G.T.C.C.V.O.

At the GTCCVO Chapter Meeting on February 21st the members present voted overwhelmingly to honor Ellen Toy with the Al Arke Award. This is only the second time since 1994 that the award, which honors someone for outstanding contributions to the sport of volleyball in the area, has been awarded.

Most unfortunately, Coach Toy passed away on Monday after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Ellen was an inspiration to all who have had the pleasure to know her.

“Ellen has always been a wonderful example of giving of herself to help others grow. She managed to find the good in so many situations and she has touched more lives that we likely will ever know. Ellen’s strength, graciousness, courage and humility add up to a fabulous role model….someone to strive to be like.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Toy family.

Visitation will be Friday February 26 at Kiski Area Gymnasium 4:00-7:00 followed by A Celebration of Life” 7:00-7:45.

Below are some links to more information:

Tribune Review article.     Obituary and details on Arrangements.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the “We Serve First Foundation” which Ellen and her husband Tim created to provide financial assistance to play club volleyball to young players from deserving families. Memorial Contributions can be made in Ellen’s memory to the We Serve First Foundation, c/o First Commonwealth Bank, 152 Grant Ave., Vandergrift, PA 15690.

Finally, here is a link to a Facebook page Celebrate E-Toy with numerous tributes from friends, family, former players and fellow teachers. Included is a moving tribute from the USA Women’s National Team.

The Golden Triangle Website is changing. While things may not look much different at the moment . . . most all of the site is being rewritten and hosted differently.

The old site required you to Log-in to have access to the “Officials Area”. This will continue to be the case on the new site.

Your existing ‘User Name’ remains the same. However, you will need to create a personal ‘Password’ as there is no way to transfer your current password from the old site. You can use the same password that you used for the previous site or you may create a new password by going to the ‘Password Reset’ link under the ‘Officials Login’ Menu.

It is strongly suggested that you DO NOT use the same password that you use for other important log-ins like your online banking or email!

Please be patient as we all wrestle with the ongoing changes. Check back often and look for new content and features. Click here if you require help or would just like to leave feedback

Greetings to all active and inactive Golden Triangle members. Soon our Spring Season will be upon us. Most meetings will still be @ the Sokol Club ~ they will begin promptly @ 7:15 PM. The first meeting is 2/21/16. Come one come all! I would like to remind everyone that there are new methods of reporting attendance to the PIAA in place. Also, there are stipulations as to how many meetings each of us attends in order to receive credit. Officials can no longer “load up” in the Spring in hope to insure we meet their requirement(s). Come fall when folks are busier coaching, reffing recreation or other leagues, or simply trying to make sure our duties are fulfilled, there will be dictates as to how many meetings we are allowed to have attended by a certain date. The PIAA wants us to attend meetings over a longer period of time so as to experience / discuss ongoing case situations throughout the season(s). Lastly, dues ($25) are due now through the second meeting of the calendar year. March 6, 2016 ~ also @ the Sokol Club ~ is our second meeting. After that date, our dues increase by $10 without exception. It is an acceptable payment method to mail your dues to Mrs. King at any time from now thru March 1st. The US mail has slowed down considerably since my retirement. 🙂 drn / President / GTCCVO

2016 PIAA Registry / Officials’ Directory
Many PIAA / WPIAL Schools and Athletic Directors are now using the PIAA’s Website / portal for Act 153 verification. In mid-January, Golden Triangle has over 2 dozen officials appearing on a list; that list is comprised of officials who have yet to send their required information to the PIAA website. You are risking not being assigned matches by your assigner. Please go to Officials Directory on the PIAA site and click on your name. There should be dates following all three clearances. If those dates are not three to five years into the future, you are most likely currently unavailable for assignments. You must follow through with this requirement; it is past due. Thank you!
drn / President / GTCCVO

ArbiterPay recently became aware of an effort to entice officials to register for a false ArbiterPay account. We want to arm you with information you can use to protect yourself from this type of scam. We also ask that you report suspicious activity of this nature to our support staff immediately.

