NEWSLINE STORY

published May-June 2015

It�s Time I Introduce Myself, Jerry Smith

by Jerry Smith, 3rd Vice President and Sanction League Director, Junior Scholarships

As a new NHPA Officer, I felt I would use this first article to introduce myself. Those of you that frequent the World Tournament probably know me from the stat room, my home away from home for the last five years.

I got my first NHPA membership card in 1985 and pitched in (and won, by the way) my first tournament in April 1986. In November of 1988, I was elected to 3rd Vice President of the Northern California charter (NORCAL) and in 1989 directed the first of many state championships in both California and Idaho. In 1991, I was elected to the position of NORCAL Charter Secretary/Treasurer and, in 1994, to the position of statistician. I felt honored to be elected to the NORCAL Hall of Fame in 1999. I held these offices until 2012 when my wife Diane and I moved to Idaho.

I was elected Idaho Secretary/Treasurer in 2005 and appointed statistician in 2007, holding both these positions today.

In 2009, my old and dear friend, Glenn Jamieson, NHPA NATSTATS Director, asked me if I would be interested in assisting him in the stat room at the World Tournament and the council approved his request. Unfortunately, I never got to work again with Glenn with his passing just before the 2010 World Tournament. President Stu Sipma asked if I would come work at the tournament anyhow and I quickly learned HSMaster and started working the stat room with then newly appointed NATSTATS Director Rob Hagman and crew. It has been an extreme pleasure to work and help usher in the modern technology of HSMaster and electronic scoring.

I was asked to join the HSMaster Oversight Committee in 2011 and have enjoyed working to help prioritize improvements to the program through program developer Kurt Whaley. In 2013, I was appointed to the NHPA Hall of Fame Selection Committee where I enjoy working with an All-Star cast of mostly HOF members selecting the yearly HOF selectees.

Last summer, when David Sidles ran for and was elected to be the NHPA Secretary/Treasurer, I tossed my hat into the ring for his vacant two-year term and was appointed as 3^rd Vice President by the NHPA Council. My life has changed a great deal with this position, which includes being the Director of Sanctioned Leagues and the many and varied related responsibilities. This job is much bigger than it appears on the surface, but that�s a story for another day.

I have written a couple of horseshoe pitching books and I guess one could say that my life revolves around the sport we all love. I will be writing about sanctioned leagues in the future and will try to keep everyone informed.