Attendees: Greg York, Chair; Janet Auger, PVS; Jim Garner, PVS; John Hirschmann, PVS; Don Riedlinger, PVS; Bill Stephens, PVS; Ron Whalen, PVS; Ward Foley, AAC; Mark Faherty, CUBU; Elvin Foreman, ERSC; Manga Dalizu, FAST; Christian Doud, MACH; Dan Jacobs, MACH; Paris Jacobs, MACH; Niels Moore, MAKO; Joel R. Cyganicwicz, OCCS; Bill Marlin, PM; Peter Karl, SDS; Shelley Gesker, YORK.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Competition Committee Chairman, Greg York at 6:45 pm at Army Navy Country Club, Arlington, Virginia.
Agenda: Greg York provided an agenda for use at the meeting. The agenda was accepted as proposed after adding additional agenda items pertaining to (1) the process for selection of the 2006 LC Assistant Zone Coaches and (2) the selection criteria for the PVS Athlete of the Year.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the January 15, 2006 Competition Committee meeting were unanimously approved as submitted. They had been posted on the pvswim.org website and copies were available at the meeting for review.
PVS Board action on items from September Competition Committee Meeting: Riedlinger reported that the PVS Board accepted all the recommendations made by the Competition Committee meeting at its January 15th meeting with one amplification. He reminded the committee that Competition had voted to recommend sanctioning of the FISH sponsored June 17-18 LC meet to the Board with the provision that details be worked out to provide an acceptable agreement with the PVS sponsored meet hosts. He explained after additional discussion and negotiation that the Board had authorized sanctioning the meet at its February meeting with the agreement that no distance events were to be held.
Club Sanction Requests for 2006-07 SC Season: Hirschmann, at York’s request, next presented the requests for Competition Committee endorsement of club sponsored meets to be held during the 2006-07 short course season. The requests had been assembled by Janet Auger. The Committee was provided with a copy of both the currently posted and authorized 2006-07 SC schedule as well noting that club sponsored meets previously approved were in the January minutes as well as posted on the website.
Competition Committee's endorsement of seven club meets for which requests had been submitted prior to this meeting were presented. Hirschmann advised that these are:
· VSC 1 10 /U Meet – October 7-8 at South Run sponsored by SDS.
· RMSC Invitational – November 4-5 at Martin Luther King sponsored by RMSC. ·
· FAST Qualifier – November 18-19 at Fairland sponsored by FAST (This meet had been deferred at the January meeting pending release of the Redskins’ schedule and its impact on PGS&LC availability.) ·
· Blizzard Championship – December 1-3 at GMU/FFX sponsored by MAKO. It was noted that this meet had been expanded from a 2-day to a 3-day meet.
· VSC II 12/U Meet (formerly a 10/U meet) – January 13-14 at South Run sponsored by SDS.
· Mini Championships – March 10-11 at Olney sponsored by RMSC.
·
12/U LJ Miller Meet – March 17-18 at South Run sponsored by SDS.
The Committee voted to endorse sanctioning of these meet requests to the PVS Board.
It was noted that the following clubs meets on the 2005-06 SC schedule had not been bid for the 2006-07 SC season:.
Janet Auger had attempted to contact these clubs to make sure they knew we had not received their bids. In the case of the Mini Meet, Victor Abrahamian informed her that he was withdrawing this meet due to lack of water on his chosen date of December 2-3, 2006.
The Committee was advised by Cy that the previously sanctioned President’s Classic Meet scheduled for February 17-19, 2007 was being withdrawn by OCCS due to its inability to obtain sanctioning for the meet from VSI. A discussion ensued as to the merits of investigating joint scheduling of meets or meet schedules with VSI. A request was made that the Board or the General Chairman pursue the matter with VSI (after getting additional background information from OCCS.)
A question was raised as to why the 2007 SC Championship meets were being held in the same venues as last year. Historically, the meets are alternated between venues. It was explained that PGS&LC was not available March 10-11, 2007 (due to a major indoor track meet scheduled there) and that these were the dates previously approved for both PVS SC Senior Championships.
In response to one club’s question about the awarding of the hosts for the PVS November Open, the committee was reminded that this matter should be addressed with the Board.
Eastern Zone SC Team Report: Paris Jacobs as Zone Coordinator gave a brief report on the 2006 SC Eastern Zone meet. She stated that PVS sent 92 athletes and that 90% of our swims placed in finals. The girls finished in 4th place, the boys in 2nd place and the team was 2nd overall. Paris estimated that the cost to the LSC for attending the meet would run approximately $28-30,000 after collecting $400 per athlete. Due to the meet returning to Buffalo, NY, she stated that she anticipated the LSC expense to decrease in the future.
Zone Head Coach, Mark Faherty, stated that his coaching staff, comprised of Mike Kraeuter, Cheryl Bauman, John Cyganiewicz, Elvin Foreman, and Blair Piddington, was excellent. He continued that there was an excellent rapport between the coaches and the athletes as well as an outstanding camaraderie among the teammates. The excellent outfitting provided by TYR made the team look great on deck and made the athletes feel proud. He concluded by stating that he noticed a distinct improvement in the meet with the change in time cut-offs back to Junior National level rather than Sectionals—especially in the older athlete age brackets.
