Meeting Minutes Apr 2004

Meeting Date: 
Saturday, April 24, 2004

 

WSCA Board of Directors Meeting
 
April 24, 2004 Portage Curling Club
(Portage , WI)
 
 
Members Meeting called to order at 9:30 am by President Mark Swandby. No items were presented. Membership meeting closed
 
1    Roll Call was taken with club updates from those represented. 
The following clubs were represented:
Appleton, Arlington, Blackhawk, Centerville, Clintonville, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Kettle Moraine, La Crosse, Madison, Marshfield, Medford, Milwaukee, Pardeeville, Portage, Racine, Rice Lake, Tri-City, Waukesha, Wauwatosa
 
The following clubs were absent: number in () represents consecutive meetings missed
Alpine (2), Galesville (22), Loch Wissota (9), Lodi (3), Poynette (1), Stevens Point (1), Superior (2), Waupaca (2), Wausau (1)
+Appleton – new ice bed, net increase in members
+Arlington – new lighting, bed problems – looking at mats, increase in members
 Centerville – new curtain, energy decrease, $11,000 profit on Jr. Nationals, ice advertising, membership flat
+Clintonville – new ceiling made compressor more efficient, remodeled upstairs, renewed vigor, net increase
-Eau Claire – lost 40 members but financially they are good, update that Mike Peplinske’s kidney problem has recurred
+Green Bay – replacing club house cost $350,000, membership up slightly
 Kettle Moraine – new website kmcurlingclub.com, even membership
 LaCrosse – discussed new plans possibly joint with Oktoberfest and/or Riverfest
+Madison – membership 40 up, plans for Open Championship, Korbel spiel netted $2,000
 Marshfield – 900 kids came through the school program
 Medford – talked about mat system replacement
+Milwaukee – new condenser reduced compressor load, 62 new net 35 members up, Country club has cancelled lease
+Pardeeville – new ice equipment, slight increase in membership
+Portage – new club house, new website, High School and Jr big focus with 501c3, 60 kids on Saturday
+Racine – net gain of 21, Racine Young Professional outing was successful, spent $30,000 in new equipment
+Rice Lake – went no smoking, small net membership increase, Summer Spiel Aug 22
+Stevens Point (reported by MHartman) – minor increase in membership,
-Tri City – small reduction but financially good
 Waukesha – no report
-Wauwatosa – new rocks, slight decline in membership
 Blackhawk – membership flat, lease extended, big jr program increase, and new rock inserts
                                Note +, <space>, -, represent unofficial membership increase, no change, decrease
 
      Agenda changes
                Hall of Fame Nominations
                Report of Financial Committee
                International Optimist report
                Wisconsin issues for USCA Strategic Plan
                Election of Officers
 
 
2    Minutes of 9/27/2003 meeting were presented. – One correction to previous minutes = Judy Maier’s name was misspelled
      Motion by CDaley to accept with correction, 2nd Russell - passed
 
3    Treasurer’s Report – Dunlop
                Financials
                                Discussions of net income and Playdown expenses vs revenue
                                State dues are remaining $1.50 / member
                Motion to accept Russell, 2nd CMcMahon - passed
 
4    USCA Directors Reports
A) Swandby
                Elected President of USCA effective May 1
                Part of agenda is to implement the new structure
                                Committee members need not be USCA directors
                Playdown Format summary
                                USCA Open Championship
                                                Leads to worlds
                                                Olympic qualifier this year
                                                Not regional – open qualifying - must be US Citizen
                                USCA National Championships
                                                Patches (Bucky and participation) and Pins as previous Nationals
                                                Regional in nature – must be dues paying/league playing in same club
                                                No citizenship or age requirement
                Motion to keep champion selection process for USCA National Championships the same as it had been CMcMahaon, 2nd Willburg
                                Format the same as previous
                                Payments to clubs for reserving ice times/days tabled until fall
                                Comparison of Open Championship to NCAA Basketball Championships
                                Motion passed
                Review of USCA Strategic Plan moved to later
                USCA Budget “variance”
                                USCA paid to put on ICE2003. Expected net cost was $37,000 but actual net cost was $157,000. This was the major factor in a USCA projected end of fiscal year loss of $90,000. The TV ratings were good (better than Hockey), but the USCA cannot absorb another loss of this magnitude. The USCA Board passed a resolution mandating positive-balance fiscal year expenditures until the net worth of the organization is rebuilt.
                USCA paid membership is up approx 500-1,000
                10 new clubs
 
B) Maier
                Championship Site Report
                Site Bid forms are available
                                Reimbursement $250/day for Men/women up to a total of $1,000 $500 total for Sr.’s and Wheelchair
                                                Discussion of amounts not being enough
                                Resources required to host discussed
                                Youth Curling camps
                                Goal of ice for championships is 4x4 (24 second ice with 4 ft of curl)
                                Pin Program discussion
                                                Grass roots
                                                Training
                                                Youth curling
                                Merchandise items available (as modeled by Swandby)
C) Packard – as above
 
