Meeting Date:
Saturday, September 30, 2006
WISCONSIN STATE CURLING ASSOCIATION
MEMBERS/BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS
Date: September 30, 2006
Place: Tri-City Curling Club, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Members/Board of Directors Meeting
Members meeting called to order at 9:40 A.M. by President, Jim O’Neill.
Roll call was taken with club updates from those present.
The following clubs were present at the meeting: Arlington, Appleton, Eau Claire, Kettle Moraine, LaCrosse, Madison, Marshfield, Milwaukee, Poynette, Rice Lake, Tri-City, Waupaca, Wauwatosa, Waukesha and Blackhawk (Janesville) arriving late.
The following clubs were absent. The number in parentheses represents the consecutive meetings missed: Alpine (4), Loch Wissota (14), Lodi (8), Medford (5), Stevens Point (3), Superior (7), Wausau (3), Pardeeville (1), Portage (1), Clintonville (1), Green Bay (1) and Racine (1).
Appleton - Jim O’Neill reported. Membership has increased to 142 members. Stones redone with inserts. Expecting better curl and faster ice. Women’s membership is down. The focus of club is on growth of mixed leagues.
Arlington - Bernie Dushek reported. For the first time in 10 years club out of debt. Carpets replaced, compressor debt paid. Had a successful raffle. Senior Spiel scheduled for March. Making ice around the 1st of November with open houses on the 11th and 18th. Spiels scheduled in January and March.
Blackhawk - David Somppi reported. Started making ice on the 29th of September. Membership in the 140 range. Looking at open houses in October. Expecting a membership increase of 20 to 30 curlers.
Centerville - David Russell reported. Membership up slightly. This in part due to the closing of the Galesville Curling Club. Men’s membership growing rapidly. In the process of adding a building for storage. Repaired parking lot and is hosting the World University Games US Championships in November.
Eau Claire - Geoff Goodland reported. Slight growth in the club. Thursdays have a high of 23 teams. Looking at starting a Sunday night mixed and a junior league. In 2005/2006 open houses were successful. Five years left on the debt for the curling building. Have 25 years free rent from the County with 14 years left on the free rent arrangement.
Kettle Moraine - Judy Maier reported. Membership remains stable. Holding open houses in October, 2006. Also holding Learn to Curl classes in October, 2006 for new members. The fee paid for the Learn to Curl classes for new members would be credited towards first year dues. Hosting a level one instructor course in November. The first bonspiel is November 1st to the 3rd, Women’s Fall Fling. Prior to that there is a One-on-One Spiel schedule from October 20th to the 22nd.
La Crosse - David Russell reported. No change.
Madison - Rich Lepping reported. Madison’s ice was painted today. High participation in the spring, 2006 open houses. There is a November, 2006 start to the leagues. Halloween Spiel is expected to have up to 48 teams. Having a problem finding hosts for the mixed spiel, thus no mixed spiel scheduled for 2007. Wisconsin State Senior Men’s Spiel is being hosted in January, 2007 at Madison. Madison continues to have a break even budget. Madison refinanced their debt with substantial interest rate savings.
Marshfield - Chris Jockheck reported. Have rebuilt compressor and ice system. Cleaned out the cooling tower. All this at a cost of $9,000.00 to $10,000.00. Held open houses in September with practice sessions scheduled for next week. Published the holding of the open house in a local publication in hopes of getting more wide spread communication of the same. Looking to add another night of curling. Friday night mixed is a dinner league which is well received. Expect membership to be in the 100 to 120 range. After years of having the men’s spiel date in conflict with Wausau’s, moved their spiel to a different weekend. Suggest that there be a coordination of spiel dates amongst clubs so that these conflicts can be minimized. Their Mixed Lobster Spiel in March continues to be fully subscribed. Are hosting a high school team in the high school league for this season. The drop in the membership was experienced mostly with losing women members.
