Potomac Valley Swimming

House of Delegates Meeting

Overlee Community Center

May, 24, 2106

· Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 7:13 pm by General Chair, Bill Marlin

· Proof of Quorum – There are a sufficient number of voting members present to form a quorum.

· Moment of Silence (Abby Shapiro from ASA, Rita Page-Long time PVS Official and JP Popovich from SNOW)

· Board Member introductions: The General Chair introduced and thanked each member of the Board of Directors.

· Approval of May 2015 HOD Minutes – Motion to approve 2015 HOD meeting minutes, seconded and approved.

· Approval of Agenda – Motion to approve the 2016 HOD Meeting agenda as presented, seconded and approved.

· Approval of Chair Reports – Motion to approve the Chair Reports and Financial report for the HOD meeting as presented, seconded and approved. Not including the Budget, which will be voted on separately.

· Recognition of outgoing Board Members – There are three outgoing Board Members who are leaving the Board. A donation of $100 will be made in their name to the USA Swimming Foundation: Jim Garner (Strategic Planning), Steve Menard (AG Chair) and Greg York (Safe Sport). Thank you to each of you for your years of service.

· General Chair comments on the State of LSC – presented by Bill Marlin

§ Membership – 11,688 athletes (up about 3.07% over past year), 516 coaches, Officials 615 (94.3% increase) 48 clubs.

§ Membership dues are the primary revenue source for PVS. The dues help fund education for members, various programs & clinics, travel, facility rentals, LSC Awards and equipment purchases and maintenance. Everyone benefits from our strong LSC. We are the 4^th largest in athlete population and 6^th in the number of non-athletes.

§ Officials Committee held 49 clinics and 4 online clinics. Thank you to all the Officials for all of the great work they do all year round for our clubs and athletes!

§ This past season there were 4 OQM meets in PVS; which translates into more highly certified Officials.

§ PVS Officials are attending more and more National level meets. A majority of these meets select the Officials.

§ PVS will be sending 5 Officials to Trials (Tim Husson, Jack Neill, Tony Rongione, Jan Van Nimwegen and Denise Wepasnick)

§ PVS continues to send members to all the USA Swimming workshops and special programs. These members are able to bring important information back to the LSC.

§ We held several Fitter & Faster Clinics to help provide educational opportunities for our athletes.

§ PVS is producing several great newsletters to help get information out to our members: Officials Newsletters, Coaches Newsletter and GC Newsletter

§ Nov 5 – Swimposium. Save the date [this will be moved to sometime in 2017].

§ Our athletes are swimming great. The time standards for meets continue to get faster and we are maintain the same number of athletes in meets. Great job to both the athletes and the coaches.

§ Katie Ledecky is still swimming great and an amazing ambassador for PVS.

§ PVS had another strong showing at the National level meets.

§ Safe Sport – Please continue to push the SS initiatives within your club. Thank you Greg York for being our first Safe Sport Chair and all the hard work you have put into getting the message out to our LSC.

§ Diversity – Continue to be in the forefront of Diversity of the country. The Select Camp – the largest and most successful to date. Thanks to Merari Cholette for all of her hard work and dedication to the Inclusion/Diversity programs in PVS.

§ Athlete Committee – Special thanks to Murphy Freal. She has done an awesome job putting recruiting athletes to add to the various committees in PVS.

§ Financially we are still very strong. Thank you to John Ertter, JD Foster and the entire board for working hard on the budget.

§ Shared Services – We are talking with VSI about some shared services including competitions, championships and diversity camps.

§ The Board works well together and continue to work for the better good of PVS. There are members who are and will be leaving the board

§ Each attendee received a colored card. Each color represents you as a coach, official,

o Safe Sport – Greg York – it is anticipated that at the USA Swimming Convention a new rule will be past, requiring that each team running a meet will have to have a Team Marshal who is trained/certified. This individual will be responsible for training the marshals at the meet. It is suggested that PVS, as an association, get a “jump on this”. Clubs are reminded that each club should have a Safe Sport Coordinator. The new Safe Sport BoD member will be primarily for educational purposes.

