POTOMAC VALLEY SWIMMING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
MEETING NOTES

7:00 PM -- WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2006
River Falls Community Center
River Falls, MD

ATTENDANCE: Board Members: Jim Garner, Dan Jacobs, Frani Hess, John Hirschmann, Bill Marlin, Don Riedlinger, Bill Stephens, Ron Whalen, Greg York. Non-voting Board members: Janet Auger, John Ertter, Linda Klopfenstein. Guests: Joel "Cy" Cyganiewicz, Art Davis.

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:05 pm by Jim Garner, General Chair.

AGENDA: Jim provided the Board with a proposed Agenda.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the April 19, 2006 meeting. The motion passed with one abstention, Don Riedlinger. Following the vote, Riedlinger requested that either the Official Minutes of the present meeting or separate Electronic Vote record reflect the results of the Electronic Vote initiated on May 23, 2006.

General Chairman Items: The General Chairman, Jim Garner, presented a list of potential attendees to the 2006 United States Aquatic Convention, as well as a proposal for a limit on actual expenses that would be reimbursed. Potential attendees include: Arvydas Barzdukas, Art Davis, Sumie Emory, John Ertter, Jim Garner, Boots Hall, Frani Hess, John Hirschmann, Dan Jacobs, Paris Jacobs, Linda Klopfenstein, Bill Marlin, Don Riedlinger, Bill Stephens, and Ron Whalen. The Board concurred in attendance of those proposed. The Board approved the reimbursement of the following expenses: (1) convention registration fee (at the “early bird” rate), (2) one-half hotel expense per night, (3) air fare expense—not to exceed $150.00 and (4) meals expense—not to exceed $30 per day for each night spent at the hotel. It was noted by John Ertter that total expenditures for the Convention could exceed the budget should all of the potential attendees participate and attend for the full length of the convention.

The Board then turned to the matter of SC 2006-07 PVS sponsored meets that had not yet been awarded. Since not all members were present, the Board chose to initially address only the PVS November Open. The Board voted unanimously to award one site at PGS&LC of the November Open on November 10-12, 2006 to OCCS. It was noted that the second site at PGS&LC remains unbid. [On May 31, 2006, by electronic vote, the Board awarded to RMSC the PVS January 2007 Distance Meet at Lee District and the PVS February 2007 Distance Meet at Fairland. Electronic votes were sought on the other bids at this time, but none received the six affirmative votes required for passage under an e-vote. In some cases, this was because some Board members had concerns and it was felt an opportunity for face to face discussion at a Board meeting was needed. In another case, the scope of the motion was expanded after the original motion was made and not all Board members might have realized this had happened. Accordingly, no decision was reached on the PVS November Open for either PGS&LC site, the PVS 2007 14 and Under Junior Olympic Championship Meet and the PVS 2007 Senior Championship Meet.]

Competition Division: Don Riedlinger presented to the Board for their review and approval various recommendations from the Competition Committee meeting on May 16, 2006.

(1) MEET SANCTION REQUESTS: Don Riedlinger reviewed Competition Committee’s endorsement of seven club meets to be held in the 2006-07 SC season:

        • VSC I 10/U Meet – October 7-8, 2006 at South Run sponsored by SDS
        • RMSC Invitational – November 4-5, 2006 at Martin Luther King sponsored by RMSC
        • FAST Qualifier – November 18-19, 2006 at Fairland sponsored by FAST
        • Blizzard Championship – December 1-3, 2006 at GMU/FFX sponsored by MAKO
        • VSC II 12/U Meet – March 10-11, 2007 at South Run sponsored by SDS
        • Mini Championships – March 10-11, 2007 at Olney sponsored by RMSC
        • 12/U LJ Miller Meet – March 17-18, 2007 at South Run sponsored by SDS.

A motion was made, seconded and approved that all meets be sanctioned. Following the vote, it was noted that the following club meets on the 2005-06 SC schedule had not been bid for the 2006-07 SC season:
        • RMSC Kickoff – held last year on October 7-9 at MLK sponsored by RMSC
        • VSC 10/U Mini Meet – held last year on December 10-11 at South Run sponsored by VSC
        • February Challenge – held this year February 4-5 at Fairland sponsored by MSSC.
Concern was expressed that the PVS October Open may not be able to accommodate all of RMSC’s and the other swimmers who participate in the RMSC Kickoff Meet without adding a fourth site. Bill Marlin brought to the Board’s attention that Curl-Burke was interested in having its team split among the various Open meet sites. Ron Whalen expressed his willingness to do so, but stated that the request should be made formally. In addition, he stated that he would need guidance as to the number of swimmers involved at the various CUBU sites in order to balance entries at the respective sites.

(2) SELECTION PROCESS FOR 2006 (AND FUTURE) LC ZONE ASSISTANT COACHES: Don presented Competition Committee’s request for approval for its recommended selection process for LC Zone Assistant Coaches. He noted that the request for implementing term limits did not specify if they were to be retrospectively or prospectively applied. .A motion was made, seconded and approved to split the request into two parts to be voted on separately.

