2015 Eastern Zone Winter LC Speedo Sectionals Meet - March 26-29, 2015

The 2015 Eastern Zone Winter LC Speedo Sectionals Meet is being held in Buffalo, NY on March 26-29th. This is an Officials Qualifying Meet. Per Meet Referee Nancy Wargo form Connecticut Swimming...

We could use your help soliciting officials for the: 2015 Eastern Zone Winter LC Speedo Sectionals Meet

Our lead team is:   AO, Tim Husson     Starter, Paul Memont   CJ, Bonnie Lechten

Our OQM evaluators are Jamy Pfister and Paul Memont. 

When: March 26-29, 2015Where: Buffalo, NY - Burt Flickinger Athletic Center - Erie Community College

The application link is: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12_B2y0eopR7XLr00JVNzHMf-KfULYdJAGLbwGS02WAs/viewform 

Thank you so much for any assistance you can give!

Best,Nancy

Upcoming Meets and Age Group Champs/Senior Champs Qualifier

We're in the home stretch. Bronze Champs are now behind us and we're headed toward more great meets to close out the Short Course season. Upcoming meets are as follows:

Silver Champs (CVSC)  2/20-22/15
     Still looking for officials for all sessions. Please sign up on the AMS Centralized Meet 
     Sign Up spreadsheet. Any questions, contact Gina Santilli at gsantilli@comcast.net.

High School/Mini Champs (MLAC)  2/28/15 - 3/1/15
     Still looking for officials for all sessions. Please sign up on the AMS Centralized Meet 
     Sign Up spreadsheet. Any questions, contact Scott Wilshire at 
     scott.wilshire@comcast.net.

Single Age Meet (SFAC)  3/7-8/15
     Still looking for officials for all sessions. Please sign up on the AMS Centralized Meet 
     Sign Up spreadsheet. Any questions, contact Cindy Hestad at chestad@sfaquaclub.net.

The AMS Championship season culminates with Age Group Gold Championships and Senior Champs Qualifier being held at Pitt on 3/12-15/15. The 11-14 year olds swim in the AM and the 10 & unders swim in the PM. The 11-14 year olds will swim Prelims/Finals and the 10 & unders and 15 & overs swim timed finals. The meet will most likely be swum only in the deep end of the pool so no need to pick a pool. Please sign up on the AMS Centralized Meet Sign Up spreadsheet. Any questions, contact Terri Cook at terricook27@yahoo.com.

We have three Last Splash meets at the end of March but I'll send out information about those meets later.

The link to our centralized sign up spreadsheet is...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14amxpxN912bDtjtW2AdcE16zWdN7msKUWOvRaGefshM/edit#gid=1718346109

Still plenty of meets left to rack up some serious sessions and help our host clubs run great meets. They can't do it without us!

Upcoming Observations

Every year, we're asked to provide observers for the WPIAL Championships and the ECAC Championships...two very exciting meets. Every year, we've provided officials to observe these meets.

Under USA Swimming rules, a season culminating meet that is a non-USA Swimming meet, can request their meet be observed so that their USAS athlete times can be entered intot he SWIMS database. We only judge those stroke infractions where the rules for NFHS and/or NCAA differ from USAS rules. For rules that are the same, the PIAA/NCAA officials judge those strokes and we don't identify possible infractions (as we would be over officiating)

WPIAL Champs are on February 20-21 at Pitt. The AA Champs are in the AM and the AAA Champs are in the PM. WPIAL's are timed finals.

ECAC Champs are on February 27 - March 1, also at Pitt. ECAC's are prelim/finals with time trials.

Currently, the WPIAL AAA Champs are well covered and no additional officials will be accepted. The WPIAL AA Champs currently only have one observer for each session. USAS rules require a minimum of two officials (one at each end of the pool) so, at this time, these times cannot be entered into SWIMS. Folks, if you've never been to a WPIAL Championship meet, this is the best ticket in the house. In fact, you can avoid the craziness surrounding getting tickets for the stands with all the other rabid parents! Please sign up for the AA Champs as soon as possible so that we can get these times into SWIMS. Here's the link...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1F_1Xv5OY4T3QxXTS2RVrpt8PrNWOBNogdH8bx7XCjMc/edit#gid=0

Currently, we have only one official for each of the Friday sessions signed up to observe the ECAC Champs. We have no observers on Saturday and Sunday. This is a very fast college championship meet that you'll enjoy. We need a minimum of two officials for each prelim and final session. Please sign up as soon as possible so that these times can also be entered into SWIMS. Here's the link to sign up...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uN05NRxZKRfJ8thxgDKr4i38QIXdMzrOUe0f5T28zIA/edit#gid=0

I appreciate your help!

Request for Officials to Observe PIAA District 10 Championship Meet

The PIAA District Ten is holding their championship meet at Spire Institute on Feb 27 & 28.  They have requested this be an observed meet.  Lake Erie Swimming has requested the help of any AMS Officials that can assist in this observation.  If there are any AMS Officials that might be attending this High School championship meet from our northern tier (or anyone else who would like to help out), the meet could use your help. 

