NISOA Annual General Meeting 2020
Our 2020 Annual General Meeting
A first of its kind, Saturday, August 31 marked the date of an unusual, yet extremely successful Annual General Meeting for NISOA, which broke an attendance record of 164 members nationwide who joined the virtual meeting.
We as an organization and you as parents, grandparents, sons, daughters, referees, and assessors have been introduced to new terminology following the COVID-19 Pandemic like, “CDC Guidelines” and “contact tracing”. We have made adjustments to how the organization operates as well as how we get our educational messages to you in a convenient manner.
We can’t say enough about the commitment and dedication our membership has shown this year. Your participation in the many organizational initiatives to advance and improve your skillsets as NISOA members is appreciated. One thing remains consistent; we will never stop working to make sure we keep you informed and prepared for your next match.
Although our 2020 NISOA Summit at Clemson was forced to be cancelled due to COVID-19, we have made major strides adding a communication staff, appointing Amanda Ross as our Director of Assessment and Tori Penso as Managing Director.
Our YouTube has over 1.2 million impressions, 6300 hours of watch time, 1930 subscribers and only 114 uploaded videos. We will continue to build on our success via this platform, making all of our educational content easy and convenient for you to participate and learn.
RefSix is a new and easy way to record your matches through your smartphone or smartwatch, and our partnership with them next Spring holds many surprises. We have had 518 members and 3276 matches entered into the platform. New codes for Violent Conduct I and Violent Conduct II are available free on the RefSix app. Garmin users will also be able to have access to the app. All team rosters will be uploaded and we encourage you to use it as it provides valuable data we can use to provide you the best experience possible.
Starting on January 1st, 2021 our new slate of officers and regional representatives will be coming in to serve our members. Our incoming President, Marc Lawrence has been serving as Vice President for the past 2 years and is a member of Michigan ISOA. Our incoming Vice President is Ben Trevino who has been on our Executive Board as Secretary for the past 2 years. We look forward to their leadership in continuing to drive NISOA forward.
This year marks our National Referee Program’s 35th year anniversary. National Referees received a coral national badge and yellow and red cards to utilize in their matches. We have 168 returning National Referees, 22 new National Referees, as well as our National Referees that have decided to go Emeritus.
Major changes are being made to the assessment program. Newly appointed Director of Assessment, Amanda Ross looks forward to revamping the process with an updated form and score that will help guide our Assessors and elevate our feedback to officials. You can watch these training calls on YouTube here.
Eric Proctor from Florida Sun ISOA is our newest member of the Executive Board and we are privileged to have him join aboard in 2021. He has been sitting in on several of our initial meetings and will be functioning as Secretary starting in January. We are thrilled to have him join the leadership team.
Managing Director Tori Penso announced updates to our Strategic Plan. She highlighted minor changes that intended to simplify and evolve the existing plan as well as create a detailed 3-year plan focused on our priorities that are both timely and measurable. We now have more clarity in our purpose which has been defined as to serve the game we love. We have also added a new value to our portfolio which highlights our commitment to a diverse and inclusive community that drives us forward.
We’d like to welcome aboard our Communications team. Jamiel Ahmad, from RWISOA, as our new Communications Manager, and Adriana Contreras from WCISOA as our Social Media Coordinator. Together, they will be keeping you informed via our website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and more! We look forward to their help to create meaningful dialogue with our members.
In addition to the organizational updates, the AGM is also a time to celebrate the accomplishments of our members through our annual award program. This year’s Hall of Fame Class includes Alex Prus as our Referee inductee. Many of you know Alex from his role representing the US as a FIFA referee, and others may know him more recently in his role as Director of PRO 2, helping to identify and develop the next generation of professional officials. Thank you, Alex, for all of your commitment to the collegiate game.
Our second inductee represents the administrator category and features John Puglisi, Past-President of NISOA. John has officiated many notable games including the 2003 Division 2 Men’s Final 4 in Virginia Beach. He has been a National NISOA Clinician since 2009, our webmaster since 2010, and has served several significant roles for the organization, including President from 2017-2018, Vice President in 2015, and NISOA Secretary in 2013. We greatly appreciate your dedication and commitment to NISOA and its mission.
The Rose Bernabei was awarded to Samantha Martinez from San Diego (CA). Last year, she officiated the 2019 NCAA Division 1 College Cup Semi Final featuring UNC vs. Washington State. She is also a 2020 participant of the Concacaf Program of Referee Excellence, a program that identifies talented officials at the domestic level within Concacaf that have the attributes and skillsets to one day be on the project of stardom.
Congratulations to John Kipp, our winner of the Dr. Ray Bernbei Honor Award, for The Most Outstanding Referee of the Year! He is a long time National Clinician at the Elizabethtown Camp and has held many positions at both the local chapter and national levels Thank you for everything you’ve done and your unwavering support over the years.
Kermit Quisenberry was given the Robert Sumpter Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a retired FIFA Assistant Referee and long-time MLS Assistant Referee. Many of you know Kermit climbing through the ranks in U.S. Soccer where Kermit has been a staple for the past 10-15 years providing education to our top officials. Kermit has provided invaluable education for our members year after year. We thank him for his service to the game and commitment to NISOA.
Howard Webb and Mark Geiger are the recipients of our NISOA Appreciation Award for lending their unmatched expertise and knowledge to our members in the NISOA Stimulus Quiz. Howard is a World Cup Final Referee and the PRO General Manager. Mark is a World Cup Official and World Class Instructor. We were very fortunate to have them host educational sessions that provided clarity on topics like handball and DOGSO vs SPA. Make sure to check them out!
We have 2 additions to our Lifetime Membership. Joe Palmer is a long-time chapter leader and a demonstrated leader in chapter communications. Randall Reyes has been instrumental in our instructional program throughout the years, creating material and translating this material in spanish to make us more inclusive.
Congratulations to our Regional Referees for demonstrating professionalism and positivity in being a role model for us: Region I – Jessica Remmes (ME) Region II – Kevin Shultes (NY) Region III – Dustiin Killick (PA) Region IV – Robert Zach (VA) Region V – Chris Romaca (WV) Region VI – Natalie Simon (FL).
If you were thinking of serving or giving back to the game, there is no better organization that will accept you and put you to work than NISOA. It is rewarding experience alongside wonderful people who are dedicated to evolving the game. Consider volunteering your time for one of our committees, currently seeking members for our diversity & inclusion committee as well as our website committee.
We thank you for the continuous appreciation from our membership for staying the course, getting information out, being available, and staying relevant during this pandemic. We appreciate all of your support and always welcome your feedback and thoughts. Wishing you all the best this season and looking forward to seeing you on the field soon!
