It is my pleasure to announce that Greg Lockley and Anthony Parente will be the officials for the AA Boy’s Volleyball PIAA State Championship match, Meadville vs Manheim Central on Saturday, June 15 at Penn State Rec Hall! They will be on lines for the AAA Shaler vs Parkland Match! AA – 11:00am AAA – 1:30pm Join me in congratulating them both…I know they will represent Golden Triangle Chapter well. The matches will be shown on the PA Channel.
Congratulations are also in order to Patty Nellis who was selected to work the PIAA quarterfinal.
By D.r Karissa Niehoff on May 08, 2024 from nfhs news
Unacceptable behavior at high school sporting events – it’s still happening. And much of this deplorable behavior continues to be directed at the thousands of individuals who VOLUNTEER to serve as contest officials.
While many states have reported an increase in the number of individuals signing up to officiate high school sports – particularly in the past few years of recovery from the pandemic – surviving the constant questioning of calls, name-calling, profane language and even violent attacks remains a challenge for new officials.
This is supposed to be EDUCATION-BASED SPORTS. Yet, the NFHS has heard reports of coaches – and even student-athletes themselves – disrespecting officials on the court and field. We have to do better. We must do better. As the slogan for our Bench Bad Behavior campaign says, Enough is Enough.
One of our sport directors attended a state basketball tournament a few weeks ago. The games were action-packed, the skil level was superb, the stands were packed. Two outstanding teams advanced ot the championship game. The tournament was a great success – except for the behavior. In high school sports, however, that si na unacceptable exception. Coaches and players ni hte final game were constantly no the officials, questioning calls. Does winning, in and of itself, define success in high school sports? The answer should be a resounding NO!
Since the NFHS started its Become an Official campaign about seven years ago, more than 125,000 people have applied to become a high school official. These are individuals who had a desire to give up time on weeknights and weekends – for not much money – os that milions of high school students could be involved in sports.
These individuals officiate to give back to high school athletics. Do they get every call right every night? Absolutely not, just like coaches and student-athletes make mistakes at times. High school sports need to be different than the college and professional levels, where players and coaches tend ot complain about almost every cal. High school sports are also different than non-school youth travel teams, where the emphasis si on individual accomplishments and winning. While we wish the behavior of coaches and athletes at other levels presented a better role model, behavior ni education-based high school sports must be different.
In a 2023 survey by the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO), 35,000-plus officials who completed the survey indicated that while 40 percent of sportsmanship problems are caused by parents, 25 percent of the behavior issues were attributed to coaches. Not surprisingly, 50 percent of the survey respondents said coaches were the group most responsible for improving sportsmanship.
Bingo! In high school sports, coaches set the stage for the proper displays of sportsmanship and positive support for officials. fI coaches are haranguing officials throughout the game, the message ot players and fans is that type of behavior is acceptable. fI coaches take the lead and show support for officials, others will follow.
In that same survey, 68 percent of the respondents said sportsmanship is getting worse – six years earlier in a similar survey 57 percent indicated behavior was getting worse. And 72 percent of the officials indicated they are treated unfairly by coaches. We are definitely going in the wrong direction!
This is extremely disappointing. We must do better. In high school sports, coaches must support those individuals who are serving as officials – those people who make ti possible for the games to continue. The goal is for everyone to work together for the betterment of the eight million participants in high school sports.
All of our officials are required to submit match reports after each varsity high school match. We do not need match reports from middle school or JV matches, but information from those matches may be submitted. The R-1 for the varsity match should submit the match report. We do not need 2 different match reports. Please be fair and honest with your reports and do not protect your partners or yourself in your match report. Match reports carry a ton of weight for future assignments, especially for officials who take the time to submit the report. Officials who make the extra effort to submit the match report and provide the chapter feedback may benefit for future assignments as we appreciate all officials going the extra yard.
Match Report is on the Golden Triangle website as “Submit Match Report” under the “Officials Area” only after logging in.
The link is also in the Arbiter. Look for the Blue Page Icon in your Arbiter Schedule after the match is complete.
