Member’s Meeting:
Members meeting called to order at 9:30 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: Appleton, Arlington, Blackhawk (Janesville), Centerville, Clintonville, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Kettle Moraine, Lodi (written report), Madison, Milwaukee, Portage, Poynette, Racine, Stevens Point, Tri-City, Wauwatosa and Waukesha.
The following clubs were absent. The number in parentheses represents the consecutive meetings missed: Alpine (5), Loch Wissota (15), Medford (6), Superior (8), Wausau (4), Pardeeville (2), La Crosse (1), Marshfield (1), Rice Lake (1) and Waupaca (1).
Appleton - Jim O’Neill reported. Stones have been redone; good results in curl and speed. Membership is up for the year. Junior membership has doubled over the last couple of years. Have split the juniors into high school age on a different night which he thinks is the key to the growth. Have installed a new five year plan for capital improvements with the first year focusing on installing a new roof.
Arlington - Merlin Jenkins reported. Had a good season, no major breakdowns. Membership is one or two members down. Had a successful reverse raffle. Sixteen teams for Senior Spiel. The Dushek team from Arlington was the runner up in the Masters Event at the National Seniors Bonspiel. Looking at replacing the floor in the icehouse.
Blackhawk - Aaron Richards reported. Season successful. Have 28 new members. In the planning process to install a new roof for the facility. The building is situated on County property. Recently installed a new heater.
Centerville - Dan Lilla reported. Juniors are strong. Monday/Tuesday nights are full. New addition for storage. Bonspiel entries are strong.
Clintonville - John Williamson reported. Achieved tax free status for the club. Remodeled club room. Has insulated the icehouse which has improved the ice quality. Next looking at dehumidification. As regards membership, the men’s league full. The ladies are strong. Dan Lilla, Jr. has especially contributed to the growth in the membership bringing five to six new members alone.
Eau Claire - Geoff Goodland reported. Membership up slightly. January Bonspiel has change in character with the change in the playdowns schedule. It is now mostly mixed teams. Looking for funding for t.v. monitors. Also in process of funding trophy case for club trophies. Expects that in two or three years club will be debt free.
Green Bay - Bill Wilberg reported. Has paid off all old bills. Forty-five new members, lost about 15 for a gain of 30. Club has a new plasma t.v. Installed dehumidification and recarpeted club room. Dehumidification was installed at a cost of $10,000.00 to $11,000.00.
Kettle Moraine - Judy Maier reported. Five to 10 member increase. The ice is better. Held open houses in October and January. Have a ladies event October 25th and 26th in the fall. Did Instructor’s Course with 15 to 16 attendees. Hosted the Scotts Tour. Replaced kitchen equipment.
Madison - Rich Lepping reported. Madison has currently 519 members from 480. The club is going well. Looking at the capacity of dehumidification for the ice house. Having a problem with the rocks, getting them to curl. Approximately two years ago Madison spent $20,000.00 on new rocks. Hosted the induction ceremony for Lisa Schoenenberg into the USCA Curling Hall of Fame. Hosted the Scotts Tour.
Milwaukee - Jay Packard reported. Milwaukee had a good year. Year to year status with current lease. It is a toss up between staying or building a new facility. Homestead High School is now bringing in students to curl. Milwaukee’s membership is stable.
Portage - Chris Daly reported. It has been an interesting year with new Board and the changes. No Red Carpet Bonspiel run this year. Hosted the State Juniors in 2006-2007 season. This was in substitution for Medford who had facility problems. Portage Alumni Spiel did well. Looking at building membership through no fee fun night. Expecting 5 to 10 new couples for the 2007/2008 season. With the Portage Club having a majority of older members looking to ways to attract younger members. Portage is scheduled to host the Junior National Championship in 2007/2008.
