Middleton's exhaustive response to 'Referee Roadblock'

The picture of Lacrosse in York is like a giant puzzle with a lot of pieces missing. Who do parents, players, and the general public believe? On one hand, you have the league in York, known as the YAIAA. On the other hand you have the Central Pennsylvania Lacrosse Officials Association (CPLOA). On the first hand, everyone here has heard of the YAIAA, Executive Director Herb Schmidt and Marty Trimmer, the AD from Central. On the other hand is the CPLOA and most people haven't heard of them. So right off the bat, most people would believe, because of name recompilation alone, the local area groups and their representatives over some group in Harrisburg. Something else that comes into play is location, York and Harrisburg. All this and more play a role in who do you believe and the outcome of the puzzle. But there are still pieces missing from the puzzle. Where do we begin to look? I'm the only one in this area that knows about the missing pieces.

Many years ago one of my older brothers lived in New York City when the garbage men went on strike. Trash piled up in huge mountains on the sidewalks and it was a long time until it was picked up. What were they to do? Some resorted to the following method.

People would take their trash and place it inside a box, gift wrap it, add a very pretty bow, place it in the back seat of their car and leave the door unlocked. Soon someone would take it. But running away they dropped it. Some other people came by, saw the pretty box and started to open it. Can you imagine their face when those people opened that beautiful gift wrapped and found smelly rotten garbage inside?

Well in regards to Lacrosse, the YAIAA wrapped the garbage and put it in the backseat. You, the reader, found the box. Don't worry I'm going to open the box but unfortunately we both have to smell it. When we do it stinks! Let's change the ending and say we didn't open the box. Is there still garbage inside? Yes but we wouldn't find out until later.

Knowing the plethora of information about both sides, this is the best way to describe what is happening with the Lacrosse issue with the YAIAA. The YAIAA is banking on the importance of their name recognition and being the old dog that everyone loves. You know, the old dog that has a hard time standing, and white all around his mouth. We all have seen that old dog at some time. Well in this case, when you find out all the information, you will clearly see the old dog for what it truly is. A wolf in disguise, called the YAIAA.

The issue is Lacrosse and due to the wolf (YAIAA) @1100 York area athletes will be prevented from playing a varsity sport in the spring of 2009. You will see that the CPLOA has done more to facilitate the growth and acceptance of Lacrosse and get it in the position to be accepted by the PIAA than can be written about here. The wolf that you never saw coming, because of all the hidden garbage that was gift wrapped ever so carefully, is the YAIAA. When you find out all the information you will know whose garbage really, really stinks. It is unfortunate because the course taken by the YAIAA has turned a great event for the students into a selfish endeavor for control.

Don't believe me, read on.

What is Lacrosse?

Most people do not realize that Lacrosse is America's oldest sport. Native American's played the game and called it (and still do) "The Creators Game." It is Canada's "National Summer Game." It is played around the world. Sports Illustrated, in April 2005, called it "The Fastest Growing Game in America."

Last year, the National Championships games for Division I, II, and III were held at Raven Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland and drew near 50,000 people. They watched the top teams in the land. All weekend long you couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement of last second goals being scored to win the game or goals being scored within 3 seconds after starting at the face-off-50 yards away!

This is what Lacrosse offers to York area student-athletes. A fast-paced, exciting game, that no matter what your size, you can play. It combines basketball, football, and hockey into a unique game that excites the fans, even though they may not understand what they are watching. A player can develop skills that will make him better in other sports. A Lacrosse player can truly be a star within a team concept and not be termed selfish or a hotdog.

This is why Lacrosse is growing so fast, not only here in Central Pennsylvania but all over America. Athletes that play slower paced sports find Lacrosse extremely exciting and are leaving those other sports for Lacrosse. Lacrosse offers the chance to play and excitement that some athletes don't find elsewhere.

Locally there are over 2500 student - athletes in the York area now playing the game. This figure continues to grow each year. WHY? It is a great game that is extremely exciting to watch and play. An article a few weekends ago featured Joe Paerno speaking about running back Evan Rooster. Joe Pa credited Evan developing skills like footwork and his reaction skills improved from playing Lacrosse in Virginia. He was named "Player of the Year." Developing these skills to such a higher degree by playing Lacrosse is what got him recruited at Penn State.

If you don't have a clue about lacrosse. Here is a snapshot:

If you haven't seen a Lacrosse game, contact happens on every play. All players carry sticks, different lengths between 42-72 inches, and are allowed to hit (check) each other with on every play. Physical contact (hitting each other like football) is allowed within 5 yards of the ball. A varsity game takes on average an hour and a half to play. A JV game might be an hour. Lacrosse is known as "The Fastest Game on Two Feet." Officials are required to be in certain areas to cover the play of the game. Officials are required to cover from the goal area. This is called the lead official. He is positioned @5 yards to the side of the goal on the field of play. Shots can go from 60 to over 100mph. Mine was clocked in high school at 90mph. When the ball goes the other way, that goal official is required to run past mid-field about, 15 yards. This is @ a 55 yard sprint. The goal official now becomes what is known as the "trail" official. All game, back and forth. Doing a double header requires running for about 2-3 hours. Substitutions are allowed only when the ball goes out on the sideline and have to be done within 20 seconds. Plus, you add all those sticks, 20 of them, some skilled and unskilled players that just want to knock the socks off people and you have an event that needs experienced officials. The object is to get the ball moving again, called restarts, in the fastest way possible. Thus Lacrosse is known as, "The Fastest Game on Two Feet."