Milwaukee - Jay Packard reported. Membership was down at the beginning of last season but up at the end of the year. Have recruited 14 members from the season ending 2006 open house. Held a rookie league for those members. Are expecting two more seasons at the current facilities. The new site to relocate the club has a number of hurdles to get over including park and government entities. Looking to hold half the open houses on an invite only basis and the other half open to the public.
Poynette - Mark Kretzmann reported. The club is doing well. They have recently redone both the men’s and women’s bathrooms. They have made an extra payment on the mortgage. Received the 2006 Early Ice Grant from the USCA. League nights are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays together with day leagues on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Continue to have three seasons of curling, the fall, winter and spring seasons.
Rice Lake - Larry Sharp reported. Rice Lake made ice on August 4, 2006. Have received an Early Ice Grant from the USCA. The Olympic Team practiced in Rice Lake last weekend. Also hosted an elite junior camp of 32 curlers coming from across the nation and midwest. They hosted a Summer Spiel in August with 36 teams. Will be hosting a Curl for the Cure Spiel the first weekend of October, 2006. The club is debt free as of the end of November, 2005. Membership is around 250 and expects a 10% increase. Men’s numbers are stagnant. Mixed numbers are up. There are about 14 women’s teams curling.
Tri-City - Jon Neidhold reported. There are about 55 members in the club. Spiels continue to be well received. Are hosting a high school curling team from Assumption High School in the high school league. There are no women’s leagues. They host a family league on Saturday afternoons and a mixed league on Sunday afternoons.
Waupaca - Dennis Girard reported. Membership is stable. Expect to start leagues by November 12th. Not waiting until after the deer season is over. Is hosting a Senior Spiel.
Wauwatosa - Greg Dunlop reported. Holding an open house in October. Curling will start the end of October. No longer have any mixed league, rather have gone to the open format. Women curl Wednesday days. Are hosting the Men’s and Women’s State Club Championships. The parking lot around the club was recently paved at the expense of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District.
Waukesha - Greg Dunlop reported. This is a paper club only. Did not host their Outdoor Spiel in 2005/2006. Looking to hold the Outdoor Spiel at Fox Lake for 2006/2007 season.
Secretary’s Report - David Carlson reporting:
It was observed that the Executive Committee is, pursuant to the By-Laws of the WSCA, an elected committee which is elected by the Board of Directors. This may have been ambiguous in the April, 2006 Meeting Minutes.
Upon a motion made by Rich Lepping, seconded by Larry Sharp and carried, the Minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report - Greg Dunlop reporting:
All dues are current. No outstanding debt. Expenses are limited to reimbursement of clubs for hosting playdowns, website development and directories. There is approximately $11,057.00 in the bank of which $200.00 is reserved for a junior trophy.
A motion was made by Jeremy Roe and seconded by Larry Sharp that the WSCA increase payments to host clubs hosting State Championships for Junior’s, Men’s, Women’s and Mixed to $250.00 per day. Discussion was had concerning the resulting extra cost to WSCA and the possibility of raising state playdown fees. However, there was also a concern about the USCA having raised the playdown fees to $250.00 for Club Nationals, which together with the $40.00 state fee would result in a total entry fee of $290.00. A motion was made by Geoff Goodland and seconded by Chris Jockheck to amend the motion to provide that the amount to pay a host club be in the sum of $200.00 per day. After discussion the amendment to the motion was carried on a 9 to 8 vote. The motion as amended calls for an increase in payment to host clubs for the State Junior, Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Championships at the rate of $200.00 per day up to a maximum of $800.00.
USCA Director’s Report - Mark Swandby Reporting:
Mark presented information concerning the background regarding the proposed USCA dues increase. The summary of the current sources of USCA funding are as follows:
1. From the members through dues, entry fees
and donation program: 24.5%
2. USCA Initiatives, including grants,
sponsorships and joint marketing agreement
between USCA and USOC: 26%
3. USOC performance funding and para-Olympic
athlete funding: 50.5%
4. WCF funding varies from year-to-year.
The permitted USOC funding allocation has changed in that there has been a reduction in the amount of monies that are allowed to be applied by USCA to administrative expenses. In addition USCA has not received any grant monies from the Chicago Community Trust who in the previous year awarded a grant in excess of $60,000.00.