Greg York briefly mentioned that there had been some discipline problems at the meet. He offered to share the details at the conclusion of the meeting. He wished the Committee to know that discussion were ongoing with the athletes and their coaches.
In response to Riedlinger’s inquiry about PVS’ staffing of officials at the meet, Paris replied that PVS was the largest team and that we had provided 4 officials. She praised Metro’s handling of the meet, especially the concise manner in which it posted staffing expectations and requirements.
Proposals for Changes to the Short Course Zone Team Selection: Greg thanked Paris and Mark for their excellent contributions to the Zone meet. He explained that this year’s zone team selection process had been an arduous task with some athletes applying, yet declining to attend and others accepting and then declining at the last minute. The time between the end of 14/U JO Champs and the zone entry deadline (3 days) was tighter than it had historically been for PVS. In an attempt to improve the selection process, Dan Jacobs, Paris Jacobs, Bill Marlin and he had met. A handout was provided to the Committee listing 5 proposed changes to the SC Zone Team selection process.
The first proposed change that was presented was that the criteria for zone team selection be the top 2 swims per event/age group/sex that are swum at PVS Championships. All the 14 & U age groups would be selected by swims that competed in PVS 14 & Under JO’s. The senior group (15-18) would be selected by swims that competed at PVS Senior Champs. Several questions / concerns were raised about the proposal, including (1) Is the criteria the top 2 times or top 2 finishes at the respective meet? (2) The order of the championships meets would impact 13-14 year olds (3) 13-14 year olds would need to choose which championship meet to swim (4) Would this criteria penalize an athlete who was sick during the championship meet? Further impacting the discussion was that the Eastern Zone, at its May 16th meeting, had modified its rules for zone participation. In light of this change, Paris asked to withdraw this Proposed Change along with the remaining four at this time and present an updated proposal at the Fall CCM.
Process for Selection of 2006 LC Zone Team Coaches: Greg presented a proposal on the process of selecting assistant coaches for the ’06 LC Zone meet as well as all future zone meets. He requested that two coaches be selected at the 14& U LC Championship and two coaches at Senior Championship. If only four coaches apply, then those four coaches would be accepted. Additionally, in the event that an overwhelming number of swimmers enter the meet, he would like the Age Group Chair and the Coaches Representatives to be granted the authority to appoint up to two additional coaches. The final change he requested was that a 2 year term limit (i.e., 4 meets total) be instituted for Zone Team Coaches. A motion to endorse these changes and seek Board approval passed.
It was agreed that the deadline for submitting applications for all 4 positions would be Wednesday, July 12th.
Reports from Eastern Zone May 2006 Meeting: Jim Garner provided the following handouts: (1) USA Swimming Club Recognition Program, (2) IMX Extreme Challenge, (3) Toyota Virtual Club Championships and (4) USA-S Seasonal Plan Designer. Additionally, he made available for viewing a CD produced by USA-S on Swim Parenting which will be sent to every club and available for sale.
John Hirschmann then reviewed his handout on the Eastern Zone Competition Changes made at the zone meeting held on May 13th. Greg informed the Committee that PVS had again proposed at the zone meeting removing the 15-18 age group from the SC Zone meet. While not approved, he believed it to be an on-going proposal due to the Sectionals meets and stated that PVS will continue to suggest it at future EZ meetings. He then reminded the committee that this summer’s LC zone meet format is the same as last year’s and that the athletes will travel as a team and stay as a team. He asked that the coaches support the format. It will be reevaluated in the fall.
Criteria for Receiving Travel Assistance for 2006 US Open: Don noted that the participation requirement for receiving PVS support for attendance at this meet was normally established at this meeting - since it required participation in PVS LC meets. He recommended that the requirement remain as it has been in the recent past - participation in 4 swims during the PVS 2006 LC season - at least two of which are in PVS sponsored meets. The Committee voted to support this recommendation.
Scheduling of PVS Sponsored 2007 LC Meets: Hirschmann indicated that normally at this meeting, the scheduling of PVS sponsored meets for the 2007 LC season would be discussed and a recommended competition program sent to the Board for approval. The Committee was provided with a schedule that showed the National and International meets already planned. It was proposed that the PVS LC meets remain on the same weekends as these meets were held in 2006. The schedule would be as follows:
PVS Senior I/Age Group I June 10, 2007
PVS Distance June 16 (PM) – June 17 (AM), 2007
PVS Senior II/Age Group II June 24, 2007
PVS Sr LC Champs July 12-15, 2007
PVS Jr LC Champs July 12-15, 2007
PVS Age Group LC Champs July 19-22, 2007
The Committee was asked, but did not express any interest in moving the Distance Meet back to Memorial Day Weekend. It was felt we should have at least one year’s experience with the new date, before discussing whether to retain it. Mark Faherty raised his concern of the lack of quality meets offered early in the LC season. He explained how MSSC’s recent Early Bird meet was oversubscribed (for the first time) resulting in some teams being turned away. Paris stated that MACH would be requesting a sanction for a LC meet the last weekend in April 2007. She had attempted to schedule it in 2006 but ran into pool availability issues.
