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Spring 2009 Annual Great Lakes Curling Association, Board of Directors Meeting

Minutes

Date:  May 2, 2009
Time:  2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Midland Community Center (use Senior Center entrance on left.)  2205 Jefferson Avenue,  Midland, MI

Attendees: 14 in person, 2 on phone, 6 proxies

1. Call to order: Quorum – 50%? 

2. Moment of silence for Chris Moore and Bruce Listerman

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting:  September 26, 2008, Bowling Green, OH - Approved

4. Treasurer’s Report: John Zimmerman

  • membership dues were all paid by xxx 10th
  • next year dues by January 31, 2010 critical to reallocation of USCA funding
  • playdown fees $840
  • total operating exp $1930
  • conf calls $250
  • patches $280
  • annual registration with AG $20
  • playdown fees to host club ?
  • to playdown teams 300
  • trophy ?
  • net operating surplus ?
  • capital contributions 1000 each to Columbus & Midland
  • flowers for Bruce Listerman memorial service 113
  • no GLCA flowers for Chris
  • treasurers report: Motion to accept :Karen, second:Tom

5. U.S.C.A. Update: Paul Badgero

  • very important to get dues paid on time even if using last years numbers
  • reallocation done every 3 years
  • problems with junior underage drinking, fire alarm pulled in WCF Vancouver playdown
  • committee investigating report of one US individual drinking, probably will be suspended for 1 yr -Zero Tolerance!
  • Chris Moore Legacy Fund Committee
  • USCA working up approaches to leverage Olympics, challenge is Olympics occurring later in year when clubs are beginning to consider shutting down
  • Olympic curling TV schedule is not yet known, not sure when NBC will decide
  • USCA Olympic curling pin 25
  • BG has video tapes about ice making
  • discussed a possible shared ice making clinic, who would be interested, if off-season need to have ice available
  • Brantford may have a ice making clinic in September
  • surveys/rules mailing from USCA should be opened and reviewed in a timely manner
  • budget 1.5M breakeven budget with slight possibility of 40K shortage
  • shakeup in USOC not sure how much curling money will be available for USCA
  • special rocks (5 sets?) will be set aside for only championship and high performance camps, expect life time si 40-50
  • WCT new rule: think time is measured rather than rock time, timebreaker being done away with instead head-to-head....
  • package available online to bid for holding 2011 Nationals, preference may be toward arena ice, unlikely to be held in GLCA states since in Kalamazoo next
  • Midland had question about status of Junior Merit program

6. New Business:

  • Plans for 2010 USCA Nationals in Kalamazoo
      • GLCA’s Role in event
      • Potential Instructor’s/Officiating Clinics – fall 2009
  • Kalamazoo hoping to hold officiating clinic this fall
  • USCA list of officials and instructors is outdated & reliable, not a good source
  • level 1 and 2 training taken on the same day, then tested, passing is 80%, then training on timing, cost is $15-20
  • playdowns is the perfect venue to practice
  • discussed holding GLCA officiating clinic in Kalamazoo, if held in a centralized location might promote a better turnout, doing it in Kalamazoo gets people acclimated to the venue, suggestion is to get Bill (level 4) to teach it
  • Paul suggested GLCA put a full page ad in the Nationals program
  • need about 30 officials total: 1 timer and 1 official (at least level 2) per sheet, 5 sheets @ Kalamazoo for Nationals
  • not sure what other volunteers are needed yet
  • need someone from GLCA area to throw out ceremonial first rock, suggestion was Tracy Moore, Chris' widow
  • Revision of By-Law – Section 22 - USCA Regional Directors
  • proposed change of term to end on March 31 and being April motion: Tom, Mark   approved by voice vote
  • Review of 2009 Playdowns – Midland & Mayfield2009
    • largest field in many years, 8 mens teams, 3 past championship skips, registration date was Jan 8(?), USCA was not very helpful, self-seeding by Men was worked well and was very helpful, only 3 Women's team, their self-seeding didn't work but seeding was irrelevant because of being only 3 teams, good media coverage, used monitors to show timing on the ice, finals Greg Jorgensen defeated Greg Eyegner from Kalamazoo, Jamie Roberts from Detroit defeated Michelle ??? from Detroit
    • mixed regionals at Mayfield, only 3 teams, all 3 teams were 1-1, used distance to button as tiebreak to decide whom would play whom, Mayfield defeated xxxxxx in extra ends2010 playdown schedule and host sites
    • Detroit mens and womens, Jan 7 is registration deadline, competition is Jan 15-17
    • Midland mixed, Jan 21 is registration deadline, competition is Jan 29-31
    • Review GLCA Playdown Guidelines
    • GLCA playdown guidelines exist, apparently weren't sent out prior to meeting
    • controversial issues:
    • 1. should be following USCA guidelines for playdown format which depends on # teams participating
    • 2. persons officiating were familiar with the rules, need to be at least level 1
    • 3. had to play at 9PM (due to league play) and then play again first thing in the morning
    • need more clubs to be able to host
    • likely to get more teams in GLCA participating in years when club Nationals venue is relatively nearby
    • playdowns is open signup, USCA handles registration & eligibility, GLCA might have a problem where we have more than 8 teams register
    • 8 teams can be handled on 3 sheets starting on Friday morning using double modified knockout
    • Robb will put together a spreadsheet showing brackets with numbers of teams handled by 3 and 4 sheets of ice with double modified knockout over three days
    • if additional day consider Thursday day time with limited or no impact to league play on Thursday night, only 2 weeks lead time to know that you are curling on Thursday
    • discussion about whether and to what extent GLCA is constrained to USCA playdown guidelines
    • how we play the game should be according to USCA rules
    • rules are available and can be downloaded from the USCA website
    • question of whether league play can occur on the ice at the same time as playdown play
    • Review 2010 Playdown schedule and host sites
    • Columbus will consider being the 2010 backup for mixed (Midland 2010)
    • Juniors: can be held 12/26-27 or first week of January, kids are not allowed to miss school, registration deadline is 12
    • Improving GLCA competitive performance
  • Potential Skills Clinics – Fall 2009
    • two level 1 instructor clinics conducted in 2008 in Columbus and Mayfield
    • need to conduct some level 1 clinics so level 1 instructors can qualify for level 2
    • skills clinic, 4 hours for intermediate curlers, video-taped critique, timed rocks, discussed strategy (contact Scott Piroth if interested)
    • there is curling at Miami U in Oxford, they have 1 set of stones
    • Review status of GLCA trophies; Trophies for Club National Events
    • 3 trophies - 1 for mixed will continue to add levels, 1 each for men’s & women’s.
    • Robb Borland will get trophies re-plated, will send out wording for approval beforehand
    • motion to spend up to $300 to replate trophies, passed by voice vote
  • Review procedure for replacing USCA representative
  • by-laws provide for a procedure to replace
  • Roger used presidential initiative to get an interim representative named to USCA Board prior to GLCA May meeting
  • Bill Forsythe was attending the May USCA meeting and he said he would be honored to represent GLCA, no additional travel time and or expense to GLCA
  • votes were submitted Bill was elected, no one withdrew their votes when they had the opportunity to do so
  • Gordon Maclean had indicated his interest well prior to Chris' death
  • Roger had forgotten about Gordon's interest
  • motion to amend relevant by-law submitted by Paul Badgero, tabled until fall meeting
  • Karen moved to table, Tom second

