Corvallis Aquatic Team
Board of Director Meeting Minutes
March 14, 2012
Members Present:
Dennis Wells, Past President
Monica Macpherson, Treasurer
Anicia Criscione, Member at Large
Greg Bostrom, Coach
Nathan Boal, Master’s Representative
Kirsten Holbo, President Elect
Sandie Ashland, Secretary
Rick Guenther, Coach
Monique Schaefers, Team/Office Manager
Rhonda Soule, Meet Director
Members Absent:
Dave Twenge, Member at Large
Julie Turner, President
James Mellein, Pool Director
Rex Campbell, Member at Large
Guests:
Tom Brookes
Bonnie Smit
Amir Hartman
Jackie Rochefort
The meeting was called to order at 6:53 PM.
Approval of the minutes from the meeting dated February 8, 2012:
Monica moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Dennis seconded. All in favor, none
opposed.
Reports:
Swimmers’ Representative – Jacob Pebley
• No Community Service report. Will update the group in April.
Masters Representative – Nathan Boal
• Anicia mentioned that we have at least 3 master swimmers going to nationals. Donna
Buck, Pat Allender and Anicia.
• Anicia has overheard masters talking in the locker room and they are worrying about
next year when Rick is gone. Coverage will be figured out.
Treasurer’s Report – Monica Macpherson
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No report.
Team Manager Report –Monique Schaefers
• The office is almost done with painting and shelves. Things will be moved back in
soon. Monique needs to work with Nathan on the board. There has been a brief
discussion with Rick about purchasing a digital photo frame like Yogurt Extreme instead
of putting photos up.
Coaches Report – Rick Guenther
• Senior Oregon A’s - the kids are usually flat in swims after high school and 11-14’s, but
they did well. There was a lot more energy and focus. The meet was much better. Ian
Leeming got the high point for the boys.
• Senior Sectionals – best CAT relay meet ever on the men’s side. They dominated and
broke records. Allison broke 5 records, Jacob broke 2 records.
• AGS – last weekend in March. Rick will be in Indy during this time. They leave
Thursday, race Friday – Sunday.
• Technology – Rex’s work is used a lot. Now that the season is done, we will work on
stroke. We can go to You Tube, download to a phone and plug it in.
Coaches Report – Greg Bostrom
• Greg is setting up the Reno trip, June 14-18. This is an all team trip. We will leave on
Thursday, meet is Friday - Sunday. Anicia mentioned that we have another day to make
up, but the information has not been announced yet.
• 10 and under Champs – great swims. Nathaniel broke 2 team records. Everyone swam
well. The 1st day had huge time drops. It was a fun meet and pretty exciting.
• 11-14 Champs – Lindsey broke the 200 IM record. Allison broke a couple records.
There were really amazing swims in prelims. Rachel got 2 AGS times.
• Trophy League – dates have been set at our pool, however we want 1-2 meets at other
pools. Greg needs to email other teams. Marissa will take care of flyers and the party
after trophy league.
• Open house April 30th at 5:30 - need parents and board members to help.
• All Comers Friday, April 27th at 5 PM - Marissa is handing out information to swim
lesson kids and doing flyers for schools.
• Oregon Swimming B/C camp at Mac Club. Greg will put a link on the website. He will
make sure it will go into the newsletter. It is on April 7th from 10:00 -1:30.
• AGS – need to talk with swimmers about practices Monday - Wednesday over spring
break from 12-1:30. Greg will send out emails. Friday the 23rd - cancelling practice for
everyone except AGS will have regular practice. Rick added that the senior squad will
have regular practice. Thursday the 29th practice will be in Federal Way at 7 PM.
• Long Course Champs for summer – made a few alterations to last year’s meet. 10 and
under and 11 and over. The committee needs to get back together for a few
recommendations. Looks like they want to add a 3rd meet like we do during short
course. This year it is exactly the same as last year except for relays.
• Olympic Trials – Greg has an opportunity to go. He would run practice, fly Thursday
after morning practice and then come back before Monday practice. He is staying with
Rick and Larry so there would be no additional hotel cost. This was discussed last
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summer and nothing has been finalized. Greg is not going for the whole time because
he needs to be here. Dennis commented that we need to just make sure Friday is
covered.
Are we working on a plan for when 33% of the staff is gone? Rick replied that Ellen’s
last day on deck will be the 1st week of May. Hallie is looking at Memorial Day
weekend. Ellen will not be returning. Marissa just got hired on at Heresco Chiropractic.
Her last day will be Thursday and she will continue to coach Senior I on Tuesday until
the end of school and will run Senior I through summer. Mark Worden will coach
Senior I on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Hallie will cover Thursday with insanity and
ultimate. We are looking for a coach to run Ellen’s groups. Dennis asked if they are
taking applications. Yes. Anicia suggested not having new coaches coaching novice.
