March 28, 2011
Dear Fellow Sports Officials
2011 will mark the 10th Anniversary of Sports Officials Canada. As part of the activities we are proud
to designate September 18 to 24, 2011 as the first National Officials Week in Canada. Start planning
your activity now....more to come!
I am pleased to inform you that Sports Officials Canada (SOC) now offers a bulk registration program
for our iMembership Program with lots of bonus features. We have also initiated a special Associate
membership program directed towards Provincial Sport Organizations (PSO) and Municipal Sport
Councils (MSC). This new PSO/MSC Associate membership will provide access to the activities of SOC
including the annual Professional Development Conference at a reduced rate. Currently SOC has three
levels of membership: National Sport Organization (Voting Member), Associate Membership (NonVoting Member) and two categories of iMembership (Individual Membership) – Basic & Enhanced
(includes the SOC "gap" insurance program).
Whether you choose to join as an Associate Member or not, PSOs, Sport Councils, clubs and leagues
will now be able to bulk register their individual officials at a prorated discount based on the number
you register:
< 50
$10.00 per member
50 - 75
$9.75 per member
76 - 125
$9.50 per member
126 - 200
$9.25 per member
> 200
$9.00 per member
The registration process has been simplified too:
1. Just fill out the attached form (in Excel) - we only need the first and last name, and a valid
email address.
2. Submit the form electronically.
3. The amount due will be calculated and an invoice sent to you.
4. Upon receipt of payment the names will be activated and each official will receive a welcome
email with instructions as to how to access their account on the SOC website.
5. At any time should one of your members wish to upgrade their insurance to purchase the gap
insurance and/or the sport travel insurance they may do so by contacting SOC directly. There
is no discount on the Insurance add-on.
As an added BONUS - if you register 50 or more individual members (at base level) you will receive a
FREE PSO/MSC conference registration. This registration includes the Keynote Address and
Welcome Reception on Friday night, the All-Pro Breakfast and Sponsor Luncheon on Saturday, the
Gold Partner Breakfast on Sunday, all Health Breaks, all conference sessions and a one-year free
iMembership for the delegate. This package has a value of $200. Additional PSO/MSC conference
packages will also be available to you at the given conference rate — usually $100 or less. Any of
your iMembers who purchase this great package will also have their individual base membership
renewed free for one year.
iMembers have access to discounts from our Partners including Delta Hotels, Days Inn, Westmont
Properties (including Holiday Inns, Choice Hotels, and Travel Lodge), Budget Car Rental and more.
iMembership runs for one year from the date it is activated.
This new ASSOCIATE program offers PSOs and Municipal Sport Councils an Associate Membership at a
special rate of $40 and will allow you to access the Associate package for the annual conference which
includes a one-night accommodation for your representative and a ticket to the Fox 40 Annual Awards
Dinner on Saturday night along with all the conference sessions. Your membership will run from April
1st to March 31st.
I would like to take this opportunity to bring you up-to-date on the activities of the organization.
Sports Officials Canada has had another very successful year, making significant strides in its
continued development. Some of the highlights for 2010 include:
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Sports Officials Canada welcomed several new & returning NSO and Associate Members
this year for a total of 54. The iMembership (individual membership) surpassed the 1000
mark in 2010 and continues to grow.
The SOC website had a record 439,000 hits in 2010 and over 16,000 unique visitors since
last January.
The Winter Olympics in Vancouver were memorable for Canadians for many reasons.
Sports Officials Canada was involved in the selection of the Canadian official to take the
Officials Oath at the Opening Ceremonies. Our 2006 Fox 40 Award Winner Michel Verrault
(Speed Skating) was chosen to take the Officials Oath from the sixty-seven Canadian
Officials appointed for the Games, including 17 SOC iMembers and National Chairs.
In November, Sports Officials Canada was accepted as a G-Member of the Canadian
Olympic Committee. SOC Chair, Paul Deshaies will represent the organization at COC
functions.