My Background

I have been involved with the game of Lacrosse in some capacity since I started playing when I was nine years old in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia (UVA) won the National Championship Game under then Head Coach and current Head Coach at Penn State, Glenn Thiel. He was my first coach.

Two of my older brothers played Lacrosse in college, Richard, under Jack Emmer at Washington & Lee University, and John, at Hampton Sydney College. I grew up with the game and it was as traditional in Charlottesville as football is here. I played at Belfield School and got into officiating Lacrosse in summer leagues through a friend, Al Sadtler. He later did a National Championship game. At the beginning of my senior year I was involved in a Tug-of-War where I nearly had my left arm completely torn off. It was reattached and put back together by hand surgeon, Dr. Frank McCue at UVA. I went 1 ½ months not knowing if I would have an arm. Doc discussed the great possibilities of amputation and advised me never to play sports again. Colleges gave up on me, with good reason. I was determined to play. I wasn't going to give up! I had to fight tremendous odds. But play again I did. I played that spring and many more after. I quit playing when I was 38 years old. Heck, I was even named to an All-Star team. Why would I take those risks? Because playing Lacrosse gave me a chance to excel at something, in spite of not being the fastest athlete on the field. I played everyday against a brick wall. I carried my stick everywhere. I loved the game of Lacrosse then and still do.

My response comes from being loyal to the game and hoping for years that the game of Lacrosse would get into the high schools in York. Possibly that some kid, like me, would get his chance to earn a high school varsity letter and possibly go on to play in college. I dream I never got to achieve.

Over those almost 40 years of being involved in Lacrosse, I have been a high school and college coach, a club Head Coach at Messiah and York College (before Phil Avilio), a high school and college official (D-I, II, III), and Assignor of Officials for the CPLOA . I was a Lacrosse official for over 30 years. I retired from being the Assignor and as a HS official in 2006 in the CPLOA, after doing the State Championship game at Hershey-Park. I thought I was done with Lacrosse. Two years ago a local club team asked me to coach. I accepted, mostly because my daughter wanted me to. Currently I'm still the Head Coach. I retired from officiating College Lacrosse 4 years ago. I began serving as an Observer of Officials for the USILA, where I evaluate college officials to help them get to the next level. I still do this when I can. It is important to give back.

So my response to your article about the "Ref's Roadblock" comes from, as you can see, an extensive background in the game of Lacrosse. My comments are mine and in no way reflect that of any organization or team that I have worked for both past and present.

Lacrosse in York

Lacrosse is not a new sport to the York area, as the YAIAA has implied. It was introduced in York in 1996. Schools in Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Carlisle, some which already had varsity status, had been playing for years (see solutions). The officials had been here long before York saw its first team. The only way the YAIAA has been involved has been since the PIAA recently approved Lacrosse.

The first Lacrosse team was called "The York Lacrosse Club" (YLC). Founders Larry Heim and Judy Shoppe, both local lawyers at the time, started the team so their son Will could play. York Lacrosse is indebted to Judy and Larry. I was asked to be the first coach here. Most of my staff coached with me at Messiah College. We had just played in the Final Four against the Navel Academy losing 16-9. The next year Messiah was going D-III and wanted a coach with ties to the college. They named a former player of mine, Jerry Sanford, Head Coach. The opportunity in York opened and since I lived here, I accepted.

The first team had players from eight different school districts and at the first practice I thought that if we picked up one loose ball all year, it would be a successful year. We were very bad. The coaches just wanted to teach fundamentals and promote "The Fastest Game On Two Feet." We met at the Blast. We had 22 players at the time. In the spring we played at Stone-Wood field, in Springetesberry Township, against powerhouses like Hempfield, Harrisburg Academy, Lancaster Country Day, and Cumberland Valley. All these teams were established and playing this upstart club. In our second year, we had a few players that moved into Shrewsbury that had some good game experience. They helped develop the young guys.

The game that helped define and establish Lacrosse in York was against Hempfield. Hempfield hadn't been beaten by anyone at the time. The odds were against us. Stone-Wood Field was packed with fans, 3 deep in places. Food was being sold, grills were cooking and fans were cheering. The game was close. Stars for the YLC like Mickey Moore, Brian O'Donnell, Adam Walker, Vince Jamison, and many more kept the game close to the end. With only a few seconds to go in the game, we scored the game winner. The final score was 16-15, YLC had won. Lacrosse was in York to stay. Later that year, we went to play in the Championship Game on City Island against CV High School and one of my old coaches, Doug Carl. We got beat soundly, but that didn't damper what the second year club team had accomplished in a short period of time. We had players from grades 5-12. All year extra quarters were played with modified rules because the officials would volunteer their time, so the young guys would get experience. The older guys would help coach them. We all had a blast!

