PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE APRIL 2015
OPENING REMARKS
Welcome to the early days of spring. Let’s hope the weather starts to co-operate and
temperatures start to rise.
Please take the time to share my Monthly Presidents Report with your respective Local
Board Members and as always it will be posted on the OABO website at www.oabo.ca.
SAD NEWS
It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Ruth McPhee Beloved Mother of
Mike McPhee. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mike at this difficult time.
LOCAL BOARDS
I want to take this opportunity to thank the following four members for their
tremendous contribution in their terms as President of their respective Local Boards.
Gentlemen you will be missed. Best Wishes in future endeavours.
London
Scott Ryder
Kitchener/Waterloo
Don Thorne
Toronto
Chris Barron
Bay of Quinte
Mitch Panciuk
THE WHISTLE
The Spring Edition of The Whistle will be distributed to the membership within the first
two weeks of May. If you have specific articles or information that you wish to share
please send it to Tino Decastro prior to April 30.
OABO/IAABO CONFERENCE CALLS
The final Conference Call for the season took place on Sunday, March 29. I want to
thank IAABO for their support from both financial and educational standpoints. Special
thanks to Peter Webb and Tim Laurain for all their hard work especially with the
preparation of agenda items for the Conference Call. We do need to work on
maximizing our attendance on these calls. Moving forward for next season we have to
encourage more participation from all of our Local Board Interpreters and Education
Officers.
SUMMER NATIONALS
The deadline for Local Board Executives to submit Nominations for National
Championships to Provincial Supervisor Bruce Covert is April 21 st. The OABO Executive
will make their selections at the next OABO Executive meeting on May 1 and announce
the list of Officials chosen at our annual Presidents Meeting on May 2.
The locations for the U15 & U17 National Championships are as follows:
Men’s
August 3-8
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Women’s
July 24-29
Edmonton, Alberta
CRITERIA:
 Passed this year’s FIBA Exam.
 U15 Tournaments -Officials must be Level 2 or higher and working at least a High
Level of High School Basketball.

U17 Tournaments - Officials must be Level 3 or higher and should be working at
the OCAA or OUA Level.
OABO SUMMER CAMPS
Here is the latest update on Registration. For more information please refer to the
OABO website at www.oabo.ca . All Camps are played under FIBA Rules.
U12 Girls Georgian College
June 27-29
2 Spots Available
U12 Boys Georgian College
June 30-July 2
3 Spots Available
U14 Girls Georgian College
July 4-6
6 Spots Available
U14 Boys 3 person Georgian College July 7-9
FULL
PRE-ELITE
May 8-10
2 spots Available
June 5-7
FULL
Guelph
ELITE CAMP Durham College
EVALUATOR-INTRAINING
FULL
CAMP SCHOLARSHIPS
Please go to the OABO website at www.oabo.ca in order to apply for the Lawrie
Rotenberg Memorial Scholarship and the Gord A. Smith Memorial Scholarship. The
deadline to apply is April 21st.
ALL FEMALE OFFICIALS CAMP
The Toronto Association of Basketball Officials is running a Camp for Female Officials
on the weekend of April 18-19 at the University of Toronto. There is currently one spot
left to fill at the Camp. If interested please contact Peter McDonald Resource Officer
for TABO and Camp Director at [email protected]
There is a very impressive list of Evaluators and Clinicians attending the Camp:
Sandy Forand
Provincial Evaluator, Former OUA Official and Officiated many CIS
Women Gold Medal Games
Penny Wright
OUA Crew Chief & Officiated Many CIS Women Gold Medal Games
Anna Del Col
OUA Crew Chief & CIS Women’s 2014 & 2015 Gold Medal Games
Pamela Ferrante OUA Official & 2015 CCAA Crew Chief Gold Medal Game
Tom Christie
OUA Supervisor of Officials
Brigg Harvey
OUA Director of Officials
Mike Falloon
NBL Supervisor of Officials
IAABO OFFICIALS SCHOOLS
Registration for IAABO Officials School is currently available on the IAABO website at
http://www.iaabo.org/2015_Officials_Schools.html. All Camps are played under
National Federation Rules. Once your registration is complete you will have 5 days to
make payment. You can contact the IAABO Office at 717-713-8129 to make payment
over the phone with Visa or MasterCard.
