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Greetings from the Chair // Matt Wilson:
Happy Summer, everyone! Where does the time go? It feels like yesterday that we were selecting our team to send to Budapest. Actually, it was (sort of)! With a condensed quad due to the global pandemic, the international meets are stacked up and waiting for our representatives to be selected.
Phillips 66 Nationals is just around the corner. With selections for four international teams coming from the event, a lot is on the line. Oh, and Olympic Trials are now less than a year away! While meets such as this are the culmination of months and years of effort, the journey begins at the hundreds of meets held in LSCs almost every weekend. As we work meets of all levels, we should constantly be in pursuit of excellence in officiating just as the athletes we are observing are looking to do in the pool.
In our ongoing effort to provide chances to both learn and be taught, presenters from the National Officials Committee met with the LSC Officials Chairs and New Referees, as two separate educational tracks, during the USA Swimming Workshop in April. A broad range of topics were covered, allowing for interactive conversation and discussion.
Later this summer, additional officials from each LSC will have the opportunity to hear the information that was covered in the New Referees track. As with any continuing educational opportunity, take it as a chance to reinforce the things you know as well as expand your horizons to new experiences and ways to consider situations and resolutions.
Thank you all again for your ongoing contributions to the sport of swimming. It couldn’t be done without all your hard work and dedication!
Announcements:
- The next Officials Chairs call will be Wednesday, July 5.
- Applications / Meets:
- 2023 Winter National Meets:
- 2023 Toyota U.S. Open (Greensboro, N.C.) // Nov. 29-Dec. 2 (MR: Peter LaGow) // application posted
- 2023 Speedo Winter Junior East Championships (Columbus, Ohio) // Dec. 6-9 (MR: Traci Johnson) // application posted
- 2023 Speedo Winter Junior West Championships (Westmont, Ill.) // Dec. 6-9 (MR: Rich McMillen) // application posted
Officials Certification Exams:
Officials certification exams are now active in the USA Swimming University online portal.
To access an exam:
- log in to your USA Swimming account
- click on "Education" on the menu bar on the top of the page
- click on "Officials"
- select the desired online exam
When finished, please send a screenshot showing completion of your exam to your LSC Officials Chair.
Please note that re-certification exams are not yet active in the portal. Officials needing to take an exam for recertification should complete a certification exam for the time being.
Hot August Nights:
This summer's educational series presented by the NOC will focus on the role of Meet Referee. We had a wonderful response to the New Meet Referee track at the Workshop. Hot August Nights will offer some of this information via webinar training. We encourage all LSC Officials Chairs to attend. Additionally, the LSC Officials Chairs will be asked to identify 3-4 officials within their LSC that would benefit from this training:
- Tuesday, August 8, 8p ET: “Meet Referee 101” // General MR philosophy
- TARGET: New LSC Meet Refs
- Thursday, August 10, 8p ET: “Yes to the Ref ... Now What?” // Pre-meet preparation
- TARGET: New LSC Meet Refs and LSC Officials Chairs
- Thursday, August 10, 8p ET: "World's Colliding: Meet Refs & National Evaluators: Who's in Charge Around Here?" // How Meet Refs and National Mentors work together at OQMs
- TARGET: Experienced Meet Refs & N3 Evaluators
- Thursday, August 17, 8p ET: “First Whistle” // MR practices during meet
- TARGET: New LSC Meet Refs and LSC Officials Chairs
- Thursday, August 24, 8p ET: “Swim Meets and the Management of Risks”
- TARGET: All Meet Refs and LSC Officials Chairs
“Meet Referee 101”, “Yes to the Ref ... Now What?” and “First Whistle” are meant to be attended as a series of learning for new LSC Meet Referees.
All National Evaluators are invited to the “Worlds Colliding” session on August 10. The Zoom link will be emailed to National Evaluators. Experienced LSC Meet Referees will benefit from the information in this session, as well.
LSC Officials Chairs and National Evaluators will receive information regarding Hot August Nights via email.
Officials Tracking System (OTS) and National Certification Updates:
In the last two months, USA Swimming has worked hard to migrate historical OTS data and enhance the current OTS functionality. We recognize that we have much more work to do, specifically surrounding National Certifications, Evaluations and Activities. We continue to work closely with the National Committee and select LSC Officials Chairs to ensure all requirements are well-documented and understood prior to the next software development cycle.
Due to some reprioritization efforts from the Board of Directors, the USA Swimming software and data team has two primary focuses for the next month: ensuring Online Member Registration (OMR) goes smoothly in the fall and drastic Reporting improvements. In unison with the National Officials Committee, it has been decided that additional OTS functionality development is currently paused until our OMR work is complete. We plan to re-engage developing OTS functionality in July with a goal of launching the remaining functionality in the fall. We appreciate your patience and willingness to work with us as we continue to progress through our Digital Transformation.
OTS Meet History
Meet History prior to Sept. 1, 2022 has been loaded into OTS as line items. Session information was not designated in the old OTS. Restoring the number of sessions by position will be a future OTS development item.
National Certifications
Anything listed under the National Certification pill under "My History" in OTS is prior to Sept. 1, 2022. Updates to certifications (advancements and recertifications) and expiration dates will continue to be reported monthly on the National Certification web page spreadsheet. This will continue for the foreseeable future.
Interim Process for National Certifications (updated 5/25/2023)
The Interim Process for National Certifications was updated at the end of May when the pre-Sept. 1, 2022 meet history became available. All officials meeting advancement or recertification requirements may apply. Requirements are listed on the National Certification webpage under the position's certification document. Activity requirements are still being waived. Evaluations pre-Sept. 1, 2022 cannot currently be accessed in OTS and may still hinder the advancement/recertification process.
If you applied before the end of May and received an email stating your application was denied since sessions could not be validated, you may reapply at this time. The working group does not automatically re-pull the applications for review.
National Mentors must also submit an application to recertify their national certifications. The process is not automatic. Please review the Professional N3 Mentor Recertification Requirements.
The review process is still taking up to two months, and officials whose applications are denied or require additional information will be contacted. Please be courteous in your communications with our volunteer working group members.
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