Comparing the United States Curling Association curling dues with other national governing body dues, the curling dues are at the low end. For example, in swimming individual dues were $75.00 per year.
The donation program (Pin Program) income has dropped off significantly over the last three years. Wisconsin, as a region, contributed a total of $8,830.00 for fiscal year 2005/2006. In contrast, Illinois, which has five times fewer members, contributed $16,591.00 to the donation program; and the Great Lakes Curling Association, which also have five times fewer curlers than Wisconsin contributed $5,165.00. On an individual curler basis, Wisconsin is in the middle of the pack as compared to the other regions contributing approximately $22.00 per curler towards the total contributions made by the individuals to the USCA funding.
There is a motion pending before the USCA Board of Directors to increase dues. The proposed increase for household is from $21.00 to $25.00, juniors is from $19.00 to $23.00, social is from $18.00 to $22.00, youth is from $5.00 to $9.00 and other to $5.00. Others would include individual curlers who are members of a second curling club.
It was emphasized that the monies received by the USCA to support “Elite” athletes comes from the USOC. As a matter of fact, part of the monies received from the USOC in support of “Elite” athletes has been used by the USCA to expand services that directly impacted the individual recreational curler. For example, USCA was able to hire an additional member services employee.
Then in June of 2006, the USOC decided to remove the funding that allowed the USCA to pay for member services related items and instead the USOC would fund only performance grants which are to go directly to the support of “Elite” athletes. After an appeal by the USCA, the USOC did increase funding by $25,000.00 for some member services for the fiscal year 2006/2007. Thus, although the funding level received by the USCA from the USOC remains approximately the same in the total dollar amount, the USOC has placed new restrictions on how those monies may be spent which directly impacts the USCA’s ability to fund the member services at the levels of the fiscal year 2005/2006.
To help close the budget shortfall because of the USOC decisions, the USCA, with the support of the competitive athletes, agreed to increase by $50.00 the entry fees to the championships. It is estimated that this increase will result in approximately an additional $10,000.00 in extra fees for the fiscal year 2006/2007.
It has been repeatedly referenced and is now believed to be well accepted that grass roots curling is being promoted throughout the USA by having curling on T.V. The USCA has been instrumental in getting curling on T.V. with the assistance of the performance funding from the USOC.
Other benefits of USCA which filter down to the grass roots include the clubs participation in the Scotts Tour, the Youth and Junior Camps and the USCA website which includes the listing and promotion of club bonspiels.
The alternative to not raising dues would be to reduce staff. However, the USCA has already, effectively, reduced staff by three-fourths with the semi-retirement of former COO, David Garber. Therefore, without an increase in the funding coming into the USCA, it would likely need to have additional layoffs of staff. In addition, the USCA subsidies to the Junior Curling Program through Junior Nationals would need to be reduced or eliminated.
Rich Lepping observed that he appreciated the USCA giving the WSCA an opportunity to discuss this issue before moving ahead with a final decision. He is optimistic that the USCA will continue to be a viable organization, especially with the leadership of the current COO, Rich Paske, who has excellent marketing skills.
Jim O’Neill observed that there are numerous benefits that are available through the USCA. However, the USCA can only make this information of the benefits known to clubs. It’s up to the clubs to make use of the benefits. He also believes that the upward trend in memberships at individual clubs is attributable to people being more familiar with curling which is a direct result of USCA efforts in promoting curling through the media, T.V. in particular. David Russell observed that the question was, do we as individual curlers want less membership services from the USCA? If we do, then we can tell the USCA to cut staff to meet the revenue levels. Mark Kretzmann observed that membership fees are a cost of doing business.
A motion was made by Rich Lepping, seconded by David Somppi, that the WSCA support the USCA’s proposed increase in dues as a cost of doing business. By a vote of one abstention by Russell, and two nays, the motion carried.
