Sunday, May 4, 2014
Final thoughts and reflections on attending the Governing Council - by Dirk Vanderlaan
This was my first time at one of these, and a chance to reflect on it.
First of all, skating became a larger entity over this past weekend. It used to be choosing a rink to skate at and work on three turns. Now I see a much larger picture of our sport - various committees, hundreds of volunteers, judges/accountants/referees - all passionate about skating.
It made me want to be a better skater for one thing - as there are a lot of people rooting us on - working hard so we fortunate ones can continue to enjoy skating or to compete in or showcase skating.
I was surprised how many people knew each other. We have our own third of the country - the pacific section, with a lot of clubs in that section. In our area, there 10 clubs! We are fortunate in that respect.
St Moritz is the 5th largest club in the Country with over 570 members. Only Washington, Boston Chicago and New York are larger, and we are close to overtaking Chicago!
We are well represented in US Figure Skating with our Club. Katie, Jean, Justin, Lisa, Sue and Philip are committee chairs or fill key positions with USFS. Kudos to them.
We did see some of the star or "elite" athletes during the sessions. They attended and asked questions just as we did.
The venue was nice. The hotel was close to the airport with shuttles running frequently, adequate eating facilities and places to rest and sit, though there was not much time for that until Saturday night.
Pat St Peters was well liked. Every committee had kind things to say about her and her help. She will be a hard act to follow!
I understand there is a shortage of judges! Lets start getting some judging training going.
Thanks for the opportunity to go, represent our club and to learn more about how we fit into the bigger picture. I hope the blogs made sense, and I hope to use some of what I learned to help our club be even better - and I encourage you to pitch in and make our club even better. People are passionate about skating. Lets keep that passion burning.
If you have questions please feel free to ask me or email me at dcvdlaan@aol.com
Thanks
First of all, skating became a larger entity over this past weekend. It used to be choosing a rink to skate at and work on three turns. Now I see a much larger picture of our sport - various committees, hundreds of volunteers, judges/accountants/referees - all passionate about skating.
It made me want to be a better skater for one thing - as there are a lot of people rooting us on - working hard so we fortunate ones can continue to enjoy skating or to compete in or showcase skating.
I was surprised how many people knew each other. We have our own third of the country - the pacific section, with a lot of clubs in that section. In our area, there 10 clubs! We are fortunate in that respect.
St Moritz is the 5th largest club in the Country with over 570 members. Only Washington, Boston Chicago and New York are larger, and we are close to overtaking Chicago!
We are well represented in US Figure Skating with our Club. Katie, Jean, Justin, Lisa, Sue and Philip are committee chairs or fill key positions with USFS. Kudos to them.
We did see some of the star or "elite" athletes during the sessions. They attended and asked questions just as we did.
The venue was nice. The hotel was close to the airport with shuttles running frequently, adequate eating facilities and places to rest and sit, though there was not much time for that until Saturday night.
Pat St Peters was well liked. Every committee had kind things to say about her and her help. She will be a hard act to follow!
I understand there is a shortage of judges! Lets start getting some judging training going.
Thanks for the opportunity to go, represent our club and to learn more about how we fit into the bigger picture. I hope the blogs made sense, and I hope to use some of what I learned to help our club be even better - and I encourage you to pitch in and make our club even better. People are passionate about skating. Lets keep that passion burning.
If you have questions please feel free to ask me or email me at dcvdlaan@aol.com
Thanks
Looking back on Saturdays events - by Dirk Vanderlaan
Hi all,
Saturday morning started early (7:30 am) with voting for a new President to replace Pat St. Peters, and for to replace our own Justin Dillon as head of the Athlete Services Group Coordinator. The nominating committee presented Sam Auxier from the Midwestern region as their choice, and via the prescribed route, another person, Ronald Pfenning was nominated for President. The nominating committee also presented Robert Rosenbluth as their candidate for the Athlete Services Group Coordinator, and again, through the channels, another person, Doug Williams was also nominated.
That previous evening there was a question and answer forum for all candidates and that was helpful in decision making.
The votes were cast and during the morning session, the results were announced that Sam Auxier was elected as USFS 31st President, and Doug Williams was elected as the Athlete Services Group Coordinator.
The delegates voted on a number of bylaw changes, or sent them back to committee due to the issues raised during the discussions.
The Various Committee Chairpersons and their leaders gave reports on
Saturday morning started early (7:30 am) with voting for a new President to replace Pat St. Peters, and for to replace our own Justin Dillon as head of the Athlete Services Group Coordinator. The nominating committee presented Sam Auxier from the Midwestern region as their choice, and via the prescribed route, another person, Ronald Pfenning was nominated for President. The nominating committee also presented Robert Rosenbluth as their candidate for the Athlete Services Group Coordinator, and again, through the channels, another person, Doug Williams was also nominated.
That previous evening there was a question and answer forum for all candidates and that was helpful in decision making.
The votes were cast and during the morning session, the results were announced that Sam Auxier was elected as USFS 31st President, and Doug Williams was elected as the Athlete Services Group Coordinator.
The delegates voted on a number of bylaw changes, or sent them back to committee due to the issues raised during the discussions.
