Savakis

Al Carfora Steve Kirck Mike Scanlon

Brian Carroll Steve Kirck II Dave Scasino

Brad Chernovetz Joe Latella Dan Scavone

Len Crone Al Lewis Rob Sember

Ron DiOrio Darrel Lovett Jeffrey Smith

Jose Dos Santos Rich McInnis Dan Tammaro

Ernie Fabrizio Frank Mohr Ray Vanacore

Mark Federico Bill Murphy George Van Valkenburg

Jeff Weiner Steve Wodarski

Alternates: John Basso, Ed DeCapua, Bill DeMatteo, Charlie Hague, Anthony Jones, Lou Matteo, Craig Stockel, John Taft

New Board 10 web site goes live

It’s been a few years in the making with a few false starts, but now, thanks to the tireless efforts of our own Jason Crockett, Board 10 has a web site. The URL is: www.iaabo10.org. Thanks to Jason for designing and constructing the site. Please keep in mind that this is a work in progress, and much of the content is still being developed, so there will be much more loaded on to the site than currently appears. The Board 10 site features a live Facebook feed with the latest announcements on the home page. Other features include a calendar of Board 10 events, meetings and other items of importance. Simply click on the event listing to see the details. There’s an on-line application for prospective officials who wish to take the next new candidates’ clinic. The Board 10 newsletter – including this issue and all past issues – will reside on the Board 10 site. The previous download site is being discontinued, so please update your bookmarks accordingly. We are in the process of gathering (cont. on p. 5)

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New Board 10 web site goes live...(cont. from p.4)instructional materials, including Interpreter Bulletins, videos and more, and we hope to have an interac-tive mechanism for posting rules questions and creating a rules-related discussion thread. Finally, there’s a new photo gallery featuring many of our members. The gallery will be updated regularly. Again the web site is not yet complete in terms of content, so if you don’t see what you’re looking for at present, visit often and regularly as new material gets posted.

Rule changes announced for 2011-12The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has issued rule and editorial changes for the upcoming 2011-12 season. One significant change has been made to Rule 4-12 (Control, Player and Team). We will have more discussion on this and all the rule changes later in the year when it’s closer to the beginning of the new season, when rules become top-of-mind. For now, a couple of the more notable NHFS rule and mechanics changes are listed below for your reference. For the complete list of rules changes, editorial changes and points of emphasis, go to: http://www.nfhs.org/Basketball/. Then click on “2011-12 Basketball Rules Changes.”

2011-12 BASKETBALL RULES CHANGE 4-12-1, 4-12-2 & 4-12-6 Several definitions were changed to reflect that team control will now exist during a throw-in when the thrower-in has the ball at his/her disposal. The change primarily affects how foul pen-alties will be administered. Rationale: By changing the definition of player and team control to include a throw-in, greater consistency in the penalty for a common foul is achieved. As the previous rule was written, be-cause there was no team control during a throw-in, the penalty for a common foul committed by the throw-in team after the throw-in had begun resulted in free throws if the offended team was in the bonus. This was not consistent with the penalty for a team-control foul. This rules change will result in greater consistency in the penalties for common fouls, eliminate confusion on rule application, and speed up the contest by eliminating the delay inherent with administering free throws.

2011-13 MAJOR MECHANICS CHANGE 2.2.2.C.6 New Crew of Two Only: The Trail will mirror the Lead’s stop-and start-clock (chop) signal to ensure proper court coverage. Rationale: This is the three-person mechanic. Too many times in a crew of two it is hard for the timer to see the Lead start the clock. This was the rationale for three- person mechanics, so the same technique should be used for a crew of two. It is also good training for those transitioning from a crew of two to three. 2.4.4.B.4, 3.4.4.B.4 A visible signal (point to the table) was added to indicate when the timer should start the clock on a time-out. Rationale: Helps to provide consistent administration of time-out situations.

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Board 10 officials volunteer for Special Olympics

During March and April, Special Olympics basketball tournaments were held in the New Haven and Water-bury areas. Thanks to every official who volunteered. We don’t have a complete list of all the volunteers, so rather than leave some individuals out, we will forego naming the volunteer officials that we know about, and hope that you will be content with the apprecia-tion of those who put on these tournaments every year. That said, we did receive some observations from one of our volunteer officials, Peter Battistoni. Peter wrote the following about his most recent Spe-cial Olympics experience in Waterbury:

“In previous years, there were supervisors (partners) on the floor for each team along the athletes. They would not shoot, but could rebound, dribble a little, but mostly, pass the ball to the athletes. This time around, at Tinker School, things were different. There were no partners on the court, just the athletes. Players were focused on scoring. I was working with Joe Kepics and he told me that the skill level of the players had definitely improved since the last time he officiated a Special Olympics game four years ago. We both had to be very observant and make sure that there was no rough play. Things were a little different at the next set of games on March 31st. This time, there were two partners (su-pervisors) for each team on the court at all times, along with the players. One of the teams consisted entirely of players in wheelchairs. Another team had a player who wore a safety helmet as a result of a prior head injury. We had to exercise great care in overseeing these games. One player wowed the crowd by launching shots from well behind the 3-point line and making seven of them. He received quite an ovation from the spectators. Whatever the level of play, everyone had a good time and the players, spectators and organizers were appreciative of our efforts.”

CT leads all but one state in contributions to “Officials vs. Cancer”Our fellow IAABO officials across the State of Connecticut once again contributed an impressive amount of money for the fight against cancer totaling $24,043.66. Last year Connecticut led the nation. This year, we were the runner up to Colo-rado’s $39,330. Still, our state’s results were quite impressive. Plus, Colorado made a special push to try and unseat us as the #1 state in total dollars, so in es-sence, we motivated them to bring in more money, which is all to the good. As a whole, IAABO officials contributed $180,025.82. Thanks to everyone who con-tributed. Remember: The cause continues, so be prepared to reach into your pockets again next season. Hopefully one day, with your help, we can eradicate cancer.