Poynette - Mark Kretzmann reported. Poynette’s membership is down a little. The club solvent. The club keeps its ice starting from Labor Day in September through Memorial Day in May. Runs a senior league during the day on Mondays, Tuesday day women’s and a Friday day mixed league. Challenges are to fill the night leagues during the winter season. The club has installed a new furnace. Tuesday evenings during the spring season in 2007 club is experimenting with the mixed doubles format hosting a league.
Racine - Mike Dry reported. Racine has 12 new members with a total of 135 members. Thirty-five are juniors. Juniors curl on Saturdays, two draws. There was a problem with a tank bursting and the necessity to hydro wash the carpet. Hosted in January, 2007 the USWCA Bonspiel. The Mixed Spiel was full with 16 teams. Looking to host a Men’s Invitational in January of 2008.
Stevens Point - David Garber reported. Membership up by about 15%. Club’s future is solid. Experiencing development pressure from the adjoining golf club. Golf club would like to see the curling club move. However, the curling club has a long term lease which does not lapse until 2040. Hosted the Scotts Tour. The junior program has been active the last few years. A high school program has begun as a letter sport at the local Steven Point Pacelli High School.
Tri-City - Jon Neidhold reported. Six new members. Had to cancel the Mixed Spiel because there were only four teams entered. Will try to host a Mixed Spiel again in 2007/2008. Installed new lights in the icehouse. Looked to save energy with the installation and replacement of the light fixtures. The Men’s Spiel was full.
Wauwatosa - Greg Dunlop reported. Hosted the Wisconsin State Club Playdowns and the Scotts Tour. Also has hosted a number of corporate outings. This is a good money maker for the club. They have charged as much as $1,000.00 to host such corporate entities as GE Medical and Harley Davidson.
Waukesha - Greg Dunlop reported. Fox Lake Outdoor Spiel is again set for January, 2008. The weather needs to cooperate. Wauwatosa owns three sheets of rocks. There is a question about outdoor use degrading the rocks. If the rocks get wet and then freeze, that causes expansion which can degrade the rocks.
There being no further old or new business, upon a motion duly made, seconded and carried, the membership meeting was adjourned at 10:10 A.M.
Board of Directors Meeting:
The Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 10:10 A.M. by President Jim O’Neill.
After discussion, on a motion duly made and seconded, the Minutes from the September 30, 2006 meeting were approved.
Treasurer’s Report - Greg Dunlop Reporting:
Kettle Moraine, Medford and Superior have not paid USCA or WSCA dues for the 2006/2007 season. A question was raised as to whether there were playdown curlers from these clubs that played without their clubs paying the dues. It was observed that as total, the Wisconsin Clubs who are members of the WSCA paid a total of $80,000.00 in dues to the USCA for the 2006/2007 season. This is up from $65,000.00 paid in the 2005/2006 season. A question was raised as to how individual members of a club are determined for dues paying purposes. The USCA does have a number of different dues categories. It is reported that the USCA Financing Committee is looking into defining what is a member.
With the increase in the playdown club hosting reimbursement fees and a $1,900.00 expenditure for printing the directory, there was a loss of $2,500.00 in the USCA budget for 2006/2007. This loss is based upon a cash basis reporting. An additional source for loss was that the WSCA continues to reimburse state champions for the playdown fees paid to the USCA. The playdown fees for the USCA were raised by the USCA for 2006-2007.
A discussion was had concerning the cost of providing patches to participants in WSCA championships. In the past the total of five patches have been ordered per team. “Bucky” patch was awarded to both the championship and the second place teams. In addition, a second Wisconsin patch was awarded on a participation basis to all junior and men’s teams in the State Championships. The Bucky patch runs about $10.00 each and the state participation patch about $8.00 each. Further discussion will be had at the Fall meeting.
Upon a motion made by Daly and seconded by Wilberg and carried, the Treasurer’s Report was approved.
USCA Director’s Report - Mark Swandby Reporting:
Mark Swandby reviewed the Annual Report of the USCA. The USCA has a new independent director, Beau Welling, from South Carolina. It is believed that with this individual’s connections in the non-curling world and his expertise in marketing he will bring a skill set to the USCA to broaden its scope in marketing the sport of curling.