Mark Swandby continued reporting:
There will be an NBC made for T.V. curling event in November. There will be a two hours slot for a match featuring the Pete Fensen and Debbie McCormick teams playing against each other. It will be televised the weekend of Thanksgiving, 2006. It’s expected that the Ice 2006 programing is yet on schedule. However, there is no money for it yet. The World Championships will be televised by ESPN in April of 2007. The Scots Tour will be in the United States in January, 2007 stopping at 29 different clubs. There is also a program that’s being worked through between the USCA and the WCF. This is where the WCF will be furnishing 80 sheets of stones to the USCA. The terms are two years free use of the stones and five year installment payment plan thereafter. The USCA, in turn, will act as the conduit of distributing these stones primarily to new curling clubs. However existing curling clubs may inquire as to the availability of stones.
Judy Maier reporting:
The goal of Rick Paske on behalf of the USCA is that he expects curling to be on T.V. for the next five years. The Bennett Media Award was granted to two NBC employees, Miller and Diamond. As for the 2006/2007 Championship schedule, the sites have been set. For the National Qualifiers, there will be a minimum of three teams needed per site and five men’s teams needed per site to hold the qualifier. There was a Summer Members Services Conference held in St. Paul in July of 2006. The focus was on arena clubs and the issues facing arena curling. The curling museum in Chicago has announced a goal of creating a funded trust for the purpose of continuing the growth in curling. Wheelchair curling is now in Nebraska, Duluth, Minnesota, Ithica, New York and Belfast, Maine. Steve and Diane Brown were the coach and team leaders for wheelchair curling in 2005/2006. It has been announced from the field of play committee that the ice conditions that are looked to be met in championship events are a speed of 23½ to 25 seconds with a 4 foot curl both ways.
Jay Packard reporting:
The Donation/Pin Program has been reinvented for the 2006/2007 year. The focus of the Pin Program is all about junior and youth curling. 25% of the sale proceeds from pins after the first $100.00 dollars will go back to the clubs. At the USCA Board Meeting, there was sold not quite $6,000.00 worth of pins. Jay intends to supply to each club in Wisconsin pins, posters, receipts and spreadsheets to encourage participation in the donation program.
The Pettit Center backed out of holding a Summer Bonspiel in the summer of 2006. However, there was run during the Wisconsin State Fair the successful Cream Puff Curling promotion. They will look to circulate the list of curlers signed up through the Cream Puff Curling to the WSCA Secretary who, in turn, will have the information for the clubs. USCA does have two sets of rocks lent to the Petit Center. Jay is expecting that the Petit Center will again look at a bonspiel and/or a camp in the summer of 2007.
Break
President’s report - Jim O’Neill reporting:
What does WSCA do for club individuals? Need to develop a mission statement and put that in the front of the State Directory. A list of things that the WSCA does is as follows:
1. Runs State Championships;
2. Networking amongst clubs, activity information dissemination;
3. Reimbursement to clubs for participation in USCA marketing program;
4. Gives Wisconsin a voice in the USCA governance and activities as a member of the USCA;
5. Publishes annually a booklet of the contact persons for each of the member clubs of the WSCA;
6. Populating a website.
Other possible benefits is in coordinating a bonspiel schedule statewide by using a curling calendar weekends as the designated weekends. WSCA can also focus on performing each of the items 1 through 6 more effectively.
David Russell observed that 20 years ago the WSCA had a Promotion and Development Committee. The functions of such a committee would be a function of the aggressiveness of the head of the committee or the committee members themselves. However, he is of the opinion that promotion of curling is more effectively done through the USCA. Judy Maier observed that through the USCA there is furnished to each host club for USCA championships a media package. Perhaps this is something that the WSCA can also provide to its host clubs.
It is suggested that the Executive Committee work on the mission statement with a draft to be presented to the members and directors at the April, 2007 meeting.
Committee reports by chairpersons:
Directory/Website - David Carlson and Jeremy Roe reporting. The 2006/2007 WSCA Directory has been printed. It is available at this meeting for dissemination amongst the member clubs. 1,200 copies of the directory were printed at a cost of approximately $1,900.00. Mark Hartman is continuing to work on populating the website. He and David Carlson have exchanged information from the directory to be used to populate the website.