The meet times are as follows:

     Friday, Feb 27: Warm ups at 4:00 - 5:30 PM, Meet starts at 5:30 PM

     Saturday, Feb 28, Warm ups at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM, Meet starts at 12:30 PM.

They need at least 4 officials to observe this meet. If you can help out, please contact either Chuck Kunsman (chuck163@yahoo.com) or Julie Knurek (jbkmom@wowway.com).

Upcoming Meets and Observation Opportunities

We're at crunch time now with our championship meets right around the corner. I wanted to lay out what meets are in front of us for February and also any observations that exist that could use our assistance.

This weekend is the annual Junior Olympics meet being hosted by MOON. They are still in need of additional Stroke & Turn Officials, especially during the afternoon prelim sessions and all finals. The meet is February 6-8th at MOON. If you're able to help, please go to our centralized meet sign up spreadsheet (see the link below). Any questions, contact Darryl Herman at dherman@wisintl.com. 

The weekend of February 14-15th is Bronze Championships, being hosted at three venues: ANSC, NHA and WHAT. ANSC looks to be in good shape for the weekend but NHA and WHAT need a good bit of help. Use the link below to help at any of these meet locations. Any questions, contact any one of the following Officials Contact:

• Andrea Rousseau (ANSC)  asrousseau@verizon.net
• Kristy Cloonan (NHA)  kshs19@yahoo.com
• Anne Countouris (WHAT)  acountouri@aol.com

The weekend of February 20-22nd is Silver Champs being hosted by CVSC. They currently are in need of Officials during all sessions but especially Friday evening, Saturday AM and Sunday AM. Use the link below to sign up to help. Any questions, contact Gina Santilli at cgsantilli@comcast.net.

The weekend of February 28-March 1st is the High School/Mini Championships being hosted by MLAC. They currently need officials at all levels for all sessions. Use the link below to sign up to help. Any questions, contact Jill Smolenski at jillsmolenski@verizon.net or Scott Wilshire at scott.wilshire@amswim.org. 

Here is the link to our centralized sign up spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14amxpxN912bDtjtW2AdcE16zWdN7msKUWOvRaGefshM/edit#gid=1020571576

There are also a couple of non-AMS season-culminating championship meets that have requested our observation so that their times for USAS member athletes can be entered into the SWIMS database...

The WPIAL Championships are being held at Pitt on February 20-21st. AA is being swum in the AM and AAA in the PM. The AAA sessions are full but we must have at least one additional Official for each of the AA sessions. Clearly, a better alternative to buying tickets and sitting in the stands! To sign up, please go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1F_1Xv5OY4T3QxXTS2RVrpt8PrNWOBNogdH8bx7XCjMc/edit#gid=0

The ECAC Championships are being held at Pitt February 27-March 1st. We need at least two observers for each session and currently no one has signed up. This is a very fast meet and a lot of fun to observe. To sign up, please go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uN05NRxZKRfJ8thxgDKr4i38QIXdMzrOUe0f5T28zIA/edit#gid=0

That rounds out February. Please help out if you can. These meets can really use some additional officials on deck! Thanks for all your time and effort. See ya on deck!

2015 ECAC Championships at Pitt - Need Observers (2/27-3/1)

So, ya like fast swimming? Well, then you're probably going to want to be an observer at the ECAC Championships being held at Pitt on February 27 - March 1, 2015. Great swims, fun college meet atmosphere.

This is Pitt's conference championship meet and is an exciting meet to observe. This is available to any AMS Official who is at least Stroke & Turn certified. According to Pitt, here's the tentative timeline (a hard timeline will be available closer to the meet once entries are in):

Friday February 27 - Prelims: 10 am start – finish about 12:30 (will include a small time trial session). Finals:  Swimming starts about 6:25 (diving starts 6 pm) ends about 8:30 pm.

Saturday February 28 - Prelims: 10 am start – finish about 1 pm (will include a small time trial session). Finals: Swimming starts about 6:25 pm (diving starts 6 pm) ends about 9 pm.

Sunday March 1 - Prelims: 9 am start – finish about 11:15 (includes small time trials if time allows). 1650 Free: Start is variable depending on numbers – 1:30-3 pm estimate.

Finals: 4 pm start – finish about 6:30 pm.

In order to meet USA Swimming minimum staffing requirements, we must have one official at each end of the pool. We'd love to have up to four (4) AMS Officials per session. To sign up, click on the following link and provide your name for each session that you're available.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uN05NRxZKRfJ8thxgDKr4i38QIXdMzrOUe0f5T28zIA/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for your assistance!

AMS Officials Rosters Updated

As of January 21, 2015, the AMS Officials rosters have been updated. Please take the time to review the roster to ensure that it accurately reflects your certification(s). If there is a problem, please contact Bob Mermelstein at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.