She would suggest Greg or Rick coach novice. Rick and Greg will discuss this. Rick
added that we would love to hire consistency. It is finding someone who can be
consistent. Greg commented that it is hard to find someone who is available at 3:30 for
an hour. Rhonda commented that from the financial aspect of the team, Greg makes
more than the novice coaches. Anicia thinks we will lose families with all of the
changes and she feels it would be in best interest of the team.
Spring Invite – lots of good swims.
Pool Director Report – James Mellein
• James felt that the meet was fantastic and will consider changes and minor modifications
for future meets.
• They just got notice about a $15,000 donation for the UV project.
Meet Director Report – Rhonda Soule
11-14’s
Meet generally ran very well. Profit around $10,200 – last year was $10,500. Small ups and
downs in most areas – heat sheet sales and concessions up; income from vendors and time trials
down.
T-shirt sales: We heard positive comments about the design and the products offered by
Element Graphics. They sold out of several items early in the meet, including the small and
medium tie-dye hoodies. We have not received final check from them, but it is expected to be
around $3,000 since their sales were around $12,000. (We are to receive 25% of gross sales or
$2,500, whichever is greater.)
Main issue with meet continues to be seating and parking. There isn’t much we can do in the
area of parking – it is limited, school lot & B&G spots are not available Friday, people will
illegally park in bus and bike lanes no matter what we do. I attempted to make improvements
in seating by using larger signage and adding a “Spectator Hospitality” volunteer patrolling the
building. Both appear to have helped, but one volunteer is clearly not enough to do this job,
especially when we were also having them empty garbage and stock restrooms. The only way
we are going to see real improvement in this area is to have more seating and to better prepare
attendees for the situation before they arrive at the meet. My suggestions for next year are:
1. Have two “spectator hospitality” volunteers – one on deck, and one in the lobby and
upstairs; plus a trash monitor working an hour shift every 2-3 hours.
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2. Look into adding seating outside (for spectators, not athletes) with canopies with
sides/space heaters and audio feed so spectators can hear announcer. Adjust
transitional seating accordingly.
3. Send information about seating, parking, times doors open, etc. to all teams before
meet, and insist that they share it with the parents of meet attendees to prepare them for
the meet. My plan was to do this for this year, but time got away from me and it didn’t
happen.
Spring Invite:
Went very well – everyone seemed to have a fun time, lots of PRs, things ran smoothly. All
volunteer spots filled, in most cases by newer families to the team with children in the meet –
great on a weekend when many of our veterans were in Federal Way. We were running pretty
slim in the official category – all CAT officials who were in town for the weekend worked,
whether or not they had a child in the meet. Preliminary profit number $3,600; up from $3,000
last year.
Only issues were sharing the pool with Osborn’s open swim on Saturday which was difficult for
the lifeguards; and visiting teams not filling timing spots. These issues should be discussed for
next year. We had 290 athletes total; 222 of them from the 4 visiting teams. As this was very
frustrating, I suggest contact with the coaches and/or team presidents of those 4 teams to
discuss the need for the timing chairs to be filled. (This could be done now, or before the
meet next year, or both.)
CAT Policy Update:
There are some updates to the CAT policies in the meet committee area that were to have been
voted in after the November meeting via email – this did not happen. I will send it out within
the next couple of weeks for a vote.
Volunteers:
81 out of approximately 100 families still have hours left to work after the first 4 meets –
remaining hours to be worked by those families is about 510. The last meet, the May CAT
Open, requires about 400 hours total. I will allow timing at this meet to count towards hours
once all regular jobs are full.
I continue to get questions about allowing timing and/or officiating to count towards volunteer
hours. My response:
1. To run the 5 fundraising meets, it takes approximately 1800 volunteer hours total,
not including meet director and chairs of hospitality, concessions, clerk of course,
and setup/take down. This year we have about 93 families to cover those 1800
hours – 19.3 hours per family – which is why we have set the volunteer requirement
at 20 hours.
2. If we were to allow official hours to count towards the volunteer requirement, we
would take the officials out of the pool of volunteers before setting the annual
requirement. This would then increase the hours for all other families. Example: If
we had seven officials who were exempt from the regular volunteering due to their
time spent officiating at fundraising meets, that would reduce the pool to 86 families
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and increase the annual obligation per family by almost 2 hours. I recommend that
we have a committee discussion about doing this beginning next year.
3. Regarding timing – we cannot “mix” the requirement for operating our fundraising
meets and our obligation to time when we are a visiting team. This is because the
number of hours we need to run the fundraising meets is finite; while the timing
hours at away meets is unknown. Also – in order to allow timing at away meets to
count, we would have to increase our annual obligation to a much higher number.