In Mark Hartman’s absence Jeremy Roe reported that the website is now under construction and partially populated. It may be found at www.wi-curling.org. At this time the website has the bonspiel calendar and club information. The historical championship winners information is yet to be added. Jeremy would like to have the web address added to next year’s directory. Also, we have the possibility of having links in the WSCA website to the individual clubs’ websites.
By-laws - David Russell reporting:
No report.
Championships - Jeremy Roe reporting:
Referencing the 2006/2007 WSCA directory, the state events are in bold on page 46. The rotation of the various host sites that appears in the WSCA Directory is suggested only. The sites for 2006/2007 are the only confirmed hosts. Jeremy encourages that two sheet clubs apply for hosting the mixed championships. The Men’s State Championships have had 11 teams sign-up in the past. Overwhelmingly, these teams do not want to participate in districts and then on a second weekend, the State. As a result, the State Championships are being held over one weekend with a two division round robin. It is anticipated that the State Championships will continue to be held over one weekend. If there are nine or less teams, it’s anticipated that the format will be a straight round robin. If there are more than nine teams they will go to a triple knock-out. This may require the event to expand to four days. It is also thought that the four finalists will then playdown in a page play-off system. A motion was made by Jeremy Roe and seconded by Jay Packard, that there not be districts held for the State Championships and in the event there are more than nine teams signing up for the State Championships, that a triple knock-out with a page play-off system be used. This motion was carried.
Senior Curling - Bernie Dushek reporting:
Wisconsin State Senior Spiel is set in January, 2007. There is a conflict with the dates of the Wisconsin State Senior Spiel and the USCA Senior Nationals. This conflict was communication to the USCA. Discussion were had on the possibility of resolving the conflict. The Senior Spiel has not been run through the WSCA since 1998. The seniors have not asked the WSCA for any assistance.
There are a number of senior leagues in Wisconsin. WISCA has 20 teams competing in the same. There is also a Columbia County day league which has approximately 30 teams competing. There are also a number of senior bonspiels scheduled for the 2006/2007 curling season, including Chicago, Waupaca, Wawautosa, Centerville and Arlington.
High School Curling - Joe Caulum reporting:
Neither Joe Caulum nor Vickie Griepentrog were able to make the September meeting. However, they did report by memo as to the activities of high school curling. The 2007 Wisconsin State High School Curling Championships will be held in Wausau February 15th through 17, 2007. All teams who enter will have an opportunity to participate in the State Championships. There are two high school conferences this year. The Northern Conference features eight teams. The Southern Conference has three teams. In addition, the high school teams compete in an annual bonspield held at Wausau in January of each year. Joel’s complete report will be attached and made a part of the original Minutes found in the WSCA Minutes Book.
Rules - Richard Maskel reporting:
Richard Maskel was unable to attend the September meeting. However, he did report by e-mail concerning rules of play activity. Mark Swandby reported in Richard’s absence. The World Curling Federation is currently reviewing the rules of play and rules of competition. It is anticipated that a majority of the changes will be minor. The deadline for submitting any comments to the WCF concerning rules is October 15, 2006. Richard’s written report will be attached to and made a part of the original Minutes.
Old Business:
Mark Swandby reported that the USCA Hall of Fame has elected Lisa Schoenenberg. Plans are continuing to be made as to her induction ceremony. Diane Brown’s nomination continues to be valid for three years from when it was forwarded to the USCA. No action has been taken on Diane’s nomination.
New Business:
The proposed USCA dues increase and the WSCA benefits have previously been covered.
Judy Maier has flyers for USWCA activities. The USWCA does provide pins for the All American Event and funds for equipment for junior programs.
The USCA meetings are set for the weekend of April 21, 2006. It is determined that the WSCA meetings shall be set for April 28th. The meeting is to be held at Tri-City Curling Club.
On a motion duly made by Russell and seconded by Jockheck and carried the meeting was adjourned at 1:30 P.M.
Tri-City Curling Club, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin