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DRAFT minutes from NWSC December 2001 meeting

This is still a draft, i.e. it hasn't been approved by the board. That will happen at the board's next meeting. But hopefully it is accurate enough (having been reviewed by a bunch of people) and complete enough to provide a coherent idea of what happened, who said what, and so on. ---Rsk

NWSC Meeting Minutes
Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 30-Dec 2, 2001

Friday, November 30, 2001

Results of fall 2001 elections for regional and at-large representatives to the NWSC were certified by the NWSC. The annual business was then adjourned at 7:50 PM so that meeting of the new board could be convened.

8 PM: The meeting of the newly-seated NWSC Board of Directors was convened by the chair, Mr. Sloan.

Present at the meeting: Mr. Constable (treasurer); Mr. Leibfarth (region 4 representative), Mr. Brian Parsons (USACK slalom director), Mr. Sloan (chair), Mr. Bill Parsons (region 3 representative), Mr. Shipley (at-large representative), Mr. Brennan (region 2 representative), Ms. Lokken (at-large representative), Mr. Hearn (region 5 representative), Mr. Kurtz (head coach of Mach One Racing Team), Mr. Poberaj (USACK national slalom coach), Mr. Boyd (slalom athlete representative on USACK board), Mr. Kulawiec (slalom representative on USACK board), Mr. Hinkley (region 6 representative). Joining the meeting on Saturday and Sunday were Ms. Davidson (region 1 representative), Mr. Narduzzi (USACK national slalom canoe coach), Mr. Wilson (outgoing NWSC vice-chair), and Ms. Dingle (ACE executive director).

Mr. Bill Parsons moved to approve the agenda, with slight revisions to the schedule as indicated by the chair. Motion seconded by Mr. Shipley. Motion passed on voice vote of the board.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion and nominations to the positions of Vice-Chair and Secretary. The Chair indicated that Mr. Joe Criscione and Ms. Westcott had both expressed interest in the position of Vice-Chair, and that Mr. Fike had expressed interest in the position of Secretary.

Mr. Hearn nominated Mr. Kulawiec for the position of Secretary.

Mr. Constable moved that nominations be closed; Mr. Bill Parsons seconded the motion; the motion was approved by voice vote of the board.

After discussion by those present about the candidates, Mr. Bill Parsons moved that discussion be closed and the vote taken. Mr. Leibfarth seconded the motion, which was approved by voice vote of the board.

The vote for both positions was conducted by ballot; ballots were tallied by Mr. Constable. (Note that current officers of the board do not vote in elections for officers.) Mr. Criscione was elected as the Vice-Chair; the election for Secretary resulted in a tie. The board agreed by consent to await the arrival of Mr. Hinkley in order to conduct a second ballot for Secretary and break the tie.

Discussion of which athlete representatives would be continuing in office took place. The consensus was that Mr. Beakes and Ms. Seaver would be continuing, whereas Mr. Conklin and Mr. Grumbine would not. The Chair asked that Mr. Conklin and Mr. Grumbine be nominated to serve on the NWSC Executive Committee so that their replacements (from the election currently in progress) and the other two athlete representatives would jointly determine which two athlete representatives would serve on the NWSC Executive Committee.

Mr. Shipley moved that the Mr. Conklin and Mr. Grumbine be nominated to the NWSC Executive Committee. Motion seconded by Mr. Hearn. Motion passed by voice vote of the board.

The Chair opened the floor for nominations for the position on the NWSC Executive Committee which is available to a member of the board (i.e. a regional represetantive, an at-large representative, or an athlete representative). Mr. Leibfarth nominated Mr. Bill Parsons. Mr. Hearn nominated Mr. Leibfarth. Mr. Constable nominated Mr. Hearn. Mr. Parsons requested a secret ballot per the bylaws. A secret ballot was conducted, and the votes tallied by Mr. Constable. A tie occured between Mr. Bill Parsons and Mr. Hearn, so a second secret ballot was conducted, and the votes tallied by Mr. Constable. Mr. Bill Parsons was re-elected to serve on the NWSC Executive Committee.

After the arrival of Mr. Hinkley, Mr. Bill Parsons moved to re-open the election for Secretary. Mr. Hearn seconded the motion, which was approved by voice vote of the board. The Chair opened the floor for nominations. Mr. Hearn requested that the previous nominations be accepted by consent of the board; the board agreed to do so. A secret ballot was conducted, and the results tallied by Mr. Constable. Mr. Kulawiec was elected Secretary of the NWSC board.

