New England Swimming

Wellesley Community Center, Wellesley, Massachusetts

March 9, 2004

 

Present:  Bruce Mohl (SSA), Kathy Dacey (BGSC), Priscilla Davis (UN), Chuck Batchelor (CUDA), Thomas Bailey (BOSS), Caitlin Grant (SSA), Ray Grant (SSA), Amy Parratto (SSA), Mike Parratto (SSA), Dan Warner (NSSC), Mariella Allard (UN), Harriett Kinnett (MAG), Fred Catalano (BGSC), Carol Healey (SAC).  Guests:  Mary Riddell (NE Office), Rick Osterberg (UN), Ron Zuwallach (CCSC), Matt Craven (SAC), Janis Gately (BGSC), Joe Bernal (BGSC).

 

Secretary’s Report, Kathy Dacey (BGSC):  Corrections/additions to minutes of December 2, 2003:  Checking account balance as of September 30, 2003:  $60,937.59.  Omit paragraph reading “Safety Committee, Priscilla Davis (UN):  Priscilla Davis is looking for reimbursement for convention.  Motion made to accept minutes with above corrections by Priscilla Davis, 2nd by Dan Warner, motion passes.

 

Budget:  Kindly submit budget requests. 

 

Treasurer’s Report, Carol Healey (SAC): 

                        Checking account:  $97,542.21

Discussion regarding moving funds from the money market into a short term CD.

 

Reimbursement:  All requests for reimbursement were allowed, except those without receipts.  If a reimbursement request is submitted without a receipt, it will be reviewed again once the receipt is received by the NES office.

 

Meet Evaluations, Mariella Allard (UN):  Mary Riddell (NE Office) read a letter from Mike Spring (MAG).  Discussion followed regarding facility issues at the Regional meets, Ray Grant discussed the potential to further divide the meet into five sites.  Discussion regarding labeling the Regional meets as “championship meets”; they should be called end-of-season meets instead. 

 

Discussion regarding 12 & Unders, all felt this was an excellent competition.  Discussion regarding procedures implemented at the Easthampton site, requiring coaches to be on deck with no shoes, and athletes to have a cold shower prior to entering the pool.  This made the competition uncomfortable for coaches and athletes alike.  Ray Grant (SSA) will review these requirements with the Easthampton facility prior to any further competitions at this facility.

 

Matt Craven (SAC) commented that no distance psych sheets were available for the coaches at the Open, and that this proved to be a problem for the distance swimmers. 

 

Ray Grant (SSA) felt this meet was also very well run, although very heavily attended, which had some unforeseen issues emerge as the competition progressed.  There will be further discussion about adjusting the format to a Senior and Junior level championship, to keep the time frame to a more manageable level.  Further discussion regarding changing the format and getting bids for meets, written bids must be submitted; verbal interest cannot be considered when bids are granted.  Coach Bernal (BGSC) commented that this meet was so financially successful it could have been held at the larger, new facility at MIT, which would have allowed for two simultaneous race courses, thereby reducing the marathon aspects of the competition. 

 

Warm-ups were an issue; there was not enough space to warm-up sufficiently. 

 

Thomas Bailey (BOSS) commented that the distance days were brutally hard on the athletes, they were long and time lagged.  Other days ran quickly, sometimes too quickly. 

 

The overall consensus was that this was an exciting meet due to the fact that all the clubs in New England attended.

 

Amy Parratto (SSA) felt that the awards presentation was poorly done, and that the concession stand was severely lacking.  Due to the length of the meet, it is imperative that large amounts of quality food be available to the swimmers and spectators.

 

Chuck Batchelor (CUDA) felt that the 13-14 cuts for the 15-18 age group were too lax, and added unnecessarily to the length of the meet.  Laura Matuzack (GMA) feels that we need to work on perhaps adding another meet, in a championship trials/finals format for 11-12, 13-14, with 10&Unders during the mid day.

 

Mike Parratto (SSA) feels that we should make the Senior meet for 13 & Overs, with tighter cuts and allow for some bonus events to encourage attendance. 

 

Technical Committee meets on Wednesday, March 24, 2004.

