NASA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MEETING MINUTES
July 8, 2008
CALL TO ORDER: The NASA Board Meeting of July 8, 2008 was called to order at 6:20 PM. Joe Keller, Wendy Bernth, Brad Fisher, Kristi Sandt, and Bridget Griffin were present. Paul Friesen also was in attendance. The meeting minutes from June 10, 2008 were approved as written.
ALL MEMBER: The new system of board members having greater responsibility for reporting on their items continued with this meeting. Items on the responsibility lists have been moved to specific board member’s lists. Board members were reminded to continue compiling and updating procedure manuals. We will continue to focus on developing our new committee structure. In the future we would like to design our agenda to parallel the committee structure. Paul Friesen attended our Board Meeting and will be considering joining the board as Brad’s replacement. The board discussed various aspects of structure, policies, responsibilities, and procedures with Paul. Coach Keller and Coach Spilman are starting to plan for the fall coaching staff. The evaluation process for the coaching staff is underway. All group coaches and assistants are evaluated by Coach Spilman at the end of each season. Coach Keller evaluates Coach Spilman at the end of each season. It is scheduled for the weekend of Age Group State. Coach Keller’s evaluation is completed annually by the board. Coach Keller also completes evaluations of the Business Manager and the Administrative Assistant annually at the end of summer season. This will occur the week of August 11th. Between August 25 and September 11 the board needs to prepare for the annual parent meetings. The first board meeting for the winter season will be the week of September 29. The House of Delegates Meeting is scheduled for Saturday October 4, 2008. Coach Keller reviewed some elements of the Strategic Plan. The Partner’s Program will continue. The board will host an Open House early in the winter season for all NASA families. Coach Keller has conducted 14 individual family meetings to date. He has talked to families from every group as well as a wide spectrum of experience. Some general feedback was reviewed. Some positives of our club include the Partner’s Program, the two week trial period, the Fall Open House, the weekly email blasts, the flexibility the board and coaching staff have when working with individual families, good communication systems, and a positive atmosphere (cheering parents at meets!!) Some concerns expressed included confusion over the different partners that may be assigned, the first meet experience (overwhelming to some!), and the website this summer. There was a wide range of opinion when asked how they felt about the cost of swimming. Coach Keller further discussed the idea of developing a list of frequently asked questions to help families. The dates for the start-up of the Winter Season are as follows:
September 8 – start of 2 weeks of off season for high school and middle school athletes. September 16 – New Family Parent meeting
September 18 – Parent meeting
September 22 – New swimmer tryouts
October 6 – First dues collection
For the next summer season we will start one week later than we typically do. The Senior Group will begin on March 23, 2009. The Age Group swimmers who have committed to the year round program will begin training on April 13. Tryouts for new swimmers will be on April 20. The Spring Speedo Sectionals will be LCM from now on. Coach Keller is planning on taking a group of qualifying athletes. At the end of the winter season Senior State will be March 13-15, Age Group State will be from March 20-22 and the Sectional Meet will be March 27-29. Coach Keller is continuing to evaluate the practice schedule for next season especially for the high school group. Coach Keller reported on some Year Two items from the Strategic Plan. The board needs to determine some ways to provide parent activities that are educational and fun. Engaging parents in the club is very important to success. The club will continue to focus on Race Analysis. The Olympic trials have provided good topics for discussion. Coach Keller and Bridget will review the website and determine what needs to be added to it to restore it. We need to resign an annual contract with Hy-Tek in August so our service will be restored. An Aquatic Website is still in future plans. It may not be a priority with the tech staff due to all the work involved with the moves to new buildings. The weekly email blasts are working well. There are only two families requiring hard copies. There is no information available for the Tri-Meet as of now. The 2009 New Year’s Classic will be a closed meet for the new conference including Concord, NASA, SWAC, and NACS. The meet packet for the New Year’s Classic needs to be revised. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at Rulli’s at 5:30 pm. The agenda will include Coach Keller’s evaluation, a budget review, Coaching contracts, and winter planning.