A motion to endorse the proposed schedule passed.
PVS Age Group Coach of the Year: Don Riedlinger reminded those in attendance that information on submitting a nomination for PVS Age Group Coach of the Year had been posted on the PVS website (http://www.pvswim.org/06agegrpcoach_instr.htm).
Nominations are due by May 31, 2006. The person selected will have his/her expenses paid to the ASCA convention in September in order to receive the award in person.
Selection Criteria for PVS Athlete of the Year: Bill Marlin reported that he and Dan Jacobs have been working to develop a process by which PVS athletes of the Year are selected using a point system. Bill indicated he had contacted other LSC’s to determine how they make their selections. Their proposed selection criteria was presented to the Committee. It was noted the new criteria would be more objective. Others noted it might prove to be quite labor intensive and suggested “pilot testing” the proposal with a couple of age groups to both see how much time it would require and perhaps identify areas needing additional clarification. After a brief discussion, the Committee agreed to recommend implementation of the new selection criteria for the 06-07 season provided that the pilot testing works successfully. The current procedure would be used for ’05-’06.
Entry Times and Criteria for PVS Distance Meets / Events: At the January 2006 Competition Committee Meeting concern had been raised about the use of Coaches’ Times at distance meets. In response to that concern, Bill Marlin had agreed to develop recommendations. His proposal was presented to the Committee. Bill explained that his proposal would provide a more logical progression for athlete competition in distance meets. Manga remarked how PVS’ qualifying times for distance meets had remained stagnant despite all other qualifying times having been tightened. It was noted that this proposal would apply only to PVS sponsored meets – distance and Open (but not Championships.). Since his proposal only addressed SC times/events, Bill agreed to develop criteria for LC meets. The Committee recommended that this criteria be submitted to the Board for endorsement and implementation in 2006-07.
Championship Meet Format Revisions: Bill Stephens introduced his initiative to set standards and criteria for PVS Championship meets. He observed that many club meets are better run than PVS Championship meets. He indicated that he wished to take a four-pronged approach:
· Pageantry & Promotion – original meet t-shirts; signs; provide music; get press coverage; door prizes and drawings
· Meet Staffing and Administration – fee basis or contract basis – staffed by PVS officials – could subcontract part of operations to a club – it’s getting harder to get volunteers
· Hospitality – arranging meet schedule so there is actual
break for timers; t-shirts for timers; hospitality for athletes
· Meet Operations – reinstitute concept of announcers; have athletes march in; re-do meet schedules so end by 6:00 pm on Sundays; hold award ceremony.
Funding for this initiative will be presented at the upcoming House of Delegates meeting next week. Those in attendance were urged to support the proposal.
8 and Under Mini Meets: In an effort to retain the interest of our younger swimmers, Greg reported on an initiative that the Board is investigating regarding the concept of holding multiple short (2 hour) mini-meets at one venue. Using a dual meet format, he thought that ten teams would be able to complete. The purpose of these meets would be to improve the experience of the younger swimmers (and their parents!). He stressed that these meets would not compete with any mini meets already on the schedule. Greg stated that he would poll clubs to assess their interest. Funding for this initiative will be presented at the upcoming House of Delegates meeting next week.
New Business: Cy Cyganicwicz expressed his concern about the lack of competition available for the athletes from August 1st through the middle of September. He wondered if there was any possibility of running some type of meet during this period. While some present showed interest, others seemed to welcome the lull. Riedlinger suggested that Cy speak with coaches and present a specific proposal. It was noted that if PVS offered a meet, it would need to be open to all teams. Cy was reminded he was free to seek a sanction for a club sponsored meet on any date there were not PVS sponsored meets. A dual or tri meet could be approved with a very short lead time. Bill Marlin offered to email coaches to assess interest and then report back to the Board.
Manga reminded the Committee of his previous presentation regarding his proposed “PVS Club Requirements”. He asked when some or all of the proposal might be adopted. Mark Faherty observed that the proposal involved penalties and asked if it might not be better to offer rewards for compliance. As an example, it was suggested that PVS could reduce splash fees for club meets based on attendance at Competition Committee meetings or increase club dues and then provide rebates for attendance. Ron Whalen noted that PVS needed to ensure that any requirements it adopted were in concert with USA-S’ criteria, including any requirements a LSC can impose as a condition of membership. Manga was encouraged to present the key items of his proposal to the House of Delegates.
Prior to concluding the meeting, Jim Garner thanked Greg for his service to the Committee as this was his final meeting serving as Chairman after 4 years of service as Age Group Chair and many additional years in other capacities.
Next Meeting Date: The date of the next meeting was discussed. It was agreed to have it on Saturday, September 23rd, 10:00 A.M. at River Falls. [Following the meeting, a request was received and granted to reschedule the meeting to September 24th .
On September 18, 2006, the meeting location was changed to Montgomery Aquatic Center.]Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:17 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted by,
Janet Auger
PVS Administrative Assistant