The only way to ensure that we have enough volunteer hours to run the fundraising
meets is to keep it completely separate from other volunteer needs for the team.
Timing coordination should be something we continue to do at away meets by
having the team manager (or another volunteer in her absence) speak directly
with parents about timing and coordinate the timers to ensure that our team’s
obligation is being fairly covered. This has worked very well at recent meets.
2013 Meets:
Bids for 2013 championship meets are due March 31, as well as the meet applications for other
fundraising meets. I will submit these after board approval for the following:
Suggested schedule (based on 2012):
CAT SC Open – January 4-6, 2013
CAT Spring Invite – March 9-10, 2013
CAT LC Open – May 17-19, 2013
Oregon Senior Open – December 6-8, 2013
We may also want to consider adding the 8&U Festival (this year on August 4 or 5?) as an
official part of our schedule.
Championship bid:
10&U SC
February 16-17
2nd
11-14’s SC February 21-24
1st
Senior SC
February 28–March 3 3rd
12&O LC
July 13-14
13&O LC
July 26-28?
• Nathan suggested consideration of a small pool cover and also bleachers over the water.
Discussion will continue with James. Nathan suggested a price on spectatorship. Rick
suggested an extra swimmer fee to cover the costs. Monique suggested tickets for
spectators.
• Greg questioned why is it that we don’t get credit for officiating? Rick suggested a
committee meeting to discuss this.
• Rhonda needs to submit by the meet schedule by March 31st. The Senior Open is
already taken care of. She based the schedule on what we did this year. We could add
the 8 and under festival to the schedule for 2013. Rhonda also asked if we put
something on the schedule, do we have the option to cancel. Yes. Greg stated that we
are not doing the 8 and under festival. Championship Meets - 11-14’s short course is 1st
choice, 10 and under 2nd, and the Senior Short Course is 3rd. If we don’t get 11-14’s, we
would get 10 and unders. If someone else wants 11-14’s, we would lose the bid. If
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everyone is ok with this, Rhonda will submit it. Nathan suggested outdoor tents with
propane heaters for seating. Rhonda replied that is in there.
Volunteer Coordinator Report – Jerry Way
• Jerry wants to work on a plan that will encourage swimmers to recruit their friends and
have some incentive program for this.
Open Discussion:
Old Business:
1. Proposal to have future meetings at 7:05 PM. All agreed.
2. President Elect
• Motion went out to the membership. Dennis commented that it was 2 motions and
they are inconsistent with the way the by-laws are written.
• 1st motion – Kirsten Holbo will assume the position of the President (in the first
year of Board Membership), and will continue through her second year of
Board Membership. She is not filling 2 positions. We want to stick to the 3 P’s
(President, President-Elect, Past-President). Nathan seconded. All in favor,
none opposed.
• There is a vacancy in the President-Elect position. Discussion with Tom Brookes
and general discussion amongst the board was held. Motion that Tom Brookes be
elected, and appointed, by the Board as President-Elect, to fulfill the remainder
of the term, which expires September 2012, at which time he will relinquish his
Board position. A new President-Elect will be elected at the annual general
meeting. Tom has graciously agreed to assume this critical position with the caveat
that this position does not put him in jeopardy if he is voted into another position.
Monica commented that Tom is familiar with the CAT Board as he has been on the
Board in the past. Monique added that decision making works better with 3 as
opposed to 2. Rick seconded. All in favor, none opposed.
3. Julie Turner – Member at Large
• Motion – Julie Turner would remain on the Board as a special member at large.
Jackie asked what the purpose for this is. Julie needs to complete some of the
projects she has been working on. It will be beneficial as she will also sit in the
position of Past-President in September. Dennis commented that the by-laws state
that the board will have no more than 16 members, with at least 3 members-at-large.
Kirsten added that it would be a limited appointment to complete past tasks. Anicia
asked what the issue is. Dennis asked why she needs to be a board member. We
form committees and select people to be a part of them. She has vacated the
Presidency and an argument could be made that she is not President and can’t be
Past-President. The by-laws say a recent past President. Votes generally go to
membership for voting. We need to be open and transparent. Amir asked if Julie
wants to do this. Yes. Tom commented that the larger you make the board, the
harder it is to come to a quorum. Jackie felt that it was awkward as she has not been
able to attend meetings, can complete projects without being a board member, can
come to meetings as a non-member, and could step into the role as Past-President.
