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The CAO course takes place each year in conjunction with USIndoor's annual Facility Operators' Conference and Trade Show. Annual recertification is subject to additional requirements consisting of an annual certification fee and continuing educational units, which may be earned in a variety of ways, including attending the Conference, participating in USIndoor's educational teleseminar series, writing articles or giving lectures. For a complete set of rules, visit CAO Rules and Regulations. 2008 Curriculum
2008-2009 USIndoor Teleseminars
As part of USIndoor's quest to deliver quality, continuing education to sports facility operators, we have introduced our educational teleseminar series! Teleseminars are held quarterly, and the topics are chosen carefully based on feedback from members, non-members and Certified Arena Operators. The speakers chosen are the experts in their respective fields. The only item needed to participate in these teleseminars is a phone, and you may invite your whole staff to listen in! You may even ask questions through an easy, user-friendly, operator-assisted method! What a great, affordable way to train your whole facility on the issues that matter most to our industry! Each teleseminar is worth 1-2 CEUs for Certified Arena Operators. USIndoor is proud to announce our next teleseminar! The success of any facility depends largely on its ability to deal with many kinds of people: customers, staff, suppliers, parents, bosses, sponsors and more. The goals of this program will be to learn how to reduce the time spent in nonproductive encounters and to turn them into positive relationships. Through this teleseminar, participants will be able to: USIndoor is proud to welcome back one of our most popular 2008 Conference speakers!
Before beginning G B Associates, Inc., Ms. Birnbach spent 10 years in banking, where she worked her way from an entry-level clerical position to become the youngest Vice President in the bank's history. In that capacity, she managed an 82-person department. She has a proven record of success in motivating and developing people. She holds an M.B.A. in Personnel and Industrial Relations from the American University and an M.S.W. from the University of Maryland. She is a licensed clinical social worker and worked for 6 ½ years as a family therapist in a juvenile court. She was named one of the "Outstanding Young Women of America" in 1980. Sheila is known for her pioneering concepts of staff development and human resource management. She has an outstanding reputation as a consultant to non-profit organizations and is sought after for the unique perspectives she brings. The combination of her first-hand management experience, her 25 years as a consultant to a variety of organizations and her years as a family therapist have qualified her as an excellent executive coach and she has served as a coach to managers and owners in a variety of organizations. Sheila has served on the faculty of the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management for 23 years. She has authored several articles, including "Using Meetings to Facilitate Change" in The Executive Officer (Spring, 1994) and "Hiring Shouldn't Be a Gamble" in Rental Management (July, 1994) and National Focus (Fall, 2006) and a chapter entitled "Getting the Most Out of Meetings: Employing Quality to Plan and Conduct Them" in Adding Value to the Public Affairs Function: Using Quality to Improve Performance, Public Affairs Council, 1994. Sheila has been a frequent presenter for the Fun Expo! sponsored by the Internaitonal Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry (IALEI) and for the International Association of Auditorium Managers (IAAM). 2008 CAO Instructor Bios
Program Director, Jim Cline, CAO
Frank E. Cuzzi, President, Corner Kick International  Frank Cuzzi is President and Founder of Corner Kick International, an integrated marketing company which owns publishing, licensing and promotion properties and provides marketing consulting and project management. He is a marketing and sales executive with over 25 years experience developing and directing national promotion, advertising and sales campaigns. A builder and innovator, Mr. Cuzzi has promoted new ideas, developed new markets and managed projects from concept through implementation. He is also a college Professor for sports management, marketing and sales courses.
Recognized as an integrated marketing expert, Frank has developed over 80 marketing programs for national corporations, linking them to publishing, special events, TV programming, licensing, international tournaments and public relations. His clients have included M/M Mars, Times Mirror Magazine, Grey Advertising, MacGregor Sports, Pepsi Cola, American Cyanimid, RJR Seagrams’, Heublein, NEC, Franklin Mint, Swissotel, and two professional sports leagues. In his experience with the leagues, he was successful in gaining corporate sponsors Clairol, Philip Morris, Toyota, Gatorade, Budweiser, and Bata Shoe, among others.