WENDY: Wendy distributed and reviewed financial reports for the club. Coach Keller reviewed the most recent group changes. Wendy is current with the changes and has moved the folders. The only outstanding bill is the Kast-A-Way award order. Wendy will have end of season reports for the next meeting including an updated NASA Meet Report. Some of the Senior group fund money will be used to offset the cost of the Senior State Trip. There are 20 athletes competing. Coach Keller proposed allocating the remainder of the fund to the 2009 Spring Speedo Sectionals trip. Coach Keller reviewed the swim lesson financial status. There will be a final lesson sign-up on July 17. The last pay date will be early so it is finalized before Age Group State. Casey Schroeder will be able to swim as a NASA athlete effective July 26. He will swim unattached for the Thursday and Friday of Senior State and then swim attached the rest of the meet. Coach Keller presented a proposal for a suit order for next season. He would like to place a large order and switch to the polyester blend suits. He also wants to provide care directions to help eliminate the trouble some people are having with their suits. All forms and medical form books are finalized. The Agelity information will be distributed in the fall. The new address for the high school is now available and we can update the by-laws. Wendy will place an order for water to be delivered in September. We will use the existing water and leftover pop at the Award Ceremony. The Board approved the reimbursement of the basic zones package for all NASA athletes who are competing. State Team attire has been ordered.
BRIDGET: The responsibility list and meeting minutes are due to Coach Keller by July 18. Once the meeting minutes are complete they can be emailed to Phil for the website. Meet results and new cuts have been finalized for the FWA Meet, the NASA Meet, and the second Intrasquad meet. Coach Keller reviewed the new awards earned from these meets. The Tri Meet results will be completed this week. All results beginning with the Tri-Meet will be included in the Award Celebration packet. State eligibility reports are needed after each meet. Entries for the state meets are due soon. Printouts of the entries and the fee sheets are needed for the parent packets that will be distributed at the parent meetings. The Senior State Parent Meeting will be on June 21st at 6:15 PM. The Age Group Parent Meeting will be the following day. All athlete group changes are complete in the computer as of now. Attendance sheets for late July and early August are needed by July 21. All reports and results from the Summer Invitational have been distributed to the teams and Indiana Swimming. The date for next summer was discussed. Some options include having the meet on June 26-27-28 or having it before school is out for the year. A meet scheduling request and a rental agreement are needed once the date is established. Bridget will have updated SPRINT Meet packets at the next meeting for the board to review. Once the packet is finalized we can apply for a sanction. After we have received a sanction we can post the information on the website. The Senior State Certificates from last winter have been corrected. Two sets of certificates will be needed for this summer – LCM and SCY. Also, certificates for Senior State, Open Water, Zones, and Junior Nationals will be needed. Coach Keller needs a USA listing from this season for planning purposes. Tony Young does not have any give-aways for us to use at this time. In the fall there will be new standards for B/BB/A/AA/AAA/AAAA cuts.
BRAD: There was nothing to report on Capital Projects. Having a concession stand at the new pool will create opportunities for us to expand our concession stand. There will be no food or drink allowed in the spectator area. This will be an added job – someone to keep people from taking food and drinks into the stands. The hospitality room will be upstairs. The chicken sale date for next year is May 9, 2009. We will just have one date next year. The new swimmers joining NASA in the fall will receive a free team t-shirt. Currently the sponsors have their names on the shirts that parents and swimmers can order. The board was asked to think about having the sponsors listed on the team t-shirt that we provide the athletes for free. If so… how do we update it – do we give new shirts to everyone each year or adjust the business sponsorship plan?? Concessions for the Summer Invite went well. Paul suggested providing free coffee to spectators. Kast-A-Way appreciated the help unloading and loading the van. The adaptors for the remote monitors worked out well. The Little Ceasar’s fundraiser pickup went well. We ended up with one NSF check. Brad has arranged for a Hacienda giveback day for the fall. It will be on November 10. Brad explained the system to Paul. The focus of this will be to encourage people to purchase gift certificates for the holidays. The board discussed selling gift certificates at our meet and mailing them to people. Brad has arranged for a grill for the summer season award ceremony. The award ceremony will be held on Monday August 18 at Camp Singing Hills. NASA will provide hamburgers and hotdogs. Brad will organize the drinks and paper products as well as check on a tent. Coach Keller, Kristi, Brad, and Paul will coordinate times. The NASA Meet Set-Up list was fine.