She can do everything she is doing without a title. Tom asked if Julie wants to be on
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the board as a voting member. Kirsten replied that she did not want to lose because
she wasn’t able to consistently attend meetings. Jackie commented that she can be
as involved as she is able without creating a title. Rick commented that if she is not
a member-at-large, she will not be privy to what is going on. Rick wants her
involved so that when September comes she is up to speed. If she is not Past
President, there is a role to be filled. Monica asked if she can commit to being on
the board. Rhonda commented that as a member-at-large, your role is to attend
meetings. Anicia commented that there are several parents that have a lot of
knowledge and we do not want to lose this base, but it is a commitment. Tom stated
if she wants to do it, she should. His only concern is the quorum, but the numbers
shouldn’t be a problem. Kirsten proposed that Julie would remain on the board
as a member- at-large. Rick seconded. All in favor, none opposed.
4. CAT-a-thon –Bonnie Smit
• Prizes were discussed with Rick for people that raise over $1000. Collection is
starting over spring break. Bonnie is sending information to Monique to go on the
web-site. UV lights fundraising will be included in the fundraising information.
Jackie will send information to Bonnie that describes project.
5. CAT-a-thon Funds for UV Lights – Rhonda Soule
• Three scenarios were presented with a donation of a percentage of funds above
$25,000 from the CAT-a-thon going to the project.
• Monica discussed the financial situation and lack of funds means donations should
be evaluated.
• Dennis mentioned that we’ve been in a negative budget and we are not aware of true
operating costs. Identifying donations now is foolhardy. Should we pull from the
“rainy day” fund and then give it away? He is concerned about a negative balance
and the fact that this has not been budgeted for. It is deficit spending and concerns
how we are doing business. He understands the health concerns.
• Jackie disagreed about it being unconscionable because this project so directly
affects the health of our kids. Perhaps we can figure out another form of funding
with a partnership.
• Rick spoke to the air quality and how heavy training influenced and was detrimental
to our athletes. Rick sees this as a health thing that is important to our kids. Rick
wants to use incentives to motivate fundraising. Have incentives to make more, or
have no incentives and make less. Example: swimmer signed merchandise to
motivate…i.e. Ryan Lochte signed caps.
• Greg mentioned that we have budgeted $18,000 for the CAT-a-thon and that all
proposals by Rhonda exceed at least $22,000 before funds would be donated to the
UV project.
• Monique re-emphasized that having an identified project for the money will help the
kids raise the funds.
• Anicia clarified that anything over $18,000 is a cushion. Dennis replied no, it is over
$25,000 because we are already in a deficit.
• Scenario one was been selected.
New Business:
1. Club Leadership and Business Management School - Monique
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Club leadership is put on by OSI. It will be April 14th from 9 - 4 in Springfield.
CAT has a large group going.
Summer Activity Guide
• We missed the spring guide. Parks and Rec is putting together a special summer
activity guide and Monique thinks we should consider advertising in it. Jackie asked
if there is a fee. Yes - 1/3 of a page is $212, ½ page is $250. Space is on a 1st come
1st serve basis.
Rick moved that we get a ½ page ad for $250. Tom seconded. All in favor,
none opposed.
Fundraising
• Tom wants to move out of this position. Discussion about having every board
member bring 3-5 new business names to the table to compile a list of potential
contacts to pursue. Rhonda asked pursue for what? Heat sheet ads, sponsorships.
Tom commented that it is not a bad idea. We have struggled to get a cohesive plan
together. We need to know what it is we want to do before approaching these
businesses. Jackie recommended that the board invite the new chamber person to a
meeting.
BOD Team Leadership – Amir Hartman
• Amir has offered to take the board through a team building leadership workshop.
We want everyone to attend. Amir works with companies where boards and the
leadership want to build a vision. He facilitates a workshop that takes them through
the vision, goal, initiatives, and measurable outcomes. They brainstorm and come
up with a game plan. Dennis would recommend doing this sooner rather than later.
We can tie into the budget process so vision, strategy and budget is in place by
September.
Athlete Protection Training
• The training needs to be done online. It ensures that you are creating, maintaining,
and sustaining a safe environment. It is mostly geared towards athletes, but is for
everyone. The board and chaperones have to take this training. Monique will send
the link to everyone. Rhonda added that you have to be a USA Swimming member
to take the training. All board members should be registered.
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Roundtable:
• Dennis mentioned that Jayne is working on the awards banquet. She will get flyers and
notifications done. She talked to the school and is checking to see who is part of the
school district, Rhonda talked to her and she had the facilities form. She did mention
needing a school district employee. We cannot get in until 1:30. She requested that the
banquet not start until 4 PM. Nathan asked that invitations also be sent to the masters
when they go out to swim team families. If the coaches want to do something to
recognize the masters swimmers, that would be great. Jackie thinks it would help CATa-thon if they are involved more with the team. Rick commented that some of the
morning masters really like swimming outside and we have to pay to heat the pool.
Monique will talk to Jayne about this. Nathan commented that the CAT-a-thon is a
good idea. They would participate.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:32 PM.
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