Volunteering at East Haven HS were, le! to right: Rich Altieri, Don Acerra, Vin DeNuzzo, Al Carfora, John Monie#o, Jason Crockett, Lou Matteo and Mike Durso

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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NEWS & NOTESOfficiating honorsDavid Grossman was presented with a Merit Award by the CIAC Girls Basketball Committee

at a luncheon and ceremony on March 18th during the state tournament finals weekend at the Mo-hegan Sun Cabaret Theater. Fittingly, David closed out the season as a member of the crew for the CIAC Class M Girls

championship game, along with fellow officials Judy Ruthko and Al Carfora. Congratulations, David, for both honors......The New Haven Tap-Off Club honored our own Craig Stockel as their Official of the Year for the 2010-11 season. Craig received his award at the club’s annual dinner honoring the areas top high school players. The event was held on March 29th at the Villa Bianca in Seymour... ...Steve Kirck II, Jeffrey Smith, Brad Chernovetz and Ed Preiss offici-ated games at this past season’s Na-tional Prep School Champi-onships. Mike Scanlon worked the championship game along with former Board 10 member John Gill and Roberto Marquez......Mike Gambardella and Pete Duglenski re-ceived 20-year service awards from the Colle-giate Basketball Officials Association at their an-nual banquet in Atlantic City on April 30th. Mike

Scanlon also received a service award at the event......Tom Goldbach was selected to officiate the CIAC Girls Class L lacrosse quarterfinal game between Hall and Greenwich. Tom also officiated at the Women’s Lacrosse National Tournament in Long Island in May...... Joe Alberti has been a Board 10 member for

17 years and a top-10 professional tennis offi-cial for 19 years. This summer he will be offi-ciating at pro tourna-ments in Boston, New-port, Washington, DC, Cincinnati and New Ha-ven, as well as events in Hamburg, Germany and in the Netherlands. You can see Joe in action on The Tennis Channel, ESPN2, ABC and CBS.

Making our families proudDan Michalek reports that his daughter Mallorie has been named Female Ath-lete of the Year by Post Uni-versity, where she scored 980 career points for the women’s basketball team. Mallorie was also an outstanding player for the university’s lacrosse team. This is the third time that Mallorie has received Female Athlete of the Year honors – the previ-ous two including when she was an 8th grade standout for the St. Stanislaus School in Meriden and as a senior at Platt High School, also in Meriden, where Mallorie was a three sport star – basketball, soccer, and track & field. [photo courtesy of Post U. Athletics].

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MORE NEWS & NOTESAl Carfora tells us that his son A.J. made First

Team Defense for the Western New England Prep School Lacrosse Association League.  He is a junior at Salisbury School in Salis-bury, Connecticut. The team finished 11-3 and was ranked 13th in the

country by Max-Preps. A.J. has verbally committed to attend and play at Penn State University......George Bradford’s son, George Jr., graduated from Clark University in Worcester, Massachu-setts on May 22nd with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Culture. George Jr. also minored in Theater Arts......Proud parents Ken Devoe and Cindy Simell-Devoe report that their son, Lucas, received his Masters of Elementary Education degree from Quinnipiac University at the graduate school’s commence-ment exer-cises on May 15th. Lucas earned a near-perfect GPA of 3.94 and has re-ceived his teacher’s certification. He interned as a student-teacher at the Clinton-ville Elementary School in North Haven. For those of you who are principals or school admin-istrators, Lucas would be a great new hire for your elementary school faculty. If you are inter-

ested and need his contact information, please email Ken Devoe at kendevoe@pantheon.yale.edu.

New arrivalsA happy announcement from Bob Speziale: His son Peter and daughter-in-law Megan are proud parents of Francesca Suzann Speziale. This newest addition to the family was born on April 29th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mom, Dad and Baby are all doing fine, and Grandpa Bob is beaming with pride and joy... ...Tom Goldbach and his wife, Kim, are the proud parents of a baby boy, Thomas Francis Goldbach the 5th, born on April 22nd at St. Raphael’s Hospital in New Haven...

...John Moniello has an-other grandchild to dote on – Hayley Catherine Paradise. John’s daughter Alisa gave birth to Haley on April 4th. She weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds. Alisa, hubby Nick, and baby Haley are doing well.

Help needed for two worthy causesRic Raffone, Jr. needs your help and participation either as players or sponsor (or both) for an upcoming golf tourna-ment to raise money for the Connecticut Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. The tournament is being held in honor of a sister of one of Ric’s friends. The event is The 5th annual Helen’s Heroes MS Golf Classic and will be held on Friday, June 24 (cont. on p. 11)

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News & Notes...(cont. from p. 10)starting at 1:30 PM at the Grassy Hill Country Club in Orange. Look for the tournament flyer on one of the Member-to-Member Mart pages elsewhere in this newsletter. If you can partici-pate or if you wish to know more, please contact Ric at (203) 215-1444......Nisha Alves at the Willow Plaza Community Center in Waterbury runs much-needed summer programs – such as Camp Smyles and summer enrichment programs -- to benefit underprivi-leged chil-dren and their fami-lies. Last year, over 50 families in need were helped by these programs. This summer, Nisha hopes to do as much, if not more. However, these pro-grams are in jeopardy as funding has been se-verely cut and donations have fallen off due to the weak economy. Nisha needs to raise $3,000 to keep these programs going. Otherwise, some 60 underprivileged youngsters will have to go elsewhere or do without these programs entirely. Nisha says that there are a number of ways Board 10 members can help. “There are advertising opportunities. You can sponsor a child or a fam-ily. You can also sponsor T-shirts and field trips. And donations of any kind will be greatly appre-ciated.” For information on the summer pro-grams, see the Center’s ads in the Member-to-Member Mart in this newsletter. For information or to help out, contact Nisha Alves at her office phone, 203-575-1545 or on her cell at 203-808-1195.