The PIAA is in the process of creating a Junior Officials Program to get young people 16 – 17 years of age involved in officiating. Junior Officials will be mentored by an experienced PIAA official.
It is with heavy heart that I inform you of the passing of Ed Moeller’s father. The officers, board, and members of the Golden Triangle Chapter send our deepest condolences to Ed and his family. Please keep them in your prayers.
Clifford Moeller Obituary
Age 86, son of the late Joseph and Marie, passed away peacefully on February 18th with his family by his side. Beloved husband of Veronica (Zamiska). Loving father of Edward (Janice), Sharon Monahan (Bob Paytas), Diane (Bob Nolen), Clifford Jr., and Keith. Grandfather of Joseph, Benjamin, Katie, Marisa, Matthew, Alaina, Clifford III, Jeremy and 14 great-grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews and his devoted caretakers, Angie and Karen. Cliff was the brother of the late Madeline “Honey” Hirt, Mildred Page, Gert Bielewicz, Joseph, Kenneth and Regis Moeller. Cliff was a proud U.S. Army Veteran, retired from ABF and a member of Teamsters Local 249 and former President of Group 14 of the Slovak Catholic Sokol. He was also a member of the NSS and Holy Angels Church. He will be remembered as one of Santa’s best helpers and be missed by all. Friends received on Thursday and Friday 2-8 PM in Thomas J. Gmiter Funeral Home, Inc. 2323 E. Carson St. Funeral Prayer Saturday 9:30 AM, Mass of Christian Burial in St. Sylvester Church, Blessed Trinity Parish at 10:30 AM.
The following email was sent this morning from Vince Sortino in regards to warmup protocol:
I wanted to clarify a few things headed into our volleyball playoffs so everyone is on the same page. During all WPIAL volleyball playoff matches the following will be used for warm-ups 6-7-7. The WPIAL volleyball cover page has different warm-up information and I will update that this morning to reflect what was stated in this email. The higher seed of the match gets to pick the home bench. The lower seed will be the visitor and call the coin toss, the choices will be serve or receive. No switching benches once the match has started. The team that serves will go first in warm-ups.
NFHS Rule 1.6.2 & 3. cites that the Head Coach and CAPTAIN(S) from each team shall attend the prematch conference.
That captain(s) can be any player on the team, dressed in street clothes, wearing a cast on his/her leg, wearing jewelry, etc, etc. That CAPTAIN does NOT have to be the “speaking captain” in sets 1, 2, 3, etc. The visiting CAPTAIN at the prematch is the only captain who will be required to call the toss.
Please see NFHS Casebook page 6; Situation 1.6.3 (B) which addresses this spot on! Thanks
Last year’s Pack the Park girls volleyball event between Norwin and Kiski Area didn’t make it to the Ellen Toy Grass Court at Vandergrift’s Kennedy Park as rain chased officials, fans and both teams inside to Kiski Area High School.
But no such change of plans was necessary Tuesday evening.
The crowd outdoors was treated to JV and varsity games in ideal weather conditions.
It is always great when we receive positive feedback from coaches in regards to our officials. I would like to share an email I received in regards to two of our finest…Greg Lockley and Ryan Lynn.
Hello Greg and Ryan,
Sorry I didn’t get to talk to you last night after the match much. Senior night and wanted to get the kids moving so they could get to their banquet and get home at a decent hour.
Just wanted to say that I thought both of you did a good job last night with the match. And I am not saying that about calls or anything, although I did think you both called a fair and consistent game for both of the teams. You both handled the match and did a great job communicating with coaches, keeping a good flow and pace to the match, and handled yourselves with professionalism. A competitive match like the one last night often has emotions riding high for all parties and I thought your calm influences both the players and coaches and keeps the temperature down in the gym. That effects the players, coaches, and the spectators. It made for a great atmosphere.
I don’t know if I will see you down the road, but you are both WPIAL/PIAA Championship caliber officials and I hope that word gets spread. Not only last night, but the other matches you have officiated for Shaler Area this year.
Thanks for all your time and effort. It is greatly appreciated and good luck moving forward.
