Attendance
Chairman: Thirl Crudup, Members: John Ertter, John Hirschmann, Bill Marlin, Amy Stark, Bill Stephens, Greg York. Non-Voting Members and Guests: Ward Foley, Boots Hall

Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by the General Chairman, Thirl Crudup He provided the Board with an agenda.

Approval of Minutes Hirschmann reported that comments had been received on the draft minutes that had been circulated to the Board. A revised draft reflecting those comments had been circulated. The Board approved the revised minutes of its meeting of November 20, 2002.

General Chairman's Report
Thirl had provided with a written report in advance of the meeting.

Hirschmann reported that he was confirming (where there was any doubt) that meets rented for PVS sponsored meets were in compliance with the new 4' depth requirement to use starting blocks.

Thirl reported that USA Swimming had recently scheduled a General Chairman's meeting for February 21-23, 2003 in Tampa, FL and he would be attending.

Athlete's Report
Amy Stark was present. She indicated she had no report to give.

Administrative Division
Bill provided the Board with an outline of the topics he wished to cover.

He initially reported on the status of PVS's registration activity. He provided a summary report that showed that as January 21, 2003, PVS had 31 clubs registered, 468 non-athletes (primarily coaches and officials) and 6026 athletes. Other reports were distributed including registration counts by club, athletes registered by age and a list of the 31 registered clubs.

Bill stated that he felt PVS clubs are "taking to heart" the need to get their clubs and athletes registered. Registration of officials is also going smoothly. However, getting coaches registered has proven to be more challenging. The registrar has encountered many problems because many coaches do not understand the requirements. It was recommended that for next year the requirements be explained more clearly in order to hopefully minimize the confusion.

It was also observed that there are probably a significant number of athletes registering with PVS, but who do not actually compete in PVS meets. There is also likely another large group who train with various PVS clubs, but who do not obtain their insurance thru USA Swimming.

There was also concern that a significant number of PVS coaches may not be properly registered. It was suggested that PVS resume what it has done in the past by posting on its website those a complete list of registered coaches. This will help people determine that status of coaches involved in their program.

Since all coaches should now be registered for 2003, it is again reasonable to ask PVS officials and others to make sure those on the deck who do not have credentials. This had been suspended when coaches were experiencing significant delays in getting their registrations from the prior administrative office.

Bill also indicated that now that the majority of the 2003 athlete registration has been completed, Sumie will now time to start to do athlete registration reconciliation to determine if athletes competing in PVS sanctioned meets are registered with PVS. (Starting with meets beginning in January 2003, all athletes should have been registered for 2003.) He indicated that John H and Bill S would be meeting with Sumie regarding the details of how to do this. Bill suggested that a greater effort should be made to do this in advance of PVS championship meets.

Bill indicated he had been in contact with both a real estate broker and real estate lawyer who were familiar with the local office market. He was confident they could find us office space quite quickly should PVS decide it has such a requirement.

Bill also reported on the status of the various Committee chairs he had appointed. His most recent appointment was Candy Fowler, parent of a MACH swimmer to handle the Scholar-Athlete program. He also reported that Lyn Hellman had working diligently on getting the PVS Award program going again. Medals and awards needed for future meets are being ordered and effort is being made to complete locating awards ordered in the past. John Hirschmann had been in contact with Tyanna Ertter about transitioning responsibility for maintaining records and Top 16 information to her.

Bill said he was still looking for somebody to head publicity. He indicated that based on his experience with similar activities, we will probably have greatest success in getting stories placed if we can locate a swimming parents who is professionally involved in journalism or a similar activity. They have the skills and contacts that prove to be most effective in getting stories placed.

He also indicated he had not located anybody to handle insurance. Others on the Board indicated that historically the PVS Registrar had also handled this activity. If necessary, they can check with USA Swimming regarding getting answers to questions that clubs or others in PVS have regarding coverage, claims, etc.