Opportunities for volunteers at the Travelers Champion-ship You can see what happens behind the scenes at a PGA Tour event and give something back to the community at the same time, by volunteering

your services at the 2011 Travelers Champion-ship golf tournament. The tournament takes place from June 20th to June 26th. Board 10’s Joe Mrozowski is chairman of the Shotlink Laser Committee, something he has done for a number of years. Joe needs around 200 volunteer laser operators, and you can be among them. Joe needs vol-unteers for Thursday and Friday afternoon shifts (2:30PM to end of play for the day), and for the Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon shifts. There are also opportunities for your kids to earn community service credits by volunteer-ing for duties other than laser operator. If you would like to volunteer, call Joe at 203 213-8794 or email him at: JWOODSTER@SBCGLOBAL.NET. To find out more about the Travelers Championship, visit: www.travelerschampionship.com.

Supporting our military on the court

Jeffrey Smith offici-ated as part of the crew for the annual Army-Navy rivalry basketball game on February 19th at Navy’s sold-out home arena at Annapolis. Army won the game 78-58......Kenneth Polk from Armed Services

Sports reports that Our Armed Forces Men's Bas-ketball Team is currently preparing to participate in the 5th CISM Military World Games, July 12-25 in Rio de Janeiro, (cont. on p. 12)

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News & Notes...(cont. from p. 11)Brazil. The event, conducted every four years, is considered the Olympics of Military Sports......ESPN will televise the Carrier Classic game between Michigan State and North Carolina on the deck of an aircraft carrier in San Diego Bay on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2011. The car-rier will be either the USS Ronald Reagan or the

USS Carl Vinson and will be deter-mined later on as the game date ap-proaches. Which-

ever carrier hosts the game, it’s flight deck will be equipped with a basketball court and stadium seating for around 7,000 spectators. North Caro-lina head coach Roy Williams told AOL Sport-ing News, “The experience will create for them a lifetime of memories. Even more important is the chance to combine the start of the college basketball season with saluting and thanking our military personnel for all they do to allow us to safely live and play each day in the United States of America.” His opposite number at Michigan State, Tom Izzo echoed the thought: “The op-portunity to give something back to those that serve in the military and their families is a hum-bling experience. As coaches and athletes, we are familiar with terms like wins and losses, but to our servicemen and women, those phrases have very different meanings. It’s a concept that first hit home during one of my trips to visit our troops in Kuwait, and one that I’ve carried with me since then.”

Cheshire High students honor war veterans

In 2008, Congress passed a bill designating March 30th as the annual “Welcome Home Viet-

nam Veterans Day.” Connecticut joined Califor-nia as the first two states to pass a similar bill. Ralph Zingarella was contacted and asked – on very short notice -- to organize an event to recog-nize World War II as well as Vietnam War veter-ans this past March 30th. Ralph secured Chesh-ire High School build-ings, as well as the football field and parking lots. A stage was built for guest speakers and entertainment performers. Students painted logos on the stage, including a POW/MIA logo requested by local veterans. Over 3,000 people attended. Congressman Rob Simmons, a Viet-nam veteran, served as master of ceremonies. Senator Dick Blumenthal and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro also attended. The event was a huge success and a well deserved honor for the veterans of these two wars.Cheshire High paid tribute to our veterans in another setting. The school’s spring high school play was the World War II-themed musical “South Pacific.” The show ran March 23, 24 and 25. Over 100 students participated in pre-paring a special evening of tribute honoring World War II veterans. They staged a special 90-minute commemorative event at the school gym on the night of one of the dress rehearsals. Students created 100 posters depicting signifi-cant battles and key figures, and recreated U.S. posters from the WWII era. Although the fore-cast included a potential snowstorm, the storm never arrived and the event went on as planned. WWII veterans from Cheshire, Southington, Wallingford, and Meriden (cont. on p. 13)

CT Congressman and Vietnam War veteran Rob Simmons emcees Cheshire’s “Welcome Home Veterans Day” ceremonies

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News & Notes...(cont. from p. 12)attended. Each was given a flag pin and a WWII hat. Spouses were given red, white, and blue carnations, and all were escorted by stu-dents down a special red carpet into the gym. As requested, many veterans brought WWII memorabilia and photos with them and they were put on display. A VIP Chorus sang the Na-tional Anthem and America the Beautiful. The student jazz ensemble played music from the WWII era. 85 World War II veterans attended along with 300 other veterans, including many Vietnam vets. It was a highly emotional and inspiring evening for all.

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President’s Message: “Suggestions for the offseason” -- Steve Wodarski

It is a pleasure and a privilege for me to serve as your Board 10 president for the 2011-12 season. I thank all of you for giving me the opportunity. I want to commend my predeces-sor, Ernie Fabrizio, on the outstanding job he did as president this past season, and I thank Ernie for making the transition very easy and smooth for me. I’m very excited about being president of this excellent organization. We have a terrific membership as a whole. We have a great Executive Board, the members of which give of their time working on a broad range of items of importance to our board. We have a dedicated commissioner who works tirelessly on our behalf. And of course, we have Hank Luzzi who as secretary/treasurer really does the lion’s share of the board’s work, which will make my job so much easier during the year to come. That said, we’re into the offseason, and I want to use this space to pass on a couple of suggestions and recommendations on how you can put this offseason to good use to enhance your officiating capabilities before the regular season starts. You should do everything you can to stay in shape in the offseason – especially by working AAU tour-naments, as well as summer and fall leagues. In addition to staying sharp physically, I urge you to stay sharp mentally by keeping up to date on rule changes. As you will read elsewhere in this issue of the newsletter, there are a few fairly substantial changes. As we get closer to the beginning of the high school season, we’ll spend more time discussing them. But for now, just be aware of what’s new and try to get a basic understanding of the impact of the changes. Have a great offseason. I look forward to seeing you on the court and at our meetings during the new season.

