Saturday, May 3, 2014
St Moritz Athlete Services Committee
Justin Dillon, Athlete Services Group Coordinator and Susan Bonn, Memorial Fund Chair gave their reports and Justin received a personal thank you from Pat St. Peter and Justin also revceived a Standing O from the Athlete Services Group.
Congratulations to Our New National Judge!
Huge Congratulations to Laurie Lind for her National Dance Appointment!
Friday, May 2, 2014
Governing Council Opening session - by Dirk Vanderlaan
We were welcomed to the meeting and the key-note speaker was Ashley Wagner. After some procedural items, our own Lisa Earle was tasked to be the chairperson of the minutes committee.
Reports from committee members, treasurer report and foundation reports were received, and new clubs were approved to become full members.
A number of bylaw changes were voted on:
Reports from committee members, treasurer report and foundation reports were received, and new clubs were approved to become full members.
A number of bylaw changes were voted on:
- USFS does not discrimate based on sexual orientation in addition to race, color, age, gender, religion or national origin
- Moved parent committee from Athelete services to Membership services
- Vacancies in the Board of Directors will be filled by majority vote by the directors
- The Presidents term was increased from one year to two years, with no more than two consecutive terms.
- All delegates, board members and committee members etc must be at least 18 years old
- Honorary membership in USFS for Gold medal winners at the Olympics or World Championship and exempt from paying membership dues was sent back to committee to clarify a number of issues raised
Business was suspended for the rest of the day as the hour was getting late, and there was a "meet the candidate" forum that was due to start. Business to resume tomorrow morning. Altogether, the above took about 3 hours.
Friday am Pacific Coast Sectional Meeting - Dirk Vanderlaan
For skating purposes, the country is divided into 3 sections; east, midwest and pacific coast, and members were disturbed that our section is under-represented by USFS committee members. While we have some of the larger clubs, we only have 12% representation. They expressed concern that we are becoming irrelevant. The midwest seems to be over represented on a geographic basis.
To remedy this situation, the leaders suggested more people get involved into committees so that people build up a track-record and get known so when they get nominated, they are known. We need mentoring programs to help our members and member clubs which will help our section overall.
Communications were stressed - interclub communication, section communications, club communication.
USFS presented a draft of their strategic plan. Based on surveys received from 240 clubs, atheletes, USFS input and sports marketing experts, they are coming up with a plan to increase revenue, Athelete development, diversifying revenue sources and enhancing international relations
USFS also announced a partnership with US Hockey to run the basic skills program to teach skating to kids. Figure skating will teach using the basic skills program, and Hockey will help fund.
Finally, the proposal to require a parent to be a member of a club for under 18 year olds was announced as pulled and sent back to committee.
ps...
I wanted to share that of the clubs across the US, our club, St Moritz is the 5th largest club in the country with approx 570 members, and having our own Katie, Jean, Susan and Justin filling some of those USFS committee chair persons slots mentioned above!
To remedy this situation, the leaders suggested more people get involved into committees so that people build up a track-record and get known so when they get nominated, they are known. We need mentoring programs to help our members and member clubs which will help our section overall.
Communications were stressed - interclub communication, section communications, club communication.
USFS presented a draft of their strategic plan. Based on surveys received from 240 clubs, atheletes, USFS input and sports marketing experts, they are coming up with a plan to increase revenue, Athelete development, diversifying revenue sources and enhancing international relations
USFS also announced a partnership with US Hockey to run the basic skills program to teach skating to kids. Figure skating will teach using the basic skills program, and Hockey will help fund.
Finally, the proposal to require a parent to be a member of a club for under 18 year olds was announced as pulled and sent back to committee.
ps...
I wanted to share that of the clubs across the US, our club, St Moritz is the 5th largest club in the country with approx 570 members, and having our own Katie, Jean, Susan and Justin filling some of those USFS committee chair persons slots mentioned above!
Friday at Governing Council
The day started with the Pacific Coast Sectional meeting where we come together with all the club delegates of our section to review issues, present awards and elect members for the Nominating Committee. Local judge Dave Hopson received his 25 year pin as a judge. Hal Marron, our Pacific Coast Vice President, had a nice moment where he got to award himself his 40 year pin as a Referee!
The best news, however, was seeing that our own club member, Laurie Lind, received her National Dance Judge appointment. Congratulations to Laurie - we are very proud of you!! Another of our local officials, Rick Perez, received his National Synchronized Skating Referee appointment.
After lunch, the Governing Council meeting was called to order (theme this year is Grass Roots to Gold). Introductions of the Board and past presidents was followed by a presentation and behind-the-scenes Olympic photo diary before our keynote speaker, Ashley Wagner, shared her experiences. She gave a good speech sprinkled with humor and emotion; it was a great way to start off our meetings.