5    President’s Report – Swandby
                          Curling looks healthy – membership has gone up
6    Chairman’s Reports
                A) High School – Joel Callum
                                Program exists but could be stronger – most focus is on Jr’s not High School
                                There is a South Conference, North Conference and a few independents
                                This year the championships had 6 girls teams and 10 boys teams
                B) Optimist – Swandby
                                Championships in British Columbia
                                                US Girls won the gold and the boys qualified but did not medal
                                Discussion of committee chaired by Delaney to better integrate the Jr’s and H S programs
                C) Directory – O’Neill
                                Directory will be earlier next year. Book is all in Word but will be done via the website
                D) By-Laws - Russell
                                No report
                E) Playdowns – Roe
                                Men’s 15 teams played down (up from 14) 
                                                Craig Brown team was champion
                                                Godfrey Team qualified out of 2nd chance
                                                Next year’s districts Jan 14-16 and Sate Jan 21-23 leading to National Championships
                                Sr Men’s                
                                Godfrey Team won Nationals and won the Silver Medal at Worlds
                Roe to chair eligibility committee
                Motion that WSCA supports removal of seedings from Midwest Regions for site determination CMcMahon 2nd Sompii    13 yes, 2no, 5 abstention motion carries USCA reps will take motion to meeting
                Women’s Patti Lank team won WI Playdowns in Clintonville then won Nationals, lost in Bronze game at worlds
F) Mixed – Janusiak
                Eight teams signed up one team dropped due to injury
                Discussion of ice time coordination and responsibilities of Playdown chair
                Reiterated that the Playdown rotation schedule be reviewed and communicated with clubs
G) Seniors – Dushek
                State will be in Green Bay next year Jan 21-23, 2004
                National Seniors was in Chicago with 88 teams in 3 divisions
                                Oldest curler was 88 years old
                                Average age of participants was 65
                                EJ Stern won Open Division
                Next year at curl Mesabi 
                State Badger Senior Women hosted by Poynette
                5 Columbia County clubs have a Sr Day League that has been successful
H) Rules – Maskel (absent discussion by Swandby)
                Discussion of stick and slide – should a curler be able to do both
7    WSCA’s input into USCA Strategic Planning - Swandby
                A) Current plan
                                Grow Sport and increase # of sheets of ice
                                Improve member relations
                                Sustain competitive success
                                Effective and efficient governance and management
                B) Brainstorming
                                Keep dues stable
                                Make dues progressive
                                Growth goal should continue to be #1
                                More attention to Jr programs
8    Hall of Fame Nominations
                A) discussion that the board rec’d a resubmission of nominations for Curling Hall of Fame from the Superior Curling Club of Corky Bradshaw and Gene Ovesen. Both had been submitted previously by the WSCA and were not selected to the Hall of Fame. The WSCA president will respond to Toni Kari cc to Bud Somerville that the WSCA has already submitted these candidates. If they wish to pursue it further there are other avenues available to them.
9    Financial Committee report – CDaley
                A) Website discussion by O’Neill outlining goal, plans and costs
                B) Motion to proceed with plan CMcMahon, 2nd Williamson – passed
10 Changes in USCA Governance
                A) Board size reduction
                B) Representation changes based on paid membership (Wi has about 29-30% of USCA members)
                C) Committees will now have non-USCA director members allowing flexibility and participation
11 Reimbursement for updates/engraving for State Championship trophies
                Motion to reimburse winners for getting their names engraved on Jr trophies CDaley 2nd Sompii – passed
12 Wisconsin State Bonspiel
                Discussion of continuing event – it was cancelled last year
                Consensus is to continue it
                Clintonville will host 2004/5
13 Elections – Russell
                A) WSCA Officers
                                Nomination Committee presented slate of officers
                                                President – Christine Daley
                                                Vice President – Jim O’Neill
                                                VP Championships – Jeremy Roe
                                                Secretary – Phil Janusiak
                                                Treasurer – Greg Dunlop
                                No nominations from the floor
                                Move to close nominations and record unanimous approval Russell, 2nd CMcMahon – passed
                B) Executive Committee
                                Nomination Committee presented Executive Committee
                                                Past two WSCA Presidents – Swandby and CMcmahon
                                                Current WSCA officers
                                No nominations from the floor
                                Move to close nominations and record unanimous approval Russell, 2nd CDaley – passed
                C) USCA Representatives
                                Nomination Committee presented
                                                Jay Packard – 3 year term
                                No nominations from the floor
                                Move to close nominations and record unanimous approval Russell, 2nd CMcMahon – passed
14 Presentation of Presidents Pins - Russell
15 Next Meeting Scheduled for September 25th, 2004 at Portage Curling Club
15 Motion to adjourn O’Neill, 2nd Russell passed
Portage Curling Club