OASO Mission
To recruit, educate, equip, assign, and retain sports officials in the State of Oklahoma and surrounding areas. The OASO is organized to promote the welfare of all American intercollegiate and interscholastic sports by the development and maintenance of a membership consisting of experienced and capable persons whose integrity is beyond reproach and who are actively engaged each year in officiating those games; and by fostering a high standard of ethics, encouraging fair play, sportsmanship, closer cooperation, and better understanding among sports officials, athletic representatives, coaches, players, athletic directors, and the media; and to provide their common interests in these activities.
What we do
OASO is an independent, 501c3 organization, providing support, resources, and training to Oklahoma high school sports officials. Our membership serves 160+ members and is open to anyone who wants to join. We are one of the largest local Basketball officiating associations in the State of Oklahoma with plans to expand into other sports and organize chapters across the State.
OASO works closely with Schools on the east side of the state to ensure fair, challenging, and safe athletic competitions for Oklahoma High School student-athletes.
Recruit Officials
We set up our booth at college and high school job fairs around the State. If you have one you would like us to set up one up at your event, please contact us at info@oaso.info
Education/Training
OASO creates and presents training material to our members to assist them in continually improving their officiating skills and knowledge of the rules. OASO organizes and conducts local meetings to review new rule changes with breakout sessions focused on specific areas of officiating skills. We also plan to sponsor basketball camps in the summer to further train officials in proper mechanics and learn the skills required to officiate basketball at the scholastic level.
Each OASO member must pass the annual rules exam before officiating a game in the State of Oklahoma - we help them prepare and equip them to pass this annual test in our preseason meetings.
Advocacy
One of our main focuses going forward with our new Public Relations Manager is to counterbalance the negative publicity and unfair treatment of officials. OASO will work to dispel negative connotations and provide an accurate portrayal of how our members contribute to the community and provide a much-needed service for the local schools and communities. We want to show that officials are dedicated to the sports we love and provide assurance of equal and fair competition in games we officiate and create goodwill between the public and this advocation. OASO also works closely with local schools to improve game fees, travel reimbursement, and working conditions for our members.
Community Ties
From Hosting a yearly Charity Golf Event to participating in other charity events around the State for Officials vs Cancer, Local Youth Sports Foundations, and other worthy causes. We strive to be a bigger part of helping other nonprofits excel.
Protection
As our chapter grows, we plan on supplementing part (or all) of the cost of NASO.ORG which protects our members from lawsuits that may arise from their work as a sports official. This includes General liability insurance and accident insurance. We have plans to apply for grants and donations to help us supplement these costs for our members.
Communication
OASO communicates regularly with our members and local schools through ArbiterSports and our website at www.oaso.info along with emails and message apps such as Groupme. We provide OASO news and information plus officiating-related news from across the country and around Oklahoma.