§ What about timers and other volunteers being on deck? The feedback is that it is hard to get a timer. So there is concern that if we require they are “certified/trained” we might not ever get timers. Because the timers are not in direct one to one contact with the swimmers it is not felt that any additional training is necessary at this time.

o Officials Rep – Jack Neill – Thank you to all the coaches/clubs for encouraging more Officials.

o Age Group Chair – Report submitted – There were some drastic cuts made to the JO meet, but didn’t make a huge impact because the kids are swimming faster. The Long Course AG meet cuts are also faster. There is an idea in the works to add a B/BB meet to the spring schedule, the difficulty is finding a weekend and pool space. There is discussion of USA Swimming banning tech suits for 12 & U. It sounds like they will provide guidelines and will be up to clubs and LSC. (at convention 70 coaches voted to ban them at meets, except for championships – will likely come up with a position paper and allow LSC/Clubs come up with their own guidelines/rules)

o Operations - Tim Husson – Thank you to Carrie Tupper who has served as our equipment manager for the past several year. She has moved on and is no longer with UMD/PVS. She was terrific and we wish her well. Chris Whipple, also at UMD, will be our new equipment manager.

§ Technical Committee – report submitted

§ Safety Committee – report submitted

§ Officials Committee – report submitted – 139 N2/N3 Level (40% increase over the last 2-3 years). There are 33 clubs that now have at least one official. This is an increase of 5 over last year. Even the smaller clubs are starting to get officials.

o Financial Procedures – JD Foster – We are all in good standing and financially strong. Thank you to John Ertter for all of his help. There was a good Audit Report from our independent auditor. We are in good standing, thanks to the board, past board, HOD, past HOD

o Admin – Tom Ugast - report submitted. – The number of are changing each month. Thanks to Sumie for registering athletes and Terri for coaches and officials. LEAP 2 status was reached and we are not working on LEAP 3.

o Senior Chair – Mark Faherty – Mark reported that many feel the Championship meets for Senior Level swimmers and travel assistance are lagging behind other LSCs. He is working with CCM and coaches and to make some format changes to our Championship meets to help alleviate the capacity numbers at GMU. We will now be working with UMD for our spring Junior & Senior Champs, this will ensure that we can hold both meets at the same time, allowing for more time for rest. The Travel Assistance application process will be made quicker and easier, so all applications will be received more efficient. Funding for travel for nationally level swimmers – out of date and not up to par with other clubs in the country, will be attempting to make changes.

§ EZ Short Course meet – There were teams questioning if the AG Zone meet is in our swimmers best interest (financially, competitively). There are several other LSC’s thinking about pulling out of these meets. There is an EZ Task form to look and discuss what is best for the EZ. At CCM there was a discussion – we will keep zones on the schedule for this next year to see how it goes and then a decision will be made.

§ If we are going to continue to go and fund, then let’s make it a big deal with your athletes, encouraging PVS pride. There are many other option out there, but we should still be able to send a championship team.

o Coaches Reps – Evan Stiles was just voted on and learning the ropes. Please feel free to talk to Evan or Heather Purk if you have any questions and/or concerns.

o Safety – Kurt Thiel – Reported on Safety (Risk Management) insurance. (concussion). Very important to report and document anyone who there is a suspect a concussion.

o Open Water – Kurt Thiel - There is a race in Lake Anna. Atlantic City EZ OW Champs (26 June) = Great meets.

o Diversity – Merari Cholette - report submitted – 12 months ago there was the EZ Select Camp at UMD. Miriam Lynch was a great support. There were 42 athletes from the EZ. It was well organized and well attended, all in all great work. There was a lot of great support from USA Swimming, the Eastern Zone, the Board of Directors and the EZ coaches. Earlier this month there was a LSC Catch the Spirit Camps in DC. It went great and the kids and coaches enjoyed the event. The only disappointment was that some parents commented that they didn’t receive the communications. PVS will do a better job in the future advertising these great events.

§ We have approved a Diversity Grant Program in this LSC. This is part of our budget proposed. Clubs can apply for funding for clubs to do outreach. There will be more information going out to clubs.

· What are the qualifications? - There will an application process in the fall and the spring. That is filled out, what do you want to do with the club. The Diversity Committee and Bod will decide from the applicates who has earned the grant. There is a max of $500 per grant set (total annual budget of $5000 is proposed). Reminder if you have an athletes that is on free or reduced lunch, then those athletes do not have to pay the USAS/PVS membership fees. The same athletes, are also eligible to be reimbursed for meet entry fees for all PVS meets (the club pays, but then is reimbursed) Now with this grant program there will be the opportunity for funding for these athletes to cover training fees, etc. at the club level. There are a low number of Outreach athletes in the LSC. It seems the grant program is aimed at Outreach program. The program is designed for the club to off set the fees for a family that can’t afford or is in need of financial aid. Will clubs be able to apply for multiple grant? No, not in two consecutive seasons. The P&P will be basically the same as other LSCs in the country. If they apply and are not awarded, they can reapply.

o Athletes – Thank you to all the athletes in attendance.

o First year of the athlete committee this is to give the athletes a voice in the LSC. Of the 9 positions, 7 were filled. Primarily been focused on educations. Will start working more with Diversity and clinic. Might change the procedures in the athlete voting.

o Coaches Rep – Heather Purk – report submitted

§ At CCM there was a proposal for Coach recognition awards. Adding these award will also fulfill a requirement for our LEAP 3 status. There is money proposed in the budget for these new awards. For Coaches continuing education grant; there is an application on line, June 30 is the deadline (6 offered each year). PVS AG Coach of the year is Brian Chen, Congratulations.

o Committee Reports – non to report.

