New Education, Certification, and Information from USTA

Topic

• Education
• Certification
• Clothing Program
• Friend at Court

Education

Online Courses

Over the next two years, we will be replacing traditional USTA in-person certification schools with online education modules.  We have partnered with the USTA Learning and Development Department and E-Path to develop these online modules, which will be rolled out as they are completed.  

In the past, the USTA National and Sectional TEs held 1-2 day in person training schools.  The online modules are more convenient, allowing Officials to complete them at any time and at their own pace.  They are cost effective for both the Sections and the Official.  In addition, the teachings are consistent regardless of where the Officials are located.

By delivering the education via online, the USTA Sections can now use the resources that were allotted to National Schools to conduct specialized and localized officiating training.  In-person training can focus on putting Officials in the field and enhancing their skills (more on that below). 

The modules being developed and their projected completion dates are:

*These dates are subject to change

In-Person Sectional Training

By moving the initial training to more robust and consistent online modules, we can now take the in-person training to a new level. The new approach will allow the Sections to maximize the funds allocated to training Officials by holding training workshops for specific disciplines.   Based on the officiating training needs of the Section, they will have the power to decide when, where and for which discipline to hold trainings in.

The in-person training workshops are being developed with the help of the USTA Learning and Leadership Development Staff and Subject Matter Experts for each officiating discipline. The USTA will provide training materials for each course. Through an application process we will identify, train and approve Officials to teach specific workshops across the country.  By the end of the process, we will have a network of trainers that will be locally available to all Sections.  

In-Person National Training

The USTA Officiating Department will be moving to the Home of American Tennis in 2016. We will leverage the capability of the facility by developing National Level training with the launch of the USTA Officiating Academy at the Lake Nona Facility.  Officials looking to advance to the highest levels of tennis will be invited to attend multi-day trainings where they will learn from the best Officials in the world in a state of the art facility.  The Sectional Trainings being held around the country will help feed promising Officials to these National trainings.  In return, these Officials will become the next generation of tennis Officials.

Certification

In an effort to have a National Standard, USTA Officiating is focusing more time on the requirements a person must complete before becoming a Certified Official.  This will ensure consistency and more than adequate training before a provisional Official goes on court.  This will help Sections focus further training on these Officials as they progress in their disciplines.  The three basic requirements to become an Official have been slightly modified to reflect the new online modules:

1.     Be a USTA Member.

2.     Complete the online Safe Play Training, which includes passing a criminal background check.

3.     Complete the Introduction to Officiating, Rules and Regulations modules, and Roving Umpire 1 (once available) to complete the testing requirement for Provisional Certification.

As we previously mentioned the online modules will be available in January. Until they are launched, we ask that you have any of your new recruits go through the SafePlay Training and Background Screening, which in some cases can take 10-business days to complete.  The USTA Officiating Website will have the new 2016 Friend at Court as well as supplemental documents for all Officials to get acquainted with the rules prior to completing the courses.  

In order to maintain their certification, all Certified Officials will be required to complete the following courses by October 1, 2016:

• Introduction to Officiating
• Rules and Regulations 1
• Rules and Regulations 2
• Rules and Regulations 3
• Roving Umpire 1

The Sectional Chairpersons will be given access to the names of all Officials who have completed the online modules.  We are in the process of determining how those records are transferred into the individual NUCULA accounts so that Sectional and District Chairpersons can also view the information in NUCULA during the re-certification period.   

Clothing Program

We are about to launch the USTA Umpire Clothing Program next week.  This has been a long process, and we appreciate your patience as we worked out all the details.  We are confident that the Officials will be happy with the items we have selected, the website created, and the high customer service level S&H provides. In preparation for the launch, we have also created a clothing guide that includes pricing, size chart, and any additional information about each item. Click here to view the clothing guide. 

As we mentioned before, the roll-out will be tiered.  We have prioritized the Pro Circuit Officials working in January as the first group to receive the link for the Clothing Program Website.  Those Officials will have one week to place their order before the rest of the USTA Certified Officials receive the link.  This will ensure that they will receive their uniform before their first assignment in January. The clothing information and link will then be sent to all Certified Officials on December 16th.  

Friend at Court

We anticipate the Friend at Court to be mailed to all Certified Officials at the end of the month. In preparation for this, we will be pulling the mailing list from NUCULA on December 15th.  Please remind all the Officials in your Section to make sure their mailing address is correctly displayed in NUCULA. Also, remind them that if they are listed as uncertified, they will not receive the 2016 Friend at Court. We appreciate your help in coordinating the mailing.

