AWSA - MIDWEST REGION 2005 WINTER MEETING O'HARE TRAVELODGE - DES PLAINES, IL. JANUARY 15, 2005 Call to order: EVP, Don Bucher called the meeting to order 8:00 a.m. Because of the many good things in our lives in the Midwest and the recent happenings in the world and one of our council members, Cory Piercy will soon be headed for Iraq, Don asked for a moment of silent meditation. Introductions: Julie Shull, Jeff Smith, Dave Clark, Jim Babcock, Pat Cook, Kate Knafla, Greg Chapman, Bill Bishop, Dean Chappell, Dennis Downes, Paul Volmers, Jim Beck, Janet Piercy, Jim Beebe, Terry & Kelly Dlugosh, (shortly after) HND's Dick & Wilma Nock and Bob Hicks, Committee Chair's George Lindy, Jack Dougherty and Jeff Surdej. Don Bucher said he would like the Council to purchase a couple bricks in honor of Jean Downes our former Ohio Councilperson and Linda Roer our former Director and Honorary National Director who passed away last year. When we finalize the budget we will discuss this. Appointment of Parliamentarian: Jeff Smith was appointed Parliamentarian. Review/Approval of Agenda: Revised agenda for Jeff Surdej presentations, Jeff can only be with us part of the day. We will do Skiers Rating, Regional Tournament, Collegiate and Competition Task Force when he gets here. Under New Business; (a) insert Poll on National tournament dates; add Announcers after Nominating. With no further changes Tom Danford moved to approve agenda; motion passed. Approval - Summer 2004 Council Meeting Minutes: Jeff Smith moved to approve, second by Dave Clark, motion passed. Treasurers Report: Tom Danford said we ended 2004 having a good year. We are on budget, with Junior Development general fund ending at $3368.89 and our General Fund at $21382.58. He briefly touched on 2005 proposed budget. Revenue from HQ on Guide allowance $7500, Midwest Guide fees $6650. Our Guide expense original estimate from HQ raised almost $4000. Jeff Smith asked Don to look into why the Guide Fee is a 50% increase for this year. Our ad revenue will go up a little bit. The Budget was set aside to discuss later. Jeff Smith moved to donate $1000 to general fund and $1000 to Lake Fund, budget at summer - placed on old business. Dean seconded and Passed. Discussion on bricks. Moved to purchase one brick each - $500 (250 each) Tom Danford seconded, motion passed. Tom said he had not given the donation for 'affinity members' program as of yet. Motion to approve report, seconded and passed. State Council Reports: Missouri-Julie Shull said they will be hosting a Junior Clinic June 11 along with their Jr/Sr Challenge tournament. She is pleased with the help the SMSU Ski team have provided at the lake and seeing their participation in Class C events. Missouri holds NSL and INT events, she wishes they could get the INT skiers to come to their tournaments. They will host 5 tournaments in 2005. Wisconsin-Jim Babcock Their numbers were down throughout 2004 until their State tournament. They plan 6 tournaments so far in 2005. Slalom skier, Michaels blew away the M4 slalom record. March 4-6 the Larsen twins will be inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame. Jim Lauzon will be receiving the Award of Distinction. Two years ago Collegiate, Inc was formed and has helped collegiate teams with practice boats it's been a very successful program that has helped Wisconsin's 14 collegiate teams. Their NSL has gone dormant but they will be working on that. Iowa-Pat Cook reported there were 8 tournaments in 2004 with the same number planned for 2005. Their State tournament is held in conjunction with Iowa's State Games. They will host a ski fly clinic with Scot Ellis instructing along with a Junior Development Clinic. There is one record tournament planned at Scot Thompson's lake. Iowa and Nebraska will host a fall driver's clinic held at Yutan, NE. Their Iowa State ski team is doing well. Skier participation continues to be a concern and focus for Iowa. Don pointed out Iowa's tournaments were listed as 5-Star, and that is good. Minnesota-Kate Knafla said they are working on getting more rated ski instructors and safety personnel for their Junior Development camp they will host June 10-12. Last year they had 47 junior skiers with coaches Russell Gay, Marc Bedsole, Curtis Rabe, Brent Larson, Chris Kosek and Darren Janzig. Grant Hustad has a third tournament lake in the works. There is also another site 'Chisago County' that is being built similar to Waters Edge these people hope to hold a Regionals' in the future. Jim Babcock asked Kate if she could follow up on some missing Safety clinic paperwork that needed to get into HQ that was held last year, also a NSSA and drivers clinic. Ohio-Greg Chapman said the number of tournaments were down in 2004 but on the positive side their junior skiers were up and had successful junior ski events. At their MasterCraft tournament, kids came from all over the country and they liked the head-to-head format. They will have NSL activity in 2005. Jim McClure will be heading that up. Greg wanted the college age helpers to also be able to jump in the NSL. Don said all you have to do is sanction the jump event as a Class C or N and be an active member. The