Granite State
Swimming Association (GSSA)
NASHUA COUNTRY CLUB, NASHUA, NH
ATTENDANCE: Representatives were present from the following teams: SSA, BST, RAYS, GTRS, BGCN, MKS, AST, ORO, JVST, CTS, NCC, PWSC, BAB, BLUE, RRSC, JRS, EST, MYT, PST, LRW, CCBS, CMS WST HHS, WMR, NST, CONY, NASY, EST. Representatives from the following teams were absent: GSC and SYT. A representative of the Merrimack Y, MMY, was present order to petition for membership.
PRESIDENT NOTES:
Complaints were presented to the president about the order of meets and the accuracy of birthdates of swimmers at the Championship Meet. These issues will be discussed during the meeting. Issues relating to certification of stroke and turn officials also need to be addressed.
NOMINATION OF OFFICERS:
President: Jim Rezzarday by BLUE. Seconded by JRS. Jim accepts.
Vice-President: Ed McLaughlin by LRS. Seconded by PWSC. Ed accepts.
Secretary: Jack Fabian by RRSC. Seconded by JRS. Jack accepts.
Treasurer: Joanne Jackson by RRSC. Seconded by NCC. Joanne accepts.
READING OF THE MINUTES:
The Minutes of the May 4, 2002 that had been previously sent to all teams were unanimously approved by acclamation.
TREASURERS REPORT:
A handout was given at meeting. Joanne Jackson presented a cash flow comparison from 5/21/2001 through 4/30/2003. Total inflows in fiscal year 2002-3 ($10,347.52) exceeded 2001-2 ($8,512.67) by $1,834.85. Total outflows for 2002-3 were $17,846.76 compared to $14,615.60 for 2001-2 (a difference of $3,231.16). Outflows exceed Inflows by $7,499.24 in 2002-3, while Outflows exceeded Inflows by $6,102.93 in 2001-2. A discussion of rental fees for various pools used or potentially used for championship meets followed. Matt Laramie of CTS mentioned that the estimated cost of the pool rental for use of the Claremont pool for this year would be $4200.
REVIEW OF MEMBERSHIP FEES:
The Merrimack YMCA (MMY) summer swim team would like to join the GSSA. They currently compete as a winter team but would like to provide a summer program for swimmers. They currently have 20-25 swimmers, which range from developmental to B-C level. Their membership application is sponsored by NASY.
MOTION by RRSC: to accept MMY as a division 4 team with a three year probation period with due payment. Seconded by AST.
The teams were given the option to use a secret ballot but this was voted against. A VOTE was taken on the MOTION to accept MMY. ACCEPTED.
REVIEW OF MEMBERSHIP FEES (cont):
Joanne Jackson presented the fee structure:
Div 1. $125.00
Div 2. $100.00
Div3. $75.00
MOTION by BLUE: to keep last years (2002) fee structure and not to require dues (except from teams still on probation). As part of this MOTION, the league would increase entry fees for the Championship meet to $2.50 for an individual entry and $6.00 per relay.
Seconded by RRSC.
A VOTE was taken to accept fee structure. ACCEPTED.
Team Manager. No upgrade needed.
DISCUSSION OF BYLAWS AND ADDITIONS:
I. PROPOSED CHANGE IN BY-LAWS:
Teams were given a handout with a proposed change to the By-Laws, section VII Championship Meet, part D. Participants. The proposed change would add a new rule stating that:
³All qualified swimmers entered in the GSSA championship meet must have the correct birthday (Day, month, and year) as part of their entries. Failure to do so will disqualify the swimmer. There can be no guessing of the swimmers birthday. If no birthday is supplied on the entry the swimmer will not have been entered as a valid meet participant and swill swim for no award and no points. The swimmer may not participate in team relays².
RRSC raised the point that a By-law change can NOT be voted upon at this meeting. It can be presented at this meeting and then members need six weeks to review the change. A separate meeting can be held in six weeks to vote on the change or the change can be voted on at the next annual meeting. This rule is designed to allow teams that send a parent representative to meetings the opportunity to review the proposed change with their coaches and team. RRSC mentioned that the change could be voted in as a new GSSA rule for championship meets, but not as a by-law change.
A discussion followed about the wording of the proposed rule change, consequences for teams that incorrectly enter a swimmer, and about how to check for errors in entries.
A MOTION was made by WMR to accept the following statement as a new GSSA rule that will be enforced at the championship meet.
³All qualified swimmers entered in GSSA meets must enter with a correct birth date (Month, Day, Year)².
Seconded by LRW.
A VOTE was taken to accept the proposed rule change. ACCEPTED.
DISCUSSION OF BYLAWS AND ADDITIONS (cont):
II. PROPOSED CHANGE IN ORDER OF EVENTS.
A proposed change in the order of events was given to all teams as a handout in their packet. The proposed change would switch the order of the butterfly events (currently #67-75) with the breaststroke events (currently#47-55). The proposed change in the order of events would make meets consistent with the order of events used at the championship meet.
A MOTION was made by AST to accept either the new or old order of events as a guideline. Seconded by BGCN. A VOTE was taken. ACCEPTED.
