AWSA – MIDWEST REGION
2004 SUMMER MEETING
Wilmington, IL
August 3, 2006
The meeting was called to order by EVP Don Bucher at 1:12 at the Waters Edge Ski Site
Present were, Dean Chappell, Ill; Greg Chapman, OH; Jim Beck, IN; Dennis Downes, KS; Kate Knafla, MN; Jeff Surdej, Skiers Rating, Comp Task Force, Collegiate; Dave Clark, Director, Seeding, Technical; Tom Danford, Director, Rules, Comp Task Force, Treasurer; Jim Babcock, WI, Safety, Regional Guide; Jeff Smith, Director, COB AWSA, Risk Management, Judges and Scorers, Judicial, IAC; Janet Piercy, Honarary National Director, Sec for BOD; Don Bucher, EVP/VP, AWSA BOD, NSL, Nominating; Jim Beebe, Drivers; Janice Prociw, Awards; Jeff Lindsey, MO; Barb Lindy, Jr Development; Dan Vandyke, CJ 2006 MW Regionals, guests Bud Piercy, Jim Peterson, Larry Downs, IAC
Cory Piercy was duly appointed Parliamentarian
After review the Agenda was approved as amended to move the Regional Tournament up to before the Treasures report. Dave Clark moved seconded by Jim Beck to accept. Motion carried
After review the Winter 2006 Board Meeting Minutes were amended to show in Wisconsin Kerry Tolzman did not get inducted as his time away from skiing was not long enough yet. Greg Chapman moved, seconded by Janice Prociw to accept the minutes as amended.
Regional Report from Jeff Surdej and Dan Vandyke. No significant changes. Minimum starting speeds were discussed. Men 1 starting speed would be the pass above needed for Expert rating. Dave Clark moved second by Dennis Downes to make the minimum starting speeds for this year’s Regionals to one pass below the division’s Expert pass for Men 1-4 or one pass below 1st Class for all other divisions.
Tom Danford presented the Treasurer’s Report. Numbers at mid-year were showing revenues of $15,654.70 and expenditures of $18,411.68. These represented income and expenses as of July 31, 2006.
State Council Reports
Missouri – Jeff Lindsey – Our Collegiate teams hosted tournaments this year for the first time. State tournament went well with about 125 pulls. We will also have our Labor Day tournament this fall. We have 13 Juniors on the Jr. Development team. They have to be active in hitting tournaments to be involved and it has helped. 9 Jr. skiers representing our state at Regionals this year. NSL has had 5 tournaments this year. Skiing on public lakes will be tougher now to get new sites as there will be no new permits issued for slalom courses in Missouri.
Illinois – Jeff Surdej for Dean Chappell – Numbers were up for State with over 80 skiers (5-6 out of state) Collegiate Regionals at PITS. 2 Jr. Development camps this year. One will be in Duquoin in September
Nebraska - Cory Piercy – We had 65 skiers including 25 NSL skiers for our State Tournament held in conjunction with our Cornhusker State Games. Excellent press coverage and great enthusiasm from the new skiers. Jr. Development was held on 2 lakes with 9 advanced skiers skiing the mini-course and 26 new skiers learning how to ski on the other lake.
Wisconsin - Jim Babcock – 80 skiers for State. Had a good Jr. Development in the Spring but no numbers available. 4 tournaments left this year.
Ohio - Greg Chapman – Our State was down a little after some increases last year. We got done in one day which wasn’t good. Nobody wants to come to a 1 round tournament. There was some talk about having a tournament the same weekend as our state tourney. Jim Babcock mentioned that they were protecting their State weekend. One of our bigger more active clubs was shut down by losing their lake site with the maturing of their lease. We have a newsletter started that updates everyone on how everybody skied and results from all tournaments.
Indiana – Jim Beck – Clinics for everything Safety, Judges, Scoring, and Driving. Disabled Nationals is going to be held in Indiana. Jr Development clinic was successful sponsored by Mastercraft boats. Spring Fling went great again this year and the Big Rig Jump Clinic was held. State was in Angola, numbers were good with two full days of skiing. Monday night ski league got about 25 slalom skiers every night, lots of fun with them. They were even talking about starting their own club.