The Chair opened the floor for nominations to the NWSC Executive Committee position which must be held by an officer. Mr. Hearn nominated Mr. Kulawiec; nomination was seconded by Mr. Brennan. Mr. Constable nominated Mr. Criscione; nomination seconded by Mr. Brennan. Mr. Kulawiec nominated Mr. Constable; nomination seconded by Mr. Shipley. The board consented to close nominations as there were no more eligible candidates to nominate. An election by secret ballot was held and tallied; Mr. Kulawiec was elected to serve on the NWSC Executive Committee.

The Chair opened the floor for nominations to the position of Chair of the Team Support Sub-Committee. Mr. Brian Parsons asked for the nomination of Ms. Dingle; Mr. Kulawiec nominated Ms. Dingle; nomination seconded by Mr. Bill Parsons. Mr. Sloan moved to close nominations; motion seconded by Mr. Kulawiec and passed by voice vote of the board.

The Chair opened the floor for nominations to the position of Chair of the Development Sub-Committee. Mr. Hinkley nominated Mr. Leibfarth; motion seconded by Mr. Bill Parsons. Mr. Kulawiec nominated Mr. Kurtz; motion seconded by Mr. Brennan. Mr. Brennan moved to close nominations; motion seconded by Mr. Shipley and passed by voice vote of the board.

A vote by secret ballot was held to select the Development Sub-Committee chair; votes tallied by Mr. Constable. Mr. Leibfarth was elected as chair of the Development Sub-Committee.

The Chair opened the floor for nominations to the position of Chair of the Events Sub-Committee. Mr. Hearn nominated Ms. Lokken; nomination seconded by Mr. Brennan. Mr. Constable moved to close nominations; motion seconded by Mr. Kulawiec, and passed by voice vote of the board.

The Chair requested a motion to elect Ms. Dingle to the position of Team Support Sub-Committee Chair and Ms. Lokken to Events Sub-Committee Chair by voice vote. Mr. Hearn so moved; motion seconded by Mr. Hinkley; motion passed by voice vote of the board.

The Chair asked the board to focus on strategic planning during Saturday morning's informal meeting (held at the same time as the USACK Board of Directors' meeting). The Chair asked the following questions be used to focus strategic planning discussions:

Mr. Brian Parsons asked the board to also focus on the question of how the development of athletes who are past eligibility for the junior team but not yet on the senior team could be aided. Mr. Parsons also distributed a report on his activities as slalom director.

The Chair delivered a short report on the financial implications of the cancelled 2001 Slalom World Championships for the organization. The Chair stated that he believes that there will be no financial impact; that the Ocoee LOC is solvent, and will not need USACK funding; and that while some questions remain about ICF money, the amount concerned is relatively small.

The Chair discussed the impact of funding changes at the USACK level on slalom activities. USACK revenue is expected do drop $200K (due to changes in the funding policies of the USOC) and that drop will be propagated to each of the disciplines. The slalom budget for 2001, after salaries/travel/etc. had been allocated, had approximately $120K in discretionary funds. The estimated amount of discretionary funds in 2002 would be about $60K.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion and ideas. After roughly an hour of discussion, Mr. Sloan moved to recess the meeting; Mr. Kulawiec seconded the motion, which was passed by voice vote of the board.

The meeting was recessed at 10:30 PM.

Saturday, Decmber 1, 2001

The meeting was covened by the Chair at 2 PM.

The Chair opened discussion of the events schedule for 2002. The only bid received for senior Team Trials was from Wausau; South Bend had already been chosen at the LOC for Junior Team Trials. Discussion of the races and the bids took place by members of the board.

Mr. Brennan moved to accept the bids as presented through Junior Trials; motion second by Mr. Leibfarth. After discussion, Mr. Hearn moved the question; motion seconded by Mr. Hinkley; motion carried by voice vote of the committee, thus approving the first 8 races on the 2002 schedule.

Mr. Kulawiec moved that the National Championships be awarded to the BCE (Sep 1-2); motion seconded by Mr. Hinkley. Discussion of the selection of the National Championships bid was held by the board. Mr. Shipley offered a friendly amendment requesting that if the BCE was chosen for the National Championship, and if fall 2002 qualifying races for 2003 Team Trials were held, that the Ocoee LOC be award a fall 2002 qualifying race; Mr. Kulawiec accepted the friendly amendment. Mr. Hearn moved to call the question; motion seconded by Mr. Bill Parsons; motion carried by voice vote of the board.

