Under LaRosa, quality of grid officials will improve

    For 36 years, Charlie Myers had served as assignment secretary of the Greater New Orleans Football Officials Association.

    But as he approached his fifth decade of work behind his desk at home, Myers lost his beloved post when the Louisiana High School Athletic Association began formal interviews for that position for the first time in the organization’s 91-year history.

   That was part of the “New Deal” administration put in place when Kenny Henderson became executive director in 2007 and hired Keith Alexander to set forth the new guidelines for all high school officials under the auspices of the LHSAA.

    Myers was one of the applicants with hopes of retaining the job he so diligently performed for many years, but, perhaps because of Myers’ age of around 85 years, Alexander ended his tenure.

    Instead, the job is now in the hands of Paul LaRosa, 60, a respected “white hat” who, as head official of five- and seven-man crews, has made thousands of decisions that may have influenced the ebb and flow of games.

   Now LaRosa, with an assist from a sophisticated computer program, will be making decisions on which crew works which game.

   Alexander’s choice couldn’t be in any better hands. On the field, LaRosa was an official’s official, and I see no reason why he won’t be an official’s assignment secretary off the field.

    He admitted that he had mixed emotions about taking the job. While he is ready to move the local association forward in more demanding times, he feels badly that he had to replace a legend who wanted to continue on the job.

   “I have a great respect and gratitude for Charlie,” LaRosa said. “He was absolutely committed to his work. And for a long time he served as assignment secretary for both football and basketball. That’s quite a commitment.”

   He said he is a proponent for change. And the reason why Alexander selected him is because he knew that LaRosa would choose officials for key games based on the results of their evaluations rather than by seniority.

   “The biggest challenge will be to be patient with those who will be resistant to the change. This will be a three-year plan to get everyone on board,” he pointed out.

   LaRosa will assign officials to just varsity games. He has about 90 who are varsity-eligible. He plans to have someone else assign officials to jayvee and eighth-grade games.

    His new tasks will be complicated enough. But this former  Marine has definite plans for every facet of the job as Alexander has outlined.

Points of order

  Re: Which official will do what?

   Officials can be a referee, who is the crew chief, umpire, head linesman, back judge, sideline judge or line judge. He would like all officials to learn every position on the field “to give me more flexibility in assigning crews.”

    Re: Improving the quality of officiating.

    LaRosa’s relationship with officials with whom he worked for two-to-three decades is changing.

   “There will be changes. You will see me at many different games, from 5A to those in smaller classifications, evaluating the officials. That message has been delivered.”

    His policy will be: “If you do well in the evaluations, you will get more and better games and playoff games. If you don’t, I’ll work with you to help you improve.”

     LaRosa will emphasize mechanics to the individual officials at every position.

     “I want officials to be in the right place to make the right call,” he said. “The most common feedback I get from coaches is they want officials who hustle, are professional and communicate with them.”

     LaRosa said that he has seen a few officials make a call and refuse to explain it to a coach. His policy will be, “If one can’t explain a call to a coach because of the flow of a game, as soon as there is a break or timeout, talk to the coach.  Coaches have the right to get an explanation.”

     And he has pointed this out to the coaches as well.

    Re: Assignment policy.

   All LHSAA-sanctioned officials’ associations will use the Arbiter Sports Assignment System to select and notify officials of their various game assignments and who will be in their crew.

   Some of the most popular features include:

   Comprehensive roster management.

•    Officials’ profiles and pictures.
•    Automatic e-mail reminders of assignments.
•    Maps to game sites.
•    Game change notifications.
•    Ability to use Manual-Assign, Auto-Assign and Self-Assign.
•    A single log-in permitting officials to manage their assignments and availability for all of their assignments from one Web site.
•    A payroll module with game-fee tracking, check writing, 1099 forms and integration with ArbiterSports RefPay online payments.
•    Communications tools to e-mail all group officials, to send game reminders, notices and announcements.
•    Travel reimbursement calculations.

   “I can put in the parameters to predetermine what officials can work what games. I can tell (the Arbiter) that I only want officials rated 200 or better for (Class) 5A games, and I can also send notifications to schools on who will be in the crew that I assign to their game.”

LaRosa will also mix-and-match his crews.

    “I will send my best crews to both 5A games and games among smaller schools,” he noted. “Schools like Country Day and St. Martin’s, for example, have good football programs and deserve good crews. We’re going to lift the quality of officials that work these games.”

    Re: Recruiting new officials.

    Getting “new blood” into the association has not been easy, although there may be many young men quite capable of excelling in this part-time gig.

    “We don’t have a well-organized method of recruiting new officials other than word-of-mouth,” LaRosa said. “We need to get the word out that if one wants to be a high school official this is a great time because things are changing.”

    Because the rules change slightly every year and the mechanics of the game are sophisticated, new officials have   a two-year probation period  as apprentices. They work scrimmages with a regular official and then move up to junior varsity and eighth-grade games. By the third year, they become full-fledged members assigned to work varsity games and get the “big bucks.”

    The LHSAA in June approved a pay increase for officials that range between $60 per game for Registered officials and $85 for Certified officials. 

    It is LaRosa’s goal to advance Registered and Approved officials, the second of three levels, to Certified status. To be Certified, an official must have five years’ experience and receive a grade of 90 on his annual test.

    Besides himself, LaRosa has solicited the help of three evaluators to form his team. “One is a retired Southeastern Conference official and two are current Conference USA officials.

    “(Alexander) has worked hard to get us a pay raise and now he’s telling us, ‘Now get out there and earn it,’” LaRosa said.

    LaRosa has a big job to do, but when the games are over on Friday nights, you can bet he’ll be with his crews at a Metairie pub watching “Friday Night Football” on ABC26, hoping to get a glimpse of themselves.

    Ron Brocato can be reached at rbrocato@clarionherald.org.