Iowa – Janice Prociw for Pat Cook – 6 tournaments so far, 3 more after Nationals. Hosted collegiate All-Stars at Dream Lake. State ran in conjunction with Iowa Games. 2 Promo boats in Iowa and 1 Promo boat in Nebraska used for our tournaments
Kansas – Dennis Downes – We have a pretty good news letter going around our state. NSL is still alive. State tournament had about 74 skiers at State. The traveling team trophy is a big hit as the winning club gets to take it around from tournament to tournament and show it off. Drivers clinic was successful this Spring. Also had a couple of collegiate activities again this year. Jr. Development has been very successful in that we require them to have a Masters rating and we are still full. The Hamilton’s have 8 skiers skiing at this year’s Regionals.
Michigan – Jeff Smith for Bill Bishop – We had about 86 skiers at state. Not many changes happening in Michigan.
Minnesota – Kate Knafla – We have had a Drivers Clinic and Safety Clinic this year along with 7 tournaments. State tournament has 106 skiers with 3 from Wisconsin. Jr. Development was held on 4 lakes with 10 skiers at each lake. Jim Peterson also mentioned that they are even starting to have water skiing as part of their city Parks and Recreation department.
National Directors Reports
Jeff Smith – Chairman of the Board – The most exciting thing has been the hiring of Andy Jugan as Executive Director.
Dave Clark – The ranking list has helped seeding immensely but we are seeing scores from skiers that aren’t members.
Tom Danford – The ranking list has become an exciting and useful tool. We need to make sure we thank Mark Crone for the work he has done on this.
Committee Reports:
E&F – Don Bucher – Nothing new to report from this summer
Judges and Scorers – Jeff Smith – We are working on updating exams, and we are planning a Senior Judges and Drivers clinic most likely in Western Region. Dave Clark asked to get more up to date qualifications for assistant judgeship. The European Sr Clinic will be held in Finland as well. Don Bucher suggested that for someone who is fast tracked in two events for Senior Judge they should be able to carry their third event as a regular, as long as they have an EP rating
Rules – Tom Danford – We considered 3 exception requests. We approved a request by Angola Water Ski for the Indiana State Championships in Angola, IN to allow mixed class age division competition. Additionally, we approved a request by Quick Set Lake in Canton MS to waive the requirement for 55m boat path alignment gates for each of their Class E tournaments due to limitations imposed by length of the lake. The Committee disapproved a request by the Western Region to allow wakeboards in the trick even exceeding the 30% rule. The dissenting voters felt the trick skier would be at a disadvantage and didn’t want to really qualify a wake boarder for Nationals. In regards to tournaments with greater than three rounds the Rules Committee has shared the IWSF interpretation in that as long as the rounds are competition based, scores after round 3 will count. Tom also mentioned that if you have a rules request you can simply email it to him and it can be discussed by the Committee.
Skiers Rating – Jeff Surdej- Committee voted down the EP rating to last for 15 months. Committee is also discussing the 1000 point NOPS system especially for overall skiers. Hopefully by January we will have something nailed down. We are still pretending that ratings are the way you qualify for Regionals and Nationals. Zero based scoring has been a big hit at tournaments based on comments from council members
Technical – Dave Clark – We have been extremely quiet. There is an ongoing review of records and maintenance of competition forms needs some updating.
Drivers – Jim Beebe – Not much new, a Directory of drivers is available for drivers qualified to put on clinics. We are adding Drivers that are qualified to do upgrades as well. Don asked that if an Assistant Driver falls off the list because of not getting enough tournaments, they should be reinstated in at least the Assistant Drivers position and not have to start all over again once they get back into it.
Speed Control – Bill Bishop – No report
International – Jeff Smith and Larry Downs – Jeff congratulated Larry for being Chief Judge at the Junior Worlds. Also mentioned that the Midwest really represented at the Junior team trials as officials and scorers. It was also noted that the Midwest has the skiers to be skiing in these trials and we need to encourage them to try out.
Coaches – Kelly Dlugosh – No report, Kelly is moving to the SC Region but will still own their Super Lake site. There was some discussion how active this committee head had to be.
Safety – Jim Babcock – We have a vote coming up for fast tracking medical personnel. The question is how far do we go with what type of medical professional. Jeff Smith noted that all medical professionals no matter what specialty or job have to attend continuing education classes on basic life saving skills. The are waiving the amount of tournaments for the fast trackers to 1 tournament. No council members were opposed to this notion. Class F safety coordinators in lieu of safety directors for jump events was discussed. There did not appear to be any risk factors. Jeff Smith felt it should come to USA-WS as a policy question. Also, there has been a request by a military safety instructor to be able to teach first aid and CPR and that water skiing would recognize this. It did not have much merit because there was nothing quantifiable.
Awards – Janice Prociw – Turn in your votes by 10 am Sunday morning for the MJ Power and Tommy Dorwin award. Don asked if at the state level we recognize officials for outstanding work. Iowa did have something like that.
Seeding – Dave Clark – Nothing new. Don mentioned we owe Dave a great debt of gratitude for his work with this and how fast he gets the results posted.
Nominating – Don Bucher – We have 3 of 5 officers and soon to be 4 of 5 offices on the AWSA Board if Tom takes over the National Treasurers spot.
Teller – Kelly Dlugosh – No report
Tow Boats – George Lindy – Mentioned that we will be changing the KD in tricks if they ask for it. Normal setting is 28. CC has the Hydro-gate. In tricks you can have it in slalom or trick. In jump you can have it in jump or slalom position. In slalom you can have it in slalom position only. We will post all settings on the board by all other tournament information. There is only one high HP boat at the tournament and it did not get the Men 1-2, Open Men jump event in the boat draw. Committee moved and seconded to change this to reward the only boat manufacturer for bringing a high HP boat. Motion carried. The Jump Speed working group is analyzing data from two high profile jump events to determine actual boat speeds. The promo boat owner should supply the switch. Don asked about ’05 boats being used and if this was OK. George said it was, you could use current year or previous year models as long as perfect pass is up to date as tested on that model.
Junior Development – Barb Lindy – We placed 6 skiers on the National Jr. Development Team. Bennett’s Ski School hosted our camp again and the kids had a blast. We are working on doing a video for Nationals this year. Fundraising in general is getting tougher, for a new idea we would like to have each state put a basket together themed around what their state in known for and we would hold a silent auction. I do need a list of skiers from each state’s Junior Clinic. We have some but not all. George and Barb would like to step down if there is someone who would like to take over. They would help as much as possible with whoever would take over.
Other Reports:
AWSEF – Dick Nock- No report but it was noted that six scholarships were awarded this year.
Regional Tournament – Jeff Surdej –Judges meeting tonight, Friday night cook out, Sat banquet. Awards will be handed out 3 times a day. There will be a photographer on site both lakes and can work well with the trophies this year. On-line registration was excellent 340 out of 380. Sponsors were Correct Craft for the tournament, Mastercraft for the dinner Friday.
Regional Guide – Jim Babcock - Jim was curious if anybody else didn’t get their Guide, because he didn’t. Don commended Jim and the system for a smooth sanctioning system. Jim also volunteered for another year. He did mention he needs the Junior Development information as soon as possible. They will try for a group picture at the banquet once they are announced.
Regional Records – Jerry Hosner - sent a note to Don, Jerry can verify records with the online reporting now.
