Wishing You a Wonderful Holiday Season
From all of us on the SAVRA Board of Directors and their advisers, may the blessings of this most Holy season be upon you and your families, and thanks for making this past year a special one for all of us. What do you say we do it again in 2019?
Wellman Newest Hall of Fame Member
Rusty Wellman, longtime referee, leader, trainer and mentor, became the seventh inductee into the SAVRA Hall of Fame on Nov. 19. But as impactful as Rusty has been in those roles, it may have been his professional conduct that distinguished him as much as anything else. He exemplifies the kind of official so many others aspire to be.
He began officiating his daughter’s matches, joined SAVRA in 1985 and by 1990 was officiating Division I college matches, earning both USAV and PAVO national ratings. He officiated one NCAA tournament, and several NWAC and WIAA state championship tournaments. In 2002, he received PAVO’s Meritorious Service Award for his work in helping develop and administer our advanced training program. He served as SAVRA assistant treasurer and advanced trainer, WOA state clinician, and as a member of the Rating Committee and advanced training cadre for all but one of the last 15 years.
Argotow-Jones Official of the Year;
Others Honored with Annual Awards
Juli Argotow-Jones was voted by her peers as Referee of the Year. Other award winners were: Alan Hirayama, Contributor of the Year; Dale Goodwin, Partner of the Year; Devin Darrough, Line Judge of the Year; Jason Gonwick, Most Improved and Best Third-Year Official; Jeff Davis, Best Second-Year Official and Tyler Martindale, Rookie of the Year.
Thanks Ron Walker for Another Banquet Success
Special thanks to Ron Walker for organizing the 2018 SAVRA Banquet at Timber Creek Grill. Ron arranged for numerous raffle prizes, bargained again for a lower-cost dinner rate, and added his heart to the evening’s festivities.
More State Tournament Honors
Barb Twohig (R2) and Devin Darrough (Line Judge) officiated the State 4A High School Championship match, Nov. 17. Shawn Ottoson was line judge on the State 3A title match.
National Scene: Ray Rises to the Top . . . Again
Margie Ray, SAVRA member since 1995, officiated in her seventh NCAA Final Four. She served as R2 on the semifinal match between Stanford and BYU, and as R3 (alternate official) on the championship match between Stanford and Nebraska. Ray has officiated every NCAA DI Tournament since 2002. Juli Argotow-Jones line judged the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament at WSU, her sixth NCAA Tournament appointment, and Devin Darrough made his first NCAA DI Tournament appearance as line judge in the first round at WSU. Linda Kildew officiated at the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.
A Quick Look Back at 2018
In 2018, SAVRA assigners Bob Francis and Alan Hirayama report the following numbers:
1,825 matches assigned
50 match assignments declined by officials
25 matches turn backed after acceptance by officials
0 no shows
Incoming SAVRA President Keith Ward
Offers Goals for 2019
I’m very excited to be SAVRA president for the coming year. Our amazing organization continues to be a leader in developing high quality officials for the Spokane area, and for Washington state. I want to continue a few outstanding programs that were initiated in 2018 by our SAVRA Board. First and foremost, the on-court trainings for which the Board received positive feedback, with special thanks to Gonzaga University for hosting these sessions. Second, I want to continue surveying our members to ensure we are meeting your needs.
One area of concern for me is our poor retention percentages of first-year officials. This past year we only retained three of 2017’s new officials. What can we do to improve these numbers? I want to assess what we might be doing to cause this attrition? I believe we need to be more supportive of our newer officials. We know that our training is very solid at this level, but are they getting the care and support from each one of us once they leave the meetings and training sessions? Another area of concern for me is our discourse with local coaches. We know which coaches sometimes cause heartburn for officials. But do we come to our matches with open minds or are we influenced by the past? I hope we are open. A couple weeks back I watched President Bush’s funeral. The theme that kept repeating itself was his care for everyone he came into contact with. As we head into the new year, I know it is my desire to care about all of our SAVRA members. I hope you can find it within you to carry that sentiment forward, as well.
Thanks for all you do to make SAVRA the respected association of people and officials that it is.
Keith Ward
Do you have newsletter ideas? Please send them to Dale Goodwin, goodwin@gonzaga.edu.