As you know, the Friend at Court has been revamped.  Some comments, the majority of Regulation VII, and ITA Regulations have been moved online and will be available on the Rules page of the usta.com/officiating website or USTA resources page at http://resources.usta.com/category/usta-rules--regulations .  

Please direct your questions to Kevin Foster kevtennis@aol.com

MTOA Annual Meeting, December 9, 2015

MTOA  GENERAL  MEETING

9 December 2015

Meeting called to order at 7:15 p.m.

Present: Randy McDonald, Mary Lynn Satur, Randall Edwards, Seande Pulley, Alex Kudo, Bill Wong, Sherry Wells, Jill Mauro, Michael Fontana, Gary Rayburn, Gary Tolbert, Dena Bartnicki, Myron Krueger, Mark Gatzki and Terry Gatzki.

A motion was made to waive the reading of the minutes.  It was seconded and passed.

Committee Reports:

Publicity – Terry Gatzki reported that the MTOA Website had been turned off in June due to expense and no one willing to maintain it. The MTOA Blog Page is still up a running.

Discipline & Grievance – Gary Tolbert reported that there had been four complaints sent to the committee. Three of the complaints have been resolved with the cooperation of the officials involved. The forth complain is still unresolved, as the official involved has yet to reply to our inquiry. The Texas Section became involved in this complaint.

Training and Evaluation –

Terry Gatzki reported that the Roving 101 Class has continued after the previous instructor’s resignation. 

Seande Pulley reported that 24 new officials have completed the Roving 101 and Shadowing training for the year.

Randy McDonald reported that 6 attended chair training at Highland Park and three will be going on to do ITA matches. NJCC Chair Academy has six currently signed up for the matches in May.

Financial Report: Randall Edwards then gave the financial report. After an explanation of the financial report, Randall explained the increase in income and expenses. Income increase was due to an increase in revenue generated by processing payroll for Pro tournaments. He indicated that over 300 events had been processed so far this year. Some of the increased income was used to purchase needed office supplies and bank checks.

New Business:

Terry Gatzki discussed a recent request from the TbarM for chair officials for a club challenge event to be held during the Dallas Challenger. Additional information will need to be obtained.

Terry Gatzki announced that Roz Tuerk had requested to go off the board. For her 15 years of service to MTOA as secretary and having served on the board since at least 1993 (from our records) a Service Plaque and our thanks will be sent to Roz, as she was unable to attend the meeting.

Election of board members:  Nominations for the board for terms ending 31 December 2018 were; Randall Edwards,  Mryon Krueger, Dwayne Enderly, and Dena Bartnicki.   There were no nominations from the floor.  A motion was made to accept the slate.  It was seconded and passed. 

Motion made for adjournment.  Seconded and passed.

Meeting adjourned 8:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Terry Gatzki, Secretary

Chair Training Caspher Texas Grand Slam

The Texas Section is offering a chair academy during the Caspher Texas Grand Slam.This chair training is USTA chair training and NOT college (ITA) chair training. Many of the rules and techniques are similar, however, there are differences that you will need to know. Never pass up an opportunity to practice or learn new techniques.

Saturday, June 13 Beginners Chair Academy     _____
Sunday, June 14 Beginners Chair Academy       _____

Wednesday, June 17 Intermediate Chair Academy _____                        
Thursday, Intermediate Chair Academy June 18       _____                                           

If you are interested, please contact:                                     
Seande Pulley, Referee                                       
Cell #:  214-892-8122                                       
e-mail:  spulley12@hotmail.com

2015 Standard Shift Rate

MTOA Officials are independent contractors and as such may take any assignment at any pay scale agreed to between the official and the referee. Below is listed the minimum pay scale suggested by the MTOA for 2015. Please be sure you know the pay scale before accepting an assignment. 

For 2015 the standard shift rates for tournaments are:

Referee - $20/hour (8 hour minimum)
Official - $18/hour (6 hour minimum)

Overtime is paid at the standard shift rate per hour. An official who works more than 10 hours but less than 12 is paid for two shifts or 12 hours. For ex., an official who works 9 hours is paid for 9 hours at $18/hr, an official who works 10.5 hours is paid for 12 hours at $18/hr, and an official who works 13 hours is paid for 13 hours at $18/hr. The above does not apply to the referee; they are paid $20/hour for any hours worked beyond the 8 hour/day minimum.

High School, College and Adult Duals may be scheduled at a per Dual Rate. Be sure you know what that rate is before taking the assignment.