Regional Website – Jeff Surdej is taking over the web site and is looking for input and news from anyone and everyone. Jeff would like to add a lot of links to other pictures and results from other tournaments and make it where we can add them as we get them. Right now it’s a .com so Jeff can work on it, but when it goes live it will be a .org
NSL / NWL Leagues – Don Bucher – Not a lot of discussion this year but there have been an increase in participation from the western part of the Midwest Region. Our normal meeting date is usually around the Pro-Am but this year it will be in August. There was discussion about what is available for trophies and funding for these tournaments and states were encouraged to use these to your benefit. Don reminded the group that these benefits also applied to 5-Star
Collegiate – Jeff Surdej – Jeff handed out the list of 45 teams from the Midwest Region. Iowa is going to host Winter Conference X again this year. Freddie Kruger and Brandi Hunt helped with the clinic. Dream Lake in Iowa hosted the Collegiate All-Stars where the Midwest won. Jeff mentioned that these college kids are really starting to trickle into 3-event. There are 800 collegiate skiers and only 100 ski in our tournaments right now. Don asked to check into the 4 years of skiing in 6 years rule which is an NCAA rule currently.
Committee Appointments – 2007
Barb and George Lindy are requesting to step down from Jr. Development, there are still names being suggested.
Richard Williams volunteered for the Tellers Committee to take over for Kelly Dlugosh.
Other old business
Final Competition Task Force Report – Jeff Surdej – The rankings list is fully operational now and has many new features. Mark Crone has done a tremendous job with this. There were 20,000 user sessions (hits) on this part of the USAWS in July. Jeff went over the different levels 8 – 4 color-coded. They correspond with our old rating system somewhat. Overall is currently not color-coded. Jeff reminded that the National Board voted unanimously that we were headed in the right direction when our initial proposal was initiated. Jeff also described the different ways to qualify for Nationals. Either by being above the required bottom score of level 8 at the cut off date (3:00 A.M. on the Thursday, 3-weeks prior to Nationals). After this COA there are 3 ways to qualify. 1) any skier who increases his average to equal or above the COA anytime after the Cut Off Date (COD). 2) any skier who records a score equal to or above the COA at Regionals. 3) any skier who places in the top 5 at Regionals. Discussion followed mainly about the current penalty system. Jeff Smith reminded the Council that this proposal is really not up for discussion on changing it. It is “Do we like it?” or “Do we not like it?” Once we get it in and put it to use, it can be looked into to make it better. The only thing in the proposal that won’t go yet is the paragraph involving changing divisions. If you want to go for a rankings list champion you can ski in the same division after Nationals even though you are moving up to the next division. This will actually conform more towards the International rule on scoring for the world list. It was moved by the Chair and seconded by Jeff Smith to go forward with this proposal. The motioned passed unanimously.
Next discussion should we weight tournaments (Record vs Class C). Jeff Smith noted that we should not have this until it passes. Don added that many times amendments get added and the council would like to know how we feel about. The January meeting might be a better time to discuss. Jeff noted that his committee was unanimous against weighting tournaments.
Last discussion was Regional Qualifications. Jeff presented it would be much like Nationals just a level or two down. Men 1-4 Level 7 in any event, Level 6 for the third event, or level 7 overall. All other divisions would be level 6 in any event. There would be again a cut off date, most likely 2 weeks before Regionals. At the COD there would be a Cut Off Average established. Any skier who increases his average to equal to or above the COA any time after the COD up until close of registration closes for his/her event at Regionals. Any skier who records a score equal to or above the COA at State would also qualify. Finally any skier who places in the top three at State would qualify. Discussion mostly came from the third point on the top three at State. Jeff mentioned that we should study how this would affect using top 3 vs top 2 vs just champion. We can then discuss this at our January meeting.
New Business:
Regional Tournament Bids – 2007 – We have a bid from Mystic Lakes and the Kansas Water Ski Association. Dennis Downes presented all the facts about what they want to offer for 2007. Committee voted enthusiastically for this site to host the 2007 MW Regionals.
On-line Sanctioning – No additional discussion
Winter Meeting – 2007 – After some discussion it was voted to have the 2007 Winter Meeting in conjunction with the National meetings in Orlando, Florida on that Thursday before the National meeting.
With no other business Tom Danford (for Dean Chappell☺) moved seconded by Janice Prociw to Adjourn. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Cory L Piercy
Midwest Council Secretary