Rey Treviño organized and led an Official’s Clinic, in Charlotte, NC, on January 28-29. The clinic included refresher courses for all levels of officials, a Road C course & test, a Road B upgrade course & test, and a C Motoref course. Chips Chapman assisted Rey with the C level course & test. The B upgrade and Motoref courses were led by Dave Miller, a Nat. Comm. from Pennsylvania, who has helped establish the Motoref curriculum, and currently serves on the USAC Technical Commission.
The meeting was fairly well attended, with many folks coming from out of state to participate in the B upgrade and Motoref clinics. Congratulations to Laurin Stennis for acquiring her C license; to Ruth Reid, Judy Rhyne, and Wayne Unruh for successfully upgrading to Road B; and to David Johnson, Dean Lyons, Larry Norris, and Don Sprinkle for acquiring their Motoref licenses.
Several of the brand new rulebooks were distributed, the rest are supposed to be in the mail. Kudos to Rey, Chips, and Dave for a great clinic.
There was some discussion about how administrative officials tasks were to be handled, as well as discussion about event assignments, equipment management, and incentives for officials. It is still harder than it should be to collect a full crew to work events, especially while trying to keep travel time and expense to a minimum. We don’t have enough experienced, active officials. Chief Officials are paid around $100 a day (plus mileage), with Asst. Officials paid about $50 a day (plus mileage) for what is typically a ten hour or more day. In the current system, Officials are frequently required to help setup and tear down the finish line staging & systems, as well as their other duties. Incentive and mentoring programs were discussed. USAC has severed relations with its vendor for official’s clothing, so Chips Chapman approached a local custom embroidery shop for help in manufacturing official’s polo shirts, and brought an attractive and affordable sample. It was agreed that we would assemble and place an order.