Thursday Seminars

I attended 3 seminars at Governing Council today.

1. Parent / Coach Relations: The chairs of the Parents and Coaches Committees shared information on 'best practices' for the relationship between a coach, parent and the athlete in areas of planning & goals, training, injuries (prevention & recovery), and  fees/budgets. The key in all of it is appropriate communication so the athlete remains the focus and a plan is outlined by the coach and supported by the parent in order to have the optimal growth/development in the sport.

2. Critical Issues: The main issues discussed were the proposal to require a parent membership for every junior member; the changes to the moves in the field, and bylaws changes proposed that effect the term(s)/election of the USFS President.

3. Standardizing NQ Competitions & Preview of Changes to Test Judging: The first part of this seminar focused on the Competitions Committee's goal of standardizing event requirements and descriptions for all nonqualifying competitions across the country, particularly for lower levels (below Juvenile) where there is a lot of diversity for event names and requirements. There were counterpoints and clarifications that the current NQ competition template is not mandatory (not a rule) but is strongly recommended for all clubs hosting a competition. The Competitions Committee feels that providing more standardized events would make things clearer and more straightforward for all skaters, parents, coaches, and judges.

The second part of the seminar was to provide information about the ongoing project to change the current test judging system (6.0) to a scaled system of evaluation that is closer in concept to the IJS, providing better/clearer feedback to the skaters on their test elements. It was stated that this is a work in progress and there are plans to "mock test" the system and conduct surveys throughout the summer. The hope is to have this change ready for a proposal to the Governing Council in 2015 (to be in effect on 9/2/15)

Ice Men !!

Very interesting presentation on the new Icemen program.  Males make up a quarter of figure skating, and females 75%.  Boys start out strong, but by Basic 3, the retention rate is around 10% while for girls, the retention rate is around 80%.  A lot of guys go to hockey, and want team sports, and figure skating is looked at more of a girl sport or a single person sport.  That, and coupled with not a lot of male coaches for boys in figure skating, perpetuates the lack of participation.

Icemen is a program to help overcome these issues.  The person who enrolls into Icemen gets a series of four conference calls each month beginning in May.  They can submit questions about anything related to skating.  The host is an elite skater (Mark Ladwig) and perhaps another one or two who will read the questions and ask the other skaters for their opinions as well - building an "on-line" skating relationships not limited by geographical area where there might only be a handful of skaters.  This is a listen only mode for the callers.

In addition, there are special Icemen competitions that can be incorporated into skating competitions so that  boys can compete with their peers.  The panel noted the problem with boys competing with girls, or getting trophies with a female skater on the trophy.

In 2014, there are 3 Icemen competitions in CA - Los Angeles, San Jose (August) and Pasadena, and three others in WA, OR and AZ

I think this program shows some innovative and outside the box thinking on the part of USFS.  It is a proactive step, to keep boys and men in skating.

I have contact information from the co-directors should we want more infomation.

Thursday Governing Council - Club governance

This morning I attended the Club Governance Session.  We were reminded that the duties of the board are

• define the mission and the purpose of the board
• approve and monitor programs and services
• ensure adequate resources for programs
• ensure effective fiscal management and control over funds
• strategic planning
• recruit and orient new board members
• support the coach and rink relationships
• enhance the club's public image
• ensure proper board operations such as placing committees, meetings, minutes etc

The board deals with the 3 "Ds"

1. Duty of Care - the trust and oversight for the club
2. Duty of Loyalty & Ethics - the club comes first and avoid personal gain
3. Duty of Obedience - public required filings, tax returns, corporate status rules

The USFS headquarters has prepared a checklist that boards can grade themselves on, covering in detail areas of Leadership & Governance, Business and Fiscal Practices, Memebership Development and Programs/Events.  They suggested doing that self examination once a year when the new board is convened.

In addition, they offer seminars and are willing to travel.  Maybe it would be a worthwhile Bay Area Clubs seminar that we could offer to host/facilitate.

Budget and Finance symposium--Governing Council

The FinanWarren Nthal began discussion and reviewed budget and financial impact of New Programs. Dr Paul George will review Morgan Stanely Financial performance at GC meeting. Plan is for USFS to host 2ISU EVENTS--2016 World 2017 World Synchro Membership increases I /016-1017 include new subsequent membership requirement for parents of minor members (This was a big issue at Critical Issues Forum) Expenses are indexed for inflation. Sponsorship revenue is increasing. Expect surplus for next 4 years. New campaigns: Change Basic Skills to Learn to Skate USA --promotional campaign Men's singles training camp (is this ICEMEN?) Synchronized Elite Skating Camp JETS--Theatre on Ice Championship/events. Production costs HQ operations--it ContrCt Services

Brief thoughts from the Budget meeting:


2015 Projected Revenue:
Revenue is diversified
Fundraising revenue has increased

2015 Projected Expense:
almost 85% focused on athletes and skaters

Sponsorship revenue has increased significantly over the last four years


$445,000 worth of new items have been added in new programs including:
   IT Contract Services
   Marketing
   Event Production Cost
   Learn to Skate USA Program
   Men's Training Camp
   Elite Skating Camp- Synchro


Business Plan Key Assumptions:
Hosting: 2016 World Figure Skating Championships
Bid Submitted for the 2017 World Synchro Skating Championships
A $10 Regular Membership Dues increase in fiscal year 2016-2017
Expenses increasing at the inflation rate of 3%, trail at 5%


Conservative Foundation Spending Policy
   -Currently drawing $2 million a year from the Foundation


Summary: Next four years look solid from a financial standpoint

 

Critical issues

There have been many questions regarding the proposed changes for MIF. --and pros and cons

Club Governance--Susan Bonn

Moderated by Winston Burbank and Alan Wolf. Attended by Susan Bonn and Dirk Vanderlaan for St Moritz. 

Slides from symposium are available. 

Focuses on issues regarding putting the club first, be mindful of Conflicts of interest. Minutes should be posted regarding conflicts that come up 

Minutes should be posted on the web after each meeting. 

Use minutes as a communication medium with your club members. Be open and transparent and mindful of the fact that the Board members are the club's stewards. 

Be transparent for your members. Do open board meetings. Post minutes on website. 

While most meetings will be help in open forum format, there are times where Executive Session is necessary--use this format to handle disputes and sensitive issues. Voting board members only and information from the session remains closed. This is a highly confidential session and should only be used in very certain circumstances. While minutes would be taken of executive sessions, they are not included in the normal part of the meeting minutes.