USMS National Convention
Cincinnati, OH
October 3, 1998
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Action Items
*** All swimmers registered in Colonies Zone will be voting members of the committee.
*** Historical items will be collected and deposited in a Zone Archive maintained by the Zone Rep.
*** A list of Zone Policies will be developed and maintained by the Zone Rep.
*** Issues unresolved during zone meetings will be completed by email, phone, snail-mail, etc.
*** Improved bidding procedures for Zone Championships will be developed.
*** Copies of "Colonies Zone Big Meet Guide" will be distributed to all LMSCs.
*** Zone championships will be expanded to include open water swims.
*** The following Zone Championships were awarded:
Attendance
Number of committee members present: 45. Number of committee members absent: 4. Total number of delegates attending the meeting: 45.
Minutes
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Zone Rep Lynn Hazlewood at 9:34 AM.
II. Introductions
Each LMSC was introduced by one spokesperson. Introduction included the name of the LMSC, geographical location, LMSC members present and their jobs, and some information on friendly rivalries between LMSCs. The discussion was precipitated by the question from a new delegate about what were the LMSCs in the zone.
III. Zone Representative Report
At the Friday Zone Committee meeting, it was discussed who would be allowed to vote in the Zone Meetings - voting delegates or all delegates. The Zone agreed that any swimmer registered in Colonies Zone would be eligible to vote on zone business at all times.
All LMSCs have contributed $50 to the Zone Rep's convention expenses.
The Zone Rep asked for all listings for the Calendar of Events to be turned in ASAP so she can identify the events that will be listed in Swim Magazine. Lead time for listings is 2 months, with the deadline for the January/February issue October 24. In addition, new listings for the rest of 1998 and all of 1999 should be turned in as soon as available.
The Zone Rep is beginning to compile archives of historical zone events. She asked for documents from anyone who has them. This includes meeting minutes, newsletters, zone championship results, zone records, LMSC by-laws, newspaper articles, etc. Two documents were turned in at the meeting: 1) minutes for the 1997 convention meeting, and 2) a Washington Post article on Connecticut swimmer Gus Langner.
The Zone rep distributed the following lists of information for members to correct: 1) 3 LMSC Election Processes lists, 2) Official List of LMSC Officers, and 3) Colonies Zone mailing list. Many corrections were made to each one of these lists.
The Zone Rep will be compiling a list of zone policies so what we decide doesn't get lost. This will include decisions made in zone meetings as well as procedures for handling various issues.
MACA would like to have each LMSC name a coach representative. Lorie Gibson-Rick, a member of the Coaches Committee, asked each LMSC to tell her who the coach rep will be by the end of convention or as soon as possible afterwards.
IV. Work Groups & Reports
The meeting broke up into the following work groups: 1) Zone Championships, 2) Communications, 3) Awards & Recognition, and 4) Finance. The meetings lasted for one hour and were followed by reports from each work group.
Zone Championships Work Group - Rob Copeland
The work group decided we would work to develop consistent championships each year. The meets would be SCY, SCM, and open water. There is not much interest in a LCM meet since there aren't many of them in the zone and those are losing participation each year. The idea of a LCM postal has been abandoned.
The SCY meet in the spring should not conflict with USMS Nationals, Y Nationals, or religious holidays. The timing should be oriented around when USMS Nationals are and should not be closer than 3 - 4 weeks before. We should focus on SCM as our important meet because there are no conflicts with nationals in the fall.
A subcommittee of Rob Copeland, Marcia Cleveland, Lorie Gibson-Rick, and James Johnson will work on developing open water championships for the zone. The committee will designate one or more swims as a championship or series of championships. Configuration is to be determined.
The committee decided that the "Colonies Zone Big Meet Guide," which was developed in the early 1990's, will be distributed to all LMSCs in the zone.
A revised bidding process will be devised and bid forms will be published in the newsletter. We will work toward getting bids 2 years in advance rather than the current process of ad hoc bidding at the preceding convention.
Communications Work Group - Millicent Kaplan
The work group reported that all LMSCs in the zone either have a web site or are working on one. If we develop a zone web site, we won't duplicate what is on each LMSCs site. The zone site will contain items such as entry forms and results for zone championships, on-line versions of the zone newsletter, links to LMSC web sites, and a schedule of events for the zone.
Building the web site will be a cooperative effort under the direction of Harry DeLong of Virginia Masters with help from Debbie Morrin of Potomac Valley. Other members of the zone will contribute as necessary.
A motion was passed that a web site will be built during the next year to be ready before the 1999 convention. Financial issues will be resolved as the planning progresses.
Awards & Recognition Work Group - Pat Timmins
The work group decided that we should recognize all workers, not just the leaders. A variety of possibilities were presented on how LMSCs and the zone could recognize workers as well as the kinds of awards they could be given.
The work group would like to see recognition of volunteers each month to be placed on the zone web site.
Finance Work Group
Jeff Roddin, Potomac Valley
The work group explored various options for increasing zone funding including charging a fee per registered swimmer or getting sponsorship for zone championships.
The committee warned that we should be careful not to pull people and sponsors away from the LMSC level in favor of zone needs.
Financial issues will have to be more fully explored after we know what the increased costs will be for the zone championships, web site, and awards.
Note: After the meeting Jeanne Crouse, Virginia Masters & USMS Legal Counsel, said she would like to check our funding plans (particularly those involving sponsors) ahead of time to make sure we don't run into any legal problems.
V. Zone Championship Bids
Bids were accepted for the 1999 and 2000 Zone SCY Championships. There was one bid for each championship. The 1999 SCM Championship was also discussed. No action was taken on possible open water championships at this time other than to agree that we want them.
1999 SCY Championship
The 1999 SCY Zones, sponsored by Terrapin Masters of Potomac Valley, will be May 7-9 at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. The facility contains a 25 yard x 50 meter pool configured into two 25 yard courses with all deep water (8 ft minimum). The lanes are 8-9 feet wide with fully automatic timing (Colorado V) and a Colorado multicolor graphic display scoreboard. There will be a separate 25 yard x 25 meter warm-up/warm-down pool available.
Some reservations were expressed about the late date (1 week before nationals) and the lack of a 400 IM and the longer relays. Dave Diehl, representing Terrapin Masters, said he would work to accommodate the event issue, but those were the only dates available. This situation prompted the resolution that we would get bids 2 years in advance so bidders would have more flexibility.
1999 SCM Championship
There were no bids for this championship at the meeting. New England Masters, which has a SCM Championship in December, expressed interest in possibly hosting the meet. A decision will be made after convention. The Zone Rep will follow up to secure this bid.
2000 SCY Championship
The 2000 SCY Zones will be held at the International Swimming Hall of Fame complex in mid-April. This meet will be a renewal of the "Shootout" between Colonies Zone and Dixie Zone last held in March 1997. The format will be a dual meet between the two zones. In addition, each zone's championship will be scored separately.
Meet Director Stu Marvin, Delaware Valley, hopes to bid this meet every other year as long as the zones are willing. Consensus was that Colonies would like to continue this format.
VI. New Business
Rob Whitters, Potomac Valley, suggested that meet directors could collect "Toys for Tots" as part of the entry fee for their meets in November and December. Contact the local Marine Corps representative and they will bring barrels to collect the toys. Call Rob for the closest Marine office near you.
VII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 PM.
Tasks for Upcoming Year
*** Expand zone championships to include open water swims.
*** Refine zone championship bid process to receive bids 2 years in advance.
*** Arrange for SCM Zone Championships in 1999 & 2000.
*** Build a zone web site by next year's convention.
*** Develop funding strategies for expanded zone activities.
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