new payment structure should help those skiers at $35 for membership and getting the magazine. Michigan-Bill Bishop said Linda Roer was inducted into the Michigan Hall of Fame in March. She was there having a good time listening to the hilarious stories people told about her and Terry. Her death is a significant loss to all of us. Michigan's new President, Don Francis is like a man on a mission and is really interested in growing the sport. They have had conference calls for monthly BOD meetings. They are looking at ways we could involve NSL skiers at Nationals. At a recent MasterCraft dealer meeting he noticed they are beginning to watch their marketing dollars very closely. In reviewing Michigan's tournament schedule NSL wasn't mentioned in their 2005 Guide ads, Bill needs to check into this. Illinois-Dean Chappell said their tournament schedule is like last year. They are planning a couple Junior Development Clinics and possibly a judges and drivers clinic. Kansas-Dennis Downes said there is a missing tournament on his report a new site called Country Lakes (near Kansas City) that used to put on INT tournaments but will now host Class C and NSL events. There are two record tournaments, two collegiate tournaments and a Junior Development camp planned. Thanks to the efforts of Richard Williams and sponsoring clubs their NSL events are very successful and have pushed skier entries up. He encouraged anyone that qualifies for the NSL/Pro Am to go to it, it was a wonderful experience. Indiana-Jim Beck said there is a lot going on. Their membership has risen 20 percent. Their tournament schedule is pretty much the same as last year. They have three new lakes. One of the new lakes will host the Pendleton Record tournament. They did a slalom cup last year taking the best scores of 5 tournaments and totaled the scores by ratings. A junior won. The NSL events are strong in the north and hopefully with a new person heading the central part of the state will catch up. Bart Culver was inducted into the Hall of Fame from Bart's water sports. Indiana has a good website check it out. Indiana has a fall awards banquet where they make a big deal out of a junior skier that may have just qualified for regionals or nationals for the very first time, recognizing those who are not an elite skier but have made improvements. Nebraska-Janet Piercy reporting for Cory, having only two clubs hosting tournaments we are lucky to have 3-4 tournaments a year. We are hoping to get involved with NSL after watching the Kansas NSL in June they will try mid-week events. The junior clinic went well and we are planning another in 2005 with a new contact person, Jen Davis at 218866 Bobwhite Ave. Gretna NE 68028, phone number 402.916.9011. We will be hosting a judges/scorers and safety clinic on April 16-17 and combining efforts with Iowa for a drivers clinic in the fall. (After report we decided to try a technical clinic if enough interest at same time as judges clinic). Regional Guide - When Jim Babcock sent out his notice for Regional Guide material needed, he mentioned there would be a late fee of $25 charged if later then January 1st. It was moved that we implement a penalty fee of $25 for clubs paying late (after January 1st) and getting into the Guide, Greg Chapman seconded, motion passed. Don Bucher said he will waive this fee if paid today. Checks go to Don Bucher when sending in. National Directors Reports: Jeff Smith deferred to committee reports, Tom Danford said the highlights are in the committee reports and especially in the Task Force Committee he also deferred. Dave Clark displayed some statistics on our sports growth or non-growth as the case may be. Our private sites are not helping our sport grow. We are losing exposure to the public. Somehow we need to focus on getting back into the public's eye. AWSEF: Bob Hicks started by thanking this region for all its' past support in contributing to the Foundation. He has since gotten involved with AWA and said there is a lot of money in wakeboard not only for the boat manufacturers but the athletes as well. This seems to be taking away from 3-event which has been the backbone of this organization. The Wakeboard events can be held in open waters getting public exposure as Dave mentioned. E&F: EVP, Don Bucher reported Steve is trying to run HQ lean and mean. E&F did meet in December. Much of the time was spent on the Task Force Report and Membership and what those committees are doing. E&F supports the idea we may have to go outside HQ to develop our sport like we'd like to. We don't have an image that the public knows. And we are not doing a good job of developing our websites. Possibly need to outsource this as well. Committee Reports: A. Judges & Scorers - Jeff Smith presented Linda Roer's name for Senior Judge Emeritus posthumous, Dean Chappell second, motion passed unanimously. Sr Clinic will be in Washington DC last weekend of February. He said he is concerned with the dwindling volunteers for soliciting working Regionals and Nationals from our region. B. Rules - Tom Danford reported they met in November, rules for Board approval are; Rule 3.02 changing Girls and Boys II & III age groups so they can ski one more year in that division. If it passes, would be effective after 2005 Nationals. Men & Women 10 change to 80-84 years and adding another division M/W 11 to 85+. Rule 5.03 Overall Scoring this would be affective January 2005. Also Overall Scoring proposed Placements at Nationals and Regionals shall be determined with a 1000 point overall system using a straight linear basis from zero to the winning score and the standard NOPS application will be used solely to attain EP's at Nationals and Regionals. Council members were in favor of these issues passing. C. Skiers Rating - Jeff Surdej reminded us this is an off chart year. There are a few issues for board approval. 