You may receive an email that appears to come from your assigner. The email asks you to sign up for an ArbiterPay account on a website other than ArbiterPay.com. During the signup process, you will be asked to pay $18.50.

Please make sure that any email requesting that you create an ArbiterPay account actually came from your assigner. Signing up for an ArbiterPay account is free, and you can only sign up for a legitimate account at ArbiterPay.com.

If you have received communication that directed you to sign up for an ArbiterPay account and takes you to a site other than ArbiterPay.com, please notify us immediately by emailing [email protected]. We do not provide officials’ contact information to third parties, and this was an individual endeavor and not a system-wide security breach.

All current PIAA-registered officials who have not yet submitted to PIAA the certifications identified below are required to obtain and submit them to PIAA on or before January 1, 2016.  The failure to submit such certifications shall result in suspension of registration until the certifications are submitted.

What this means? 

• If not previously submitted, clearances for PIAA registered officials are required by January 1, 2016.  They are not required by law until this date.
• All registered officials are required to re-submit all three clearances every five years.
• Clearances for those officials that have registered in the last five years will remain in effect until their initial five year period expires.
• Clearances obtained by newly registered officials in the year prior to their test date may be used to satisfy the clearance requirement.
• There is no “grandfather clause” in this legislation.  ALL officials are required to obtain all three clearances and have them on file with PIAA by January 1, 2016.
• Clearances obtained through employment may be used to satisfy PIAA clearance requirements.  However, clearances obtained as a volunteer may not be used to satisfy PIAA clearance requirements.

There are three clearances that are required by PA State Law.  Each can be accessed at the links below:

1. FBI clearance – https://pa-aps.3m.com/perlpub/registration_edu_pci.pl
   (This is the Cogent site required to be used by Department of Education – this clearance must be done online)
   Click here for the Cogent Fingerprint site locations

    In completing the FBI clearance, there is an area that requests “reasons” – the answer is school districts.

    Approximately 4 weeks after getting fingerprinted, you will receive your Cogent results in the mail.  These are the documents (both front and back sides) that will need to be uploaded to the PIAA website.

   Click HERE for a list of locations where you can have the fingerprinting part of the process done.

2. PA State Police clearance – https://epatch.state.pa.us

        In completing the PA State Police clearance, the “reason” is employment.

 3.   Department of Human Services clearance (PA Child Abuse) –    https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home

      **Once at this site create an individual account**

       In completing the Child Abuse History clearance, under the application purpose, check the box titled, “School Employee Governed by Public School  Code”.

**The PA State Police clearance and the Department of Human Services clearance can be printed and mailed to those depts.  

Click here for the printer version of the PA State Police clearance.

Click here for the printer version of the Department of Human Services clearance.

Additional information: 

• PIAA registered officials are not considered “volunteers.”  Do not click on any of the boxes that reference volunteers.  Officials are independent contractors employed by the individual schools and school districts.  In addition, the Affidavit-Exemption from FBI Clearance form is not acceptable for PIAA registered officials.  All officials must be fingerprinted every five years.
• Expenses for obtaining clearances shall be borne by the registered sports official.  PIAA is not permitted to accept certifications which were obtained for volunteering purposes under Section 6344.2 (relating to volunteers having contact with children).
• Keep the originals of your clearances and hold on to copies in the event a particular school wants to view your clearances.
• Upon receiving copies of your clearances, you will need to scan them and save them as PDFs on your computer.  Please refer to “Instructions for Officials to enter their clearances into the Officials database”.

GTCCVO Members:  Happy New Year and Best of Health in 2016!  The Board has set the chapter meeting dates for the year.  All 13 dates are listed on the GTCCVO Arbiter site “My Group” home page.  You will see them when you log on.  Again, all but two of the meetings are on Sunday, at the Sokol Club on Carson Street on the South Side and begin at 7:15 p.m.  Please be sure to make the first meeting on February 21st to confirm your refereeing status for the spring.  Remember to maintain your refereeing certification with the PIAA, you are required to attend a State Rules Meeting PLUS 6 chapter meetings during the year.