Commissioner’s Commentary: "Taking stock of your season” -- John “Bud” ChernovetzIt’s late springtime, soon to be summertime, and the regular season is a distant image in your rearview mirror. Don’t let it be too distant. This is an excellent time to take a look in the mirror and reflect on the season that you just completed and take stock. Think about what you can improve upon. Everybody has something that could be better. With that in mind, try to pick one or two elements of your game that, if you work on them, could make you a better official going into next season. If you take advantage of the opportunities to officiate AAU, summer and fall league basketball games, use those opportunities to work on those very elements of your game where you know you can get better. And I do mean “work”. If you mail it in, if you just officiate in the offseason to make an extra buck and don’t really work at it, you’re letting a valuable self-improvement tool to go waste.In addition to your own reflections on your performance during the season, take into consideration any feedback you may have received from your partners, from our Observers Joe and Tom, from me, or if you’re a sub-varsity official, any input you got from the varsity officials who watched you work before their games began. Something that should be standard procedure for you, if it isn’t already, is to talk to your partner immediately after every game and ask what he or she saw in your performance. Your part-ner should ask the same of you. Just saying, “great game,” while a nice ego boost, (cont. on p. 15)

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Commissionerʼs Commentary: “Taking stock of your season”...(cont. from p.14)isn’t particularly helpful. When was the last time you officiated a perfect game? (I thought so). There’s always something that you could work on if only someone would bring it to your attention. As long as I’ve been umpiring, I still ask my partners what they saw in my on-field work and what I could have done better. We never stop learning.Varsity officials – if you were fortunate enough to have received some comments over and above the numbers in your partners’ ratings of your games, then take those comments to heart. Having just mentioned ratings, I must comment further. There’s no doubt that the rating system is flawed and must be improved if it is to have any value to all of us. And by “value”, I mean serving as a constructive improvement tool. A number by itself – a ranking on an artificial pecking order -- is not terribly useful to you or me. So, I have a request. Help us make the rating system better. We have a set of criteria on which varsity officials are supposed to evaluate their partners. Could we have a better and more meaningful set of criteria? I ask you to send me your suggestions in that regard. What kind of feedback do you want most? What aspects of officiating do you think it would be more fair and equita-ble to evaluate and would be a better measuring stick of performance? Those should be the criteria. Let’s all use this offseason to concentrate on being better next season -- as officials, as the guardians of the game of high school basketball, and as an organization. Let’s raise the bar, let’s set loftier goals for ourselves, and then let’s go all out to achieve them. In the meantime, have a great summer.

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Member-to-Member Mart

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IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Member-to-Member Mart

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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THE DOCTOR IS INBoard 10’s Dr. Dan Davis discusses injury

prevention and treatment, as well as general health and fitness, to help keep you on the court.

“Protecting against diabetic ulcers”

Q: Most people, when they hear “ulcer,” think of stomach ulcers. You’re going to discuss foot ul-cers. What exactly is an ulcer?A: An ulcer occurs when there is a lack of pro-tective covering over tissue. For example, if skin is missing and there is exposed tissue beneath where the skin would normally be, that is an ul-cer. A stomach ulcer occurs when there is a loss of the lining that protects stomach tissue and that re-sults in a vulnerabil-ity to infection.Q: What are dia-betic foot ulcers and what causes them?A: First, keep in mind that diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are abnormally high. That can lead to nerve damage, or neuropathy. If that happens to you, you don’t feel pain or pressure as much as people who don’t have that condition. Couple that with the fact that once your blood sugar reaches levels over 200, your risk of infec-tion increases significantly. So, if you develop an infection in the foot, you may not know it, be-cause you don’t feel it. That infection, if un-checked and untreated, can lead to a toe, foot or leg needing to be amputated. That’s one of the serious consequences of diabetes.Q: If you can’t feel the pain of a foot infection, how can you tell if you have an infection?A: If you have diabetes and are desensitized to pain as I noted earlier, then it’s important to util-

ize your other senses. For example, use your sense of sight. Most infections cause redness and abnormal swelling, and that’s something you can easily see if your look at your feet on a daily basis.  Use your sense of smell. In most infec-tions, there is an easily detected odor. An infec-tion could also lead to some drainage, so if you notice your sock sticking to your foot, that might

be a sign of an infection. Q: Are there other contributing fac-tors?A: Yes. You could have a biomechani-cal issue. By that, I mean, when you’re running or walking, if you don’t distrib-ute your weight evenly across your feet, you might put too much pressure

on a particular area of the foot and develop blisters and calluses. Continued activity often leads to the blister breaking, leaving the tissue beneath the blister unprotected.  This greatly increases the risk of further breakdown and probable infection.  A cal-lus (a build-up of dead skin) can also develop over areas of chronic pressure.  Left untreated in a diabetic, the callus increases pressure on that area of the foot, and the pressure may eventually lead to breakdown and ulceration of the skin. Smoking is another contributing factor, since smoking significantly slows the rate of healing once an ulcer has developed. (cont. on p. 19)

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The Dr. is In ... (cont. from p. 18)Q: Isn’t that a problem for us as basketball offi-cials, since we run a lot in every game?A: It does seem like a bit of a Catch-22. On one hand, exercise helps keep your blood sugar levels under control, which is very important to anyone with diabetes. On the other hand, if you are dia-betic, you are more prone to these problems that I have discussed.  Running when there is a biome-chanical issue can lead to problems, such as dia-betic foot ulcers.Q: What can someone do, then, to avoid or minimize these problems?A: Take care of your body. Exercise and healthy diet help keep blood sugar levels under control, and that’s critical so as to reduce your chance of developing diabetes in the first place, or if you do develop diabetes, then perhaps lessening the ef-fects of the disease. But specifically, with regard to your feet and possible ulcers – if you are dia-betic, one thing you should do is check your feet regularly for sores and cuts and be sure to look at the area between the toes, not just the soles of your feet. At the first sign of a foot problem, you should get checked by a podiatrist. Podiatrists are by definition and training, foot and ankle special-ists. If there is a biomechanical issue, orthotics can be extremely beneficial in evenly balancing the distribution of weight across the bottom of the feet.  Keeping the area clean and changing the dressing regularly is also critical. Also, accord-ing to recent medical literature, certain varieties of B-Complex vitamins have been shown to be extremely helpful in preventing neuropathy and even reversing it in diabetics. Q: What treatment modalities (methods of therapy) are available for treating a slow-healing ulcer or a complicated ul-ceration?A:  The tools to treat diabetic ulcers have greatly advanced in recent years.  Many dressings con-tain silver (which acts as an effective anti-bacterial on an ulceration). Several of these sil-