7. Old Business

  • Reminder: nominations for three year term USCA Director beginning, April 1, 2010 and expiring March 31, 2013, are to be made to the GLCA Secretary prior to the Fall Meeting. Notice to be sent out by the Secretary by June 27t, 2009
  • Paul Badgero's term to USCA expired April 30, 2009
  • new term begins April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012
  • Paul Badgero's name is in nomination
  • Lynn Shaw's name is in nomination
  • nominations closed
  • Paul: going for 3rd term, relationships are critical, need to spend time outside the USCA meetings to develop the relationships, I believe in clubs over the competitive focus of USCA,
  • Paul was elected
  • Olympics 2010
  • Clubs should try to schedule open houses around the Olympics while it is still in the public eye.

8. Club Commentary/Calendar

  • BG - uncertain situation rumors about BGSU getting rid of hockey team and arena due to serious financial problem, student club very active, hosting collegiate nationals in 2010
  • Cleveland Skating - lots of new curlers coming, 8 stuck with the club, still have ice June 19, July 17, August 21 Friday 6:30 to 8, bonspiel annual mixed January 29
  • Copper - 38 to 62 members, 2 open houses had a total of 4 participants all whom became members, 15th anniversity coming up, will be doing a reunion spiel, 4th annual Copper spiel 2/26-27, come and get famous grilled donuts
  • Detroit - membership down over 30 people, all three bonspiels were filled, men's will be one week later on Jan 8-10, womens first week of Feb, mixed Feb 21-22, good financial results in part due to corporate events, repeat business using warm room, very little membership growth from corporate events however
  • Great Smoky Mts - summer spiel filled already with returning teams
  • Columbus - curled until end of March, low e-ceiling installed, finished with 140 members, went from 78 to 130 members, fundraising for 3rd sheet of ice, Stu and Gail have stepped down from the Board, open spiel 3rd weekend in December 18-20, womens 2-day spiel first weekend of March
  • Mayfield - had a good year, lots of people in late 20s and early 30s, about 175 members, recruiting has been good, men's spiel 2nd weekend November 13-15, Evergreen mixed spiel Feb 25-28, Lady's one day Dec 5
  • Midland - great year, new facility, several open houses, huge attendance, novice leagues filled with 16 teams both sessions, 45 in middle school program, Tam O'Shanter internal mixed spiel Super Bowl weekend
  • Kalamazoo - inaugural year, 59 members, 2010 Nationals, open ice every Monday 8:30-10:30 through the summer, getting student interest from MSU, Kevin Martin coming sometime in the summer

9. Next Meeting - Friday, September 25, 2009, 7:00 p.m. – Bowling Green, OH

10. Election of 2009-2011 Officers

  • John - Treasurer
  • Sandra - Secretary
  • Paul - VP
  • above slate unopposed and elected
  • Scott and Tom - running for President
  • Scott - more proactive in articulating what we want to the USCA
  • Tom - on GLCA for 5 or 6 years, focus will be on development of curling and driving membership, need to do more as a region to develop the sport, orchestrate more clinics for instructors and officials, thinking of a competition committee to address some of the relevant issues
  • Tom Seitz elected President

Adjourn Meeting

Motion to adjourn by Paul Eisenman, 2nd by Karen at 6:01pm