In response to a question, it was indicated that while certain bodies may issue certifications that are good for life, it was thought USA Swimming still requires that the certifications be renewed after either 1 or 3 years. This answer should be verified with USA Swimming.

Bill noted Don Reynolds, an attorney had attended the prior board meeting as an observer. He recommend that PVS have an attorney available (who was familiar with the type of issues PVS might have to deal with) should the need arise. He stated he had worked with Joe Artabane for many years and that Joe had great familiarity with the Amateur Sports Act and other relevant matters. He recommended that PVS enter into an arrangement with Joe. This will preclude him from agreeing to represent another client who might wish to pursue a course of action adverse to PVS's interest. Bill S will contact him and ask him to prepare letter to that effect. There will be no cost to PVS unless his services are actually required.

Bill reported electronic timing had been used at the recently held PVS Distance Championship meet. The possibility of PVS holding a separate distance championship meet was raised. There was mixed reaction to this proposal within the Board. The general feeling was any recommendation to do this should first come from the Competition Committee.

Bill also talked about the desirability of marketing PVS more and making swimmers/coaches/officials aware they are part of PVS as well as their member club and USA Swimming.. Various items that could be provided and would help promote PVS and make athletes aware they are part of PVS were discussed.

Bill indicated he has been having discussions with Boot's about finding ways to recognize and provide thanks to the PVS officials for their many hours of volunteer service to the association.

A question was also raised as to whether to be a member club of PVS, the club's address of record needs to be within PVS's boundaries. It was agreed this question would be researched.

Operations Division
John Hirschmann had provided a written report in advance of the meeting.

He highlighted three items for the Board's attention. The Officials Committee had appointed four new members - Art Davis, Rita Page, Sue Schwartz and Jared Wisor. He advised that USA Swimming Committee had recently distributed material related to recommending procedures for the discipline and decertification of officials, should such a need arise. PVS is one of the few LSC's that already has such a procedure in place. PVS will review its own procedures in light of this new material to see if improvements can be made. If so, recommendations will first be considered by the Officials Committee and then brought to the Board for their approval.

Ideas that the PVS Officials Committee developed at its January 16th meeting for recognizing officials was shared with the Board. The Board indicated it was supportive of such an initiative and also suggested other possibilities (e.g. meeting/social gatherings for Club Officials Chairs, all officials, etc.) were also suggested. Boots indicated she will consider these suggestions and based on the Board's indicated support, develop a more detailed plan - including budget requirements. It was noted that funds already in the Officials Committee budget and general reserve funds already in the PVS budget would allow items to be purchased/initiatives to be started in the interim.

Hirschmann also indicated that the three non-PVS clubs that attended the January Open were impressed with how we conducted the meet and expressed interest in being invited to future PVS events. Using positive check-in to reduce the number of required heats particularly impressed them.

Concerns were expressed that coaches had been allowed on the bulkhead at early sessions of the January Open at PGS&LC, but not at the later 13/O session. It was agreed that once a precedent is established early in the meet, it should be continued throughout the meet. However, it was also noted that it was unknown whether the PGS&LC staff had raised objections during the course of the meet and also that Referees in early sessions should be careful about starting precedents that Referees in later sessions might not be able to or desire to continue.

There was also discussion that some Meet Directors were being generous with lane assignments for positive check in events while others were providing them in very limited quantities.

The Board was advised that CUBU had agreed to conduct its 14/U Qualifier meet as open to all PVS swimmers based on its original sanction, rather than converting it to a dual meet. CUBU has now also indicated it will need to limit entries more than it did in the past due to not being able to obtain as much water as it had obtained in the past.

Treasurer's Report
John Ertter circulated financial reports in advance of the meeting as of December 31. He also provided at the meeting more current reports as of January 17. The reports included a Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statement, Financial Report on club sponsored meets for 2002-3 and Financial Analysis of PVS Sponsored Meets.