The dues increase impacted all clubs. There was projected an $8,000.00 deficit even with the dues increase. However, as of April of 2007, the actual costs looked like the USCA would have a break even actual budget. One of the reasons for the break even is that a lot of the travel expenses that otherwise would be reimburseable to USCA officers including specifically Georgia West as President, have been paid out-of-pocket by the officers.
There is in development an offering through Curl TV/NBC Media Zone. At a cost of about $80.00 U.S., one can access streaming video of curling games on Curl TV at its Curl TV website. These include World Championships and Cash Spiels in Canada. In addition to live broadcasts, there are archived games. The USCA is working to include more US games in the programing.
There is being offered through funding from the USOC a Coaching Development Director Position with the USCA. Interviews are ongoing for filling this position.
Richard Maskel was re-elected as a representative of the ACC to the USCA Board of Directors. Steve Brown holds the current USOC funded position of coach for world wheelchair curling.
Donations through the “Pin Program” are way down in 2006/2007. USCA is reexamining this donation program through a planned giving program. Individual curling membership in the USCA is up by 1,100.
WCF has rewritten the rules for curling. These will be reviewed by the USCA and open to public comment. This set of rules will be in effect for one year and then reviewed again.
Jay Packard Reporting:
Jay is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Petitt Center as a representative of the USCA. The previously offered “Cream Puff” curling through Petitt is in question for this year. The Petitt Center is looking to host a curling camp in the summer of 2007. The curling camp is open to any age. Concerning adaptive curling, the USCA is working on guidelines for accessibility to clubs for wheelchairs.
As for the “Pin Program”, Jay acknowledges that the number of donations are down for the curling year 2006/2007. With the 50th year of the USCA coming up in 2007/2008, looking at a program addressed to mark that anniversary.
Judy Maier Reporting:
National sites have been selected for USCA Championships for 2007/2008. The site for Mixed Doubles has been set for Bemidji, Minnesota. This will be a “sign-up and go” event to determine a U.S. representative to the World Mixed Doubles Championships.
There was an Optimist sponsored spiel in Winnipeg. Three junior men’s and women’s teams from the U.S. participated.
All volunteers at junior events and programs sponsored by the USCA are now subject to a background check.
Forty teams participated in the regional college curling event. There are now 46 countries in the World Curling Federation. The World Curling Federation is reviewing the loan program now that they’ve received their funding from the IOC. In the past, the loan program has been on the basis of approximately $25,000.00 per sheet of ice.
The USWCA sponsored Canadian and Scotts Tours in 2006/2007. There are 65 clubs as members of the USWCA. Duluth will host the USWCA National Spiel.
The USCA continues to work on its calendar of championship events, looking to accommodate where possible the dates of state events. However, because of the protective competition aspect of the USCA Championships it is not always possible to avoid conflicts with state events.
Richard Maskel Reporting:
As concerns the World Curling Federation Loan/Building Fund, there is a potential in the future. However, there is no money in the Fund at this time. WCF also has a stone program of which the USCA took advantage. There is more granite yet with the WCF. One shipping container contains 40 sets of stones. This is the most economical way to ship the stones to the US.
USCA now owns five sheets of sensor handles. Dave Lewis of the Madison Club is the coordinator for the sensor handles. These handles are used at the USA team selection for the World University Games, Men’s and Women’s National Championships, Junior Men’s and Women’s Championships, Men’s and Women’s Club National Championships and the Mixed Championships. The USCA supplies the strips to be installed in the ice together with the jig to properly locate the same. The strips are left in the ice until the end of the season at which time the USCA requests that they be returned to the USCA.