Here is the schedule of Camps:
Babson College
June 5-7
Colorado State University
June 18-20
Rutgers University
June 26-28
Susquehanna University
July 17 -19
IAABO MEMBERSHIP
If you wish to register for IAABO Membership the deadline to do so is April 15. The
membership fee is $35 US and the quality of Educational information you will receive
is well worth the investment. If you require more information please contact Don
Thorne IAABO Region 9 Rep at [email protected]
LOCAL BOARD(S) ANNUAL PRESIDENTS MEETING
I have provided to all Local Board Presidents the pertinent details regarding the annual
meeting on Saturday, May 2 which will be held at the Airport West Hotel at Dixie & 401
in Mississauga the same location as previous years. The meeting is scheduled from
10:00am to 4:00pm. I will have final details including the Agenda to all attendees by the
middle of April.
CABO
The 2015 CABO Camp will take place in Halifax. August 14-16. The objective of the
Camp is to identify and evaluate some of our elite young Officials in the Country. The
Officials will also be ranked at the Camp for future FIBA Certification. Each Provincial
Executive has been asked to submit a maximum of five names. This is to be completed
by April 15 and sent to the CABO Executive who will make the final selection by early
May. There will be total of 24 Campers selected.
Criteria for Selection




Officials recommended should be 30 years of age or under
Officials selected must be fit & prepared to run the FIBA “beep” test successfully
Officials must have a good working knowledge of FIBA Rules & FIBA Mechanics
Officials must aspire to be top National Officials
Camp Details:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Location:
St. Mary’s University, Halifax
Dates:
August 14-16
Registration Fee:
$300
Competition:
University/College Men and Women
Accommodation:
Delta Halifax ( rate is under negotiation at this time)
Campers responsible for flight, hotel & meals
*CABO will help subsidize travel – more details to follow
Campers will be required to attend a classroom session at 3:00pm on Friday, August
14 at the Delta Halifax. Departing from the Camp will be early Sunday evening.
OABO WEBSITE SURVEY
We are in the process of reviewing our website and want to get feedback from all
OABO members in order to assist with this process. To that end there was a recent
communication via the OABO Admin Website from Vice-President Rick Parnham. It
provided a link for the membership to provide feedback. We have received to date
many suggestions and the more members that provide feedback the better we can
plan to meet the needs of our membership.
Here is the link once again: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JQV5WZ2
BASKETBALL ONTARIO - PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The annual Provincial Championships have begun and will continue throughout April
and May. I would like to pass along once again a discussion I had with Jason Jansson,
Executive Director of Basketball Ontario. He wanted me to advise all Officials that you
have the full support of the OBA when it comes to unprofessional behavior of Coaches,
Players and Parents. If their conduct results in ejection from the game or the facility,
please take the time to submit a written report to your Local Board Executive so that it
may be passed on to Don Thorne, OABO Executive Rep on the OBA Discipline
Committee.
The Zero Tolerance Policy adopted by OABO and OBA will be fully supported by both
parties and Officials will be supported when it comes to behavior that is not in the best
interest of the game.
CLOSING REMARKS
I am very pleased to announce that the Inductees for the 2015 OUA Hall of Fame
Dinner are Nadine Crowley and Paul Carter. They have been Role Models their whole
careers for all aspiring Officials across the Province both on and off the court.
Congratulations Paul and Nadine and we look forward to honouring you at the OUA
Hall of Fame Dinner on Saturday, May 23 at the Airport West Hotel – 5444 Dixie
Road, Mississauga (Dixie & 401).
The Dinner is open to all Officials and not just members of the OUA Panel. If you wish
to attend the cost is $65.00. There will be cash bar from 6:00pm to 6:45pm followed
by Dinner and the Induction Ceremony from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. If anyone requires
accommodation the room rate is $99 plus tax. Parking is Free. You can call the hotel
at 905-624-1144 and request the OABO rate.
Please make cheque payable to Tom Christie. It must be received by May 4. You can
mail it to Tom at the following address:
20 Alsop Avenue, Fenwick, Ontario, L0S 1C0.
Yours Truly
Jaime McCaig
President, OABO