The report showed PVS had current assets on hand as of January 17 of $452,288. This includes $4782 in the Dave Davis fund and $1348 held in escrow as a prepayment by a member club. Approximately $31,000 was owed to USA Swimming for their share of registration fees recently collected by PVS. John indicated he had recently opened a new $100,000 CD for PVS. Also, the value of PVS's mutual fund (primarily equities) is now worth slightly less than the $50,000 PVS initially contributed to it.

It was noted that PVS's financial health was very strong. It was also observed that for the remaining 8 months of the fiscal year, PVS's cash flow was likely to be somewhat negative since most registrations have been received and there is relatively little net gain expected from PVS sponsored meets. Nevertheless the FY'03 net gain is still expected to be very significant.

John Ertter reported that clubs are doing an increasing better job of paying the correct amount for PVS sanction fees in connection with club sponsored meets (ie $.65/splash).

Collecting meet entry fees for PVS sponsored meets is not going quite as smooth, however it is felt as better guidance and tips are given to both the clubs entering these meets and the meet hosts that this can continue to improve.. This includes how to identify deck entries.

The Board voted to approve bank resolutions regarding signature authority for our various bank accounts and CD's at All First. The resolution require the signature or the either the General Chairman, Treasurer or Admin Vice Chairman on the following accounts: Operating Account, Overnight Investments, and 6 month CD account. Signatures from two of the above are required on $100,000 12 month CD account.

John Ertter gave a status report on the escrow account we maintain for one of our member clubs. A significant reconciliation has recently occurred and charges that should have been posted over the past few years have now been recorded.

John noted the in the future the Board needs to clarify the requirements for receiving travel reimbursement for participation on the USA Swimming National Disability Championships.

John indicated he was working with Don Smith to complete an inventory of PVS equipment to recording in PVS's financial records, allow better planning for future purchases, to allow insurance coverage to be obtained again, and to allow major items to be tagged as property of PVS and formally inventoried

John Ertter reminded the Board that budget planning for FY"04 needs to start soon and the they should start making him aware of their desires for next year. It was recognized that some administrative expenses that have been avoided this year may be needed again next year. Also, some Fy'03 revenue and expense figures are "overstated" since they were either collected or paid late and PVS is on a cash basis. John E also noted that our assets on hand were likely to exceed our goal of having in reserve assets equal to one year's expenses. Therefore, some adjustment to PVS's registration, meet fees and/or sanction fees might be warranted.

John Ertter was commended for the excellent job he was doing maintaining PVS's financial records and establishing various financial control procedures.

Senior Chairman
Greg York presented items from December 2002 Competition Committee meeting, on behalf of Jim Garner, who could not attend. Jim had provided input to the Board in advance of the meeting.

The Board noted the general observation from Competition that PVS clubs should be precluded from hosting PVS sponsored meets and/or not get a sanction for a club sponsored meet unless they have a minimum number of officials on hand. It was noted other LSC's have such a requirement. It was generally agreed that were PVS to adopt such a requirement, it should be phased in. Others noted that PVS has had a requirement for many years that host/sponsoring clubs must provide at least one timer per lane, but the LSC has been reluctant to enforce this more modest requirement.

No 2003 Eastern Zone Assistant Head Coach was approved by the Board in the fall. Accordingly, as discussed at the Winter Competition Committee meeting, it was agreed to hold an election for this position at the Dolan Invitational Meet. Greg reported that Harry Hink had received the majority of the votes cast. The Board voted to approve his selection as Assistant Head Zone Coach.

Greg advised the Board that how the PVS LC Zone team might be chosen in the future was discussed at the Winter Competition meeting. Greg reported there is a general consensus amongst the coaching community that the SC and LC Zone teams ought to receive equal PVS funding. He did not know if additional funds could be given to LC or this would imply a reduction in SC funding.

The current thinking envisions the PVS would have an official PVS travel team in the future. It could be chosen from those with the two fastest time in individual events (as is now done for SC) or from those who have a stated number of QT's.

It will be discussed more at the Spring Competition Committee meeting. Greg was urged to develop as specific proposal as possible in order to avoid problems later when ambiguities or misunderstanding might otherwise arise. It was recognized that given the additional work to be done, this change will not be implemented earlier than summer 2004.

