Connecticut Swimming, Inc. Age Group Committee Minutes of Meeting November 4, 1997 Present: Rob Riccobon (NES), Mary Ellen Brigham (CAT), Mary Horvath (FFLY), Mark Johnston (WWRX), Laurie Falco (HNHS), Beverly Medlin (CAT). Absent with Call: Mark Marotto (OAK), Linda Ducharme (LEHY). Absent: Patrick Love (WEST), Cathy Deacon (CAT), Joanna Meeker (WYW), Todd Stevens (CDEV), Rick Lewis (SHKS), Chris Michaelson, (ARAC). The meeting, held at the High Plains Community Center, Orange CT, was called to order at 8:05 p.m. by Beverly Medlin, AG chair. The Age Group meeting minutes of June 3, 1997 were approved as published. The November 4 agenda was approved with the following addition: Old Business-L.C. meet evaluation summary. Announcements: (1) Age Group schedule of meetings is as follows: December, February, April; January and March tentative. Long Course season TBA. Meetings held first Tuesday of the month, Orange Community Center at 8 p.m. (2) Effective September 1, 1997, Bronze and Silver Championships shall be combined and renamed CT Regional Championship. There will be three (3) sites ( NCY, LEHY, WCA). Swimmers will be required to meet minimum time standards, with the following exceptions; no minimum cuts for 18/U- 50 yd. events or 13/O-100 yd. events. Entry times may not exceed A.G. minimum cuts. (3) Regional (published as Silver 1998 champ. minimum times standards) and Age Group Championship Time Standards have been published and distributed at the October House of Delegates Meeting. Also available on CSI's web page. (4) Program Development approved the elimination of CT times from CSI championship meets. Also approved was the eliminated of heat limited events. (5) Approved by Program Developed: all swim venues (SCY, SCM, LCM) shall be included in the 1998 SCAG meet announcement. (6) The Age Group Short Course meet announcement is in the process of revision. Coaches and Entry Chairpersons are encouraged to read it thoroughly when published later this season. Information contained in this revised meet announcement will supersede all other information and will govern the meet. (7) USS White Camp scheduled for November has been canceled. Poor response to and overlap of eligible swimmers from previous years, prompted this decision. Group discussion suggested low attendance was due to method of announcement (general invitation vs. a personal invitation) and confusion among parents and swimmers regarding eligibility requirements. (8) CSI Boathouse Polartec fleece outerwear introduced at LCAG was a sellout. Committee recommended a limited reorder; more jackets, smaller sizes. (9) Orders for CSI award jackets went smoothly. Expected delivery time-mid December. New Business: (1) Age Group committee members- volunteers sought to spear head areas of responsibility. Mark Johnson: badges and computer table; Mark Marotto (volunteered in absentia) event winner gift. Ideas???- cotton shorts(boxers), water bottles, bags, patches. Volunteers needed for the following: finals program, hospitality paper goods, timing system equipment. (2) Due to poor return on time and dollars, it was recommended to committee that an outside tee shirt vendor (Northwest Design, Ink.) handle tee shirt sales at the SCAG meet. Northwest Design, Ink. will personalize and customize tees and sweats to order on premise. CSI to receive a percentage of gross sales. Artwork- joint effort between vendor and A.G. committee. (3) Regional Championships- committee agreed tees (different design than A.G. but consistent between sites) should be offered at Regionals. CSI and host team should share profit. Proposal to be brought forth to Program Development committee. (4) A.G. Participation Pin artwork based on tee shirt design. (5) A.G. raffle-committee canceled due to lack of interest; $45 generated over a three day meet. (6) S.C. Age Group Order of Events: Due to overwhelming agreement among coaches during LCAG, the following proposal will be presented to the Program Development committee. 10/U 400 free relay events and 400 medley relay events be flip-flopped at SCAG. Due to order of events in the 11/O sessions, committee felt the current order of events, with regards to relays, should remain unchanged. (7) Regional Championships: discussion regarding the pro/cons of traditional age groups (10/U, 11/12, 13/14, 15/18) vs. two age groups (12/U, 13/0 for competing purposes only, times broken out into traditional age groups for awards) brought forth the following recommendation. Swimmer progression is from a Regional meet to A.G. Championships, therefore, CSI should maintain a common (traditional age group) format. (8) Regional Championships: time trials vs. relays. Committee's recommendation after discussion is not to eliminate relays in favor of time trials. Relays bring excitement and are very popular among swimmers. Understandably, small teams often cannot field relay teams, thereby the advantage lies with swimmers from larger teams who often have added opportunities to make Age Group cuts. The solution lies not in cutting relays, but rather disallowing relay split times for entry into A.G. Old Business: (1.) L.C. meet evaluations: no discussion-information not available. USS Camps: Linda Ducharme (LEHY) Zones: Mary Ellen Brigham presented changes in Zone policy as approved by program development. (1) elimination of pre-application for 15/0 swimmers. 15/0 swimmers, as all swimmers, must have a least a "AA" time to be considered for the Zone team, however, 15/0 swimmers will be allowed to swim unfilled events on the Zone team if they have at least an "A" time in that event. (2) Cost to attend 1998 S.C. Zones has been reduced to $250. Lycra swimsuit, cap and tee will be Zone apparel. Warm-up suit, bag and aquablade suit will be optional. (3) Mary Ellen suggested CSI reward, perhaps through educational credits or the coaches incentive program, coaches that participate in Zones and coaches that support Zones based on a high % of team participation. More info forthcoming.1998 LC zone site-Baltimore @ the University of Maryland. Meeting adjourned 10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Medlin Age Group chair Age Group Committee November 4, 1997 Page 1