Credit goes to the assistant coaches like Dan Ruocco, Andy Cameron, Stefan Striffler, Doug Carl, Dave Moore, JC Noble, and a few others. It was the dream, their hard work, giving back, unselfish dedication that helped enable this game to grow. They passed on the fun, the love, and the excitement that accompanies the game of Lacrosse. Dan went on to start and coach at Red Lion, Andy at Central, Doug at CV, and Stefan became an official and now coaches at Bishop McDevitt. Later, coaches such as Tom Ensminger went on to coach at Dallastown. Bob Rhein at YLC and the Irish. Doug Carl moved on to be Head Coach at Somona State, in California and a couple of years ago won "Coach of the Year." A few of those first players fro the YLC went on to play at Towson (M. Moore), Lycoming College (Timmy Horn, 5th grader on YLC), and Lynchburg College (Brian O'Donnell). Others entered the coaching ranks. Some, like then 5th grader Travis Sipe who played for a few years, didn't get his chance. Travis passed away as a result of a single car accident but not before being looked at, according to his dad Dean, by John Hopkins as a sophomore. So, this whole story started years ago. The dream started due to Larry Heim and Judy Shoppe. It was later assisted by the officials group. Also assisting the growth of Lacrosse in York was The Daily Record, who did some awesome articles about the team. Channel 4 announcers Kevin Drawbaugh and Gary Sutton did a fabulous show on the team that aired for a month. All this combined, with great founders and positive enthusiasm, helped to build the dream that someday students in York would be playing in high school, the game that is known in Lacrosse land as "The Greatest Game on Two Feet." It is unfortunate that now that so much has been accomplished and the PIAA has approved it, the YAIAA will deny the @110 York athletes their chance to compete on a varsity level and complete the dream that so many people had a hand in getting Lacrosse to this very point.

Comments on Ref's Roadblock

I had to decide to respond or remain silent. For some, this may not be a difficult decision but circumstances make this awkward. I am currently a basketball official and have been for years. I'm taking the year off because my daughter is a senior and plays. Herb Schmidt assigns my basketball schedule. I can't be foolish enough to think that my response won't have any affect. I had to weigh what is best for me or what is best for the students and the game of Lacrosse.

Here is my response!

I believe that if all the information was given to you and printed in the article, the title of your piece might have been something like, "The YAIAA Stands Alone in Not Accepting Lacrosse in Central PA." or "The YAIAA Roadblock," or "The YAIAA Can't Wait, They Want Control Now!" The CPLOA would not have been mentioned in the title. This lack of information is critical. Without all the information there is no way the public can see the true picture of what is going on with the YAIAA and Lacrosse.

Since the PIAA approved Lacrosse as a varsity sport to begin play in the spring of 2009, the YAIAA stands alone in not indicating accepting Lacrosse as a varsity sport. All the other major Lacrosse areas, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Carlisle have indicted acceptance and are set to play, without objection.

According to the representatives of the YAIAA, the only roadblock to acceptance of Lacrosse is over a game fee that the CPLOA officials' get paid for doing a Boy's Varsity/JV doubleheader. This is the YAIAAs sole objection. They are going to deny all the students in York County a chance to play a Varsity sport, over a game fee! This is their stand. One game fee! Out of all the categories that require more dollars such as transportation, insurance, and equipment, the YAIAA chose one game fee as their sole objection. One game fee doesn't make any sense.

Even using their figures, which are wrong, their total cost comes to less than $500. That's it. Less than $500 doesn't make sense! Which further supports the notion that the issue at hand is over control? With the rising cost of gas, etc., it would have made more sense to pick transportation, insurance, or equipment. It would have been an easier to sell all the way around. One game fee, that when totaled is less than $500! Are they kidding? No they are not. The YAIAA is going to prevent @1100 students from playing a varsity sport for less than $500.

When discussing this issue, didn't they (YAIAA) explore ways to make up the difference? Especially since, their figures represent such a small amount! If Herb Schmidt meant what he said, "We want this sport added...," why then weren't solutions presented? Were these just merely words? Why aren't they still working to find solutions and work this out? It is because they have their own agenda!

Two weeks ago Herb Schmidt, Chuck Abbott, and Dan Wilmot held a meeting at The York School of Technology and presented their own officials' chapter called, the York Adams Lacrosse Officials Association (YALOA)? This is happening BEFORE the vote has taken place? To me it seems, and I can be wrong, but it sure looks like they know what is happening with the vote before it happens!

I can't help but be reminded of what WWE wrestler, "The Rock" might say, "Do you smell what's cooking?"

Why is this strange? These are the very people that are voting on the acceptance or rejection of Lacrosse! To inform parents and player to blame the officials in the newspaper, establish your own chapter of officials with the sole purpose to ref in York in 2009, let people believe that the truth came from a such trusted group, use figures that were slanted your way, "BEFORE the Vote," is not only improper and breaks the sacred trust your board has been given. The YAIAA league has been negatively effected (whether or not they have voted on this issue, LAX) BUT THANK YOU!

You just confirmed and exposed your true agenda of gaining control. Wow! It has never been about the students, or the money! The people need to decide what to do. But really you decide.