Frank has been Director of Marketing for the Major Indoor Soccer League and he co-Founded the North American Soccer League Marketing, Inc. as VP Advertising/Publications. His commissioner-level sports management experience includes sponsorships, promotions, special events, and publishing. His successful track record in magazine publishing has resulted in the three most successful soccer publications ever in North America: Kick, Missile and World Cup ’94. Frank created a documented/national marketing impact for the NASL and the MISL, and was honored for Leadership by Sports Management Review.
In 2006, he founded the AISL’s New York Hampton Surf professional indoor soccer team in Southampton, New York.
Mark Davidoff, Managing Director, O2HR, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mark Grossman, President,Monument Sports Group & Owner, Sports Center of Richmond, VA
Michael Holtzman, President, Profitable Food Facilities, Poway, CA Over the past few years, he has been asked to speak at many different conferences including the Indoor Soccer Association, the Sportsplex Operators & Developers Association, the Athletic Business Conference World Waterpark Association, the National Recreation and Parks Association, the PGA of America, the Club Managers Association, the National Ski Areas Association, the National Golf Course Owners Association, the, and the International Health Racquet & Sports Association. This past summer, he was one of two Americans that were invited to speak in England at the Bodylife conference for Leisure World Industries. His partial list of clients includes Pinnacle Sports in Ohio, Vetta Sports in St Louis, Tennis Corporation of America (TCA), The City of Bolinbrook in Illinois, the Metro Park Authority in Detroit Michigan, The City of Golden in Colorado, the City of Roseville in California, the Winward Lake Club in Georgia, and TBG Development in Missouri. He has also designed the kitchen operations for over 110 other “captive market” facilities including the Boston Celtics Training Center
John Miller
Jan Eric Nordmo, CAO
Peter Spanos, CAO john_wolohan.jpg
John Wolohan, Esq
Arnold Zirkes, Principal, Net Re$ult$, LLC |
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USIndoor's Certified Arena Operator Program is a must for anyone
serious about running an indoor sports facility or in having a career in
recreational sports management. With emphasis on day-to-day management,
the CAO Program is the industry’s only professional credential. Lead
by respected industry leaders and academicians in their areas of expertise,
this intensive two-day program includes lectures, panel discussions, audience
participation, written materials and an exam. Besides a new title, attendees
leave the program with measurable skills and knowledge essential
for the general manager position. For facility owners, the Program also offers
a means to improve the quality of existing staff, keep up with industry
trends, and make better hiring decisions.
SHEILA BIRNBACH, LCSW-C is President of G B Associates, Inc. The company, which she started in 1981, designs and conducts seminars, workshops, meetings and retreats to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness. The company also provides human resource services to small- and mid-sized organizations. 
A former general manager with several indoor soccer companies, Jim
consults full-time for facilities all across America. Founder and principal of
The Goals Group, an indoor soccer and sports consulting firm based in
Columbus, Ohio, Jim has been involved with soccer teams, soccer stores,
and indoor facilities for more than twenty years. He is on the boards of
several youth soccer associations in two states and has operated more than
75 youth soccer tournaments. His career has included more than thirty
years in real estate development, commercial design and construction for
several national firms. Jim was recognized recently by Major League Soccer
as one of the top 100 soccer leaders in Ohio. His practice is limited to
indoor soccer and sports facilities and their related operations. He is a
member of the United States Indoor Soccer Association's team of professional consultants and has been the
featured indoor soccer speaker at the USIndoor Operators’ Conference and the Athletic Business Conference.
In addition to current projects in Illinois, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, California, Georgia,
Texas, Massachusetts, California,Washington, Rhode Island,Washington, Maryland, and Virginia, he is an
indoor soccer consultant to indoor equipment manufacturers and vendors as well as development groups,
non-profit organizations, and municipal parks and recreation departments. Jim is also active in indoor
sports projects in China.
Mark joins the CAO staff for his strengths in industrial and labor relations.
At 23, he was recognized as “Man of the Year” by the Veterans of Foreign
Wars of the United States, and in 1985, he received a Masters degree from
Cornell University. From 1972 to 1992, Mark was the CEO of one of the
largest labor organizations in the northeastern United States. His career
since then has amounted to over 15 years experience in the professional
employment industry, including his position at O2HR, a professional
employer organization (“PEO”). In addition to his business management
and leadership skills, he is known for having developed strong relationships
within the hospitality, sports, and restaurant industries both within the
United States and abroad.