A MOTION was made by RRSC to use the new order of events (Butterfly as events #47-55 and Breaststroke as events #67-75) as a guideline for GSSA meets. Seconded by CCBS. A VOTE was taken on the MOTION. ACCEPTED.
Team alignments will stay the same this year with the exception that GSC and SYT will not be competing in the GSSA this year. Also, MMY will be added to Division 4. The venue for the Division 1 and 3 championship meet will be Dover and the venue for the Division 2 and 4 championship meet will be Claremont.
A handout was sent out to teams from SSA that proposed aligning teams for championship meets beginning in 2004 into two groups. One group is proposed to consist of USS registered teams, while a second division will consist of non-USS registered teams division. This proposal will be voted on at next years annual meeting.
Nominations of the division reps for 2003.
Division 1: Ed Faszewski (BST)
Division 2: Matt Laramie (CTS)
Division 3: Missy Rowell (RRSC)
Division 4: Regan Reed (CONY)
A MOTION was made by PWSC to accept division reps for 2003. Seconded by GTRS.
A VOTE was taken.
Accepted.
1. No Milford Pool for 2004. Claremont may not be able to host Championship meet in 2004. Missy Rowell, RRSC, proposed that we look into other locations and suggested the Whitcomb pool in Walpole might be another possible location. Jack Fabian, GTRS, said that this may be possible and that he would check with the Rec board about availability for 2004, another possible location that was suggested was the Hampshire Hill pool in Milford.
NEW VENUES FOR 2004 (cont.)
2. Stroke and Turn official problem. Several teams presented convincing arguments against the proposal to generate an GSSA specific official program. Most teams agreed that the USA swimming official training program is well structured and should be used by the league. The challenge is to make this more accessible to team parents. GTRS brought up the possibility of getting USA approval sanctions for GSSA invitational meets in order to provide additional apprenticeship opportunities for parents that complete official training programs.
3. Question as to whether to require all coaches to pass stroke
and turn test.
A discussion was held about this question. Several individuals pointed out that at least half the coaches in the league have passed a similar test as part of their ASCA certification. RRSC proposed that this requirement should be left up to the facility that hires the coach.
4. Stroke and Turn clinics.
Information about upcoming stroke and turn clinics will be provided via e-mail.
5. Stroke and Turn officials are now counted as a job at State Meets.
6. State Meet issues from 2002.
ORO was disappointed with the way the championship meet was run at Milford in 2002 and asked for clarification of this issue. SSA commented that it appeared that part of the problem may have resulted from the fact that the meet at Milford referee was try was really trying also perform admin functions and people thought that he should spend his time on deck. With Mary Gentry running the meet this year, these problems will be handled by the computer staff the way SSA does it. CTS was confident that the meet management team for the 2003 championship meet will be able to provide this service. RRSC asked that the league consider a proposed change to the By-laws that would prevent the president of the league from being the meet manager of the State Meet. RRSC mentioned that this puts too much power in one spot and does not allow teams proper recourse when seeking clarification of problems that occur at a meet where the league president is the meet manager.
1. Sanctioned Meets
June 7-8 Team Specialty Meet-Jenny Thompson Pool, SSA (closed)
June 21-22 Team Specialty Meet-Jenny Thompson Pool, SSA
June 28 Pentathlon- Peterborough, PWSC
July 5 Icebreaker Walpole, GTRS
July 10-13 Qualifier Meet- Jenny Thompson Pool, SSA
July 12 Queenie Quimby Claremont, CTS
July 19 Freestyle Invitational Walpole, GTRS
July 18-19 Rotary Meet-Milford, MKS
July Age Group Qualifier-Jenny Thompson, SSA
2. Web Site
A MOTION was made by RRSC that the league set up a web site. Missy Rowell mentioned that Jack Fabian of GTRS set up a site for the winter league that contained contact information, directions, and web site links. Jack was willing to do the same for the GSSA for $200 a year. Jack will set up the domain name and web site in the name of the organization and use the president¹s address for the contact information. Seconded by LRW. A VOTE was taken. Accepted.
3. 15-19 age group division for State Meets?
SSA suggested that the league consider changing the age group designation at the State Meet to include the ages 15-19. JRS and other teams mentioned that they were not in favor of this since some of their older summer swimmers are encouraged by their performances in a more restricted age group. No MOTION was made after this discussion.
4. Incorporate the GSSA?
A motion was made by RRSC to incorporate the league as a protection against potential liability. A discussion followed about what was required to incorporate the league. Other options to protect teams from liability were also discussed, including purchasing event insurance for GSSA meets and the coverage provided for USS registered teams. The president volunteered to look into incorporation and it was suggested that Bruce Mohl from SSA might be able to help with the wording used for an incorporation application.
A MOTION was made by LRW that the league look into costs involved in purchasing insurance. Seconded by WMR.
A MOTION was made to move next years meeting to the second Saturday in May due to a schedule conflict with the New England swimming annual meeting, which is also held the first weekend in May. Seconded by SSA. VOTE. Passed.
MOTION was made to adjourn the meeting by RRSC. Seconded by WMR.
Meeting adjourned: 11:30 A.M.
Team job assignment for champs to continue until finished.