Final day at Governing Council... we continued with the isolated items from the requests for action. There were no new isolations. A change was made to allow officials who are related to each other to serve on the same panel at non-qualifying competitions, except as Tech Controller/Specialist as this would be a majority of those deciding calls in IJS. The Adult Committee had proposed changes to the allowed tests for Masters Junior/Senior, Intermediate/Novice, and Gold levels. An amendment to that was made so that anyone who has previously qualified to Nationals in Intermediate/Novice or Junior/Senior will not be able to now go back a level. New business - allowing Referees to access the rulebook on electronic media on stand passed; Rulebook available as online version only referred because they would not be able to implement all phases of it this year; referred to the Board to review areas of financial savings that do not include eliminating GC. There was a cute video played during the meeting - a video blog put together by local Stockton skater, Maddie Baker, and her grandmother about experience as Sweeper during Nationals. We finished all business by 1:30 PM, so we took time for lunch and then Jean, Lynn and I headed back to Charleston to spend the night before our early flights.
All approved rule changes will be posted online by U.S. Figure Skating as soon as they are ready.
~Lisa
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Saturday at GC.
Looks like we will finish up early. Exh D failed yesterday and new business is on the table now. The proposal to have online only rule books has failed. One of the issues seems to be headquarters ability to implement it. It will be brought back next year. There would be a significant cost savings and I think everyone is onboard with the idea, but it may take a little more time to implement I guess.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Sectional Meeting & Gov. Council Start
We had our Sectional meeting this morning where delegates from the each section gather separately to review the requests for action approved by the Board and to make presentations. Our meeting started with the announcement of National officials, among them our own Phillip Diguglielmo received his National Singles Tech Specialist appoinment (congratulations Phillip!). Others from Northern California receiving National appointments: Alison Hershberger-Filo (Judge), Ellen Izuka (Accountant), Joan Burns & Joyce Burden (Theater on Ice Judges). It was also announced that Rick Perez received his World Judging appointment for Synchro skating. The last part of the sectional meeting was dedicated to Nominating Committee elections. Representatives from the SW & NW Pacific were voted on and Dawn Eyerly (SWP) and Bill Cloran (NWP) were elected.
Governing Council began after lunch with a video replay of the Haydenettes Synchro team's free program from Worlds where they earned bronze for the 3rd year in a row (their program was amazing!). That was followed by the keynote address by 2 representatives of the Haydenettes team. Katie already posted the actions made on the exhibits (which are requests for bylaw changes). There were only 7 rule request items isolated - meaning a delegate has asked that a request for action be specifically reviewed and/or debated by the GC delegates. Any items that were approved by the Board and not brought forward for debate by the GC delegates will be automatically adopted. People may still isolate items during the meeting tomorrow, but if there aren't any more then when the discussion on these and any new business items is completed, we will be done with the 2012 Governing Council meeting. ~Lisa
Governing Council began after lunch with a video replay of the Haydenettes Synchro team's free program from Worlds where they earned bronze for the 3rd year in a row (their program was amazing!). That was followed by the keynote address by 2 representatives of the Haydenettes team. Katie already posted the actions made on the exhibits (which are requests for bylaw changes). There were only 7 rule request items isolated - meaning a delegate has asked that a request for action be specifically reviewed and/or debated by the GC delegates. Any items that were approved by the Board and not brought forward for debate by the GC delegates will be automatically adopted. People may still isolate items during the meeting tomorrow, but if there aren't any more then when the discussion on these and any new business items is completed, we will be done with the 2012 Governing Council meeting. ~Lisa
Full updates on all of the actions taken today can be found here
Short summary:
1. Withdrew Exhibit A, which would have amended the number of votes required to pass an amendment to the articles of incorporation.
2. Adopted Exhibit B, which gives honorary, ex-officio and additional members, committee chairs and representatives from other organizations the right to speak at select meetings of U.S. Figure Skating.
3. Adopted Exhibit C, which changes the process for a new club to become a full member club.
4. Did not adopt Exhibit D, which would have changed the format and frequency of Governing Council meetings and rule changes.
5. Adopted Exhibit E, which uses a rotation to determine the non-voting athlete member of the Board of Directors each season so that, going forward, no discipline (ice dancing, pairs, singles or synchronized skating) will be represented by the non-voting member in two consecutive years.
6. Adopted Exhibit F, which moves the full definition of "athlete" into the U.S. Figure Skating bylaws.
7. Adopted Exhibit G, which clarifies the effect of filling a vacancy on the term limits of said director.
Short summary:
1. Withdrew Exhibit A, which would have amended the number of votes required to pass an amendment to the articles of incorporation.
2. Adopted Exhibit B, which gives honorary, ex-officio and additional members, committee chairs and representatives from other organizations the right to speak at select meetings of U.S. Figure Skating.
3. Adopted Exhibit C, which changes the process for a new club to become a full member club.
4. Did not adopt Exhibit D, which would have changed the format and frequency of Governing Council meetings and rule changes.
5. Adopted Exhibit E, which uses a rotation to determine the non-voting athlete member of the Board of Directors each season so that, going forward, no discipline (ice dancing, pairs, singles or synchronized skating) will be represented by the non-voting member in two consecutive years.
6. Adopted Exhibit F, which moves the full definition of "athlete" into the U.S. Figure Skating bylaws.
7. Adopted Exhibit G, which clarifies the effect of filling a vacancy on the term limits of said director.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Day 1 - Seminars
Today, we drove from Charleston to Myrtle Beach. We arrived a little later than expected, so missed morning seminars. And, shortly after we arrived, I locked the keys in the car. Not the best start, but thank goodness for AAA nationwide!