Hirschmann then presented the various sanction requests for club sponsored meets that had been submitted.

The first three pertained to the PVS 2003 Long Course season. The following requests had been considered and endorsed by the Competition Committee.

The only significant known change from last year is that Early Bird LC will now be swum at Fairland. The Board voted to sanction the above three meets.

Before seeking approval of club sponsored meets for the SC 2003-04 season, the Board's endorsement to move the PVS February Distance meet from January 31-February 1 to the weekend of February 14 was sought. This had been discussed with the leadership of the Competition Committee, the Coaches Rep and PVS Distance Coordinator and had their concurrence.

In response to a concern that it would now conflict with HS championship meets, it was stated that new date was President's weekend and the meet would probably either be swum primarily on Sunday at pool that would allow the 1000 and 1650 to be swum concurrently or on Sunday/Monday. In the former case, the limited number of swimmers doubling in both distance events would be allowed to swim the 1650 on Monday. It was explained this will also allow the Long Course meet that MSSC is requesting to be swum on January 31-February 1 - just prior to the expected entry deadline for USA Swimming Nationals which will be held February 11-15.

The Board approved changing the date of the PVS February Distance Meet to the weekend of February 14-16, 2004.

Hirschmann then presented the following requests for the 2003-04 PVS Short Course season. These meets were endorsed by the Competition Committee at their December 14th meeting.

The Board voted to sanction the above twelve meets.

There was some discussion about the quality of some of these meets in the past and the degree to which they had been properly supported with officials from the sponsoring club. Most on the Board did not feel the problems were so significant as to warrant withholding a sanction. It was also noted other PVS clubs are allowed to compete against these meets, that some of these meets are quite attractive financially, but no clubs had yet to bid to hold a competitive meet. It was also observed that bids for some of these meets had been received without a draft MA or a statement that there would be no material changes The Board was concerned that based on recent experience, meets were being changed from what was originally sanctioned without either notice to or approval from the LSC. Accordingly, the Board decided where that information had not been submitted, that the approval of the sanctions was provisional, pending receipt of either a MA that is not materially different than the prior year or a statement that no material change is planned.

Clubs will also be reminded that the sanction was based on the MA submitted and any subsequent material change requires approval of the LSC as already provided for in P&P..

Hirschmann also reviewed sanction requests that had been received subsequent to the Competition Committee meeting and therefore had not been reviewed by them. The first was a prelim/final age group SC meet with relays. This meet had initially been requested for April 19-20, 2003, but the request had just been amended to May 3-4. The Board deferred action on this request and asked more information about the meet be obtained.

Hirschmann reported that RMSC had recently requested sanctions for the following meets:

These meets are to be similar to meets sponsored by RMSC in 2002. The Board voted to sanction the above two meets.

Hirschmann reported that the following request for a sanction had also been received.

PM advised that they have reserved the GMU pool for that weekend and if the sanction was awarded they would hold a meet similar to the Dolan Invitational, but with somewhat easier QT's The Board observed that given current PVS policy, it has no basis to withhold the sanction. It was also noted that is a request for a sanction for a similar meet were to submitted for that weekend or an adjoining weekend, the LSC would have no basis for withholding the sanction. The Board voted to sanction the meet requested by PM for December 18-21.

The Board also noted that a meet of this type had historically been a National Certification for officials. It was indicated that it was likely the Officials Committee would not have the resources to staff two meets of this type on the same or adjoining weeks and that it would also be improper to give preference to one club sponsored meet over another. Therefore, clubs bidding these meets should be aware that support from the PVS Officials Committee in staffing these meets might not be available.

Hirschmann also advised the Board that to date, NO requests for a sanction have been received to sponsor the following meets during the 2003-04 season. Two notices had been sent to all clubs reminding them of the opportunity to submit bids. (The dates shown are 2002-03 dates.)

