CONNECTICUT SWIMMING, INC. HOUSE OF DELEGATES Minutes May 27, 1997 PRESENT: BOARD: Mary Anne Condon (General Chairman), Michael Close (Administrative Vice-Chairmen), Chris Pac (Program Development Chairman), Mary Lynch (Program Operations Chairman), Victor Xistris (Finance Vice-Chairman), Bob Olson (Secretary), Barbara Ehmer (Treasurer), Ellen Johnston (Senior Committee Chairman), Beverly Medlin (Age Group Committee Chairman), Edward Easley (Officials Chairman), Judy Snow (Registration/Membership Coordinator), Roxanne Smietana (Safety Committee Chairman), Tim Murphy (Technical Planning Chairman), Leanne Spletzer (Past General Chairman). COACH REPRESENTATIVES: Rob Riccobon (Junior Representative). ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVES: Brendan Grant (Senior Representative), Caragh Moynihan (Junior Representative). AT-LARGE: Pam Libertiny (Administrative Co-chairman), Pat Griffis (Top 16 and Records Coordinator), Mary Ellen Brigham (Zone Team Coordinator), Joanna Meeker (Zone Team Coordinator), Ed Steinnagel (Meet Sponsorship Committee Chairman), Anita Garaffa (Awards Chairman), George Miles (Times Standards Chairman), James Cooper (Technology Coordinator) and Steve Carroll (Senior Committee). MEMBER REPRESENTATIVES: AJSC-Ann McCann, ARAC-Weedy Hoyt, CAT-Cathy Deacon, CDEV-Todd Stevens, ERA-Ann Hughes, FFLY-Beverly Dyer, NCY-Al LaPrino, NES-Barbara Lagana, NTSC-Diane Gambino, OAK-Sal DeLeo, PSDY-Skip Nitardy, SHEL-Cathy Komarowsky, TP-Linda Dunn, WAC-Cliff Johnson, WCA-Nan Cooper, WEST-Patrick Love, WRAT-Bill Krumm, WYW-Jeff Allen, YCST-Rene Raymunt. NOT PRESENT: Board: Rick Lewis (Coach-at-Large), Tim Quill (Senior Coaches Representative). Member teams without representatives present: BRIS, BRS, CSPL, EDST, EHBB, FINS, FOX, GYWD, HMST, HNHS, MC, MGAT, MSC, NMEG, NMY, MSC, NWYL, OMNI, PAC, RAC, RAYS, RHSL, RPDS, SEC, SHKS, STRY, UAC, UCON, VALY, VSYM, WBAR, WDOL, WILD, WIND, WWRX, ZEUS. ************************* The meeting was called to order at 8:15 p.m. at the High Plains Community Center by Mary Anne Condon, General Chairman. Mary Anne introduced the Roll Call Procedure and explained that each representative and/or delegate to the CSI House of Delegates is entitled to one vote. A Board or At-Large member may only vote in that capacity and not also represent his or her member club with a second vote. Also, all designated group member representatives must be members of United States Swimming. Mary Anne reported that there are currently ten At-large Delegates, two Coach Representatives, two Athlete Representatives, fourteen Board Members and fifty-five Group Members. The ten At-Large Delegates were appointed by the Board at the September 1996 Board of Directors meeting. Secretary Bob Olson, called the Roll Call. Approval of Minutes of October 1996 House of Delegates Meeting: Mary Anne introduced the minutes of the October House of Delegates meeting which were disseminated in the mailing sent earlier this month to all delegates. Since there were no additions, deletions and/or corrections, the minutes were approved as published. Approval of Agenda: Mary Anne inquired if there were any additions to the published agenda. Margaret Donofrio asked to present a report on the National Swim Safety Program. With no further changes and or additions, the agenda was accepted as revised. Welcome/Announcements: Mary Anne briefly addressed a number of issues involving the Permanent Office. The copier which Connecticut Swimming purchased for the Permanent Office five years ago has ceased to operate, (passing its expected life). Barbara Hudson has indicated that her business (Data Entry Services) will lease a copier and will now charge CSI a fee per copy. Barbara has also requested an increase in her hourly rate. The Board reviewed and analyzed various alternatives to contain the costs of the Permanent Office. The consensus of the Board was to attempt to move monthly communications from paper mailings to electronic mailings via the CSI Web Page, thereby reducing postal, copying and labor charges. This issue will be discussed in more detail under New Business. Mary Anne also announced that the Board and Committee Chairmen had attempted to have in place for this meeting a preliminary annual report similar to the annual report presented by United States Swimming. Since it was not possible to finalize the preliminary report for this evening, the annual report will be presented at the October House of