KRISTI: Wendy will distribute recruiting tri-folds to swim lesson families on July 18. VIBE is interested in providing services for our athlete photos for next season. The Coaches Corner for the end of the season will be distributed to folders this week. As a reminder the swimmer award system has been revised. Swimmers earning a first time C cut will receive a NASA Cap and those earning a first time B cut will receive a TYR drawstring bag. Kristi has been distributing buttons for first time cuts. Further information is needed on the proposal to provide a NASA blanket as an alternative award for second time curs. Colin Sandt will get the meat, buns, and condiments for the Summer Awards Celebration. The invitations with RSVP’s have been placed in folders. We will eat at 6:15 with the awards celebration to follow. Kristi will order the towels after the final BB cuts have been determined. Kristi reported on the procedure to send meet results to newspapers. The requirements are becoming stricter and more time consuming. We will continue to evaluate this procedure. The board agreed to not participate in the Middlebury Festival parade this year but to reconsider participation as well as a booth next year when there are no conflicts with Zones and Jr. Nationals. The publicity needed for winter season start-up will be finalized at the next meeting. Brad suggested moving the T-shirt responsibility from his area to Kristi’s.
JESSICA: (JOE) Thank you’s for the custodians are completed. Jessica has completed a mailing to local businesses requesting financial support for our club. Coach Keller reported that the American Legion is willing to help us out but would prefer to donate for a specific need. The website needs to have an updated list of sponsors. Coach Keller will talk to Jessica about hotel reservations for the winter season. Age Group State and Senior State will continue to have team hotels.
COACH KELLER: PRACTICE/TRAINING ITEMS: Maria is doing well with the Blue Group. There have been many absences due to vacations and camps. The staff needs to remain flexible and work with schedules. The training during the moratorium went well. Coach Kevin Troyer and Coach Evan Troyer coached the Senior Group during the moratorium as Coach Keller and Coach Steve Troyer were unable to be on deck. The Senior group and the Star Z groups have started taper. The end of season calendar will be distributed on July 21. The last team practice will be next week. The pool will be shut down beginning August 6 or 7 for at least two weeks. The pool will be drained and cleaned. COACHING/EDUCATION: The ASCA World Clinic is being held September 3-7, 2008. We will not have anyone attending the clinic due to not receiving a grant the HS applied for. MEET ITEMS: The Senior State Meet trip is being finalized. The group will leave Northridge Thursday, July 24 in the morning and return on Sunday. Coach Keller reviewed the staffing for the upcoming meets. There are many different taper groups at this time. The State Team parent meetings were discussed. The State Team photo will be taken on Wednesday July 30. ACTIVITIES: The Age Group swimmers played miniature golf for an activity. Several athletes went to an Open Water practice at Camp Friedenswald. The Senior Group has had several different activities this summer. Their end of season trip to Michigan Adventure will be on Thursday August 14. OTHER PROGRAMS: The High School All American Team has been announced. Several of our athletes were named to the team for their outstanding performances. NASA will purchase a new plaque for the hall as the one that is there is almost filled. Several athletes planning to apply for the Scholastic All American Award were not able to do so. While they all had the required GPA, the swimming time standards have increased and none of the girls qualified. The Middle School is in need of a swim coach. There are several changes in the Administrative staff at the middle school for next year. The new activities Director is someone from Churubusco. Brandi Jones, Katie Griffin, and Daniel Troyer received their WSI certificates. The swim lesson numbers are growing. Coach Keller announced some changes on the school board. He is also working on a co-rec agreement for the outdoor athletic fields. Coach Keller is also discussing aquatic programming for the 4/5 building as it will be close to the pool now. The next meeting will be Wednesday, August 20 at Rulli’s starting at 5:30 pm.