· Election Procedures for 2016 – There were some election procedure issues – the open board positions were not posted in time according to the Bylaws.

o Motion to postpone the BOD elections for the 2016 elections, seconded and approved.

§ Paris Jacobs will be the nomination chair. There will be a form on the PVS website. Paris will collect the information and she will share with the committee. The slate will then be on the posted on the website by July 1. There will then be e-vote online by the end of July. How will be make sure there is only one per club. There will be two (athletes, other members). The By-laws do not allow a proxy, but do allow an e-vote. Messages have been sent to USA S to double check. If they say no, we will need a special election. BOR and (Riley Eaton, Paris Jacobs (chair, Jim Garner, Jacob Neal athlete, Ward Foley). July 1, July 8, July 28-31

· Approval of 2016-2017 Budget –

o PVS is growing and will continue to grow. There are payment systems under a strain, working on making this easier (how to make payments to LSC). Please let JD and John know any ideas you have.

o Budget – projected for the current year.

o Motion to approve the budget as presented, seconded

§ Notes – The handout include details of some of the decisions made, then the summary of each. Reserve analysis is important to set up the numbers. The reserve ratio will come into play later.

§ Income and Expense have come in and are being projected forward, except for the Zone meet (discussed late). We really need to look at a 4 year cycle due to the Olympics.

§ Reserve ratio cash and cash equivalents compared to expense. How much cash to pay all the bills. Been trying to maintain a 85% ratio.

§ Summer LC Zones – When HOD approved the budget it is executed by the BoD best they can, but there are things happen we can’t anticipate. The budget was set for Zones to be held in Richmond; however the EZ voted and approved to hold the meet in Long Island, which is significantly more expensive. We can raise the fee or PVS can absorb the difference or we can try for a combination. One factor that is complicating this, is there are timelines that must be followed in terms of making hotel reservations. We are faced with a big decision, raise the fees and run the risk of losing swimmers and therefore possibly paying for rooms that we won’t use OR absorb the fees by the LSC. (for 2016 going back to Richmond)

§ Facility fees have continued to rise in our LSC. PVS tries to net zero on the PVS meets not make money, but we do not want to lose money either.

§ We will want to start moving back towards a surplus to make up for this year’s deficit.

§ We project there will be a 5.1% (half of 2012 increase) increase in athlete numbers. While it is an Olympic year, we know there will be an increase in total number of athletes, but due to limited pool space do not think athlete numbers will as great as in past Olympic years.

§ In an attempt to increase income; It is recommended to raise membership fees by $1, Increase splash fees, and increase meet entry fees for PVS Open meet (very low compared to other club meets). We have spread out the increase income needs.

§ The expense that are projected to be added are Coach Development, Swimposium, Employee salary increase of 3%, Meet Management fees, Travel increase for athletes and officials.

o At the end of the year a surplus of $48,000. This Net would move the ratio close to the 80% ratio.

§ Projections - $41,000 deficit due to the LC Zones. This number is based on the projected number of athletes. Last year we had 260 attended, so we are going to assume we will have close to 260 again for this summer.

§ $18,700 through end of year for meet expenses…the most expensive meets are the summer LC meets, primarily for facility rental.

§ After the Short Course 14 & U champs, we showed a $20,000 profit; however we now have our LC meets to pay for. Between now and the end of the fiscal year, we project a loss of about $38,000 combined for all LC meets. Some meets will break even, but we tend to lose money on the LC Championship meets.

§ This whole budget is predicated on the projected deficit on this year, based on the Zone meet last year.

§ We are considering raising the fees for all our swimmers on going forward

§ Collectively we want the meets to break even. IF we leave everything as it currently is, we anticipant more of a loss next year due to facility expenses increasing.

§ How do you justify the increase to swimmer travel from $250 to $600 if we are functioning on a short fall?

§ There are other fees that are asking to be increased. Junior national costs the same amount of money as Nationals, so why is there fee less to be reimbursed?