ver dressings are combined with collagen to make an ulcer heal much faster.  More advanced therapies include graft materials that are biologi-cally engineered from skin cells to significantly accelerate the healing of an ulceration--virtually eliminating the need for skin grafts to heal dia-betic ulcers. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers are also a recent modality that dramatically assists in the healing of an ulceration, especially in diabet-ics with poor circulation.Q: All this advice seems to be for people with diabetes. How common is that disorder?A: Too common, unfortunately. In fact, we have fellow Board 10 members who have diabetes and I’m sure others have family members or friends who are also afflicted. According to the Ameri-can Diabetes Association, nearly 26 million adults and children in the U.S. have diabetes. Last year (2010), alone, 1.9 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people 20 years of age or older. Diabetic foot lesions are responsible for more hospitalizations than any other compli-cation of diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations in the United States, with approximately 5% of dia-betics developing foot ulcers each year and 1% requiring amputation. Recent studies by Duke and Thompson Reuters revealed that one visit a year by a diabetic to a podiatrist reduces the rate of amputation by over 58% per year, leading to a cost savings of 3.5 billion dollars a year in health care costs.  So, it’s a big problem and a growing one. Q: Final thoughts?A: As I noted earlier, do everything you can to stay healthy – exercise, follow healthy eating habits, and stay vigilant about what’s happening with your body, including getting physical exams on a regular basis. (Graphic on p. 18 courtesy of livedr.org)Got a health and fitness question for Dr. Dan? Email it by clicking here: Ask Dr. Dan

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Member-to-Member Mart

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MEMBER PROFILE: SALUTING ALL OUR U.S. MILITARY VETERANS“Thank you for your service”

Editor’s note: Rather than profile an individual Board 10 official, we are using this post-Memorial Day edition of the newsletter to pay tribute to our colleagues and their families who have served, are serving, or are about to serve in the military to protect our nation and its citizens. A while back, we asked you to send us your military service information and that of any family members with military service experience. Thanks to all of you who responded and apologies to anyone we may have inadvertently failed to include.

Ray Vanacore served in the U.S. Navy from 1980 to 1984. He was an avia-tion electronics mate and achieved the rank of 2nd Class Petty Officer before being honorably dis-charged. Ray

served aboard the USS Midway in Fighter Squadron VF-151, whose home part was Yoko-suka, Japan. He worked on the F-4S fighter, which has been deployed by some air forces around the world ever since the Vietnam war and is still in service today. Ray says of his tour of duty aboard the Midway, “The ship was at sea so much that we use to call the Midway the USS NeverDock. The Midway is now a museum in San Diego. My family and I visited the ship sev-eral years ago. When we came aboard, I told the tour guide I was a former crewman. They let us have access to areas of the ship that were off lim-its to the regular touring public. While touring the ship with my family, I began to tell stories I remembered from certain areas of the ship. Other tourists began listening to me and follow-ing us around rather than their guide because they said my stories were better. If I were to have a chance to serve again, I would. Serving my country was one of my great-est achievements.” Ray is pictured here in the pilot’s seat of an F-4S aircraft aboard the USS Midway out in the Indian Ocean, which is where

Ray and his crewmates spent much of their time during the Iranian crisis.Bob Spino served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1970. He did basic training at Fort Dix and did advanced infantry training at the Fort Lewis Jump School and the Ranger School in Fort Ben-ning. Bob served in Vietnam from ’69 to ’70 during which time he was wounded in his right leg. He returned to the States in May of 1970, after which he finished his 2-year commitment at Fort Lewis.Steve Kirck also served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Era, specifically from 1968 to 1970, which is when he got his start in officiating. He was actually ordered to umpire a T-ball baseball game. Steve followed orders and his officiating career took off from there. Steve’s fa-ther, Howard A. Kirck, Jr. served in the U.S. Army during World War II, spending most of his active duty in Europe. Howard was born in 1912, a couple of years before the outbreak of World War I and passed on in 2002...... Jason Crockett’s father, Robert Crockett, served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. Jason’s grandfather, Harry Ness, served in the Army during World War II and landed in Nor-mandy 13 days after D-Day. Harry later met a woman, in Belgium, whom he would marry (and who became Jason’s grandmother) before return-ing to the States...... Gary Rispoli reports that his father, Staff Sergeant Vincent Rispoli, (cont. on p. 22)

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Member Profile ... (cont. from p. 21)was a proud veteran of the U.S. Army and fought

at Normandy on D-day. Gary’s dad passed away in January of 2008.... Jim Brennan tells us that his father, Bill Brennan, was a World War II

Navy veteran. Mr. Brennan recently celebrated his 91st birthday. Two of Jim’s older brothers – William and Edward Brennan – both served with the Marines in Vietnam and, sadly, both have passed away......George Bradford served in the U.S. Army from 1982 to 1994 includ-ing stints at Fort Dix, Fort Bragg, Ramstin AB in Germany, as well as a tour of duty in Panama and at Fort Poke in Lou-isiana. George served in the Army Reserve in New Haven and Windsor, CT from 1994 to 2002. ...Bob Else is proud to have served in the United

States Navy from 1957 to 1959 as a YN3. Last year, when a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall was brought to Cheshire, Bob attended, proudly wearing his original uniform – which still fits!From 1964

to 1966, Harry Robinson was a Lieutenant JG in the U.S. Navy. He served as Supply/Disbursing Officer in MCB 8, a mobile construc-tion battalion. Harry trained at Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton and was then de-ployed to Danang, Vietnam

in 1967 and 1968. He was attached to an admi-ral’s staff and served as Navy Exchange/Special Services Officer with MSTS in San Francisco, supporting 70-troop transport, cargo and special project ships. While in San Francisco, Harry was a member of IAABO Board # 228 and officiated two years for a military league that played their games at the Oakland Army Terminal...

