This is the first of, hopefully, a series of newsletters being sent out to all South Carolina officials over the coming year. Topics will cover, among other things, changes and schedules for the training program and clinics; information on things affecting officials that are being discussed, not only in South Carolina, but also at Southern, National levels and within the ITA. The intent is to not only improve communications within our membership of officials, but also between the officials and the Tournament Directors throughout the state. Your feedback and questions will become a significant part of forming the content of subsequent newsletters. 

Effective December 5th, Al Marshall has assumed the Chair of the Officials Committee. Bena Peek, who has been our Chair of Officials for the past few years, stepped down due to a markedly increased workload in her job with the state government. Bena will remain a member of the committee and we thank her for her service. The committee currently has the following members:

 

Al Marshall, Chair                 Bob Keivit, Vice-Chair           Ernie James (Board Liaison) 

Bena Peek                              Theresa Hendrix                    Meg Farrelly

Pat Garren                              Scottie Rabb                          Celia Ulmer

Alexandria Howard (Staff Liaison)                                     

 

Additionally, Al Marshall has been appointed to the National Officials Committee, effective January 1st, by the new USTA President, Katrina Adams.

 

Any and all of the above individuals are available to you for your questions, concerns, and comments on how we can improve the quality and consistency of tennis officiating in South Carolina. 

On January 1st, we will have 82 certified officials in South Carolina.  We lost about 20 individuals that actually attended training and worked a bit in 2014. Nominally, both in South Carolina and the whole Southern section, we lose 18-20% each year and usually replace those losses, plus some, during the subsequent year; This lower than normal end-year number says we need to do a better job of recruiting and retaining officials.

We are in the process of setting the dates and locations for the early 2015 clinics.  There will be a larger joint North Carolina-South Carolina session held in Charlotte, NC, February 20-22, 2014.  Please be on the lookout for additional information in the coming weeks.  The Southern Sectional Trainers will have their "Train the Trainer" session in Atlanta on January 18th.   By then we should know exactly what the program is going to be in 2015. Right now, we are still expecting the 2015 tests to show up on the USTA website between Christmas and New Year. Keep an eye on our Officials Page on the USTA SC website for links to the tests as soon as we have them. The tests will be based on the 2015 edition of Friend At Court, which may only be available on-line for most of January.

 

As announced earlier, the certification requirements for Referee will now also include a 10-question test on TDM in addition to the normal test. All tests must be taken before you can attend the clinic.