The board discussed the Jr/Sr/Ms Nationals and the Junior Olympics; among questions considered were whether the 18-30 year-old age group should be admitted to Jr/Sr/Ms Nationals (but kept as a separate age group) and whether the age groups at Junior Olympics should be subdivided (e.g. 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and so on). The Chair stated that he had asked Ms. Kathy Eichfeld to serve as the coordinator of the Junior Olympics.

Mr. Kulawiec moved that Junior Olympics be awarded to the Golden LOC; motion seconded by Mr. Shipley. The motion was approved by voice vote of the board.

Mr. Hearn moved that the Jr/Sr/Ms Nationals be awarded to the Durango LOC; motion seconded by Mr. Shipley. After discussion, Mr. Shipley moved the question; motion seconded by ????; a show-of-hands vote was conducted and the motion failed, Mr. Hearn abstaining.

Mr. Parsons proposed a motion to change the name of the race to "Age Group Nationals" (and include the 18-30 year-old group as its own class); motion seconded by Mr. Brennan. The motion failed on a show-of-hands vote.

Mr. Hearn proposed a motion to include the 18-30 year-old age group as an exhibition class at Jr/Sr/Ms Nationals; motion seconded by Ms. Davidson; motion passed.

Mr. Hearn moved that the name of the race changed from Jr/Sr/Ms Nationals to Age Group Nationals; motion seconded by Mr. Kulawiec. Motion carried by show-of-hands vote of the board.

Note: Durango was the recommendation by the Events committee and Brian Parsons. The idea to give all developing athletes (not just juniors) a chance to participate in a race series spurred the Age Group Nationals, Junior Olympics and US Cup on consecutive weekends in Colorado.

Mr. Brennan moved to include the 2002 National Championships as a qualifying race for the 2003 senior Team Trials, and do so each year in the future. Motion seconded by Mr. Hearn. After discussion, Mr. Shipley moved the question; motion seconded by Mr. Bill Parsons. Motion carried by voice vote of the board.

Mr. Hearn moved to include the 2002 Age Group nationals as a qualifying race for the 2003 senior Team Trials and do so each year in the future. Motion seconded by Mr. Kulawiec. Mr. Hinkley moved to table the motion in lieu of further discussion about Age Group Nationals; motion to table seconded by Mr. Bill Parsons; motion passed by voice vote of the board.

The Chair opened discussions of the 2002 budget for slalom. The Chair stated that he felt it desirable to create a balanced budget, outlined the funds likely to be available, and explained the shift in some funds due to shifts in funds provided by the USOC. Extensive discussion took place among those present using a "strawman" budget proposal presented by the Chair. After this discussion, it was the consenus of the board to resume this discussion on Sunday.

The Chair asked for discussion of the slalom rules changes as proposed by Mr. Fike. Mr. Constable moved that the changes be considered; motion seconded by Mr. Hearn. Motion passed by voice vote of the board.

Mr. Brennan moved that the board strike part 38.D.6 of the rules (which concerns the posting of course maps) and renumber 38.D.7 to 38.D.6; motion seconded by Mr. Constable. After discussion, Mr. Bill Parsons moved the question; motion seconded by Mr. Hearn; motion passed by voice vote of the board. Mr. Kulawiec voted no.

Mr. Kulawiec moved to call the question of the rules changes as proposed by Mr. Fike. Motion seconded by Mr. Brennan. Motion passed by voice vote of the board.

A motion to amend section 38's title, and section 38.A. to include "Junior Olympics" was made by ????. Motion seconded by Mr. Brenann. After discussion, the motion was passed by voice vote of the board.

A motion to recess was made by Mr. Constable; motion seconded by Ms. Lokken. Motion passed by voice vote of the board.

The meeting was recesssed at 6:15 PM.

Sunday, December 2, 2001.

The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 11:45 AM.

The chair proposed the following budget for 2002:

Mr. Shipley moved to accept the budget; Mr. Bill Parsons seconded the motion. The motion was passed by voice vote of the board.

The Chair asked for discussion of the next meeting date; it was proposed that it be held around the time/place of the 2002 Ocoee Doubleheader Race. The Chair also requested that members make themselves available for a meeting via tele-conference on 12/31/2001 in order to certify slalom rules changes in time for the 2002 racing season.

After discussion, Mr. Shipley moved that the meeting be held on March 25, 2002; motion seconded by Mr. Brennan. The motion was approved by show-of-hands vote of the board. Mr. Hinkley voted no.

The Chair requested that a conference call of the board be scheduled for approximately the second week of January 2002, in order to approve Team Trials criteria for the year 2002. It is anticipated that draft criteria will be available around the second week of December 2001.

Mr. Bill Parsons moved to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Brennan seconded the motion. The motion passed by voice vote of the board.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 PM.


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