Delegates meeting. REPORTS OF OFFICERS: Administrative Vice-chairman: Pam Libertiny reported that the Scholastic All Connecticut Applications are available on the CSI Web Page. The deadline for applications is September 15, 1997. The USS Scholastic All America application is available on the USS Web Site. The deadline for these applications is August 1, 1997. Treasurer: Barbara Ehmer reported that Connecticut Swimming has successfully completed the first annual audit conducted by an independent auditing firm. Barbara presented the financial report as of April 30, 1997. Net income is $34,000 year to date. Barbara noted that this amount is basically the same as last year at this time. Age Group Committee Chairman: Beverly Medlin reported that the Age Group Committee has run three very successful LSC Camps this past year; that the Connecticut All Star Team traveled to Buffalo earlier this Spring for the Eastern Zone Short Course Age Group Championships; that a $60 per day stipend was approved for zone team coaches; and that the order of events at long course age group championships has been modified. Beverly also reported that the Age Group Committee is seeking a Meet Entry Chairman for Age Group Championships this summer. The position will be compensated. Anyone interested should contact Beverly as soon as possible. Beverly also reported that Connecticut Swimming is conducting its seventh annual National Age Group Camp at Wesleyan University in two weeks. Metropolitan Swimming has been invited to participate, and as of this date, Metro is bringing fifty-five athletes and five coaches. Joe Bernal will be the Guest Coach and Cristina Teuscher will be the Guest Olympian. Tim Quill is the Head Coach of this camp. Senior Committee Chairman: Ellen Johnston discussed the joint New England/Connecticut Senior Championships which were held in March. The meet was fast and was very well received in Connecticut. Ellen indicated that Connecticut Swimming hopes to have a repeat of this meet in 1998 and that the possibility of adding a "junior" component to the meet is being looked at. Ellen thanked Steve Carroll for his efforts in running the meet. Program Development Vice-chairman: Chris Pac reported that the Program Development Committee addressed the following issues this past season: oversubscription at long course Silver Championships; policies governing Senior travel funds; the zone team coaches stipend; cut procedures for oversubscribed meets; and the new short course meet bid procedure. Program Operations Vice-chairman: Mary Lynch reported that long course pool rental fees have substantially increased. As of now, the amount that Connecticut Swimming charges teams that rent long course pools for swimming meets will not cover Connecticut Swimming's costs. CSI will address this issue in the Fall. Mary also reported on the feedback received from meet evaluations, as well as the issue of heat limited events at long course Silver Championships. Technical Planning Chairman: Tim Murphy addressed the need for long range planning as groundwork for developing the future of Connecticut Swimming. He stressed the need for published agendas for Committee meetings so that those who cannot attend can provide input prior to the meeting. Coach Representatives: Rob Riccobon thanked Tim Quill for all his work the past year. Rob announced that Chris Michaelson is the new Junior Coaches Representative. The Coaches Clinic with Peter Malone was a tremendous success. The new CSI Coaches newsletter, StopWatch, was discussed. Rob will be working with ASCA on ideas to share with CSI coaches. Rob's objective this year is to develop a relationship with the CIAC. Rob requested input from all involved. Athlete Representatives: Brendan Grant and Caragh Moynihan presented a written report. Caragh thanked Brendan for all his help and announced that Kimberly Richardson was recently elected to the position of Junior Athletes Representative. Caragh reported that additional athletes have been added to the CSI Athletes Committee. Brendan and Caragh indicated that they would like to plan an outing this summer for Connecticut swimmers. Mary Anne asked for volunteers to assist the athletes with planning the event. Weedy Hoyt, Roxanne Smietana, Ellen Johnston, Rob Riccobon and Jim Ottman volunteered to work with the Committee. A suggestion was made that New London be considered as a possible site for the outing. Safety Committee Chairman: Roxanne