The Various Committee Chairpersons and their leaders gave reports on
- Membership Development items
- Technical Group activities
- Administrative and Legal Group
- Athlete Services
A representative from the PSA also addressed the assembly with thanks for a great year and hopes that the partnership will become even stronger. PSA's leadership in Safe Sport was recognized by ISU and will be the template for the other national governing bodies. That was a testament to their hard work on this issue.
There were many heartfelt thanks given to Justin for all his work with the Athletes. Each subgroup had many kind things to say about him and his leadership, and he was given a rousing ovation. Doug will have some tall shoes to fill.
The headquarters group was also recognized by all committees for their behind the scenes work and help. It sounds like weekly calls or even more frequently was the norm rather than exception for most committees and more frequently for the board members.
There was a time of remembering those who passed during the year. A touching video and music played while names were listed. Susan Stokes and Marcella May Willis (both from St Moritz) were listed. Afterwords, a number of people went to the microphones to announce others who had passed that year.
The out going President, Pat St. Peters made her final remarks, and received several standing ovations for all her work in the past 5 years. The headquarters staff put together gifts and a video that was fun. The Executive Director, David Raith, praised her accomplishments, as did the other board members who made reports. Clearly she will be missed, but they hope to continue with her help as USFS strengthens it
We adjourned just as it was time for the coffee break and cookies to be served. It was a celebratory mood. As people were streaming out (probably around 500) the music playing was Pharrell Williams "Happy" and people were swaying/tapping/dancing to the music. It was a great way to end the meeting.
Later on that evening there was a reception where Ms. St Peters last official act was to invite everyone to be happy and have a drink.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Saturday at Governing Council - by Lisa Erle
Today, we started with the election and several others have covered that so no need to go over it again. Then we were back at the business of discussing proposed bylaws changes. Exhibit G, which was about standardizing the process for selecting and electing Nominating Committee members, was referred to the Rules Committee. Exhibit H, that dealt with the process of election for extra terms for officers, was not approved.
We then had reports of each of the Committee Groups. Athletes Services had no rule change proposals, so it was just brief statements by committee chairs (including Susan Bonn, Memorial Fund Committee) and Justin Dillon was thanked and received a standing 'o' for serving as Athlete Services Group Coordinator for the last 3 years. Memberships Services (including Katie Specht, Collegiate, and Jean Fahmie, Special Skaters) was next. They were introduced but no statements from the chairs. Just a brief report and the announcement that the request to amend a rule to require a parent to be a member with a junior membership was sent back to committee.
The Technical Group was next. There were some statements then the announcement that all the proposed changes to the moves in the field were being referred back to committee. There was also an approved date change for the elimination of the supplemental moves tests from 7/1/14 to 7/1/15. Legal Services group gave their reports and statements and their two requests for action were approved without additional discussion. There were a few minor new business items and one amendment to the budget (money to have an outside council review the bylaws) and we were done with the business side of GC.
The meeting was wrapped up with comments from incoming president Sam Auxier and a slide/video presentation of outgoing president Pat St. Peter's service, including video messages from several of the skaters from Team USA. Pat was presented with gifts and a standing ovation, along with a lifetime honorary membership. We were finished early so the break sponsored by St. Moritz turned into a nice end of meeting reception.
I am not leaving Washington until Tuesday as I will be spending some time with family first. But, it has been a pleasure to share my Governing Council experiences with everyone and if there are any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.
Lisa
We then had reports of each of the Committee Groups. Athletes Services had no rule change proposals, so it was just brief statements by committee chairs (including Susan Bonn, Memorial Fund Committee) and Justin Dillon was thanked and received a standing 'o' for serving as Athlete Services Group Coordinator for the last 3 years. Memberships Services (including Katie Specht, Collegiate, and Jean Fahmie, Special Skaters) was next. They were introduced but no statements from the chairs. Just a brief report and the announcement that the request to amend a rule to require a parent to be a member with a junior membership was sent back to committee.
The Technical Group was next. There were some statements then the announcement that all the proposed changes to the moves in the field were being referred back to committee. There was also an approved date change for the elimination of the supplemental moves tests from 7/1/14 to 7/1/15. Legal Services group gave their reports and statements and their two requests for action were approved without additional discussion. There were a few minor new business items and one amendment to the budget (money to have an outside council review the bylaws) and we were done with the business side of GC.
The meeting was wrapped up with comments from incoming president Sam Auxier and a slide/video presentation of outgoing president Pat St. Peter's service, including video messages from several of the skaters from Team USA. Pat was presented with gifts and a standing ovation, along with a lifetime honorary membership. We were finished early so the break sponsored by St. Moritz turned into a nice end of meeting reception.
I am not leaving Washington until Tuesday as I will be spending some time with family first. But, it has been a pleasure to share my Governing Council experiences with everyone and if there are any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.
Lisa
Check out this story up on U.S. Figure Skating
http://usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=50172&type=media
Election results
For President
Sam Auxier 762,
Ron Phenning 209
Athlete Services Coordinator
Robert Rosenbluth 393
Doug Williams 567
Congrats Sam and Doug
Saturday am session--by Susan Bonn
First item this am was election of new President and Athlete Services Group Coordinator. Hopefully the results will be released soon.
It's a busy day at GC-- just hope we get everything done on schedule--it's going to be a long day so stay tuned!!!
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