Board of Director Minutes

Connecticut Swimming, Inc.

Board of Directors
Minutes
October 6, 2010

General Chairman Chris Hug called the meeting to order at the High Plains Community Center in Orange, CT at 7:30pm

Present: Bill Ball, Ed Becker, Peter Boucher, Ed Doernberger, Hilary Berger, Mike Huffman, Chris Hug, Christine Pelham, Bob Shearer, Judy Snow, Kaeley Steinnagel, John Spadafina, Mary Westcott

Also Present: Nan Cooper

Not Present: Jeff Gray, King Lee, Rick Lewis, Dan Mascolo, Bonnie Strittmatter, Cooper Kearns, Lexi Koukos

Additions to the Agenda: Executive Session, Coaches Education Grant and Additional Athlete Representatives to be added to the board

Approval of the Agenda: The agenda was amended and unanimously approved

Approval of the Minutes: A motion to accept the minutes of September 11, 2010 Board of Directors meeting was unanimously approved

OLD BUSINESS

Bylaws: Some corrections may need to be made to the bylaws enacted last May. Chris covered some at this meeting and deferred others to the next meeting:

Article 5.4 of the Bylaws, allows up to 3 athletes and 3 coaches from the same Club to simultaneously serve on the board. A motion was made and approved to rescind this and return to the 1996 Bylaw language which limits BOD members from any one Club to three, without regard to athlete or coach status, and limits athlete and coach reps to one per club.

A motion was made and passed to rescind Article 5.5 of the May 2010 Bylaws and return to the 1996 Bylaw language, which would allow ex-officio and at –large board members to have a voice and a vote.

The bylaw changes approved by the Board must be submitted for approval at the next House of Delegates Meeting.

Coaches Online Forum -John Spadafina reports for Dan Mascolo – Chris moves this to the next meeting because there needs clarification from Dan on the following:

*That the Senior Coaches Representative would be the administrator and moderator for the forum

* To see what guidelines there will be for screening of postings and obtaining of a password to access forum

*To flush out the rules for this event regarding privacy issues and control

*To finalize who will be providing the platform for the online forum. Dan received a bid from two independent web hosts: Scott Hughes www.scotthughes.biz who would set up a forum page to ctswim.org for $200.00 . Dan had not heard back from Rebecca Bridges www.rbproductionservices.com.

* A request was made to have a formal proposal of costs and services in writing from web hosts.

Nominating Committee Selection: Chris Hug – Bill Ball resigns from the nominating committee with David Heller, Dan Mascolo, and Ed Becker remaining on the committee. Names are suggested as possibilities; Tak Takabayashi, George Bradner, Roland Beneke Rob Riccobon, Jim Santiago. Chris will reach out and ask for additional volunteers to serve.

Volunteer of the Year –Christine Pelham – Rick Lewis and Christine will meet on this and decide by November 1, 2010.

Banquet Revisions – Chris Hug (on behalf of Rick Lewis) – no major changes for the 2010 banquet other then recognize Olympic Trials qualifiers, Senior and Junior National qualifiers at the beginning of the banquet More discussion to take place for adjustments to the 2011 banquet.

Senior Travel Approval – Bill Ball and Bob Shearer $23,975 was approved for athlete travel assistance for the 2009-2010 season.

Junior Coach Representative Appointment – John Spadafina for Dan Mascola This was tabled. John Spadafina will stay on as Junior Coaches Representative because the bylaws enacted on September 2, 2010 allow Coach Representatives to be from the same club..

NEW BUSINESS

Approval of the Vision and Mission Statement – Chris Hug A motion was made and approved to remove the word “enjoyable” from the Mission Statement and to prominently display together both CSI’s mission and vision statement, The following statements were approved:

Mission: Connecticut Swimming promotes the pursuit of excellence in swimming and in life through competition and education.

Vision: Connecticut Swimming….Better life through swimming.

Strategic Framework Plan – Chris Hug – Chris reviewed the strategic goals and wants to spend the next meeting to refine it further. Chris asks for feedback. He mentioned, as an example of an idea, create a script and have board members go out and talk to clubs about the opportunities available through CSI and USA Swimming.

LEAP – Chris Hug – He will be contacting board members. There is a February 2011 deadline to work on this..

Adapted Swimmer of the Year- Judy Snow – Judy Snow nominated Kristin Duquette as Adapted Athlete of the Year based on her performance and nomination by USA Swimming for the Tricia Zorn Disability Award.

Athlete Representatives – Our new bylaws require 4 Athlete Representatives and removal of the election from the Senior Championship meet. A new election procedure must be established. Dan Mascolo will work with the Athlete Representatives to formulate a proposal for the Athlete Representative election.

Coaches Education Grant –Up to $500.00 is awarded to as many as 4 recipients. This year $500.00 is awarded to each of the following coaches: Hank Jenson, Dan Mascolo, Christine Pelham, Christopher Woolridge. A motion was made and unanimously approved

Reports of Officers

Officer’s reports were submitted prior to meeting. Summaries of each report were distributed at meeting. Additions to these reports are noted below:

General Chair Report – Chris Hug

Administrative Vice Chair – Rick Lewis – not present

Treasurer – Mary Wescott – Reports financial statements are at last year’s levels

Finance Chair – Bonnie Stittmatter – not present

Age Group Committee Chair – King Lee – no report at meeting

Senior Committee – Bill Ball/Bob Shearer-currently exploring the rules for changing the finals to top 4 in the A Final at Senior Championships. Discussion took place about creating a super final format 4,9,9 to increase competitive environment.