The meeting was called to order by the General Chairman, Thirl Crudup at 7:00 pm. In attendance were Thirl Crudup, Jim Garner, John Hirschmann, Linda Klopfenstein, Kit Mathews, Bob Walker, Greg York, Irene Millman, and Linda Edmunds.

Approval of the October BOD Meeting Minutes
Motion to accept the October BOD minutes as distributed. PASSED.

Please refer to the attached Additional Board Actions which were handled via email voting.

Treasurer's Report
As John E. was not present, no report was presented. Linda E. stated that the LSCs financial position was similar to that of the same time last year. Bob W. asked about the Zone team expense reports that John E. was to present at this meeting. Thirl stated that he would check with John E. about their status of these reports.

The process under the new electronic registration process of collecting registration fees from the clubs and PVS's remitting to USA Swimming of its share of fees was discussed.

General Chairman's Report
Written report submitted. Jim G. asked about the congratulatory letter from USA Swimming. Thirl stated that USA Swimming had complimented PVS on its active role in the Convention and the Administrative Staff for its participation in the Meet Reconciliation and Club Import sessions.

Greg asked whether it would be possible to put the JMU request on the webpage. There was discussion of this matter. In keeping with webpage policy, the General Chairman's report will be posted, but the JMU request will not be handled as a separate item.

In discussion of the Strategic planning position, it was noted that there are several positions within the LSC that are currently vacant. Kit and Irene will produce a list of all openings that will then be posted to the webpage.

Kit asked about the reports of injuries. John stated that the LSC had none for the 2001 season to date. Irene stated that overall as an LSC; PVS does quite well in having limited injuries.

Administrative Division
Mark Eldridge arrived during this portion of the meeting. The attached written report had been submitted. Irene reported the current status of preparing the Aquatics Guide and noted it was generally progressing well.. She further stated that there were currently no pre-orders and she not aware of any teams planning to do so prior to the December 1 deadline. There was discussion of the Aquatics Guide and a consensus that it would be popular and sell well when presented to the membership. Accordingly, it was agreed the Admin office should proceed with printing and distribution as proposed in the report to the Board.

Kit asked about electronic registration. Linda E. responded that it was going quite well. PVS currently has more athletes registered than at the same time last year and the time saved by processing the registrations electronically has allowed the Office more time for other tasks such as Meet Recon. Kit questioned the progress of Meet Recon. Linda E. stated that it was going very well. There were a few exceptions on each meet and those were quickly taken care of upon notification of the club. The Post Meet Recon had identified only 2 athletes for the meets to date.

There was discussion of the meet director's financial report filing. It was noted that one club had inadvertently paid an incorrect amount, but upon notification corrected the error promptly. It was further noted that one club had failed to complete the income section of the meet director's financial report. The income was "penciled" in based on the number of splashes and the club was notified.

There was discussion of a team's request to have the Board consider a change in the current policy regarding splash fees. The coach stated that the fee of $75 for less than 200 splashes and $.75 per splash for more than 200 splashes did not make meets with slightly over 200 splashes financially equitable. Further, it was a concern that a meet with just over 200 splashes did not run long enough to produce income in other ways.

Another Board member noted that the current policy called for a payment of $75 for 200 splashes, but $150.75 for 201 splashes -- making the 201st splash very expensive. Various ways to remove the discontinuity were discussed. The Treasurer's views will be sought.

Greg stated that his club had no concern in general with the current level of sanction fees. Kit, Irene and John H. will meet and develop an equitable solution to this problem to be presented for the Board's consideration at the January Board of Director's meeting.

Irene reviewed the presented Organizational Structure as it was proposed it would be printed in the forthcoming Aquatics Guide. An updated copy was presented to the Board at the meeting. It was noted the intent of this document was to reflect how PVS currently functions. The Board was made aware that there were differences between this and PVS's organization as reflected in its by-laws. It was also noted that if the Board agreed with its publication in the Aquatics Guide, that amendments to PVS's by-laws would be prepared to allow the House to approve conforming amendments to PVS's by-laws at its May, 2001 meeting.

Strategic Planning
As Greg Stephenson was not present, no report was presented.

Operations Division
John H. submitted the attached report. There was discussion of a club's concern (which had been submitted to the Board earlier that day) regarding the low number of splashes it had received for the November Open. John H. stated that he was sensitive to this problem and had attempted to rebalance the entries; however, the club with the largest share of the entries did not want to release entries. Kit asked if the Nov Open meet could now be held at 2 courses rather than 3. John H. stated that given current entry levels that might be possible, but also suggested that another option would be to open this meet to out of LSC athletes. There was discussion of how this could be handled. Kit asked if PVS should get out of the business and let the teams hold the meets.

John H. stated that historically the "rebalancing" of the entries with the agreement of both parties without set rules and that if meets were not oversubscribed, teams were not asked to change venues. He further explained that for the October Open he was handicapped in his efforts to rebalance by delays in receiving the necessary information from some sites and the desire of other sites to print their program early in order reduce printing costs.

Mark E. stated that when a club hosts a PVS meet, there is no guarantee of the number of entries and that he believes the Operations Div Chr. should have the responsibility to rebalance meets as needed. John H. stated that a policy addressing this issue is required, as he does not believe all clubs hosting meets for PVS have this perception. There was further discussion. It was agreed a policy for inclusion in PVS's P&P should be developed. In the interim, to provide board guidance for the PVS January [2001] Open, the following motion was made. It was noted the MA does provide the necessary authority to move teams if warranted.

