Sport Officials Surrendered would like to wish everybody… our donors, partners, followers and friends... a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
2019 was a year of significant growth and development for S.O.S., and we are genuinely humbled by those who have locked arms with us in whatever way they are able, in our vision to make a positive impact in the sport officiating world through fellowship and the Gospel of Jesus.
Our first full calendar year saw our ministry expand on a number of fronts, and was highlighted by the second annual Referees Embracing Faith “REF” Conference. Prasco Laboratories in Mason, OH, nearby Cincinnati, hosted this year’s REF Conference where officials in attendance were blessed to hear messages from accomplished officials and guests from across multiple sports including the NBA, MLB, NCAA basketball and the NFL.
Messages from REF Conference 2019 are available to view on our S.O.S. YouTube channel. Planning is already well underway for REF Conference 2020. We are always looking for ways to improve the REF Conference experience and serve you better!
S.O.S. also launched a new initiative this year, partnering with Honig’s to launch The Great Recruitment Campaign. “The Great Recruitment geared by Honig’s” is a concentrated effort to engage the local church in the mission to boost officiating recruitment, and do our part to contribute to ending the nationwide officiating enrollment crisis in the United States and Canada. Visit our website to learn how you can participate with your local church to guide and mentor new recruits into the officiating ranks.
Team S.O.S. grew in 2019 as we welcomed Ted Barrett and Alika Arisumi to our team. Barrett, who headlined REF Conference 2019, is a 20-year veteran Major League Baseball umpire, four-time World Series umpire, and two-time World Series crew chief. Arisumi, who also spoke at REF Conference 2019, is a pastor, basketball & volleyball official, and graphic design & video professional, who brings his wisdom and skills in all of those areas to our team.
Team S.O.S:
Dan & Alicia DiFolco, co-founders
Advisors
Pat Fraher
Darron George
Ted Barrett
Josh Koch
Alika Arisumi
Operations
Jonathan Hodgson, communications
Nick Donaldson, operations assistant
During the course of this past year, we have implemented our full interactive online presence, anchored by our website, social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, our YouTube channel, as well as our email newsletter (sportofficialssurrendered@outlook.com). These are your go-to ways to interact with us and keep up to date on a daily basis. Through these channels, we bring you a variety of content including ministry news, feature stories and videos, and daily posts aimed at giving you a faith boost... all tailored to you, the sport official!
Your one-stop shop for all things S.O.S. and REF Conference, is our website, sportsofficialssurrendered.org. Here, you can read our ministry vision & beliefs and our team member bios as well as feature stories highlighting the faith testimonies of professional officials. The website has complete info and coverage of ministry initiatives such as REF Conference and The Great Recruitment geared by Honig’s.
Going forward, we value your interaction and input to guide us in how to serve you better…
- Email Newsletter: subscribe to our Email Newsletter to receive first notice on all ministry news and major content.
- Prayer: Any prayer request or praise report you may have, we would be honored to receive, and are ready to stand with you in prayer.
- Feedback: Whether you attended REF Conference, are participating in The Great Recruitment geared by Honig’s, or have constructive thoughts as to what you would like to see on our online presence, please let us know via email!
Partnership
We have been blessed to unite with outstanding partners, and are always open to partnering with members of the officiating and ministry communities.
Our partners include:
- Honig’s
- Court Club Elite
- Nations of Coaches
- Harris Shamion Officiating
- WG Design
- Elevate Officiating
- Game Changer Sports Ministry
Alignment with S.O.S. is a great fit for professional officials, officiating organizations, officiating schools and camps, sports ministries, and any organization with a compatible vision to serve the officiating industry!
Visit our website to support our partners, and email us to begin the conversation about how we can work together with you!
Our Humble Ask
God has revealed to us four words that will be at the core of our ministry, and our focus in 2020:
Presence
Fellowship
Longevity
Resource
We will effort to take our presence to another level in 2020, through our events, initiatives, and consistency of our online content. Part of our prayer is that each of these aspects of our ministry will act as a conduit to fellowship in their own way, between our team and you the sport official, between sport officials across the continent, and from established officials to new officiating recruits.
Our full intent is to continue to grow deep roots and be here for the long haul. To ensure this longevity becomes reality, resource considerations are a necessity…
S.O.S. is a grassroots ministry operating on a not-for-profit basis, reliant on the support of individuals and partners to help us continue to carry the gospel of Jesus and fellowship to more and more of the officiating community across North America. We have been blessed by generous monetary donations that go directly towards expenses incurred by staging REF Conference, and the maintenance of other areas of the ministry that otherwise are taken on personally by the team.
We have set a fundraising goal of $12,750 for the 2020 year. (We have raised $2,250 to date!) A financial gift to S.O.S will go a long way in helping us accomplish what God has set in front of us. We would be eternally grateful if you would prayerfully consider joining S.O.S in this Kingdom work by giving financially!
We certainly understand that not all are able to donate financially. Our second ask, is that if you have been blessed by S.O.S., REF Conference, or any content on our online presence, please share our pages, news, stories, and messages with family, friends and officiating colleagues. Old fashioned word-of-mouth also still goes a long way!
Once again, on behalf of the entire team at Sport Officials Surrendered, we would like to express our sincerest thanks for a truly blessed year in 2019. Pulling the curtain back for a moment; there have been many moments along this road where we have been speechless in amazement of something God has done in and through this vision for S.O.S. that he gave Dan & Alicia DiFolco in 2018.
We look forward to continuing to obediently walk this journey together into 2020 as we together impact the officiating community through the Gospel of Jesus.
Merry Christmas!
For His Kingdom with love,
Team S.O.S.
