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Is there trouble brewing between the Texas Association of Sports Officials and the UIL? With statements from each obtained by Houston 5A Baseball on Monday,
October 19, 2009, one might conclude there is a definite impasse between the two organizations. TASO Spokesman, Jon Bible claims the UIL is involved in "a
hostile takeover" of TASO while Mark Cousins, Director of Policy, of the UIL states "The University Interscholastic League (UIL) has no plans to take
over all officiating duties."
Both organizations make some valid points in their statements and we can only hope that these two organizations can find some common ground so as not to interrupt the quality of officiating in Texas High School Sports.
Below are both statements in their entirety:
Statement from Jon Bible TASO official spokesman on the
UIL attempted takeover/elimination of TASO.
As many of you know, the Texas Association of Sports Officials is now in the midst of what can only be termed a hostile takeover by the University
Interscholastic League. For several decades the UIL, TASO, and its predecessor, the Southwest Officials Association, worked harmoniously, with TASO taking
care of the training of, and logistical issues involving, thousands of sports officials in six sports in Texas. TASO also had a good relationship with Drs.
Bailey Marshall and Bill Farney, the former Executive Directors of the UIL. Beginning a few months ago, however, the current ED, Dr. Charles Breithaupt, and
his associate, Mr. Tony Timmons, began openly, and very aggressively, soliciting basketball chapters around the state to leave TASO and join the UIL. Among
other things, defecting chapters were promised a waiver of dues for at least this year and preferential treatment in playoff assignments. School districts
that continued to use the former TASO chapter in the area were threatened with, among other things, the forfeiture of games if they used TASO officials, even
though the UIL clearly has no authority to impose this "death penalty." It has also been asserted that TASO is experiencing financial difficulties,
although that claim is demonstrably untrue. These are simply a few of the dubious methods that have been employed to force TASO chapters to defect to the UIL
.
In a letter to Senator Dan Patrick, who is among the Texas legislators
who have expressed serious concern about this takeover effort, as well as on other occasions, Dr. Breithaupt has claimed that his intent is not to eliminate
TASO, but instead is merely to offer an alternative to school districts and officials who sought one due to their concerns about TASO. The aggressiveness of
Mr. Timmons' solicitation efforts, however, coupled with the overt threats to school districts that wish to continue to use TASO, belies that claim.
Admittedly, a handful of chapters that have left TASO did so because
they had concerns and voluntarily wanted to leave. But conversations with members of other defecting chapters indicate that they really wanted to remain with
TASO and left due to fears of retaliation at the hands of the UIL if they did not do so, as well as the lure of the dues waiver and preferential treatment in
playoffs.
Why, after years of harmonious dealings between TASO and the UIL, have
things suddenly changed? Although one can only speculate as to the true motives, two thoughts come to mind. First, the UIL seems to be attracted by the
potential dues revenue from thousands of officials who are now paying those dues to TASO. Second, Dr. Breithaupt has gone on record as having promised the
NFHS that he can deliver thousands of officials to them, which speaks for itself.
The main concern of everyone should be the sports, and players, coaches,
etc., in Texas. TASO firmly believes that the result of the UIL hostile takeover effort will be serious harm to those stakeholders. A large number of TASO
members have firmly stated that they will not, under any circumstances, join the UIL, so the already-depleted ranks of officials in this state will suffer even
more. Training will suffer as well. In a meeting last week, Mr. Timmons publicly stated, in answer to a question by a member of the audience who had not
passed his rules exam this year, that it didn't matter -- Mr. Timmons would have given him a playoff assignment anyway. That speaks volumes about whether
the UIL has any interest in ensuring that officials who are up to date on the current rules will be put on the field. Finally, the UIL solicitation effort
will ultimately leave officials with no independent advocate for their interests. Despite what it may assert, the UIL, which is primarily answerable to school
administrators, does not, and indeed cannot given conflict of interest issues, truly speak for officials.
Dr. Breithaupt has admitted, in a letter to Senator Patrick, that, at
the Legislative Council meeting on October 25-26, he intends to propose that section 1204 of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules be amended to require all
officials in all sports in Texas to register with the UIL. Section 1204 now allows officials to register with either TASO or the UIL. Dr. Breithaupt rather
disingenuously claims that this will not eliminate TASO, for officials can, if they choose, register with TASO in addition to the UIL. But why would an
official have any incentive to do so? With Mr. Timmons having already, on numerous occasions, affirmed his intent to ensure that school districts that use
TASO suffer penalties, there would be no reason for officials or school districts to have any dealings with TASO. And Dr. Breithaupt and Mr. Timmons are fully
aware of that. Their public assertions notwithstanding, their clear intent is to render TASO so impotent as to be effectively a nullity.
It is also significant that several TASO members have reported
conversations with school district superintendents, coaches, and athletic directors who have said that they do not want to see officials registered with the
UIL, want TASO to survive, and wish that this intramural warfare would cease and things would return to the way they have been. The TASO leadership has also
been flooded with emails, phone calls, etc., from officials around the state who strongly resent the UIL solicitation effort. Some TASO board members have
reported that as many as 30% of their chapter members, if not more, will refuse to join the UIL under any circumstances. So the bottom line is that, for the
most part, officials, coaches, athletic directors, superintendents, and state legislators don't like what is happening, but it continues to happen
nonetheless. To reiterate -- if section 1204 of the C & CR is amended at the upcoming Legislative Council meeting as has been proposed, and if the
Commissioner of Education signs off on that, TASO will be effectively neutered. Even though not a single stakeholder group wants to see that happen.
Have there been problems on TASO's end? Of course. As is the case
with any large organization, certain things should have been handled differently. Steps have been taken, moreover, to address these issues. The answer,
however, would have been for the UIL to work with TASO to correct these problems, not to use them as a justification for moving to gut the organization.
In sum, the next few days will largely determine TASO's fate. If the UIL gets its way, officiating, and in turn sports, in this state will suffer in numerous ways. There is, however, still some time to try to avert this impending train wreck. Those of you who are officials need to consider your long-term, rather than short-term, best interests. Joining the UIL may lead to some playoff assignments in the short-run, but the long-term consequences of TASO's disappearing will be harmful to the interests of officials in many ways. You need to contact whomever you know that might be in a position to help -- immediately -- to ensure they know what is going on and that it will have negative consequences for sports in this state. Those of you who are school administrators, coaches, and athletic directors need to contact people on the Legislative Council to make certain that they know that this takeover effort by the UIL is opposed by the vast majority of your constituency and would be inimical to the best interests of Texas sports.
Statement (in response) from Dr Mark Cousins, Director of Policy for the UIL.
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) has no plans to take over
all officiating duties. UIL has a long history of supporting TASO and individual officials, and in fact, had a hand in establishing TASO as the Southwest
Officials Association in 1977. Since 1914, the UIL Constitution has stated that decisions of the officials are final. The UIL office has processed over 6,000
incident reports from game officials over the last five years and has supported the officials in 94% of those cases.
As with all actions of the UIL, this proposal comes at the request of many of the school membership, as well as the TASO membership, who were seeking an
alternative and some accountability. UIL staff met with leadership from TASO on more than thirty-five (35) occasions in the last nine (9) months trying to
come to a resolution on the issues raised by the public schools and the TASO membership, to no avail.
Currently, and under the proposal to be presented to the UIL Legislative Council, local officials chapters and the TASO may conduct business as they have done
in the past. Both TASO and UIL officials' chapters are and will continue to be allowed to call games, provided the individual official registers with UIL.
Schools and officials need to know that all rules and regulations will be enforced and equally applied to everyone.