 

Calendar Committee:  See the calendar which is presented in a tentative format. 

 

Discussion regarding holding 12 & Unders the same week as the political convention being held in Boston this summer.  Many feel it will be impossible to find hotel rooms.  There have been three teams outside the Boston area who have expressed interest in running 12 & Unders, although nothing has been received in writing. 

 

Matt Craven (SAC) is interested in seeing the season be scheduled as a progression, and questions why Sectionals are being held before the New England Open.  The response from the Calendar Committee is that the season is very short, and moving things around further will put the end of the New England season too far out of the Zone meet, which New England will be attending.

 

Bruce Mohl (SSA) commented again that we cannot re-do the calendar and need the written bids for meets immediately.

 

Registration:  Mary Riddell (NE Office):   commented that New England continues to have a lot of unregistered swimmers and perhaps we should reinstitute the fine system to put an end to this problem.  The allowable fine is $100. per swimmer, and this is for entering a meet, not swimming in it.

 

Technical Committee:  send comments to Dan Warner via email, found on the NES website under Contacts.

 

Laura Matuzack made a motion to have a coach representative at the Annual meeting or each registered team is subject to a $50.00 fine.  Motion passes.

 

Change to the By-Laws regarding 2.1.2.C and 2.2.3 Club Safety Coordinator, which changes 2.2.3 to now read “Each Club Member shall appoint an Active Individual Member or Coach Member to be a Club Safety Coordinator.”  Motion to make change by Ray Grant, 2nd by Priscilla Davis, motion passes.  Coaches can be the Safety Coordinator of record for a registered club.

 

Mary Riddell is looking for suggestions for Volunteer of the Year, a New England award to be presented at the Annual Meeting in May.

 

Zone Meet, Ray Grant (SSA):  Long course meet this summer will be held in Buffalo.  New England is looking to make a substantial presence at this competition.

 

Web Committee:  Website is up and running, all is OK.

 

Camps:  Amy Parratto (SSA):  May 8 is the Level 3 camp at Northeastern

                                                     May 8 is the Level 1-2 camp at Mt. Holyoke College. 

The charge is $20 for the day; the application will be available on the website next week.  Amy Parratto (SSA) is also very excited that coaches are approaching her about being involved in these events, and wants to remind coaches that she needs a male-female ratio for each camp, so everyone is encouraged to participate. 

 

Officials:  New England Swimming wants to recognize and thank Jed Graef of Vermont and Dick Crothers from Massachusetts, who are retiring from the ranks of active officials in New England.  We thank them for their years of active service and devotion to our association and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

 

There will be a Meet Officials Workshop to be held in Dallas, Texas May 29-31, 2004.  The Officials Committee is looking to send two NE representatives to this event, and is asking the Board to cover some of the costs associated with attending.  The committee will select two deserving officials, and asks that the committee cover airfare and the $200 registration fee.  United States Swimming is providing housing.  Motion made to cover these expenses by Priscilla Davis, 2nd by Laura Matuzack, motion passes.

Other Business:

 

Rick Osterberg (UN) is to look into putting a parent’s page on the NES website.

 

Priscilla Davis (UN) attended the National Adaptive Swimming meeting.

 

Kathy Dacey (BGSC) discussed the awards currently on hand and ordering additional awards to supplement them for the upcoming summer meets.  She will prepare a projection of what is necessary for this next cycle of awards.

 

Fred Catalano (BGSC) questioned what we can expect in terms of a bump/increase in membership in NES and United States Swimming following the Olympics.  Traditionally, following an Olympic year, which heavily televises swimming, our association has experienced an increase in membership.  Last Olympics, New England experienced an increase of 800 new members. 

 

Mary Riddell (NE Office) discussed the one day Open Water membership in United States Swimming.  The cost is not known at this time.

 

Coach Bernal (BGSC) thanked Mariella Allard (UN), Priscilla Davis (UN) and Mary Riddell (NE Office) for their hard work at the Open Meet and commented that without their expert assistance the meet would not have run so smoothly.

 

The next meeting of the Board of New England Swimming is scheduled for April 13, 2004, call the NES office for confirmation of the meeting should there be a weather alert.

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Dacey, Secretary