...Pat Paulson’s son, Lance Cor-poral William Paulson, is cur-rently serving in the United States Marine Corps and is stationed at 29 Palms, California, per-forming a variety of duties. Wil-liam served eight

months in southern Afghanistan with the Marines First Light Armored Reconnaissance unit......Cheryl McCarthy Chiari tells us that her son, Tony, Jr., was sworn into the U.S. Navy on Memo-rial Day and left for Navy boot camp on June 2nd. He will be attending Recruit Training Command, located at Naval Sta-tion Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois......Ed Zelek served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1970. His tours of duty included 18 months in Germany, 13 months in Vietnam, and 12 months at Fort Carson in Colorado. Ed was a Platoon Leader. Ed’s son Justin is currently serving as an Intelligence Officer with the Coast Guard...... After graduating from Branford High School, Rob Sember’s son, RJ, will (cont. on p. 23)

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Member Profile ... (cont. from p. 22)join the National Guard and attend BCT/AIT training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After that, he will enroll in the ROTC program at UCONN.Ken Theodos is proud to report to us that his son, James, is now in the process of completing his first year at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. James is a member of the class of 2014.Leo Hodges’ sister, Marine Colonel Adele Hodges, enlisted in the Corps in 1979. She had numerous assignments and received several well-earned positions of responsibility in the U.S. and overseas. She was deployed with the Headquarters Bat-talion, 2nd Marine Division, to Opera-tion Desert Storm and served as Ex-ecutive Officer for the Brigade Service Support One during preparations and deployment for Operation Natural Fire in Kenya in the year 2000. In August 2003, she served at NATO Joint Headquarters North in Stavanger, Norway. Colonel Hodges became the first female commander of Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast. She was also the first Colonel to hold that position – one that has been historically assigned to 2-star Generals. She relinquished her command in Feb-ruary and is currently based in the Inspector Gen-eral’s office at Headquarters, Marine Corps, in Arlington, VA... ... Lou Brockett served in the Navy from 1978 to 1998. He retired, having been Hospital Corpsman Chief Petty Officer (an aviation war-fare specialist). Lou’s tour of duty included:

RTC Boot Camp in San Diego, Naval Hospital Corpsman “A” School (San Diego), Naval Hos-pital Pharmacy Technician School (Portsmouth, VA), Naval Hospital Roosevelt Road, Puerto Rico, USS Nassau LHA-4 (Norfolk, VA), Special Boat Unit 24 (Little Creek, VA), Sewell’s Point Naval Clinic Pharmacy (Norfolk, VA), Naval Hospital Independent Hospital Corpsman School (Portsmouth, VA), USS John F. Kennedy, USS Forrestal, Portsmouth Naval Clinic, Surgical Team 2 Bahrain (Desert Storm and Desert Shield), White House Medical Unit, and the Na-val Hospital/Clinic (Patuxent River, MD).Dave Boland’s Army career ran the gamut from Private to General. Dave enlisted in May of 1960. He graduated from Offi-cer Candidate School in August of 1962 and was a 2nd Lieutenant Engi-neer Officer with the Connecticut Army Na-tional Guard. He was a Captain and Company Commander in August, 1968. His graduate U.S. Army education in-cluded Basic Officer Engineer, Advanced Officer Engineer, Command and General Staff College, National Defense University/Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and the National War Col-lege where he was named a Distinguished Graduate in 1983. He became Major and Battal-ion Training Officer in 1974, Lt. Colonel and Battalion Commander in 1980, member of the Student/Faculty at the National War College in Washington, DC, and was Chief of Staff of the Connecticut Army National Guard from 1984 to 1992 with the rank of Brigadier General......Though not in the military, per se, Maureen Bruce, wife of Eddie Bruce, worked as a Regis-tered Nurse at Saigon Hospital in South Vietnam in 1970 and 1971. She volunteered with a group of physicians and nurses known as CMRI (Chil-dren’s Medical Relief International) to treat South Vietnamese children who were injured by exploding land mines. (cont. on p. 24)

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Member Profile ... (cont. from p. 23)

Left-to-right: Tom Goldbach, who served in the United States Coast Guard from 2001 to 2005; Dave Reno, who served in the U.S. Army from 1981 to 1985 and was stationed in Germany; and Staff Ser-geant Mike Durso, who is currently serving with the National Guard in West Hartford, Connecticut.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Member-to-Member Mart

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IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Board 10 Knowledge BankBoard 10 officials share their knowledge and experience with tips to clip and news you can use

“Referee schools, camps and tryouts -- How to get the most out of them” -- Jeffrey Smith

