Welcome to the fall edition of the Whistling Zebra for the 2005-2006 school year. Please feel free to send me suggestions on how to make this publication work for you. Hopefully the beginning of the school year is off and running. This is my first year of doing football and I am having a great time. I always said, when I was coaching, that being a football referee wasn’t so tough. Just kidding. It is totally different than officiating on the sidelines. Again if there is anything you want to have printed send it to me.

Meeting Location

The meeting place for all three divisions will be at Mundelein High School, 1350 W. Hawley Street in Mundelein. This is Just west of the intersection of Hawley and Midlothian Road. The School’s phone number is (847) 949-2200.

 

NOA Officers(2005-2006)

• General Chairman:   Peter King
• Secretary:  Jerry Blum
• Treasurer:  Randy Steen
• Membership Chairman:  Mike Roseman
• FB Assignment Chairman:  Bob Brown
• BK Assignment Chairman:  Mike Babicz
• BA Assignment Chairman:  Vince Cannon
• FB President:  Mike Babicz
• BK President:  Rocky Nelson
• BA President:  Ron Guy

NOA-AOS Dinner

The NOA/AOS Annual Fall Dinner for football and basketball officials will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at Hackney’s Restaurant in Lake Zurich. It is at the corner of Rand Rd. and Old Rand Rd.. Be advised that most of Lake Zurich is under construction, so travel times will be increased. Our featured speaker will be Ray Piagentini. Ray is the Secetary/Treasurer of the COA and has worked the IHSA State Finals in both Football and Basketball. Ray has also worked as a Division 1 official in football and basketball as well as in the Arena Football League. His astute humor will definitely be the highlight of the evening.

            Dinner will begin with “refreshments” from 7:00-7:45. The usual Hackney’s dinner will follow with Ray capping off the evening at approximately 8:30pm. The night will conclude about 9:00 pm. Hope to see you all there.

Keith Ryan Scholarship and Hall of Fame Dinner

            This years dinner saw the induction of former NOA member Bill Swanson into the Lake County High School Hall of Fame. Bill and his wife made the trip from Florida and held a “family reunion” at the dinner at the Midlane Country Club. This year’s event drew the second largest crowd in the 17 year history of the dinner. The NOA table was full in support of Bill and his accomplishments not only at the High School level, but in the NFL also. Congratulations Bill.

 New Members

• Stephen Atkins:   Basketball
• Bob Marfechuk:  Basketball

Promotions

Congratulations to Steve Doty for being promoted to Certified and Brian Lewerenz for being promoted to Recognized in Football.

2006 NOA Spring Banquet

Mark your calendars for the Spring Banquet which is scheduled for Saturday April 29, 2006.

The Banquet will be held at Parkside by the Lake in Ingleside. The Banquet is free for all members. More details will be forthcoming meetings and future editions of the Whistling Zebra

       

Football Division

Here is the 2005 NOA Football Top 15 list as voted on by the committee.

1	Jim Bernardi
2	John Widmayer
3	Mark Thompson
4	Jerry Eiserman
5	Peter King
6	Mike Babicz
7	Bob Brown
8	George Lewerenz
9	Tom Toman
10	Mike Zuckerman
11	Chuck Popp
12	Michael Roseman
13	Tom Vogan
14	Howard Harris
15	Patrick Murphy

 

New President Tom Vogan

As I begin my two year term as President of the Football division of the NOA, I have a few goals in mind I would like to achieve for our organization.First, I would like to improve our attendance at our weekly meetings. I ask you the members of our association to give me your ideas on how to improve attendance. If you have topics that you would like to see covered or  a particular speaker you would like to here, send me an e-mail. I will discuss your suggestions with Patrick Murphy, our new Football VP/Board Rep., and if possible incorporate your ideas in next years’ schedule. Secondly, I am not satisfied with our current meeting location. The cafeteria at Mundelein is not condusive to holding productive meetings because of it’s the many distractions. I will work with our contacts at Mundelein to arrange a better location. If we cannot find a suitable location at the school we may have to go elsewhere. Lastly, I want to start a training program for our new and inexperienced officials. My vision is to two tracks for at least three of our meeting dates. One track  would be for inexperienced and one for veteran officials. The tracks would have speakers addressing the needs of their levels. The NOA is one of the largest official’s organizations in northern Illinois and has a responsibility to help train new and inexperienced officials. We all need to work together to accomplish these goals. I ask for your support and your cooperation in making the NOA an association we can be proud of.