· Juniors is a 3 day meet in compared to a 5 day meet at Nationals. Our justification was previously $250 for 3 days and $450 for 5 day meet. (VSI and MD both have significantly higher reimbursement amounts than PVS). PVS is very far behind in comparison to the rest of the Zone. Historically we have never used our full budgeted amount…we have been averaging just under $400 per athletes.

§ When we are approving a budget: Are we approving what PVS will spend and what we will bring in? What does approving the budget mean? (Answer) The budget is a frame work…we might not get all the athletes, we may have to pay more expenses, we can only provide our best guess at this point. That is why we meet monthly, to look at the financials. So we can try to keep the budget in line as much as possible.

§ You are being asked to approve the as a frame work.

§ What is the accountability for going over the budgeted amount? (Answer) As a group, you elect the members of the board, who you are then trusting to the make the best decisions on how the association is run.

§ When we increase the budget, we also have to increase the reserve. If we add $30,000 to the budget then we are really increasing $55,000 to make up the additional reserve.

§ Is the LC Zone meet set for this year. Did you consider splitting the difference?

§ When the question was asked to the coaches, most coaches approved the PVS to absorb the additional fee . Did you ask the parents? It was anticipated that the cost was too much. What about changing the fee for one event vs 3 plus events.

§ PVS is set up as Age Group Swimmers pay for the elite swimmers…that is how is appears.

§ Splash fees, we are the most expensive LSC membership in the country, Open meets is the only place all athletes can compete.

§ It was recommended to not vote on the budget as a whole, but rather in separate parts.

§ Withdrawal the Motion to approve the budget as presented.

o Motion to increase the Athlete fee for 2016 LC Zones (budget year 1516) to $764, seconded and denied.

o Motion to raise the Athlete fee to$625, seconded and approved.

§ Cut the overage about $13,000, by making all the various changes will affect the budget in multiple ways. It will be difficult to approve the full budget tonight.

o Going to go through expense items one by one.

§ Motion to accept the $2000 added for Club & Coach Development, seconded and approved.

§ Motion to increase the Coaches Continuing Education budget to $1500, seconded and approved.

· When was the last time we used all the money. The last few years we have only used one. Getting it close to what P&P says.

§ Motion to approve the Swimposim for $10000, seconded and approved.

§ Motion to increase the Diversity/Inclusion budget to $13.600 from $6,500, seconded and approved.

§ Motion to increase the Officials Travel/Education stipends from $11,600 to $15,400, seconded and approved.

· Increase in the amount of travel reimbursement for the various meets that Officials travel too.

§ Motion to increase athletes travel as presented in the budget, seconded and approved.

o Motion to approve the budget as presented except for the revenue increased, seconded and approved.

· Old Business – no old business.

· New Business –

o Long Bridge (new pool in Arlington) – There were two representatives from the Arlington group trying to build a new facility. Update: Long Bridge Park (Crystal City and Pentagon), there is a park with many fields. The next phase is supposed to be an aquatic health and fitness building. There have been three needs assessment, which reaffirmed the need and desire of this. The bids came back higher than budgeted. They are currently deciding what will stay in place and what will be cut from the budget. They came back with a scaled down facility within the budget initially set. It will go forward. It does still include a 50 m pool and a play pool and some warm up and a fitness area. The funds are there, but we are under a time crunch. June 22, 2016 there is a hearing at the Board meeting and then voted on in July. Design will then be approved in September and then it will go forward. The friends of Long Bridge Park are working on generating support. In the past we have been asked to sign petitions. This is the final step to get it going. Assuming you support this facility in Arlington, this will provide a great opportunity.

§ What major part of the program was scaled back? deck space, an additional 25 yd/m pool has been removed, instead the play pool have an area added to it for warm up cool down while the 50 m pool is in used. There is an effort to get private support and if there is private sponsors then they could possibly get some of this added back in. Seating capacity has been scaled down from 700 to 300. What about parking? There will be parking for whatever size facility and seating that is budgeted. The board has not heard from the swimming community. It is important to let your voice be heard. They know the swimming community is important. Will the 50 m pool be deep enough for competition. If they are not going to be able to host the kind of meets we need, then we (PVS) needs to write in. Parents, coaches, etc. need to send in an email. 7:00 June 27…a meeting and should hear about this along with other stuff.

o Athlete Rep Elections –traditionally done by 13 & Over at Championships. Wants to propose that the athlete’s committee be the one to vote for the Athlete Representative.

o Motion to allow the Athlete Committee vote for their Athlete Reps, seconded and defeated

§ Athlete committee are selected by completing an application and they will vote at the summer LC meets .

o Reminder to all coaches to speak to your athletes about the Athletes Committees. Applications due in June.

· Adjourn -Motion to adjourn, approved.