How will you improve your officiating skills and abilities during the off-season?  Many officials work various leagues and AAU tournaments and at-tend referee schools, camps or tryouts.  You will find that there are many benefits to these pursuits.  However, you must put in the work before you can reap the benefits.Where are you now?  Where do you want to be?First of all, you must understand what your current level of officiating really is.  This level is not always determined by your years of service with any par-ticular organization. It can be determined by the level of games you work, the intensity with which you work your games, your willingness to work each

game -- no matter what level -- with a high level of concentration, care, good partnering and hustle, among other things. Next, you must decide on the level to which you aspire and recognize the commit-ment it takes to get there.  You may want to aim for a high school varsity and post-season schedule, small college, mid-major/major college contracts, or a professional career.  You may have a 1-5 year plan or 6-10 year plan in mind.  How realistic is your plan?  To help you find out, you would do well to seek the advice of someone you trust who has attended referee schools, camps or tryouts, or has worked as an observer or evaluator at any of them.Prepare yourself before attending a campBefore you attend a referee school, camp or tryout, understand that your preparation should start a few weeks or months before the camp, when you are officiating those various leagues and AAU tourna-ments.  If you were just going through the motions at that time, not making proper rulings, walking up and down the court (and getting beaten down court by 13-year olds as the new lead), not clearly com-municating violations and fouls, etc., these seemingly “little” things will stand out in a “big” non-flattering way when you are being observed. Referee schools and camps can range anywhere from $300-550 for 3 days, and that does not include transportation. Why would you not prepare yourself ade-quately for such a large investment in your future and improving your officiating skill-set? Listen and learnDuring your stay at a camp, you should be like a sponge and soak up as much information as possible from the entire staff. You will get a variety of perspectives, but everyone is speaking the same officiating language and giving you valuable information which you should take note of and use. While being ob-served and critiqued on the court or in the video room, it is best to listen and ask how to improve upon certain things.  Don’t respond to a criticism with a “yes, but…” rebuttal.  The observers and evaluators have your best interest in mind. They want you to improve and succeed, and they are there to help make do just that.  Remember:  You are there to learn.What schools and camps offerReferee schools such as those conducted by IAABO’s, are dedicated to teaching officials correct termi-nology, PCA coverage, rule-specific topics, proper mechanics, signals, and (cont. on p. 27)

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Knowledge Bank: Referee schools, camps and tryouts ... (cont. from p. 26)accurate rulings. You will receive ample time for classroom learning, on-court (hands-on) learning and individual critiques and dialogue. Camps will give you some classroom instruction along with on-court and video critiques. Observers will review videotape with you and your crew and then watch for your immediate adjustments to their recommendations. You are there to show that you are a fast learner and can adapt.Tryouts vs. schools and campsTryouts usually do not offer much as far as teaching is concerned because, if you were invited to a try-out, you are expected to know the rules, mechanics and signals.  Evaluators and supervisors are observ-ing your ability to keep up with the play, make accurate rulings, implement proper rotations, crew chem-istry (as you will work with a variety of officials), clear communication, coach/player interaction, taking care of business, etc.  You are there to show that you are a team player, and that you are talented, adapt-able, a quick learner, professional and that you hope to become part of the staff.  Remember, these few days at a tryout are your job interview!Be in shape and put what you learn into practiceBefore attending any referee school, camp or tryout, you must go there in shape.  You must look like you are in shape and you must actually be in shape.  No one at one of these events is there to pat you on the back and tell you that you are the best thing since sliced bread.  This is a learning environment, and your areas of improvement will be highlighted more than anything else.  There were many years when I at-tended camps and, while there, wasn’t sure I really knew how to referee.  However, when I returned home and resumed officiating various leagues, I was able to apply what I'd learned and make sense of everything I experienced.  Many of my apprehensions were the result of receiving so much information in such a short period of time, and being under the microscope of many eyes and the video camera.Make the most of your investmentSome officials attend several referee schools, camps or tryouts during the summer. That can mean in-vesting over a few thousand dollars for 6-9 days of being observed and critiqued.  Would you throw that kind of money in the trash?  Of course not.  So, upon your return, I strongly suggest that you apply your knowledge and experience to the games you work.  Schools, camps and tryouts are not a one-and-done experience.  They have residual value, because in the years that follow, you will be able to reach into your knowledge bank and skill set to continue your growth as a “referee/crew chief”.

Jeffrey Smith is Board 10’s Interpreter and the Connecticut State Interpreter.

FROM THE LIGHTER SIDE

For a humorous look at the life of a basketball referee, check out Kevin Sparrock’s “Fouls & Violations” web site at:

www.foulsandviolations.net

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Member-to-Member Mart

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IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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ASK THE INTERPRETER

With Jeffrey Smith, Board 10 Inter-preter and CT State Interpreter

With the 2010-11 season in the books, we took this opportunity to ask our Interpreter about any rules, mechanics, procedures or other aspects of officiating that he and other interpreters and ob-servers – including IAABO’s Peter Webb – feel, based on what they saw last season, need more attention from officials in the coming season. 

1) Rules Application, including contact in general, and more specifically, verticality in-volving the shooter and defender, rebounding, hand checking/bumping, loose ball situations, continuous motion, free throw lane lines, closely guarded, palming, granting timeouts.There seems to be too much illegal contact which is not being ruled as fouls by officials. Continu-ous motion remains ruled incorrectly the majority of the time. Officials are indicating a non-shooting foul before the play has finished, and not allowing the continuous motion rule to be adjudicated correctly. The closely-guarded rule is seldom applied in closely-guarded situations. Officials are giving the “not closely-guarded” signal, when in fact, the official should be using his or her visible counts. Too many defenders are being ruled for fouls even though they have established a legal guard-ing position and maintained verticality. Rebounding is still an area which needs more at-

tention. Players are illegally dislodging oppo-nents who have established a legal position. Rough play, i.e. hand-to-hand combat, is being allowed by officials in the post and during re-bounding situations. Many players are going to the floor because of illegal contact for which no foul is being ruled.2) Mechanics, including the toss, demonstrat-ing an understanding of coverage responsibili-ties, free throw administration, violation ad-ministration, time-out administration, desig-nated spots for throw-ins, among others.Officials must continue to move in order to im-prove their coverage angles, and not use “hit and run” signals after ruling a foul. After fouls are ruled, too many non-ruling offi-cials are moving to their next position and look-ing to recover the ball, instead of observing play-ers by freezing their field of vision. In addition, some officials have gotten into the habit of walk-ing through players, instead of going around them when going to the reporting area or when switching after a ruled foul.3) Crew of TwoOfficials must have a better and clearer under-standing of PCA’s (primary coverage areas), and when to extend their coverage beyond their PCA. When ruling fouls and violations in another offi-cial’s PCA, an official must be 100% accurate and have an open angle before making his or her ruling. In addition, officials must be certain that there isn’t any illegal activity occurring in their own PCA, before looking at or ruling on a play beyond their PCA. Are all the players being ob-served? Officials are doing a better job of communicating to one another the free throw shooter and the number of free throws to be attempted. How-ever, the lead official must not turn his or her back after administering the ball to the free throw shooter. The lead official must be positioned properly for adequate free throw coverage. Identifying and administering the correct throw-in spots continues to be an area that must be ad-dressed more consistently (cont. on p. 30)

