Dear ECBOA Members

Let me begin by thanking everyone who voted in our recent election.  We had a record turnout (89%) this year, which is very encouraging and suggests that our members are more engaged than ever.  A special thank you goes out to Jonathan Pierre who led our election process for the fifth year in a row.  Thank you, Jonathan, for maintaining the integrity of our election system!

Congratulations to Lance (elected Board Member At-Large), Francois (re-elected Board Member At-Large) and Jose (re-elected Secretary), who were elected to their respective positions.  To Garrett, Darin, Jim and Dave, thank you for your professionalism and desire to serve on the Board.

I am extremely appreciative and honored to have been re-elected President, and I want to thank my opponent (Jim Marzullo) and those other candidates who took the high road and ran a positive campaign.

It’s certainly normal for an association to have disagreements amongst its members; however, we MUST be respectful of each other in dealing with our disagreements and remember why we officiate basketball in the first place.  I heard from several of you, including many new officials, who were concerned with the level of rhetoric during the election, and I certainly share your concern.

As President I vow to address these concerns in a professional manner while upholding the integrity that ECBOA has long been known for.  For the sake of our membership, we must do better, and I hope the conclusion of our election will allow us to put aside past issues and move forward in a positive and constructive manner.

In other ECBOA news:

• Girls District tournament play starts this week, and the Boys starts the week of February 11th.  Thereafter begins Regional tournament play.  The District winner and runner-up each advance to the Regional tournament.  Regional winners advance to the State tournament in Lakeland.

• Treasurer Erik Benz has issued the checks for the Holiday Classic of the Palm Beaches.  Be on the lookout for these in the next few days.  District tournament checks will also come from ECBOA.  Each host school is billed by the Association after the District tournaments.

• We continue to have discussions with those schools that are behind in paying our officials.  Be sure to fill out a Payment Recovery Form (found on ECBOA.org) if you have not been paid within 14 days of a regular season game.  Tournament checks and District checks typically take longer so thank you for your patience with these games.

• We will have an ECBOA “Officials Night Out” this Friday (8th) night at Bru’s Room Sports Grill in Boynton Beach at 1333 N. Congress Avenue starting immediately after Friday night’s games.  Come out and enjoy some food and drinks with your fellow officials as we celebrate the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs.  These are always fun events and I hope to see you Friday night at Bru’s.

• We will be having our annual ECBOA end-of-season awards banquet again this year at the Lake Worth Golf Club, and the tentative date is Friday March 15th.  Stay tuned for more information on this annual event.

Thanks,

Joe Erwin

President