CATHY KENNAN
Metroplex Tennis Officials Association President
METROPLEX TENNIS OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Front L to R: Nancy Ebersole, Cathy Kennan, Susan Wertenberger, Stephanie Burnam, Nancy King, and Myron Krueger.
Back L to R: Roz Tuerk (turned backwards), Randy McDonald, Randall Edwards, Seande Pulley, Carol Linden, and Jim Garcia.
Under the direction of President Cathy Kennan, the MTOA Board of Directors laid out a strategic plan of growth for 2010. This dynamic new agenda was planned and implemented at the board meeting on November 22, 2009.
Here are the major points of the growth strategy:
* To implement a training program specifically designed for people who want to do chairs. This is in addition to already existing training programs for lines at the pro level. This program would not be centered around evaluation but around training.
* Involving local USTA tournaments and ITA matches and tournaments in the training program for new officials. One of the goals is to implement a stronger chair training program at these levels.
* To publish on the MTOA website a career path plan for people who desire to do: grassroots tennis, ITA, or professional levels. This new link will spell out specifically how an umpire can achieve these various goals.
* To further strengthen the training and shadowing program for new officials. The MTOA program is the model for the entire nation and quickly moves new officials into the mainstream of officiating.
* To invite the Texas Section evaluators to come to the Metroplex to offer evaluations for those officials wishing to further their careers. These evaluations are required in order to do pro level work.
* To put out a newsletter for all MTOA members.
* To make the MTOA website (www.metroplextennisofficials.org) more user friendly and to include more pertinent materials and links to important sites.
The MTOA board and their President are to be commended on taking these proactive steps for growth. They are truly a model for the entire USTA.
10 comments:
Can you be sure that our Sectional Chairman and those in Austin get a copy of this post. Congratulations to the MTOA for doing something good.
Randy,
Happy Now???
Yes, I am. I am proud of the entire board of the MTOA and their fortitude in stepping up and doing something good. I'm glad and honored to be a part of that organization.
Do you think they are watching and learning in Austin? Or better still, is someone in Ft. Worth watching and learning?
MTOA, here's a tip. You shouldn't bring evaluators in until you have people trained. And, if I was a coach, I wouldn't want green chairies being brought in to be trained at a Big Event; you do stuff like that at a much smaller gig. Otherwise, sounds like you guys have a solid plan.
Keep up the good work, someone has to do the work the section won't do.
People continue to complain about the impotence of the Texas Section and Sectional Chairman. This has been going on for years now and what has changed: absolutely nothing. This will likely remain unchanged in the foreseeable future.
MTOA has stepped out and showed aggressive leadership in the area of training. Other parts of the state should/could do likewise. Houston, Austin, and San Antonio have large member bases to work from. Even smaller areas like Abilene, Bryan, Tyler and Waco could do similar programs on a smaller scale.
By having local officials establish more training in their geographical areas, they can tailor the contents of the training to meet their own unique needs.
Folks want "Austin" and the Chairman to show more leadership. I'll bet that if they did by establishing more training programs, it wouldn't be what local groups need and people would then complain about the training not meeting their needs. Be careful what you ask for -- you just might get it! (Its the same thing when Washington tries to decide what is best for a small town in Texas. Local folks know best what their needs are.)
I hope all the local groups follow MTOA's lead. Eventually, the Texas Section will become more and more neutered in their role in Texas. Let's just move on and leave them behind . . . . .
Well thought out and concise post. You are to be commended for your wisdom.
Why is it so many times on the blog, when someone makes a constructive entry, all further comments stop? A couple of days ago, Anonymous made a constructive suggestion for other organizations instead of bashing the chairman and the state office like everyone else does. Even Randy said it was a good post. Then all further comments stopped. This is the first time in my life I have been involved in a blog. I thought there should be a balance between constructive comments and allowing people to vent their frustrations (bashing!). Am I wrong?
Well, that is kind of the nature of the beast when it comes to a blog. Lots of people get very brave in their criticisms when they can do them anonymously so go figure that one... There is a place for negative reporting but hopefully, that's not all that we do. When something good is happening (such as in the MTOA) we want to be sure you know about it.
We just wish there was more of the same coming from you know where...
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