Best Wishes

It's hard to believe that we're about ready to turn the page on 2014! As always, I want to thank you all for your generous donation of time...something we find harder and harder to find...to AMS, its swimmers, swim families and coaches. We can literally say that without you, there would be no meets, no times, no fun!

As we finish out the year, let me wish you all, on behalf of your AMS Officials Committee, a very joyous of holiday seasons and hope each of you has a very happy and healthy New Year in 2015.

We look forward to seeing you all on deck soon!

New Minimum Sessions Required to Maintain AMS Official Certification

The AMS Officials Committee has recommended to the AMS Board (approval pending) that the AMS Operating Procedures be revised to increase to the number of minimum sessions AMS Officials have to work over a 12-month period to maintain LSC certification.

This change was prompted for a couple of reasons:

• It is a well known fact that being a good official requires time on deck. While we can all read and pass tests from a theoretical standpoint, there is a significant difference between knowing the rules and effectively and proficiently administering these rules in a fair and consistent basis. 
• While we have always met the minimum requirements for officials staffed at our meets (though we had a couple of close calls in October), we have not consistently put anywhere near an ideal number of officials on deck to officiate our AMS sanctioned meets. Unfortunately, we don't have enough officials to allow us to require fewer minimum officials sessions from our officials. All to often, it falls to a small minority of officials to "come to the rescue" to bail out meets with too few officials.

For these reasons, effective September 1, 2014 (yes, retroactive to the beginning of this Short Course season), AMS Officials will be required to work twelve (12) sessions at AMS sanctioned meets. Eight of these sessions can be from sessions worked at the Official's home club hosted meet(s). The reporting year for sessions worked will now be September 1 through August 31.

An exception to this rule exists for AMS Officials whose clubs are located more than sixty (60) miles from downtown Pittsburgh. If an official's home club is outside of the 60 mile radius, their 12 sessions requirement can be satisfied at any USA Swimming sanctioned meet. All sessions worked, however, must be entered into USA Swimming's Officials Tracking System (OTS).

This was not an easy decision to make and not one that was made without proper vetting and ample discussion. We realize that we're asking more from our volunteer officials but, in the end, it's a better solution for AMS. We believe that this revised requirement will be beneficial to the swimmers and coaches (better trained and qualified officials at meets), AMS meet hosts (more officials on deck) and AMS Officials (more experienced, confident officials on deck). That's a win all around.

If you have any questions, please contact me at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.

On Deck Training

The AMS Officials Committee has been discussing our training regimen for Officials. Certainly, we have minimum standards promulgated by USA Swimming that we must follow but it's up to the LSC to determine the well rounded approach to be used in training Officials at each level.

A (maybe the) critical piece of the training process involves on deck shadowing. As most of us are visual learners, being on deck and seeing first hand what is required of each position is the most valuable component of our training approach. Two important issues have been raised in evaluating our on deck training/shadowing...

• It is not unusual that we have inexperienced officials on deck (some of whom are acting in the capacity of a certified official for only the first or second time) training our Apprentice Officials. That also holds true for training for the Starter and Referee positions. 
• We have a number of training officials who "cram" train and try to satisfy their on deck training requirement in a weekend or two, working 4-6 sessions in a single weekend. This doesn't allow the training official to reflect on and absorb what they've learned during their shadowing and, therefore, the shadowing becomes ineffective.

To address this, effective immediately, the following on deck training rules will apply...

1. For Stroke & Turn: The Meet/Deck Referee will determine, based upon the make up of the certified officials on deck, who will spend time training Apprentice Officials. It is more important that the Apprentice Official spends quality time with fewer, more experienced officials than to spend time across a broader range of officials around the deck who may not possess the experience necessary to properly train the trainee. In addition to identifying what certified officials will be used to mentor our Apprentice Officials, the Meet/Deck Referee will also determine how many Apprentice Officials can be on deck for a particular session. It is certainly our goal to allow an Apprentice Official to train at whatever session they desire, but there may not be enough certified officials present to allow for this. Apprentice Officials will be allowed to train on a first come basis.
2. For Referee and Starter: Clearly, we have a wide range of experience among our current Starters and Referees. We don't want new and/or inexperienced Starters and Referees to have to train those officials who are looking to step up to a higher level. As a result, the AMS Officials Committee, through its Officials Chair, will identify those experienced Referees and/or Starters who will serve as "Trainers" for the Starter and Referee trainees. Those wishing to train for either Starter or Referee can do so only if a Starter or Referee Trainer is on deck for that session (refer to the centralized meet sign up to see if a Trainer will be present). Trainees for these positions will be allowed to train on a first come basis.
3. For all Shadowing Officials: For any meet, a trainee can only satisfy two of their minimum required training sessions. In addition, a trainee can only count one session per day against their minimum required training sessions.

It is our hope to continue to enhance our training program so that we properly develop our AMS Officials. I have added the list of qualified Trainers for the Referee and Starter positions to the "Officials Rosters" section of our website (www.amswim-officials.com).