A native of Richmond, VA, Mark lettered in 5 sports and earned High
School All-American status in soccer. He graduated from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an interdisciplinary major of Sports
Public Relations/Marketing and Speech Communication. After UNC, Mark
spent the next two years in the front office of theWashington Diplomats, a
team in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Returning to Chapel
Hill, he owned and operated "Heels OnWheels," an outdoor/indoor roller
skating business. Mark entered the insurance business in 1981. He
purchased the independent agency where he was employed in 1987 and in
2000 founded The Monument Sports Group to service the insurance,
financial services, and marketing needs of both professional and amateur
sports owners, operators, and players. Monument Sports is proud to be the exclusive insurance agency for
the United States Indoor Soccer Association. Mark is a member of USIndoor’s Advisory Board of Directors.
Michael Holtzman received his BS in Restaurant Management from California Polytechnic University in Pomona, California, and now has over 25 years of restaurant industry experience. . He is now President of Profitable Food Facilities, a company specializing in captive market restaurant locations including indoor soccer parks, outdoor sports facilities, sportplexes, water parks, golf courses, ski resorts, health clubs, and day spas. In particular, he has worked with more than 310 “captive market” facilities in 42 states, Canada, England and the Middle East to enhance restaurant design and customer service, while building sales and profits.
John is presently an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Health, Exercise and Sport Sciences, Texas Tech University. He is a Fellow in the Research Consortium Fellow and has been given the Distinguished Scholar Award from the School and Community Safety Society of America. He has been the president of the national Safety and Risk Management Council as well as a member the Board of Directors of the Sport and Recreation Law Association. He has more than 65 presentations at national and international conferences, 25 published articles and 3 book chapters primarily dealing with legal issues and risk management in sport and athletics. John also works as a consultant associated with Southwest Sport Management located in Albuquerque, NM.
Jan founded Off theWall Soccer in 1991 and began operations in 1993 in
the heart of the Silicon Valley in Santa Clara, California. Jan Eric also
branded two other Off theWall Soccer facilities: one in Chico, California,
and one which recently sold in the Portland, Oregon area. Mr. Nordmo's
operations were among the first in the country to utilize player membership
cards and the internet for informational and practical applications. He has
consulted with other arena developers utilizing his past development and
geotechnical engineering background. In addition to his entrepreneurial
expertise in arena soccer, Jan Eric is very active in the world of player
development and coaching. He holds a current USSF "A" license and is
currently coaching several club and high school teams as well as a State
Olympic Development coach for Cal North and ODP Region IV coach, in addition to being a coaching
instructor for the CYSA Coaching School. He is also the co-founder and partner in the Premier Arena Soccer
League and serves as the Pacific Division Director of Operations and is the founder of Soccer Scouts USA, a
player scouting and reporting company.
Peter Spanos is principal owner of Vetta Sports Clubs, which has five indoor sports facilities, all in the St. Louis, MO, area. A former collegiate soccer
player and Xerox employee with a masters of business administration, Pete
was running the family dental lab when, driven by passions for teaching and
for making a greater impact on the community, he drastically altered his
career. Soccerdome, where Pete had regularly played, was his first location
in 1988. Expansion plans later included ground-up construction, and in
1996 his family joined the team of long-term staff. Combined, Vetta (named
after Pete’s paternal grandmother) has over 200 employees and 1.5 million
visitors per year. Pete has served on USIndoor’s Advisory Board of
Directors since 2003.
John Wolohan is a Professor and Department Chair of the Sport Management & Media Department at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Sports Law and Labor Relations in Sports. In addition to being one of the lead editors for the book “Law for Recreation and Sport Managers” by Cotten and Wolohan, Professor Wolohan also writes the “Sports Law Report” a monthly article that appears in Athletic Business. Professor Wolohan has published numerous articles and book chapters in the areas of intellectual property, athlete’s rights, and antitrust issues in sport in such Journals as the Marquette Sports Law Journal, Seton Hall Journal of Sports Law, Villanova Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, University of Missouri- Kansas City Law Review, Educational Law Reporter, Journal of the Legal Aspects of Sport and the Journal of Sport Management.