1) Lower EP's for juniors so that 30% or 40 slalom and 30 tricks and jump, which ever results in more to qualify for nationals starting with the next rating chart. 2) Devise 3 rating groups, NSL, Expert through EP and a middle one between those two. 3) Produce rating charts annually, data is too old to be accurate for ratings and Nationals pulls. D. Technical - Dave Clark one minor issue. Skier Jump supplied lines. Difficulty with implementing. Who measures? Rule book description? Tech will supply a framework, but it is up to the sponsor to supply person. Item 8.09 buoys specs change to 20cm although IWSF has not accepted so only good for E and under. More sponsors are doing R tournaments; we have as many as any regions for Techs, there may need to be clinics. Dave offered to do clinics but would need sponsor to do administration of it. E. Drivers - Jim Beebe (Jack Daugherty) added Dirk Brittan and Bill Bishop for Regional drivers - need blue sheet sent out. Chief Driver of Regionals will pick his assistant. The one-2 even emeritus. F. Tow Boats - George Lindy report attached. 11 tournament boats and one v-drive were approved for Class C. Jeff Smith comments. G. Speed Control - Bill Bishop said the 'junior' switch in jump which is skier supplied does not have to be available by all contestants. It is recommended that after 400 hours of use it should be serviced by PP - approximately $50. The springs will eventually need replaced. They are asking that in 2006 towboat manufacturers provide a location pad for PP - 12" ahead of pylon and in the same place for both sides. There seem to be problems with 2nd segment in jump, elite skiers being held back, re-rides with skiers jumping less then max speed and then drivers depressing the base line RPM so they can come in slow so that a higher letter can be used. Committee still works on solutions to this. H. International Activities - Jeff Smith has been a busy year. Elite team will compete in the World Championships and the under 21 Worlds, and a Pan Am Challenge with our Junior team and 17-21 team. McCormick's will host the Team Trials the 2nd weekend of July it is a long event 6 days. I. Junior Development - Barb Lindy - George went through Barb's written report. Our G2/B2 team members are: Kirby Schmitt, Alison Lindy, Hannah Rosow, Emily Van Treese (Alt) and Andrew Schmitt, Andrew Baker, Patrick Raitor, Chase McCain (alt) Our G3/B3 team members are: Kayla McClure, Amanda Griffith, Keri McClure, Samantha Ruehl (Alt) and Nate Smith, Adam Reed, Zack Steffen, Andy Madden (Alt) they will be skiing at Bennett's Ski school June 21-24th. J. Coaches - Kelly Dlugosh The level 1 instructor is still available. Have college kids go through the level 1 - every club should have a safety person. K. Safety - Jim Babcock - quick rope release went through the co, He wants to redo the test. One problem getting the safety reports back into HQ. Important because judges don't get credit. No action on the kill switch, we should follow what boat manufacturers suggest. For boat drivers. L. Awards - Janice Prociw's report passed out. No council action. She also gave an update to Don Bucher on plagues needed. M. Seeding - Dave Clark jeff Surdej instead of scores being accumulated once - two times a year, every tournament should be uploading info into HQ system. Cut out the middle man. Do we want to start centralizing? Leaning to LZH file sending to HQ early! N. Bylaws - Bill Murbach O. Announcers - Paul Volmers - had ailing mother unable to attend many tournaments. He would like to see announcers made up ahead of time planned in the scheme of tournaments. Have them assigned along with other officials. Their duty is to say who is on water (skiers need to fill out bio). Paul needs to know who our announcers are in our area. Dave suggested having a computer for announcers. Other Sports: a. AWSEF - Dick Nock & Bob Hicks report thanked the region for our support at the museum past years and contributions. It's been a long hard pull. The building and lake is owned by the foundation, we have a lease agreement with them. Building done, museum 90% complete and of course new things. There is only the lake to be done. April 23rd lake will be used for first time, still need money for the project, (planting - fencing etc) He asked the Council if we were willing to contribute to the lake project. They need monies for day-in and day-out procedures. Joining the AWSEF is one way to contribute. In addition there is a water ski club $10 donation, which will let you ski on their lake. Always looking for new trustees, Tom Danford & Paul Chapin, new members, interested in the Foundation. It is a good affair to go to the induction ceremonies - The selection committee (Dick Nock - chair?) possible candidates within our region. Look around put a letter together - Jim B! abcock asked if trustee get a vote, also what tournaments are planned. Dave Reinhardt barefooted X-games, show skiing 20 yrs, wakeboarding competitor all over the world. Distinction Lucille B, Bob Hicks, Anne O'Brien, Butch Rosenberg, Robert Sleigh. Jim Babcock met with NSSA huge negative for show skiing. b. Regional Guide - Jim Babcock asked us not to capitalize he has to redo. Barry's tournament. 