Mary and I would like to wish each of you a very blessed Holiday Season.  We have all been blessed with some wonderful fall weather the State Championships have been completed in all the fall sports.  Congratulations to all the Championship teams and coaches.  I would like to also pass along congratulations to all of the teams and coaches for the commitment you have each put forth in pursuit of excellence and I hope that each of you are able to say that you had a great experience.  Minnesota is very fortunate to have the very talented and committed men and women leading our student athletes of and providing outstanding skills and knowledge of their sports. 

            Mary and I want to personally thank you for your cooperation in transitioning to the on line registration system.  The system allows us to be more accurate and effective in tracking and reporting membership.  The accuracy of information that you submit to your profile is much better that it was when we had to transpose the information from paper applications.  There was some concern that requiring on line registration would result in a loss of membership and to date there are only 24 less coaches signed up this fall as compared to last fall.  We are quickly becoming a paperless business world and we want to thank all of your for identifying problems as they have occurred and are very happy with the writers CORDONCO has provided to correct and add to the programming that makes the system work.  Once again if you have any problems please contact us and we will work to get it resolved in a timely fashion. 

            AWARDS BANQUET AND PROGRAM:  I would like to thank Jim and Jan Baker for the great banquet they organized to recognize our 2010-2011 award winners.  It was a great night with about 330 in attendance.   It is always a great experience to recognize those men and women who have the opportunity to win championships, be selected and Coach or Assistant Coach of the year as well as the Hall of Fame Inductees and George Haun Award winners.  We do have some concerns about the number of coaches who have either awards or been selected to receive awards who do not attend.  We fully understand that there will always be conflicts and there is no perfect time.  The concern we have is that in several instances we have written two letters to award recipients and have not ever heard back form them.  This was a discussion item at the Fall Delegate Assembly of the MSHSCA and a motion was proposed and passed to make a change in the way awards are made and mailed for coaches who do not respond.  If an award winner tells us they cannot attend the banquet but would still like to receive the award they will be required to pay for the postage.  A coach that does not respond to the requests for plaque information or RSVP banquet intentions no award will be ordered.  Thanks for your help in this area of concern.

            CALL FOR VP CANDIDATES: It is time to ask for candidates for the 2012 VP election.  We would like to have one candidate from each of the following areas; Class AA Administrative section 1,2,3,4 Class A Administrative sections 5,6,7,8 one candidate representing girls sports, one candidate representing boys sports and one at large candidate.  The candidate that is elected as the VP will serve on the Executive Board for four years serving one year each as VP, President Elect, President and Past President.  If you are interested in becoming a candidate or if you have any questions regarding the position on the Executive Board please contact me or any member of the current Executive Committee. 

            CALL FOR DSA NOMINEES:  We would like to have you consider nominating deserving officials for the Distinguished Service Award for Officials.  The criteria for the award include 25 years of officiating and still actively officiating.  You can refer to the September Prep Coach for a complete list of those officials that have previously won the award.  All Prep coaches for the past three years are archived on our web site for your convenience. 

            Mary and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing us the privilege of serving as your Executive Director and Assistant Director.  Working for the Coaches of Minnesota is very humbling and gratifying experience and we hope that each day in some small way we can make a difference for the people we serve and the calling you have accepted to lead our student athletes.  Go out and make this a great year.