Tom Vogan
NOA Football President (2006-2007)

From Mike Babicz ---I wish to take a moment to thank all those officials who attended and supported our football meetings over the last two years. I hope the presentations and the discussions they generated have proved helpful.  Special thanks to Tom Vogan and Bob Brown for their assistance and support.

Basketball  President -- Rocky Nelson

• All regular meetings will be at 7:30 pm at Mundelein H. S.

 

From Mike Babicz

A reminder to all NOA basketball officials. The NOA board has decided to use Jay Lyons Quickbase as a site to look at for officials availability. Assignors will be notified that this will be the best place to find officials open dates. The site address is http://members.aol.comjaylyons/bb/qbdir.htm . You may still give me your dates by e-mail or give me a list at one of the meetings.

I will have the Quentin Road School games available at the NOA basketball meetings. I will have those games in the near future.

                                                2005 NOA Basketball Meeting Schedule

October 5	NOA/AOS Dinner    7 pm Hackneys in Lake Zurich
October 12	Meeting-Rocky Nelson/ Getting on The Radar Screen
	Why and How to Attend Camps
October 19	IHSA Rules Interpretation 7pm Waukegan
October 20	IHSA Rules Interpretation 7pm Stevenson
October 26	Meeting-Ken Maziarka/ People Skills
October 31	IHSA Rules Interpretation 7pm McHenry
November 2	Meeting-Harry Bohn/ OnThe Floor
November 5	IACO Clinic 9am Hoffman Estates
	IHSA Rules Interpretation 3pm
November 9	Meeting-Rocky Nelson/ Review of Part 1
	Top 15 Applications Due/ Election of Officiers
November 14	Part 1 Exam and Application for Promotion Due IHSA
November 16	Meeting-Jim Bernardi/ Film Review IHSA Material
December 2	Bob Brown Fund Night
	NOA Night Out-Journey’s End Mundelein
December 12	Part 2 Test Date-Check IHSA Site for Locations
January 6	NOA Night Out-Journey’s End Mundelein
February 3	NOA Night Out-Journey’s End Mundelein

 

Personal Info

If you attain a new level during the year please let me know so that you can be mentioned in the Newsletter. Every should be proud of their advancement. Check the Official’s Handbook and the IHSA website for more details on the process. Remember every time you advance you give someone else hope.

Kelly Cox passed away this summer. Kelly was the first AD at Stevenson and refereed with John Graham. John Graham is recovering from hip surgery in June.

Tom Vogan is the new Football President with Patrick Murphy as the at large Representative.

Message From Your Treasurer

• NOA dues were due August 31, 2005.  If you have not already paid them, please send them to Randy Steen as soon as possible.  Any member who has not paid their dues by the end of September will be dropped from the roster.  If a dropped member would like to be reinstated, a $10 fee (plus dues) will apply.  The IHSA requires all associations to send in a roster.  The IHSA uses the rosters (along with the top 15 lists and other data) for tournament assignments.
• I have been asked recently about how the NOA spends members’ dues.  Our revenues and expenses each year are about $7,000.  All of our revenues come from member dues.  A list of our major expenses are listed below:
  • Spring Banquet - $2,500
  • Officer Salaries (assignment chairman, newsletter editor, treasurer, etc.) - $1,700
  • Newsletter (The Whistling Zebra) - $800
  • Donations (Bob Brown, Norm Geske, Keith Ryan Funds) - $800
  • NOA/AOS Meeting at Hackney’s - $600
  • Sport Division Meetings - $300
  • IHSA Officials Conference - $200
  • NASO - $100
  • IHSA Boys A and AA Basketball State Tournament - $100
• I have also been asked if baseball is still a part of the NOA.  Yes, baseball is still a division of the NOA and a recognized group by the IHSA.  Their meetings are at Mundelein High School in February and March.  Please contact Ron Guy, baseball president, at 262-857-7230 for more information. 
• Lastly, I have been asked about what are the benefits of being a member of the NOA.  The main benefit of being a member is improving your skills and knowledge as an official.  This is done mainly through our sport division meetings.  Other benefits include obtaining games, making the top 15 list (which helps get tournament games), and the numerous friendships that develop (which last for years).