The first part of the selection process requested was that two coaches be selected at the 14& U LC Championship and two coaches at Senior Championship. If only four qualified coaches apply, then those four coaches would be accepted. Additionally, in the event that an overwhelming number of swimmers enter the meet, he would like the Age Group Chair and the Coaches Representatives to be granted the authority to appoint up to two additional coaches Without discussion, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to adopt the selection process. Riedlinger volunteered to prepare for presentation to the Board an amendment to Policy and Procedure since this selection process applies to all future zone meets.

The second part of the selection process requested was that a 2 year term limit (i.e., 4 meets total) be instituted for Zone Team Coaches. Several members of the Board voiced concern about establishing term limits—preferring to see terms limited through the nomination and election process. Another member stated that if the purpose of a term limit is to encourage others to apply for the position, he did not believe the goal would be met. Bill Marlin explained that the Competition Committee’s goal was to get new coaches involved by preventing previous coaches from succeeding themselves. Additionally, term limits would preclude a weak coach from numerous years of service. A motion to establish a 2 year term limit failed (0-7) with John Hirschmann abstaining. Hirschmann stated that he was hesitant to have the Board substitute its judgment for Competition Committee’s judgment on this matter in light of the fact that he did not believe their proposal would be harmful to the LSC.

(3) CRITERIA FOR RECEIVING TRAVEL ASSISTANCE FOR 2006 US OPEN: The Board unanimously approved Competition Committee’s recommendation that travel assistance for the 2006 US Open be provided to athletes who participate in four swims during the PVS 2006 LC season, at least two of which are in PVS sponsored meets.

(4) SCHEDULING OF 2007 PVS SPONSORED LONG COURSE MEETS: The Board unanimously approved the following schedule: PVS Senior I/Age Group I June 10, 2007 PVS Distance June 16 (PM)-June 17 (AM), 2007 PVS Senior II/Age Group II June 24, 2007 PVS Senior LC Championship July 12-15, 2007 PVS Junior LC Championship July 12-15, 2007 PVS Age Group LC Championship July 19-22, 2007.

(5) SELECTION CRITERIA FOR PVS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Prior to the meeting, Bill Marlin had provided the Board members a “test run” of Competition’s proposed Selection Criteria for PVS Athlete of the Year for a limited number of age groups. Using the parameters as outlined in the proposal, Bill was able to uncover some potential modifications that might need to be implemented based on the availability of information in our database. At his request, the Board deferred action on this matter.

(6) ENTRY TIMES AND CRITERIA FOR PVS DISTANCE MEETS / EVENTS: Riedlinger requested Bill Marlin to explain Competition Committee’s proposal for entry times and criteria for PVS Distance Meets/Events. Bill explained that the purpose of the proposal was to provide a more logical stepping stone progression for distance swimming, (i.e., not entering a swimmer into the 800m / 1000y or 1500m / 1650y events having never even swum a 200 freestyle) and to prevent coaches from entering swimmers at the minimum time standard who cannot be realistically be expected to complete the distance required under the NST time. The Board unanimously approved Competition Committee’s proposal on the matter.

General Chairman Items (continued) At the conclusion of the Competition matters, the Board returned to the deferred matter of awarding the 2006-07 SC Championship Meets. Following presentations by "Cy" Cyganiewicz of OCCS and Dan Jacobs of Machine as to each club’s desire to host PVS 14 & Under Championship, a motion was made, seconded and approved (with one abstention) to award the meet to Machine Aquatics. A motion to award the PVS Senior Championship Meet to Curl-Burke was approved with one dissenting vote. Following the voting, Bill Marlin initiated a discussion on the merits of PVS adding a SC Junior Championship Meet, similar to the LC Junior Championship Meet. (PVS had such a meet on its SC schedule as well until the arrival Sectionals in March 2001 added another meet to the end of season calendar.) Dan Jacobs, Bill Marlin and Don Riedlinger agreed to explore the interest and feasibility of returning this meet to the competition calendar and to report back to the Board at its July meeting.

Garner next addressed a proposal generated by John Hirschmann regarding when PVS would waive splash fees if VSI or MD held a meet primarily or exclusively for their athletes in our territory. This was done in response to a recommendation Bill Stephens made at the April Board meeting. The recommendation was that, rather than collecting splash fees, as long as these conditions are met, PVS would charge a nominal sanction fee. The other LSC would agree to reciprocate if PVS wished to hold a similar type meet in their territory. Details remain to be worked out; any such agreement would not go into effect any earlier than September 1.

Prior to the meeting, John Ertter had provided all Board members with a proposed “Outreach Athlete Reimbursement Template” to be used by clubs to request reimbursement of PVS Meet Entry fees for Outreach Athletes. The Board agreed this form should be adopted and put into use. Don Riedlinger volunteered to prepare an amendment to Policy & Procedure as to the implementation of this program for presentation at the next Board of Director’s meeting.