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Ask the Interpreter ... (cont. from p. 29)and accurately by the crew. This communication must continue during the entire game. Officials are not consistent in their time-out posi-tioning during the course of the game, and some officials are incorrectly switching positions be-fore reporting a timeout and afterwards when play is ready to resume. 4) Crew of ThreeOfficials must have a better understanding and application of the Crew of Three mechanics. This is an area that needs much more attention and improvement. PCA’s are being misunder-stood. Officials must trust and understand the system. Allow rotations to occur when the ball and players dictate the situation. Read and re-view the manual yearly and throughout the sea-son to familiarize yourself with it.5) Signals, including starting and stopping the clock, counting, type of foul, thoroughness at the site of a foul or a violation, time-out, 3-point attempts, whistling multiple tweets.This is an area which MUST be attended to by officials. Too many officials are not using the stop-clock signal before indicating an infraction (foul, violation, jump ball). Officials are not tak-ing care of things directly under their control, such as signals and counts.6) Professionalism, including appearance, conditioning, pre-game on the court, sharp-ness and thoroughness in carrying out duties, presentation and communication.By and large, most officials conduct themselves with professionalism. However, all officials must care about their physical appearance and their weight and be able to keep up with the play. Officials must maintain their focus on the court and not be distracted by the crowed or other as-pects of the game venue. Mental focus and sharpness must be maintained throughout the game, especially when there is a large discrep-ancy in the score. Officials should address coaches and benches when appropriate, and if necessary, and assess penalties accordingly.

Additional CommentsA Board’s leadership must assist in reinforcing the interpreter’s role and should voice displeasure with veteran officials who want to do it “their” way. The leadership should make that point at the meetings. After all, it’s “One Rule, One In-terpretation, One Set of Mechanics.” That is the IAABO Way. I also think that the mechanics’ exam should be included as a part of the annual Refresher Exam. In addition, inexperienced offi-cials – and others – constantly ask how they should respond to a coach’s comments. We need to do a better job of teaching and providing our members with appropriate responding skills to handle and diffuse situations. This is another skill to help them grow and develop, not just as officials, but as referees.There is plenty for all of us to work on as we prepare for the next season, even beyond what I’ve mentioned above. The time to start is now! Focus more on how you officiate games during the off-season. Let’s go into the 2011-12 high school season better prepared and perform at a higher level from the start of the preseason to the championship game.If you have a rules question, please email your question by clicking on: Ask the Interpreter

Member-to-Member Mart

This is the only educational opportunity offered any-where in the country that is specifically designed to enable you to position yourself to advance from high school to college, from NCAA D-III or D-II to D-I and from college to the

pros. At Stripes University you will be instructed by a distinguished and unparalleled faculty of officials who have reached the highest levels of their profession and know what it takes - on and off the court - to get there.Saturday and Sunday July 9-10, 2011at: MassMutual Center, Springfield, MA.For more information, visit: www.stripesuniversity.com

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Member-to-Member Mart

Aunt Chiladaʼs, voted New Havenʼs Best Mexican Restaurant, is the perfect place for food, fun, and entertainment. If you canʼt come to us, no problem. We cater and deliver to your home or office. And, now that the warm weather is here, enjoy outdoor dining with a great view of Sleeping Giant Mountain and the golf course.

Eat, drink and be merry at Aunt Chiladaʼs. 3931 Whitney Ave., Hamden. (203) 230-4640. Charlie Hague, proprietor.

Off I-95 exit 57, next to Guilford Sporting Goods. Frank Bepko, proprietorVisit us at www.sachemwineandspirits.com and get added to our email list.

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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Calendar

Meeting Schedule for the 2011-12 season

Sunday, November 13, 2011 (Mandatory rules clinic)Sunday, December 4, 2011Sunday, December 11, 2011 – (Rules Refresher Exam)Sunday, January 8, 2012Sunday, February 5 , 2012 (Annual Meeting).

Next issue of Bd 10.COMmuniqué: Late summer or early fall, 2011

Helpful LinksBd 10.COMmuniqué is an interactive, electronic document. Wherever you see text highlighted in blue, bold, underlined type, that is a hot link to either an email address or a web page. Simply click on that link to submit ideas and questions, or to get more information. Here are some helpful links:

• News & Notes and Story Ideas • New Bd 10 Website • Ask Dr. Dan• Ask the Interpreter • CIAC Officials’ Association • ArbiterSports• Women’s Coordinating Committee • Board 10 Knowledge Bank • IAABO

• Member to Member Mart

Bd 10.COMmuniquéEDITOR IN CHIEF: Hank Luzzi hluzzi@comcast.netMANAGING EDITOR/CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Ken Devoe kendevoe@pantheon.yale.eduCO-MANAGING EDITOR/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER: Cheryl McCarthy ChiariCONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Jeffrey Smith, Ray VanacoreDESIGN & LAYOUT: Ken DevoeEmail story ideas, news and notes, and questions to: Ken Devoe or Hank Luzzi

All issues of Bd 10.COMmuniqué are available on-line at the Board 10 Download Site.

IAABO BOARD 10 NEW HAVEN SPRING 2011

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