As for Olympic Trials, in 2006 the teams were picked ten months in advance. It is anticipated that the USA representatives for 2010 will also be picked with a similar time table. In particular, the USA representatives will be picked in February of 2009 as the winner of the Men’s and Women’s National Championships. These teams will represent the USA in both the 2009 Worlds and the 2010 Olympics. The USOC has reorganized itself, dividing the 40 plus winter, summer and Pan-Am sports into folios. Curling is in the Team/Technical folio. April Heinrichs (former USA Women’s Soccer Coach) runs the team/techniques folio. The USOC is expected to take a more proactive approach in working with the USCA.
Mark Swandby Additional Reporting:
Mark commented that the USCA is in the third of the fourth year of a joint marketing agreement with the USOC and the other NGB’s. The amount from the joint marketing agreement is less than it has been in the past. The current amount that the USCA receives is approximately $70,000.00. In January, 2007, the USOC sent a letter to the USCA indicating that it would continue to fund the USCA at the same level plus an additional $50,000.00 if the USCA signed over all marketing/media rights to the USOC. Mark anticipates that this is a prelude to the USOC setting up an Olympic TV channel whereby the USOC needs all of the NGB’s to give up their marketing and media rights. The USCA is reviewing this request. Mark does not expect that it will be accepted. The consequence to the USCA may be that the USOC stop paying the joint marketing monies.
David Garber commented that the USOC has exclusive rights to the Olympic rings. Thus, the USOC uses that as the lever with the NGB’s. The amount of joint marketing money has declined from $138,000.00 in 1998 to $72,00.00 in 2006. Rich Lepping affirmed that he did not think the USCA should sign away its marketing media rights to the USOC. It is difficult enough to host Olympic Trials with the amount of control the USOC exercises over the event without further diminishing the marketing and media rights of the USCA.
It is reported that Mark Swandby has been elected as a representative of the USCA to the World Curling Federation. Mark reported regarding the building program of the WCF. There has been loan money available to build curling facilities. This money is passed through the USCA to the individual club. As a result the USCA has a direct liability for the loans to the WCF. The USCA, in turn, requires excess collateral from the clubs as a condition to granting the loan. The WCF has millions of dollars from the 2006 Olympics. The WCF will spend a lot of money on TV time. At this point, the WCF says that there is no additional loan monies available until the outstanding loan with the Potomac Curling Club has been paid in full. This loan is in the amount of approximately $125,000.00 with $25,000.00 per year being paid down. An additional condition of the loan is that the Lief shman, an ice maker from Denmark and member of the WCF Executive Board, must be included in the planning process of the club from the ground floor.
Break at 11:50 A.M.
President’s Report - Jim O’Neill Reporting:
Jim reviewed the benefits of the membership in WSCA. These include running the state championships competition; networking amongst the clubs; reimbursement of Wisconsin clubs for the cost of attending the USCA Membership Program; WSCA has a voice with the USCA and the governance of curling; and the gathering and dissemination of information including the directory and bonspiel information. It is observed that the WSCA has not increased the individual dues of its members for 15 years. The dues were at $1.00 per member in 1978; they were increased to $1.25 in 1980 and the last increase to $1.50 in 1993.
Committee Reports by Chairperson; Directory/Website:
David Carlson reported that there was approximately 100 to 125 remaining directories from the 2006/2007 printing. The question he raises is whether the WSCA will continue to print a paper directory in the future. If so, what information would be contained in that paper directory.
Mark Hartman reported as to the status of the website. There is current club officer information and calendar information on the website. There was also posted on the website playdown information including reporting the State Men’s Club Championship line scores. With the transition from having a printed directory to the information contained on the website, this will have an impact on the secretary’s duties.
There was discussion as to whether to continue printing a hard copy of the directory vs. having all the information appear on the website. Having information on the website makes it easier to change and update as changes occur.
Upon a motion by Lepping and a second by Daly, it was carried to eliminate the printing of the WSCA Directory for 2007/2008.