Treasurer’s Report/Finance Division: Financial results for the period ending May 31, 2006 had been provided to the Board prior to the meeting. PVS’s current assets on hand as of May 31, 2006 were $666,675. The Board raised no questions regarding these reports.

Senior Division: Don Riedlinger advised the Board that requests had been received to provide travel assistance support to 3 PVS clubs on behalf of 14 athletes for attending the 2006 USA-S Spring Championship Meet held in Federal Way, WA – March 28-April 1, 2006. All athletes had satisfied the requirements in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Two were submitted on an “appeal” basis since they were attending college outside of PVS’s territory. It was noted other PV athletes had attended for which an application had not been received. The Board approved payment of $450 per athlete to the appropriate clubs for these athletes.

Championship Enhancements: Noting that the approved 07 Budget contains funding for enhancements to championship meets, Bill Marlin suggested that backstroke flags be ordered that display the PVS logo. Bill Stephens, as the incoming Strategic Chair, agreed to explore the matter.

Administrative Division: In response to Garner’s question, Bill Stephens informed the Board that the University of Maryland (UMD) had filed a name change to Terrapin Aquatic Club (TAC) and had swum under that name at the recently held Maryland State Long Course meet. He also offered an explanation of the current relationship between ERSC and Team Elite (TESC). There was discussion of the potential implications of both these changes.

Stephens noted that a number of coaches’ certifications have expired. He pointed out that when coaches renew their requirements, they are required to notify USA-S thru the local LSC registrar. This information is not automatically transmitted to PVS by the certifying body when they take the required course. In an effort to gain compliance, he noted that within three weeks of sending out a list, the number of expired certifications was reduced from 60 to approximately 27.

Concluding administrative matters, Stephens provided the Board with a handout proposing the establishment of requirements for teams to have a minimum number of certified officials, as well as establishing a minimum number of sessions at which the officials were to work. Clubs failing to satisfy the requirement would be subject to an annual fine. He explained that PVS needed to motivate clubs to take seriously the requirement and obligation to recruit, train and supply officials. There was general support for the proposal; however, concern was expressed regarding the requirement for the level of sessions worked. One member summarized the concerns by commenting that he thought ten sessions was too many for a team with one official and that he did not believe that the capability to track participation was fully in place. After discussion, the proposal was amended to strike the proposed minimum level of activity and to establish that both the determination and assessment date of fines to be May 1 of each year. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to adopt the PVS Officials Requirement. It was agreed that new requirement should be well publicized so that clubs would have ample time to get additional officials trained this fall and fully certified by next May 1.

Age Group Division: An update was provided to the Board by the General Chairman regarding the matter of the conduct of some of PVS- 15-18 male athletes at the 2006 Eastern Zone Championship Meet.

Operations: John Hirschmann requested that the PVS equipment charges for Lindsey J Miller Invitation Meet be placed on the Agenda. Hirschmann wanted to clarify that SDS’ request for the waiving of fees had been for sanction fees only. He asked for a motion to waive the equipment charges for the 2006 meet. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to waive the PVS equipment charges assessed to VSC for the 2006 LJ Miller Invitational Meet. A second motion to waive the sanction fee and PVS equipment charges for this meet in 2007 passed unanimously. This is on the assumption that the past practice of the meet to donate its profits to charity would be continued.

The Board next addressed the sanction status of the SDS Spring Sprint Invitational Meet held on May 6, 2006 at Madeira School John Hirschmann provided background stating that PVS has been advised that no certified Referee was present. In addition, despite repeated requests, no Officials Report has been filed to provide for any extenuating circumstances as to why this requirement was not met. Consequently, the times have not been loaded into the various databases nor posted to the website. He recommended that the Board approve revoking the sanction. The view was expressed that formal Board action was not needed – such a revocation should be automatic since the meet was not properly officiated.

There followed a brief discussion on the practice of “over the top” starts being utilized at meets. The Board stated that no official decisions would be made until it had received recommendations from both the Officials and Safety Committees.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of the status of the issuing of fines for invalid meet entries at the 2006 PVS Senior Short Course Championship Meet held in March. The General Chair agreed to issue them posthaste with copies being provided to John Ertter to create receivables. It was agreed that entry times will continue to be verified in the future for championship level meets and, for the immediate future, fines would only be assessed for swimmers entered into and competing in events for which they had not achieved the Qualifying Time – as distinct from entering with a converted time or not the athlete’s best time.

OTHER BUSINESS: The status of elections of the Athlete Representative and Coaches Representative to the Board as well as Assistant Zone LC Coaches was reviewed – including whether nominations had been received. The Administrative Assistant was requested to send out a note reminding the LSC that nominations were being sought and when the various elections would be conducted.

NEXT BOARD MEETING: The Chair announced that its next Board meeting will be held at River Falls Community Center on Tuesday, July 25th at 6:30 PM.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at approximately at 10:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Janet Auger
PVS Administrative Assistant