Now, if it were me and I said, "I want this sport added," I'd work until the 12th hour to find a solution so those @1100 athletes would get a chance to play and earn their varsity letter. But that is me. You decide. If YAIAA votes down Lacrosse and they do what they are planning, who would be the Assignor for their separate chapter? Would it be the guy that previously assigns all the other sports for the YAIAA, except Lacrosse, ED Herb Schmidt? Of Course unless they change it now.

It almost worked! Almost!

My mother, God rest her soul, always had a saying. "Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear what you are saying! To me their actions are speaking loud and clear.

Solutions:

Anyway, back to the solutions. I believe that the real focus should be back on those @1100 athletes and doing what is best for them. But you, the reader have to decide what is right and best. These are just my observations and opinions based on my experience having been involved in Lacrosse for a long time.

I'm not a rocket scientist, nor am I very smart. I was the kind of student that made the top of the class possible. But I started to think and came up with 2 solutions rather quickly.

Here are a couple of possible solutions:

1.) Put games in the stadiums or on a field with a fence around it and charge admission of $2-3 a person/adult? $1 per student or let them in free. Sell food? The difference could easily be made up in 1-2-3 games. Let's see @30 players per team, @60 players total. If one parent came for each player and they each paid $2 = $120, and they each spent $1, that would = $60 for a total of $180. Let's say they did this for three games. The total would be $180 x 3 = $640. Know I know that not everyone will spend $1 on food and some parents might not attend, but some may pay more for food and what are the possibilities of 2 parents attending? Grandparents?

And/ OR

2.) Approve Lacrosse as a Varsity sport, let booster clubs raise money and pay for everything. This has been done by other schools for years that already play Lacrosse as a varsity sport. They just earmark the money raised for the Lacrosse team back to the Lacrosse team - only. This can be done. It takes paperwork and is allowed by the PIAA. As long as it is recognized as a varsity sport, it can operate thru booster clubs and the team can play any PIAA varsity team. It might not cost a school a dime.

Aren't these worth exploring?

Why haven't the representatives of the YAIAA and especially the ED Schmidt thought of these? Should they have thought of this? Or is it that they do know and left that information out? What possible reason/motive do they have to leave important information out? Besides, they say they want Lacrosse approved!

"The Rock" can be heard saying," Can you Smelllllllll What's Cookin?

Imagine this if you will:

Why blame the CPLOA officials'? Is it because they are easy targets? Besides who really likes officials anyway? People are always yelling at them and they always make mistakes. Ask most fans at any contest and they will complain about the officials. They always say things like: they're terrible, get glasses, call a foul, don't call a foul, call a foul, and let them play; call it both ways and your missing a good game ref.

Remember that NBA ref that was caught for gambling and was in the newspapers recently? Is it possible that most people believe that refs can't be trusted and if blame goes to them (CPLOA), hopefully everyone will lump them together and jump on the "I hate the officials bandwagon." Remember ED Herb Schmidt said, "If parents and players get upset, they should be upset at the officials' chapter. They should say, 'Hey you're standing in the way of getting our sport started.'" Sure sounds like an invitation to "Please everyone gets on board the bandwagon." But you decide for yourself. I could be wrong! I could be right!

What is going on here:

The fee in question is $130 that the officials receive for doing a back-to-back Boy's Varsity/JV doubleheader (2 games). Here is where the lack of information becomes critical. If the readers haven't seen a Lacrosse game, they won't be able to compare sports and see the true picture of what's cooking!

First of all, the fee of $130 is the same fee the CPLOA officials were paid last year.

They forgot to tell you that! This fee, $130, is the same fee that the CPLOA officials will receive this year (spring 2008). They forgot to tell you that! All the CPLOA officials' are asking for is the same pay in 2009. They forgot to tell you that! The fees have remained the same for 7 years at $120. They forgot to tell you that!

When gas went to near $3 a gallon (2 yrs.ago), the CPLOA was faced with a mileage chart or a small flat increase. A mileage chart was too hard to implement so a flat $10 raise was issued. This really saved some clubs a lot of money since most of the officials live in the Harrisburg or Lancaster areas and a mileage chart would have cost them more money, especially in York. Without that knowledge, people might believe the YAIAA reps when they said the CPLOA officials' want more money. No! They want the same money! Why? Taxes, insurance, gas, everything costs more.

The sad thing about this the pending rejection because the YAIAA doesn't like the fact that the PIAA has indicated they will name another officials' organization (it's not them!). If the YAIAA doesn't accept the CPLOA, the students' loose out from playing better teams and thus are limited by the YAIAA. Also, with gas prices zooming skyward, the cost of gas is going to influence the cost next year so don't be surprised to see more dollars being asked for because of this stand by the YAIAA and not locking in the price now. It might just end up costing the York teams more money in the long run. We will have to wait and see. You decide.

Here is the issue: The YAIAA wants to pay $107. This might be difficult to understand. The CPLOA officials' would have received 2 years of payments at $130 for a V/JV Boy's Lacrosse doubleheader by 2009. The YAIAA wants to pay them $107 in 2009. Herb Schmidt says this is more. The "Rock" would say again, "Can you smell what's cooking?"

In anybody's book this is a reduction in pay. Let's do the math: $130 - $107 = - $23. This is not more. It is less. WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO SEE THEIR PAY CUT IN TWO YEARS?

The only way it is more is because they don't want to pay what is commonly called the "market price." The market price is affected by many variables that help set the price. The Bottom line is this:

In 2007 the fee for a V/JV doubleheader was $130

In 2008 the fee for a V/JV doubleheader will be $130.

In 2009, the fee the CPLOA wants is $130. The same amount as in the previous 2 years! This is not unreasonable, is it? To expect the same pay next year? It is what they have been getting paid already. It is the market price! Like it or not. In Baltimore, the officials get $135 for a V/JV doubleheader. That is the market price there and Baltimore is less than 60 miles away.

They have poorly stated that the boy's officials must accept $107 or Lacrosse will not be accepted! I believe that it was never going to be accepted! It was confirmed by forming before the vote by establishing, before the vote, The York Adams lacrosse Officials Association (YALOA). They expect to put BRAND NEW OFFICIALS on Varsity games without any experience! Yes they do! At what price? Is it worth a player's possible injuries when new officials don't have a clue? Is the YAIAA, by making this well planned out choice, putting your son's health at risk? With all my experience, yes they are. Most new officials have never even seen a game. Now they are going to thrown non-experienced officials into your son's varsity game! How are coaches, players, and fans going to behave? If I had a son and he got hurt and I found out that one or possible two BRAND NEW OFFICIALS did that game. Furthermore, they had very limited or no experience at all. I would sue everyone. I mean everyone! Using their wrong figure of $46 a game, less than $500 a year for 10 home games, is it worth it? You decide if the health risk to your son is worth the YAIAA having control? I'm not saying that experience will prevent all injuries. But experienced officials develop a feel for the game and can sense when things might get out of control and will do what is necessary to prevent it from happening. Can experienced officials prevent everything? Of course not! but by having experience certainly assists athletes a better chance at having a fair well played game. New officials are like deer caught in a head light. They have no idea. It takes a lot of games and going through a lot of live situations to get that feel. You have to decide who better serves the players in York County. Is it the YAIAA and brand new officials without any to little game experience or the CPOA who helped establish the structure to get Lacrosse approved here in Central Pa., who have numerous experienced officials that do College Lacrosse and have NCAA playoff experience as-well-as HS playoff experience? Has the CPLOA done anything but further the game of Lacrosse? Experience pays! Any other way, right now, is a dangerous path to walk down. This is another reason that the CPLOA has been indicated to ref all the games by the PIAA They have the experience to meet the need now. If this is truly about the athletes, I as a coach and parent want the best officials I can get. No one, not the PIAA nor the CPLOA opposes an official chapter in York! Training was set up last year to recruit officials here. But a chapter should be formed the right way and in a few years break off when the guys have enough experience to do so. The YAIAA wants to reduce the pay of experienced officials by $23 per official and supply the coaches and schools with officials that have little or no experience to officiate games.

The YAIAA reasoning:

The YAIAA says the Girls' Lacrosse officials agreed to $107 to do a Girl's doubleheader, so the CPLOA should also. Boy's Lacrosse Officials don't ref girl's games. Why would they agree to their fee? The girl's officials belong to a totally separate body of officials and have nothing to do with the CPLOA. This means separate groups, separate contracts, and separate negotiations. Basketball officials in Harrisburg negotiate separately from basketball officials in York. Football officials in York negotiate separately from Basketball officials in York. So it would make sense that the girl's officials would negotiate separately from the Boy's officials. As a boy's official it would be out-of-line to comment on what I think the girl's officials should get. I'm not part of their organization.

Anyone that has seen the 2 games (Boy's & Girl's Lacrosse) knows that there is a vast difference in both. Yes they have the same name but when you add physical contact and sticks hits/checks (not allowed in girls') the games become vastly different. What I believe they are trying to do is that lumping thing again. Remember the NBA ref and the bandwagon? Are all the officials the same?

Check this out:

In College Lacrosse there is D-I, D-II, and D-III.

***** The lowest level, D-III, get paid a lesser amount per game, lesser reimbursements like gas mileage.

***** D-II, gets paid a little more

***** D-I, gets paid a whole lot more!

All three, D-I, D-II, and D-III, officiate the same game, same rules, same age, same everything. Yet they receive different fees. They do the exact same thing and get different fees!

As stated, the YAIAA believes that refs in similar sports should be paid the same. They used field hockey and soccer. Yet they fail to compare a contact sport like Lacrosse to another contact sport. In their defense, they did try to use football but compared 1 game fee (football) to a fee for doing 2 games (Lacrosse). They used a single Varsity football game ($75) and compared that to 2 games V/JV Lacrosse doubleheader ($130). Do they really believe that the fee would match? If they did believe that would match, should we believe that their figures are correct? You decide. To me it is no wondered this all doesn't make sense. 1 game v. 2 games. Duh!

Again, Some information they forgot to include. I'm sure this was by mistake. You decide!

What they failed to show was that if you added a V/JV football game together the fees match!!!!

V-Fball-$75 + JV F-ball-$55 = $130

V/JV Lacrosse = $130

The differences are that in V/JV-football they use 5 and 4 officials respectively. In Lacrosse, 2 officials.

Football = V- 5 x $75 = $375 then JV- 4 x $55 = $220 then add V + JV, $375 + $275 = $650

Lacrosse = 2 x $130 = @260

Total cost per game:

Football = $650

Lacrosse = $260

Is Football similar to Lacrosse? You decide.

Football is a contact sport. Lacrosse is a contact sport. Football has 22 players on the field. Lacrosse has 20 on the field. Football players wear helmets, shoulder pads, arm pads, and rib pads. Physical contact is on every play. Lacrosse players wear helmets, shoulder pads, arm pads, rib pads and contact, either or both physical and/or hitting each other with sticks, could happen on every play. Using the YAIAA thinking, that they should pay the fees of similar sports and since Football and Lacrosse are contact sports, and using my description above that they are very similar, then maybe the Lacrosse officials should ask for the fee for doing the job of 5 officials or 4 officials in Football, when they only use 2 officials in Lacrosse.

Yes I know this is absurd! But doesn't this illustrate how absurd comparing non-contact sports to a contact sport like Lacrosse? Boy's Lacrosse should be compared to Boy's Lacrosse to make any sense at all. But in the case of the YAIAA, how about contact sport compared to a contact sport?

If this fee, according to the reps for the YAIAA, is paid, the same fee that Herb Schmidt says, "If the league decides to move forward and succumbs to the demands of this group of officials, you can see where officials in other sports would want to see higher fees." Does ED Schmidt think that if they pay the lower rate, that officials from other sports won't ask for higher fees when it comes time to negotiate? Or is he blaming the CPLOA (for requesting the same pay in 2009 that they received in 2007 and 2008) for any future raises on different officials groups might negotiate? You decide. The article continues by stating, "Schmidt worries that a sudden, unexpected increase in money paid out to officials could jeopardize the future viability of high school sports."

WHAT?

Here again, to me, the lack of information is key. But you decide.

The YAIAA just granted a raise to the basketball officials. They failed to tell you about those negotiations didn't they? But because the basketball officials got a raise is that the fault of the CPLOA? Is this what he meant by a sudden unexpected increase? Sudden because it wasn't supposed to come out so quickly? Remember that the future viability of high school sports is in jeopardy. I bet the basketball officials feel really bad right now. I don't think so! I don't think what separate groups negotiate has anything to do with the fear that ED Herb Schmiht implies by the future viability of HS sports. Absurd isn't it? You decide. Just part of that gift wrapped box in the backseat.

If it was about less than $500 and that would have such an affect on HS sports then why doesn't the cost of artificial turf? Artificial turf is not cheap, depending on the number of fields, it could cost $800,000 - $1,000,000 plus to install. When put in the proper perspective the words/figures just don't match or make sense. That box in the back seat is huge and pretty. But it has a very bad smell coming from it.

Again the focus should be on the students and solutions. There are solutions! Simply ones that even using the YAIAAs wrong figures are easy to do. Lacrosse as a Varsity sport should be approved!

The game of Lacrosse is huge. It will be one of the most popular sports to watch and play, rivaling football and basketball. It will give many student-athletes another avenue to go to college to further their education at institutions they may not have been able to otherwise afford.

This upcoming vote will affect the future of @1100 student athletes on whether they will be able to earn a varsity letter in 2009. In the article, "Refs Roadblock", Marty Trimmer and Herb Schmidt, have stated their sole objection, the reason Lacrosse will not be approved is over one fee. I believe that this diversion has been exposed. There are other reasons and they should be investigated and deemed wrong then the public should decide what happens. I believe they have set this diversion up by leaving out important information so a well informed decision could and should be reached. The purpose I believe is so they could get what they want and I don't mean the reduced fee of $107. I believe it is and always has been why start a chapter before the vote, about control. My mother used to call leaving out facts or credible information, "lying by omission."

This is exactly what is happening here by the YAIAA representatives in the article. I believe that the information that wasn't provided in "Refs Roadblock" was done on purpose to set up a diversion from the real issue here of "control?" Who will have it? Who wants it? What will they do to get it?

Who will have it?

The PIAA will be the governing body. The CPLOA will assign and ref all the Lacrosse games in Central PA.

Who wants it?

The YAIAA and especially ED Herb Schmidt.

What will they do to get it?

The article "Refs Roadblock", forming an official's organization before the vote on acceptance or rejection, placing blame on a group that assisted in getting the structure set up so it would be approved. Wow!

The tactic used by the YAIAA reps: the best defense is to take a quick offense, combined with the lack of information has started to be exposed. Hopefully people have started to see the other side. With further information it will be obvious whose actions haven't matched their statement, "We want this approved." By using the paper and the tactic of: the best defense is to take a quick offense along with placing blame, almost worked. I believe that the information provided by me will show that the CPLOA should be thanked and Lacrosse should be approved!

Support and Thanks to the Officials

In order for the YLC to play there had to be officials. York Lacrosse is indebted to the officials from The Southern Lacrosse Officials Association (SLOA, Baltimore) and especially John Sheehan, the HS Assignor. It was because John's love of the game and seeing that this upstart area had officials, that Lacrosse had a chance to spread to York. A few short years later it became apparent that the game of Lacrosse was growing very, very fast, especially in York. The SLOA had started a chapter in Harrisburg it was growing also. A lot of officials that did other sports came over to Lacrosse, partly for the money and part for the high-paced action. But new officials, no matter if you have experience in other sports, need time to learn the game. No one would expect a brand new official to officiate a varsity game. If new officials did varsity games could you imagine the reaction of the players, fans, and coaches? Safety has to come first and that is why experience is so important in the game that you are officiating. I should know, I have officiated other sports and in basketball it took me 7 years to advance and get promoted in college to D-III. Other officiating experience helps, but it takes 3-5 years to learn the game of Lacrosse. That is why you start at the bottom and work your way up. Lacrosse is so fast and there are so many things that happen on every play and the most experience still make mistakes. Teams were growing so fast that at one time there weren't enough officials to cover all of the games. However, the CPLOA has gone through the growing pains, has a lot of experienced officials, have started training schools in Lancaster and York to attract new officials and get them trained.

People such as Chase Howse, Don Kingsbury, Steffan Striffler, Jeff Woods, myself and JT Noll knew that if the PIAA were to ever consider accepting the Boy's game that certain steps like a local chapter and assignor were needed. The leadership group decided 7 years ago to break off, rename, and take over all assigning and officiating duties in Central Pennsylvania. The same officials that had been officiating for years just operated under a new name, The Central Pennsylvania Lacrosse Officials Association (CPLOA). The first step was completed. The second step was to have a local assignor. I was attempting a comeback in college lacrosse from having my left hip replaced. I had 8 games, all on turf, was doing great when my next game was on grass and I blew my knee out. I was forced to retire from officiating College Lacrosse. I had some spare time so I was named the Assignor for the CPLOA. The goal and purpose of having a local assignor was to facilitate the possible acceptance of the sport in the high schools.

Guess what? It worked!

So the dream of bringing Lacrosse to the local high schools and getting the PIAA to approve it, which it has done, started with the CPLOA officials. The YAIAA had nothing to do with getting it approved. It was the vision of the CPLOA and what was needed and especially their action to break-off and establish itself, sometimes at the objection from some coaches, helped propel Lacrosse forward to where we stand today. There were a lot of other people, including coaches in the process. I do not intentionally leave anyone out or the credit they deserve. This has been an evolving process and certainly not done alone by the CPLOA. But it started with the CPLOA officials. Therefore the officials should be honored and thanked, not blamed like the diversionary tactics by the representatives of the YAIAA, say they should. Officials have done more to promote the game like volunteering their time to officiate "The World's Longest Lacrosse Game." The CPLOA set up and sold Cloister Carwash tickets and all the proceeds were given to Laura and Dean Sipe at "The World's Longest Lacrosse Game." Under my watch, officials did the first Dallastown at Red Lion game played in the Red Lion stadium. Admission was charged and all the proceeds were given to the Travis Sipe Memorial Fund set up by Bob Rhein. Officials Don Kingsbury, Jeff Woods, Terry Ferrell, donated their checks to the fundraiser. I worked the box for free. When I took over as the Assignor, John Sheehan had set up the fee structure that all coaches and organizations paid him. As the new Assignor, I took a look at the fee structure and promised to reduce those fees. If the fees were dropped organizations and schools that already had Lacrosse would/could/should have more money to put back into the program. This would also assist parents, since most organizations charged each player a certain fee to play. In reducing the Assignor fees, parents benefited also. Over three years, Assignor fees were dropped each year. The only person to complain was my wife because she saw and heard all the wonderful times that came along with assigning games and thought I was crazy in dropping them. Bad for my pocketbook but it was the right thing to do. The game continued to grow. When I started, I assigned close to 700 games. When I retired as the Assignor for the CPLOA my assistant, Tim Mooney, and I assigned over 1900 games. About 500 of those games were in York. Please keep in mind that all these games include youth up to high school.

Other actions by the officials and people like JT Noll were done like reducing the fees for 4-5 games played at one site. 2 officials might do all of them. These games might include youth, middle school and high school. Officials did numerous scrimmages for free, many with little or no notice, just a last second phone call. The CPLOA has done more to get the clubs to get in line before the PIAA takes over. Deadlines or timelines were established to submit schedules. Out of all the organizations, now 35 high school club teams and some already existing varsity programs play, there were only a few that repeatedly didn't comply. But in starting we paved the way to get it right. There were bumps and bruises along the way but everyone had a goal in mind, run it the right way, do the right thing, and the game will grow and the PIAA will notice and take it over. We trusted in God that if we (CPLOA) went thru the tough times that eventually the PIAA would see the tremendous growth and the opportunities that the game of Lacrosse could bring to the area. We knew the game would be taken over. We just didn't know when. Why? Experience in the game. Chase Howse, Jeff Woods, myself, and a few others grew up with the game. Experience is important. Look at any job and you will see that experience is preferred and rewarded. New people need to "pay the price "of achieving by making many mistakes and learning from them. There are few exceptions. Ask coaches who they would prefer, the new ref or the experienced one? The answer is obvious. The bottom line is this. The CPLOA has helped the game grow and get it to where it is today. They should be thanked, not blamed.

Conclusion

The fact is, not only did the CPLOA officials help Lacrosse get a foothold in York but were instrumental in setting up the structure that was necessary for the recent "approval vote" by the PIAA. If Lacrosse is not approved it will be the fault of the YAIAA representatives Marty Trimmer and Herb Schmidt for not providing credible information.

The @1100 student-athletes should be playing varsity Lacrosse in York County in 2009. The PIAA approved the sport. The PIAA recognized and approved the officials of the CPLOA as the one and only chapter of Lacrosse officials to assign and work the games? Don't the representatives of the YAIAA believe that the PIAA did their homework? If there were issues don't they believe that the PIAA would have brought those issues to everyone's attention before approving the sport? Doesn't the YAIAA believe that the PIAA would want those issues resolved before play began? Because everyone wants the same thing here right? Doesn't everyone want the approval of Boy's Lacrosse as a varsity sport in 2009? Everyone, including the YAIAA representatives, say they want it approved! Surely they mean what they say.

I guess the only way to know if people mean what they say is by looking at the actions taken by each side and deciding whose words, if any words, truly matched the actions taken.

The most important thing here is to do what is right for the students!

In schools everyday, whether in the classroom or on the court/field, the ideals of doing the next right thing, hard work pays off, honor, respect, sportsmanship, dignity, and responsibility are taught to students. At contests throughout York County these ideals are reinforced over loud speakers or at the captain's meeting before play starts. This "sportsmanship" message is used to remind everyone in attendance to honor these ideals. In the article "Ref's Roadblock" the YAIAA representatives were given a chance to demonstrate those ideals. This demonstration of ideals should have included all the information and possible solutions. The YAIAA reps didn't do that. Instead they placed blame and used poor examples.

One Last Issue

When I read your article, "Refs Roadblock" I couldn't believe the following quote: "They're holding a gun to our heads, but we're not going to let them get away with it."

Well, I don't think he should get away with saying that statement.

A reference to violence by an athletic director to describe officials. What?

Has someone forgotten the horrible incidents that happened at Columbine High School? Hasn't everyone heard about the horrible events that happened right here in Red Lion a few years ago? Has everyone heard about the horrible events that happened over in Lancaster at the Amish School? What about all the violence in school districts all across our country? How can anyone tolerate and condone such a statement? Isn't that why every school district has plans in place for, just in case, God forbid, a horrific event of that nature happened in their school? For anyone to use such a statement that refers to violence, any kind of violence, against anyone but in this case against a group of people (officials) that stand for fair play, rules, and above all sportsmanship and respect is absolutely wrong. What if a student said that statement? What would happen? A statement such as this used especially by someone that has been involved in education for a period of time, is unforgivable. What I find amazing is that absolutely no-one has addressed this issue. I can't believe that the whole community, his school district, especially the YAIAA board hasn't taken any action. Why?

Don Imus said that sad stuff about the Lady Basketball players at Rutgers and lost his show. Jimmy the Greek said something he shouldn't and he lost his job. Even though two guy's comments didn't refer to violence, they said those statements in the public arena. There are many more examples. A remark about violence and no-one says anything is unbelievable. This should not be condoned, forgiven, or forgotten! In honor of all that have been touched by any horrific act of violence. What should the public do about this now?

So the dream of bringing Lacrosse to the local high schools and getting the PIAA to approve it, which it has done, started with the CPLOA officials. The YAIAA had nothing to do with getting it approved. It was the vision of the CPLOA and what was needed and especially their action to break-off and establish itself, sometimes at the objection from some coaches, and now the YAIAA, helped propel Lacrosse forward to where we stand today. There were a lot of other people, including coaches in the process. I do not intentionally leave anyone out or the credit they deserve. This has been an evolving process and certainly not done alone by the CPLOA. But it started with the CPLOA officials. Therefore the officials should be honored and thanked, not blamed like the diversionary tactics by the representatives of the YAIAA, say they should. Officials have done more to promote the game like volunteering their time to officiate "The World's Longest Lacrosse Game." The CPLOA set up and sold Cloister Carwash tickets and all the proceeds were given to Laura and Dean Sipe at "The World's Longest Lacrosse Game." Under my watch, officials did the first Dallastown at Red Lion game played in the Red Lion stadium. Admission was charged and all the proceeds were given to the Travis Sipe Memorial Fund set up by Bob Rhein. Officials Don Kingsbury, Jeff Woods, Terry Ferrell, donated their checks to the fundraiser. I worked the box for free. When I took over as the Assignor I promised to drop the fees (mine) each year because I believed they were too high. All for the purpose of wanting to get the game to grow. The game in York, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Carlisle is huge and growing fast. This is the time! The time is now for Lacrosse. As the Indians called Lacrosse "The Creator's Game" I believe that we are to do the right thing and get lacrosse approved!

So possibly and with a play on words, we might here what the WWE wrestler "The Rock" might be heard saying:

"Finalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly, Lacrosse has come to York, Pennsylvania!"

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Middleton
Coach