Smietana reported that a subcommittee is being formed to review the problems with the current warm-up procedure at meets. Input on this matter is welcome from anyone. Roxanne also discussed the use of the orange vests for meet safety coordinators. She also reported that a safety award will be presented at the Annual Awards Banquet and that nominations for this award should be forwarded to her. Officials Committee Chairman: Ed Easley reported that nine officials clinics with 187 attendees were held in the past year. Ed also reported that Steve Carroll will be attending the annual Officials Workshop to be held in Colorado Springs later this month. Ed indicated that he will be addressing the issue of retaining officials. Registration/Membership Coordinator: Judy Snow presented a written report. Judy reported that she is attempting to verify USS registrations for swimmers entered in all CSI meets. Judy reviewed current membership statistics and indicated that we have approximately 250 more swimmers registered than we had last year at this time. An inquiry was made regarding the issue of seasonal memberships. It was agreed that the Board would address this issue at its next meeting. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES: Zone Team: Mary Ellen Brigham reported that the 1997 short course zone meet trip to Buffalo was successful. Our 10 & under swimmers did extremely well at the meet. Connecticut finished 7th overall. The zone meet this summer and next winter will be held at Gloucester Institute of Technology in Seawell, New Jersey. Mary Ellen reported that participation from our 13 and over swimmers continues to be disappointing and that this issue will be addressed over the next several months. Input on this matter is requested and welcomed. Technology: Jim Cooper deferred his report, pending a presentation on CSI Technology. Awards: Anita Garaffa thanked all the teams that returned unused ribbons and awards. We now have enough awards to carry us through the long course season. Time Standards: Although George Miles was unable to attend, Mary Anne stated that the publication of both short and long course time standards last Fall was a welcome change. Public Relations: As Chairman of the Public Relations Committee for United States Swimming, Margaret Donofrio reported that water safety clinics are being set up in Norwalk, Stamford, New Haven and Hartford. These clinics will be held in conjunction with the Red Cross and the Army Corps of Engineers and are designed to promote water safety. Funding and materials for the clinics are being provided by United States Swimming. Television and radio advertisements, as well as a proclamation by the Governor will help publicize the program. OLD BUSINESS: Rules of Conduct: Pam Libertiny reported that the Board had recently approved Rules of Conduct for Connecticut Swimming, Inc. and had voted to affirm the CSI Integrity Policy which had been approved several years ago. Copies of both policies are available. Nominating Committee: The Nominating Committee presented the following slate of officers for election: Age Group Chairman Beverly Medlin Program Operations Chairman Mary Lynch Treasurer Barbara Ehmer Technical Planning Chairman George Miles Safety Committee Chairman Roxanne Smietana Membership/Registration Coordinator Judy Snow Mary Anne inquired whether there were any additional nominations for these offices. There being none, Mary Anne asked for a motion to accept the slate as presented by the Nominating Committee. Motion was made and seconded to accept the slate as presented. The motion was approved without objection. NEW BUSINESS: Presentation and Approval of the Annual Budget: Victor Xistris presented the budget for the fiscal year beginning September 1, 1997, as recommended by the Budget Committee and approved by the Board of Directors. The budget reflects expenses of $353,230. Victor discussed the particulars related to the changes from last year's budget: (1) The exclusion of the All Star Camp from the operating budget. The funds allocated for this camp will be approved from surplus funds, if an All Star Camp is approved by the USOC and USS. (2) Changes in administrative and financial expenses relating to the annual audit, web site, technical and office expenses. Victor also discussed the need to maintain a surplus to stay ahead of our usual and customary expenses. A corporate endowment to assist in defraying some of our current and long term