Motion: That the Operations Chairman has the authority to balance the entries for all PVS sponsored meets held at multiple courses. Meet directors shall comply with the needs of the Operations Chairman in providing meet information in a timely manner and allow for a delay in production of the meet program and related items until a determination can be made if transfers will be made and, if necessary, the necessary meet entry information is transferred. PASSED.

John H and Thirl will prepare a response to the club who submitted a letter to the Board.

Age Group Division
Kelly Burke arrived during this portion of the meeting.

Bob W. stated that it was a positive experience having two teams in 1 venue and that positive comments had been received. Jim G. stated that he had heard this as well. Irene stated that the teams had worked well together.

Greg Y asked about the feasibility of using pools during the "dead" time of meets -- mostly likely between prelims and finals. He suggested this time could be used by a club to run a meet, clinic or camp. There was a general consensus that this idea was feasible and should be considered.

Bob W. stated that there were equipment problems at the November Open PGS&LC site that caused the first sessions (in particular) on both courses to start about 20 minutes late. He indicated a desire that PVS meets not get a reputation of being poorly run or not starting timely. John H. stated that the problems encountered at PGSL&C were not like any he'd ever encountered before and that a group of well trained individuals had all done their best to prevent these problems. This included visiting the venue on three occasions prior to the meet to check out the equipment, including believing that they had verified the operation all equipment then available on site the prior evening. Mark E. commented that if PVS has and maintains 3 full sets of equipment, it is not necessary to use the equipment of the site. Others stated that given installed Dektronics equipment at PGS&LC, other types of compatibility problems were likely to arise. Kit stated that the delays should be kept to 5 minutes and that if the problem cannot be resolved in that time frame, the meet should begin with watches. Jim G. stated that all deck officials do their level best to begin on time. Further, he indicated that all referees are urged to begin on time, but that some meets it is just not possible and that some meets cannot be run without the electronic equipment. He further stated that he would consider publishing a timeline for certain meets.

Athlete Representatives
Kelly stated that she had no report to present.

Senior Division
Jim G. had provided the following motion to modify the second full paragraph of C-8 in the PVS Policies and Procedures Manual:

The PVS Competition Committee will develop the PVS-sponsored schedule of competitions as follows: The schedule for the Long Course Season (May 1 to August 31) will be developed prior to, and approved at the preceding fall meeting. The schedule for the Short Course season (September 1 to April 30) will be developed prior to and approved at the preceding winter meeting. Bids for these seasons' meets will be taken prior to the subsequent meeting (winter and spring respectively).

Jim G. stated that this motion was intended to firm up the schedule earlier (mostly due to pool rental lead-time) and bring P&P into conformance with recent practice, but did not require that the bids be made earlier. Mark E. stated that it was difficult at best to set a schedule when there was no sense of when the Sectionals would be held and that until the Sectional schedule is set, the PVS schedule will always be subject to potential modification. Greg Y. stated that he felt PVS should be more forceful in setting the Sectional date as one which worked around the PVS schedule particularly in cases where the Sectional meet is hosted within this LSC. Mark E. stated that the entire meet format is bid when bidding Sectionals, it is not just a bid to host. Further, John H stated that the Zone has been good about following deadline requirements for setting dates for Zone meets but as Sectionals are new, it may be a while before this process settles in for those meets. There was further discussion about getting dates set for Sectionals earlier than was done this past year and the most effective means for achieving this goal.

Travel Assistance Requests Appeal
Linda K. presented that following the October Board of Director's meeting, it had been noted that the affiliation of one of the "appeal" travel assistance requests had been questioned. While the athlete had traveled with the PVS club and participated in all the events of the PVS club, the published results of the meet indicate the athlete as only competing for a college team. The athlete is registered with PVS.

In response to an inquiry, it was noted that at selection level meets, USA Swimming will allow athletes to be entered as having affiliations with both their college team and their USA Swimming club. The Board was also advised that in the past, PVS has paid travel assistance to athletes who have concurrently represented their college team and a PVS club, provided they otherwise qualified.

Coach Representatives
Greg Y. stated his concern that coaches (particularly those serving on a part time basis) within the association are unaware of the changes to the competition schedule for 2000-2001 and why there was a need for the changes. He felt that an awareness of the whole picture is needed.

Linda K. stated that there are no longer "OVCs". There are now STAR times that are maintained by USA Swimming. The process for obtaining the times remains unchanged.

Irene stated that 8-10 clubs (including one PVS club) had used the on-line meet entry procedure for the US Open. She added that the procedure worked and it had gone well overall. As reported would be the case, the validity of coaches and athlete registrations are being challenged upon submission by the system.

Linda K. stated that eventually the times would be tied in with the registration database.

Grey Y. thanked Irene for her assistance in getting US Open verifications processed.

Mark E. stated that there were 65 PVS volunteers for the World Cup meet and that he wished to thank them for their hard work. He inquired about the possibility of having these volunteers recognized on the website. He stated that the directions and notifications of when and where pick-ups were needed was poor. This had caused the drivers major problems in providing requested transportation. He further stated that he would like to see the PVS volunteers have opportunities for "on-deck" positions. Irene stated that the athletes who volunteered had done a great job and the use of a non-club and non-LSC T-shirt had worked well.

Respectfully submitted,


Linda Edmunds
Potomac Valley Swimming
Administrative Assistant