SOC continues to offer its iMembers Insurance Program. This ‘Gap’ program offers
excellent worldwide coverage which is designed to compliment existing NSO/PSO
programs. Details are available on the website.
SOC hosted another successful conference in Toronto, Ontario featuring Terry Gregson,
Director of Officiating for the National Hockey League as the keynote speaker.
The second National Chairs Forum was held in conjunction with the conference and was
again, a resounding success. NSO Chairs and representatives experienced a full day of
networking, discussion groups, workshops and a presentation from QuebecSport on their
Multi-Sport Officials Training Program.
Keith Newell (Athletics), Lois Laquerre (Gymnastics), Bill Fox (Lacrosse) and Mark Pare
(NHL) were honoured at the 2010 Fox 40 Awards Dinner. The event was again sold out
thanks in part to our Partners from the National Hockey League Officials Association who
came out to share the evening with their fellow officials. SOC members in attendance, who
officiated in the 2010 Winter Olympics, were also honoured at the dinner.
SOC reached a new three-year agreement with Fox 40 International as our Premiere
Partner.
The SOC Conference Partner Program continued to attract new sponsors for the 2010
conference including 3 Gold Sponsors this year - the National Hockey League,
ArbiterSports and Delta Hotels. New Partners included Residence Inns & Conference
Centres and Human Kinetics. Days Inn also joined the iPartner program in 2010.
SOC continues to work on the Violence in Sport database project, in conjunction with True
Sport. A pilot study will be conducted at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
The board welcomed new member Susan Verdier. Susan is well known to the sporting
community as an international official in the sports of Shooting and Freestyle Skiing.
Here are just a few of the goals and projects SOC has planned for the upcoming year:
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The inaugural National Officials Week.
10th Anniversary events and activities throughout the year.
Like so many of you SOC has ventured into the social media forum with a new Facebook page.
Our goal is to sign up as many “friends” as possible for the 10th Anniversary year.
As we await the decision for the SFAF from Sport Canada, SOC will be continuing to work on a
multi-year Business Plan that will introduce a 4-level Partner Program designed to increase the
financial independence of the organization.
As part of our continuing development, a new strategic plan will be designed this year.
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One of the projects coming out of the 2010 Conference was a request for support of
translation for the Quebec Multi-Sport Training Program. At the December 2010 SOC Board
meeting, the decision was made to make application for support to Sport Canada. Upon
notification to QuebecSport immediately following the board meeting, SOC was informed that
an agreement had already been made with a third party, (as recently reported on our website)
It is the intent of SOC to continue to work with QuebecSport in the delivery of the program.
As the iMembership program progresses, funds raised will go towards projects in progress:
Violence in Sport project, promotion/recruitment programs for women and youth, an online
virtual resource library, solicitation of officiating research and a virtual Hall of Fame.
The 2011 Conference will again be in Toronto at the Delta Meadowvale Conference Centre & Resort
September 23 to 25, 2011. This years’ theme is "The State of Officiating". We will again be offering a
couple of Early Bird packages and the popular PSO/MSC package, so please watch for the notices in
your email. As information becomes available about the 2011 conference it will be posted to the
website, so be sure to visit the site on a regular basis at www.sportsofficials.ca
Whether you choose to become an Associate member and/or decide to register your individual
officials, a membership in Sports Officials Canada makes your Association and officials a part of the
only Canadian organization founded by, and for sports officials.
Joining SOC shows your
organization's commitment to Canadian sport and acknowledges the importance of Officiating to the
Canadian Sport System.
You will find attached an Associate Form, an individual SOC membership form which you can use for
your officials and the new bulk registration form in excel format. We look forward to counting you and
your officials amongst our membership. Should you have any questions regarding Sports Officials
Canada, please do not hesitate to contact me at (613) 837-7298 or at denise.pittuck@sympatico.ca
Denise Pittuck
Executive Director
Sports Officials Canada
Aussi disponible en français. Contact: sportsofficials@sportsofficials.ca