3 ads - 2 more possibilities. Set up page for our service people. Why is Jim not getting the email addresses? c. Regional Records - Jerry Hosner no report. d. Regional Website - Jim Babcock Information needed! e. Regional Tournament - Jeff & Roy Surdej asked Don if we could have our meetings at - Roy & Barb's house. There will be a Hawaiian party theme. Because they lost their sponsorship they may not be able to produce the scoreboard. They are planning a packed 3 days of skiing. The banquet will be at same place. With concerns of length of banquet they want to have kids receive awards at site. They have on-line registration set up on the web. Let skiers know we need to get hotel rooms early, rooms held till July 1st Hampton hotel will be HQ, note earlier deadline! Not registered until paid! Parking has not changed. George and Don will look into what our region has established on free rooms. f. Collegiate - Jeff Surdej highlights from Midwest collegiate scene; 5th straight year they had their largest tournament in history, 426 skiers of 40 active teams. Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa State qualified for Division I Nationals for the first time. Cale Burdick first Midwest skier to place in the top 5. Next fall they want to form a 3rd conference within the region. Purdue and Paducha will host the 2005 Nationals. Our US Team won the University Worlds in Russia Jeff said that was an amazing experience. And the 2006 World's is coming to Wisconsin. (We broke at 10:30) g. Competition Task Force - Chairman, Jeff Surdej said after the committee had worked on this for two years they have decided to break down the project into two or three steps, working from the top down. 1) National slots; the number of slots available for each event/division in each region would be announced at the same time as the new ratings. 2) Distribution of slots to each Region. A skier could place at his/her regionals and maybe not have a Masters rating, but fell into one of those slots allotted. (by competition) 3) Overall: Skiers must place in the top five in Overall at Regionals to qualify for Nationals except for certain regions that will receive more because of the large number of participants at Nationals in those divisions. There are also Byes: if the performance meets a bye performance once at a Class C. He explained we may even hold sub-regional or district competition if a Region so desires. This will be a point based system, not necessarily 'ratings'. The more tournaments we go to or competing against someone higher on the ranking list would give us more points. Somewhat like the NASTAR model. Discussion on the concepts Jeff Surdej presented. After discussion we took a straw vote from everyone in the room. Not one hand shot up when asked "if you're happy with what we have now - the 'EP's raise your hand". We are in favor of developing a system that is placement based. We all thought they were on the right track; we gave a round of applause for Jeff and his committee's hard work. Committee Appointment - Tom Danford moved to keep George Lindy on Towboat Committee, second and carried. Other Old Business: A. On-line Sanctioning - no problems noted. B. Five Star Program & NSL Program - communicate what 5 star is, Jennifer sent out a packet for boat manufacturer. Committee goal is for each state to try it. We don't have a total closed door with INT. New Business: A. Poll on National dates. Early date 0, traditional date 11, labor day 8 - one abstention B. Summer Meeting - 2005 at the lake - Surdej's house at 1:00 Executive Session: A. Regional Officials: CJ-Kelley Dlugosh, ACJ's Don Bucher and Janet Piercy, Qualification-Steve Gallup, Appointed Judges: Bill Murbach, Tom Danford, Jim Peterson, Fred Krueger and Janice Prociw. Chief Scorer Dave Clark, ACS, Rich Williams. Technical Jim Beck, Safety Jim Babcock, Assignment Coordinator-Mark Boender, CD George Lindy, ACD Dick Nock (need to get his appointed) National Officials: already appointed by Jim Grew, Chief Scorer-Janet Piercy and ACJ Don Bucher, Qualification Jeff Smith. Council approved Fred Krueger and Bill Murbach for Appointed our Assigned Judges are; Larry Smith, Terry Dlugosh, and Jim Peterson. Appointed Scorers are Janice Prociw and Dave Clark. Appointed Drivers are George Lindy and Jim Beebe. Adjournment: Tom Danford moved for adjournment, second by Dean Chappell, motion passed. (Time?) Sorry Don, I forgot to check my watch. I think it was before 5:00.