So, our first meeting was for Critical Issues. There was a presentation about a new education requirement for coaches that focuses on the topic of abuse. We were informed that the Board of Directors did not pass the rule proposal requiring clubs to have a minimum of 35 members (up from 25). Then, the rest of the meeting was dedicated to presentations and debate on Exhibit D - the bylaws change that proposes to change the Governing Council format to only have full meetings every other year. Most of the delegates seem to be opposed to this bylaw change.
The first seminar I attended was about working with your coaching staff. St. Moritz does not have a coaching "staff," but we do have many member coaches and the presenters provided a lot of information about helping to make sure the coaches are in compliance with registration/education rules, a club's responsibility at competitions and test sessions, and gave examples of ways to keep coaches involved & active with the club.
Next, I went to Your Club is a Business and received much information about best business practices for a club.
After a short break, I attended the Synchronized Skating Committee meeting. They reviewed the year's accomplishments of our synchro teams. The presenters also provided information about training camps, including the DREAM camp to be held in Anaheim in July. Then, they reviewed the rule changes passed by the International Skating Union, as well as the rule proposals affecting synchro at this year's GC. I asked the Chair about concerns raised about scheduling Synchro Sectionals at the same time as Nationals - and in particular the added impact that scheduling may have now that the Juvenile & Intermediate skaters will compete at senior Nationals. The Synchro Committee Chair told me that they were aware and have shared the concerns with the Competitions Committee and headquarters (who select the dates). Everything is set for 2013 events, but she said they would be looking hard at this issue for the future as it affects skaters as well as officials.
My final meeting was an open Interclub forum. We shared ideas about helping clubs grow membership and managing a test session calendar and the options some interclub's have taken with consolidating test sessions, while rotating between clubs/rinks. Then wrapped up our discussion with information about how to start an interclub association.
It was a long but educational day in a very warm & humid Myrtle Beach! More to come on Friday ~ Lisa
So, our first meeting was for Critical Issues. There was a presentation about a new education requirement for coaches that focuses on the topic of abuse. We were informed that the Board of Directors did not pass the rule proposal requiring clubs to have a minimum of 35 members (up from 25). Then, the rest of the meeting was dedicated to presentations and debate on Exhibit D - the bylaws change that proposes to change the Governing Council format to only have full meetings every other year. Most of the delegates seem to be opposed to this bylaw change.
The first seminar I attended was about working with your coaching staff. St. Moritz does not have a coaching "staff," but we do have many member coaches and the presenters provided a lot of information about helping to make sure the coaches are in compliance with registration/education rules, a club's responsibility at competitions and test sessions, and gave examples of ways to keep coaches involved & active with the club.
Next, I went to Your Club is a Business and received much information about best business practices for a club.
After a short break, I attended the Synchronized Skating Committee meeting. They reviewed the year's accomplishments of our synchro teams. The presenters also provided information about training camps, including the DREAM camp to be held in Anaheim in July. Then, they reviewed the rule changes passed by the International Skating Union, as well as the rule proposals affecting synchro at this year's GC. I asked the Chair about concerns raised about scheduling Synchro Sectionals at the same time as Nationals - and in particular the added impact that scheduling may have now that the Juvenile & Intermediate skaters will compete at senior Nationals. The Synchro Committee Chair told me that they were aware and have shared the concerns with the Competitions Committee and headquarters (who select the dates). Everything is set for 2013 events, but she said they would be looking hard at this issue for the future as it affects skaters as well as officials.
My final meeting was an open Interclub forum. We shared ideas about helping clubs grow membership and managing a test session calendar and the options some interclub's have taken with consolidating test sessions, while rotating between clubs/rinks. Then wrapped up our discussion with information about how to start an interclub association.
It was a long but educational day in a very warm & humid Myrtle Beach! More to come on Friday ~ Lisa
Day one. It has been a long Day. Started with Budget Review meeting. US Figure Skating expects to come within budget based on their revenue expense projection. It has taken this long to recover from the major loss of revenue that resulted after the ABC TV contracted ended. The Association is still in search of ways to cut cost where it can. It looks like Rulebook will be available only online, but in a new PDF format that would allow individuals and clubs to print them in exact same way as the print version that we used to get. It will save a ton of money. However, those who are tech savvy can always save the electronic version on their iPads, laptops and smart phones for quick access. Exhibit "D" dose not seem to get a whole lot of support, but the jury is still out on whether or not it will pass or be voted down. But even if voted down, future GC will have to cost a whole lot less than they do now. There is a plan B to ensure the cost cutting project. Questions were raised about the "New Software" project. Answers were not clear as to what do we have on hand after $400 K was spent. But we were promised to have clear answers within the next 4-5 weeks.
Recruiting and Development: Not much was learned there. All sorts of ideas on how to improve recruiting prospective judges and their training, but nothing new was said there.
Critical Issues was a an exciting meeting with hotly debated items on hand. The hottest issue was once again Exhibit "D" and the subsequent notion of meeting very other year in person, and every other year over the internet. Again, we have to wait to see how the vote will go on that.
How and Why Competition was a very informative meeting. Basic Skills competitions and how successful it has been was discussed. Followed by a fantastic Interclub Grand Prix idea where skaters gain points at various local competitions, and the ones with top points will be invited to compete at a Local Grand Prix. Solo Dance and its success discussed.
Round Tables were as usual very informative. I spent my time at ASC, Test and Dance Committee tables discussing various issues.
All in all it was a productive day. Lynn, Lisa, Jean and myself were all attending various seminars, but we had the chance to meet in between to exchange notes and ideas. In the meantime Susan who had missed her flight yesterday finally arrived after a long arduous trip. She quickly recovered and was ready to join the team.
Another report will come your way tomorrow. ...Kianoosh
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
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