Proposed changes to the bylaws were first up for the delegates to consider. Changes to Exhibits A, B, D, and F passed easily (if you would like to review any exhibits or rule change proposals, go to the U.S. Figure Skating website, sign into Members Only, click the General Info tab, then Governing Council. Open the Meeting Book and/or Interim Report of Action).
Exhibit C, which deals with a change to the President's term from 1 year maximum 4 consecutive to 2 years maximum 2 consecutive, passed with modifications. Exhibit E, which proposes to make Olympic & World Gold medal winners honorary members of USFS, had the most activity. It was proposed to strike the word "Gold" (so all medal winners would be made honorary members). After much discussion on whether this type of change would be allowed, several questions and clarifications, and a vote on if the change could move forward, another delegate got up to request the whole thing be referred back to committee. This motion passed (if only that delegate went to the microphone sooner, we could have saved a lot of time!)
The day ended with a meet the candidates forum where questions were answered by candidates for the contested positions for the Board of Directors, which are President and Athlete Group Coordinator.
Lisa
The best news, however, was seeing that our own club member, Laurie Lind, received her National Dance Judge appointment. Congratulations to Laurie - we are very proud of you!! Another of our local officials, Rick Perez, received his National Synchronized Skating Referee appointment.
After lunch, the Governing Council meeting was called to order (theme this year is Grass Roots to Gold). Introductions of the Board and past presidents was followed by a presentation and behind-the-scenes Olympic photo diary before our keynote speaker, Ashley Wagner, shared her experiences. She gave a good speech sprinkled with humor and emotion; it was a great way to start off our meetings.
Proposed changes to the bylaws were first up for the delegates to consider. Changes to Exhibits A, B, D, and F passed easily (if you would like to review any exhibits or rule change proposals, go to the U.S. Figure Skating website, sign into Members Only, click the General Info tab, then Governing Council. Open the Meeting Book and/or Interim Report of Action).
Exhibit C, which deals with a change to the President's term from 1 year maximum 4 consecutive to 2 years maximum 2 consecutive, passed with modifications. Exhibit E, which proposes to make Olympic & World Gold medal winners honorary members of USFS, had the most activity. It was proposed to strike the word "Gold" (so all medal winners would be made honorary members). After much discussion on whether this type of change would be allowed, several questions and clarifications, and a vote on if the change could move forward, another delegate got up to request the whole thing be referred back to committee. This motion passed (if only that delegate went to the microphone sooner, we could have saved a lot of time!)
The day ended with a meet the candidates forum where questions were answered by candidates for the contested positions for the Board of Directors, which are President and Athlete Group Coordinator.
Lisa
SafeSport Seminar
Yesterday I attended the SafeSport seminar. SafeSport is an initiative adopted by the US Olympic Committee (USOC) who now require will all National Governing Bodies (NGB)'s - like US Figure Skating - to commit to. Put simply, SafeSport is a program intended to ensure that athletes and club members are able to participate in their sports without the fear of being the victim or target of any inappropriate or illegal behavior. It also echoes attempts to ensure athletes' injuries - in particular concussions - are recognized and dealt with appropriately so that an athlete doesn't feel pressured to return to the ice too quickly.
The requirements and elements of SafeSport are few while the benefits are great. Each club must have a SafeSport Compliance Chair, and for this year it will be me. The Chair's responsibilities lie in ensuring the program is rolled out, information is made broadly available to all club members, communication with the USOC and USFS is maintained, and procedures are upheld.
The most important step is to ensure club members and their parents understand what behaviors SafeSport intends to guard against. To do so, a link to an informative 15-minute video will be posted on the club website. Once posted we are required to have 3 members view the video but I will encourage everyone to take the time to view it.
In the coming week's you will see lots more information and education on SafeSport. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have an interest in being an advocate of this important program in our club!
Jacki
The requirements and elements of SafeSport are few while the benefits are great. Each club must have a SafeSport Compliance Chair, and for this year it will be me. The Chair's responsibilities lie in ensuring the program is rolled out, information is made broadly available to all club members, communication with the USOC and USFS is maintained, and procedures are upheld.
The most important step is to ensure club members and their parents understand what behaviors SafeSport intends to guard against. To do so, a link to an informative 15-minute video will be posted on the club website. Once posted we are required to have 3 members view the video but I will encourage everyone to take the time to view it.
In the coming week's you will see lots more information and education on SafeSport. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have an interest in being an advocate of this important program in our club!
Jacki
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