expenses should be looked into. A motion was made to balance the September 1, 1997- August 31, 1998 budget. Motion was seconded and approved. A motion was made to accept the budget as amended. Motion was seconded and approved without objection. Presentation of Annual Audit: Victor reported that an audit of Connecticut Swimming's financial statements for the fiscal year ending August 31, 1996, had been conducted by Tobin & Company, Certified Public Accountants, located in Larchmont, New York. Copies of the auditor's report are available upon request. CSI Mailing Procedures: Mary Anne reported that in an attempt to reduce the cost of copying and postal expenses, the Board had approved at its last meeting the use of the CSI Web Page as the primary source of communication for Connecticut Swimming. Mary Anne indicated that clubs shall have the opportunity to select one of two mailing options: (1) to continue receiving regular monthly paper mailings, or (2) to receive monthly mailings electronically via Connecticut Swimming's Web Page. Effective September 1, 1997, group members who opt to continue receiving regular monthly paper mailings will be charged an additional $65 per year, in addition to the annual CSI/USS group membership fee of $135. Effective September 1, 1998, the fee to group members who continue to opt for monthly paper mailings will be increased to $165 per year. Additionally, effective immediately, the fee for a second mailing will be increased from $72 to $165 per year. Motion was made to accept the Board's decision. Motion was seconded and approved without objection. Meet Scheduling - 1997-1998 Short Course Season: Mary Anne reported that the Program Development Committee approved a change in the meet scheduling and bidding procedures for the 1997-1998 short course season. The basis for making these changes was to encourage creative and interesting meet formats, to provide the impetus for improving upon and modifying the short course schedule which has remained basically unchanged for many years, and to provide all teams the opportunity to host open/invitational, as well as closed meets. Therefore, effective with the 1997-1998 short course season, all CSI club member teams shall be allowed the opportunity to bid for and host meets on any weekend other than those designated as "closed meet or championship meet weekends." Further, teams shall have the opportunity to design and host meets as long as the meet is approved by and conducted in accordance with Connecticut Swimming rules and regulations and with the Technical and Administration regulations of United States Swimming. Mary Anne inquired if there were any objections to this change in policy. Since there were none, it was agreed that the new procedure would be implemented for the upcoming short course season. Board of Review: Mary Anne reported that in accordance with our Bylaws, the House of Delegates annually elects regular and alternate members of the Board of Review. In odd numbered years, the House is required to elect five regular and one alternate members. Mary Anne indicated that the following individuals' term of office expire at the end of August 1997: Judy Snow, Michael Close, Mary Lynch, Cliff Johnson, Ed Steinnagel and Debbie Armitage. Mary Anne requested that if there were no objections, that these same individuals be re-elected for a second two year term, beginning September 1, 1997. Mary Anne then asked if there were any additional nominations from the floor. Steve Carroll and Tim Murphy were nominated. Motion was made to elect all of the individuals to the Board of Review. Motion was seconded and approved without objection. Technology Presentation: Mary Anne reported that the Board had approved providing all CSI club members with the LSA software package. Mary Anne indicated that as additional new features are introduced into the software, they will be automatically provided. Additionally, two educational workshops will be conducted each year to assist teams, coaches, officials and parents with computerization of their swim organization. Mary Anne then introduced Jim Cooper who presented a report on technology in Connecticut Swimming. Included in Jim's presentation was an introduction to the Internet, the CSI Web Site and the CSI Database. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:11 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Robert V. Olson CSI Secretary House of Delegates Page 3 May 27, 1997