A topic was raised concerning having advertising on the website as a way to pay for the hosting fees. It was observed that the main use of the website was to review the bonspiel calendar, the secondary use is contact information. A question was had concerning printing a WSCA club bonspiel calendar/poster similar to what has been done in the past. This poster could be distributed not only to WSCA clubs but also to Minnesota and Illinois clubs.
By-Laws:
David Russell was absent.
A request was made to have By-Laws supplied to WSCA Directors Dry, Maier, Garber and Dushek.
Championships - Mark Hartman Reporting in Jeremy Roe’s Absence:
Because of the difficulties that Medford had with its ice making equipment, it was unable to host the 2006 State Junior Championships. Portage stepped in to take over the hosting duties. Medford would like to host the State Juniors in 2007. Appleton indicated that it was willing to give up the State Junior hosting for 2007 in favor of Medford.
Superior is scheduled to host the State Club Championships in 2007. However, Superior has not responded to Jeremy Roe’s requests. Furthermore, Superior is delinquent in paying the WSCA and USCA dues. The general consensus was look to replace Superior as a host for the 2007 State Club Championships.
David Carlson reported briefly on the Pacific International Cup competition. Overall the competition is a good experience. It is run as an International Bonspiel and is not a true championship.
Senior Curling - Merlin Jenkins Reporting in Bernie Dushek’s Absence:
A number of Senior Bonspiels were held in Wisconsin and Chicago. A number of senior men are returning to curling through use of a stick. The 2008 State Senior Bonspiel will be held in Arlington and Poynette the weekend of January 18th.
High School Curling:
Neither Joel Caulum nor Vicki Griepentrog were available to make a report.
Rules - Richard Maskel Reporting:
The World Curling Federation created a committee to review the rules of curling. A number of rules have been changed. In addition, there has been a rule in Section 10(e) that deals with the delivery of the stone by a stick. A courtesy line exactly 4 feet beyond the hog line has been established which will impact the positioning of non-delivering sweepers. Other rules changes include sweeping and touched rocks. These rules are in effect for this year but open to comment. After one year, the rules will be reviewed based upon the comments received.
Old Business:
President O’Neill indicates that he will prepare a Mission Statement for the September, 2007 meeting.
As concerns USCA Hall of Fame nominations, Richard Maskel indicated that there is three categories. These are Curler; Builder; and Curler/Builder. In addition, there is a fourth category the Team category. June 1st is the deadline for submission of nominations. These submissions must come from the region/state associations. A question was raised as to whether an update should be provided to the USCA Hall of Fame Committee regarding Diane Brown’s activities since her nomination in 2005.
Election of USCA Director:
Jay Packard’s term as Wisconsin representative to the USCA is up for election. Jay Packard was nominated to succeed himself by Maier with a second by Dry. Richard Lepping was nominated to the position by himself with a second by Niehold. This position is for a three year term.
A motion was duly made, seconded and carried that the vote be by secret ballot. Ballots were distributed. On a vote of the directors, Jay Packard was elected to succeed himself.
New Business:
David Carlson reported an offer from Gold Line concerning a marketing program. Briefly Gold Line would offer a 5% discount off the US wholesale price to club purchases by WSCA clubs. In addition, Gold Line would issue an annual $1,000.00 US credit to the WSCA based upon US wholesale prices. Gold Line would also make its Mobile Pro Shop available to Wisconsin clubs and would pay the club a royalty of 8% based upon gross sales made during the pro shop visit. President O’Neill indicated he would follow-up with further discussions with the Gold Line representative, Doug Flowers.
As concerns the WSCA dues, Mark Hartmann stated he would follow-up with Medford. Geoff Goodland stated he would follow-up with Wausau concerning them having paid their dues to USCA at the old rate and not the current rate. Wausau’s dues are paid in full to the WSCA. Jim O’Neill will follow-up with Superior.
The next WSCA meetings will be set for September 29, 2007 at Tri-County Curling Club.
Upon a motion made by Williamson, seconded by Dry and duly carried, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 P.M.