Competition also requested at its December 14 meeting that the dates in March 2004 for the PVS 14/U JO Championship and PVS SCY Championship meet be reversed. The reversal of dates would put the PVS 14/U JO Championship on March 4-7 and the PVS SCY Championship on March 11-14. The Board voted to approve this requested change in dates.

It was also observed that a request had also been to change the PVS SCY Championship meet to a LCM meet since the Speedo Championship Series meet later that month will be swum LCM. The Competition Committee chair requested that this decision be deferred in order to allow time to obtain input from more clubs regarding the desirability of doing so.

The Board was also requested to approve bids from the following clubs to host PVS sponsored meets during the 2003 LC Season.

The Board approved these three awards..

The Board was asked to defer making awards for hosting PVS Senior I, Age Group I, Senior II and Age Group II. Two clubs will be needed for each meet. It is hoped the additional time will allow more clubs to be recruited and avoid the need for some clubs to host several sessions - something they have indicated they would prefer not to do.

The Board also discussed whether to accept OCCS's request to host the PVS LC 14/U Championship Meet July 17-20, 2003 at GMU. The Board decided to defer awarding this request until April due to the on going change in the Head Coach at this club and the fact this person has assumed so much individual responsibility for the processing of meet entries, obtaining officials for the meet, and receiving and accounting for meet entry fees and other financial aspects of the meet

Hirschmann indicated he had identified pools at which to conduct PVS sponsored meets during the 2003-04 SC season. He indicated that in some cases, more than one option was now available. The Board agreed that to extent practical, PVS should attempt to make broad use of the options available. Hirschmann said he would consult with Competition and the Coaches Reps before finalizing any arrangements.

Thirl then presented to the Board requests for Travel Assistance in connection with the US Open held December 5-7, 2002. Requests for assistance had been received on behalf of 11 athletes. The Board was advised these requests had been reviewed and satisfied PVS requirements for reimbursement. The Board voted to approve payment to the clubs.

One request had been received where it the initial information received from the club whose swimmer had not satisfied the LC 2002 PVS meet participation requirement. However, additional information was received prior to the Board meeting advised that the athlete was medically unable to compete during the 2002 LC season. Accordingly, the Board agreed to treat this request as an Appeal and approved the travel assistance request on this basis.

Age Group Chairman
Greg York reported he had nothing else to report that had not been addressed earlier in the meeting.

Coaches Representatives
The Senior Coaches Representative gave a report. He had invited written comments from the other coaches in the LSC, which he shared with the Board.

Bill Marlin reviewed the various comments with the Board and various Board members provided input about some of the comments.

The Board in general welcomed getting input from the coaches and commended Bill for seeking it out.

Most Board members felt reducing the number of sites for the Open meets to two would make the sessions/meet size too large. For instance for the January 2003 Open, there would have been about 4600-4700 splashes per site.

It was noted that a meet of the type Keith McGough suggested had been conducted for several years in mid-December, but had dropped when PVS started to move from having all meets sponsored by PVS to having many meets sponsored by the clubs.

The type of sanctions proposed by Victor would not be effective against the many clubs who do not host or sponsor meets nor send athletes to meets for which financial assistance is available.

It was observed that MSSC is now sponsoring two LC meets during the SC season.

PGS&LC was not being actively considered for LC meets due to very limited or non-available warm-up/warm-down for LC meets. Also, air quality during hot weather is poor.

Steve was urged to become familiar with actions of Competition in September 2000 and the Board in October 2000. This started as a one year change. It was continued in 2001 and 2002 without a formal vote to make it permanent and thus reflect it in P&P.

Old Business
There was no old business.

New Business
There was no new business.

Next Meeting
The next Board meeting would normally be the third Wednesday of February, the 19th. However, it was noted that three Board members could not be present that evening due to attendance at college conference meets. After reviewing alternative dates at which the Board members in attendance would be available, the Board agreed to meet Monday, March 3. It also agreed to have the meeting start at 6:30 rather than 7:00 PM.

Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.