The NFHS recently approved a rule change to move the Softball pitching distance to 43 feet.  This is mandatory for the 2010-11 season and optional for 2009-10 by State Association adoption.  North Carolina has approved this change for all schools for the 2009-10 year.

    

WNCOA 2009-2010 registration for all sports is now open.  Go to www.wncoa.org and click on the "WNCOA Registration" link.

Just thought you might like to know!

    

The following crew will represent our association in the high school state championships this Saturday on the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Congratulations to:

Hank Komodowski
Bijan Azamghavami
Chuck Schilling



                             

    

    

Go to wncoa.org and click on NFHS Exams.  This is a new testing website, so you will need to create an account on this website if you did not take a test for another sport on the site this year.  It says pretty explicitly on the page CREATE ACCOUNT, so go there and fill out the necessary information. 

Your state license/ID number is your last name + last four digits of their SSN (allen1234).  If you have further problems logging in after these steps, go to the "forgot password" link under the log in entry space.  Enter your email, and the NFHS will send your username and password.

If all else fails, go to the CONTACT NFHS link on the bottom of the page; you can send an email with further questions. Since NCHSAA or WNCOA did not create this site, we do not have the ability to change passwords, usernames, etc., only the NFHS has the ability to do these changes.

Do not contact the NCHSAA or me about taking a paper exam; they are not given anymore.  You must find a computer with internet access to take the exam.  If you do not take the exam, or make under a 65, you are ineligible to officiate public high school games for the remainder of this year.

    

We will discuss this more at Monday night's meeting, but following are the details for this year's exams:

The NFHS/NCHSAA test begins on Monday, March 23rd at 8am and ends on Friday, March 27th at 11:59pm.  The exam site for this year has changed from where you took the exam last year.  The exam site this year is exams.nfhs.org.  Make sure you DO NOT put www in front of the link or it will not work.  Once you get onto this site, you will need to register for a new profile to take the exam as this site is different from last year.  The more specific instructions are listed below.

The examination will be similar in content to previous exams in the past, with true/false format, and a two (2) hour time limit.  There will be 100 questions in which to answer.  You may log in and take the exam at any time during the week.  Remember, you are only allowed one (1) opportunity to take the exam, so once you begin, you must finish the exam at the same time.  There will be five (5) pauses allowed for breaks during the test, but the time of these breaks are limited, so use them wisely.  

Much more detailed instructions regarding setting up a profile, logging in, and taking the exam is listed on the testing page.  To get to these instructions, please click on the link that says:  Exam Site Instructions.  These are very detailed and will answer any question you might have about creating a profile or logging in to take the exam.  Be sure to use your NCHSAA user id (last name plus last four (4) digits of SSN unless you have changed it) when creating your profile when it asks for state id, this is vitally important to make sure you get credit for your exam score.  Failure to do so will result in your score not being recorded and loss of eligibility to officiate this year.

As a reminder, you must make a 65 or higher to remain eligible to officiate this year.  If you make under a 65, you are INELIGIBLE to officiate high school ball this year.

    

Most of the middle schools we work have a two hour time limit, but not all do.  Officials, be sure to check this out during the pregame conference (or before).  If you work a middle school game that has no time limit, you will be paid a JV game fee.

For all school personnel:  there is a link to a printable copy of the games fee structure on the "About Us" page of the WNCOA website.

    

This is a follow-up to the January 21 entry (below) regarding approved uniforms.

There was discussion in Monday night's softball meeting about the professionalism of a game crew wearing different color pants.  The NFHS does not address the issue of heather gray versus charcoal gray; it just states gray.  The NCHSAA has not stated that the crew has to wear the same shade of gray.

This issue will be on the February 16 meeting agenda and we will make a decision as to whether or not the crew will wear the same shade of gray, or will be allowed to have different grays on the field at the same time.  Place you comments on this blog, or start a discussion on our forum to help all of us come to a decision on this issue.

Many of you know about theofficialschoice.com as a source for uniforms.  Their prices seem to be excellent and I have heard no complaints about quality.  You may want to check them out.

    

The charcoal gray pants are approved for this season, as well as the traditional heather gray.  Either one can be worn in both baseball and softball.  Partners do not have to wear the same color.

The navy blue shirt is still the only approved shirt for baseball.  Softball officials can wear either the navy or the powder blue shirt, but all crew members must have the same color.

Only black or navy blue undershirts may be worn under the official uniform shirt, if the undershirt is visible.  There is not an official jacket, but all jackets should be navy blue, and preferably with only red and white as the other colors.  Caps must be navy blue.

Other general uniform statements may be found on page 8 of the NFHS Baseball Umpires Manual. and page 19 of the NFHS Softball Umpires Manual.

    

Go to Oceanside Umpire Training School to learn more about their February 22 through March 7 sessions.

I am not endorsing this school; I know nothing about it.  I received an email from the founder and it looks like he has put together a good school.