NASA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MEETING MINUTES
3/21/2007
CALL TO ORDER: The NASA Board Meeting of March 21, 2007 was called to order at 6:25 PM. Joe Keller, Wendy Bernth, Brad Fisher, Les Stoller, Bill Spilman, and Bridget Griffin were present. Melissa Laughlin was absent. The meeting minutes from February 21, 2007 were approved as written.
ALL MEMBERS:
The committee structure for the board will be introduced at the fall parents’ meeting. Implementation of this structure will begin in the fall with the understanding that it will be a gradual shift. Board members should be thinking of how to make this happen in their areas. Joe distributed specific responsibility lists to Board Members. Board members were asked to review the list and give changes to Joe so he can finalize the list. The Board reviewed and updated the by-laws beginning with Article VI through the end of the document. Wendy will make the revisions and talk with an attorney about our next steps. The new Board Governance documents will be used with our new board members. We also need to provide club leadership opportunities for our new board members. The Dollars for Scholars award recipient will be determined at the April 11 Award committee meeting. Joe is a member of this committee and will keep us informed. Joe reported that Tony Young has recommended Joe and our club as a resource to many smaller clubs. USA Swimming has officially kicked-off the Club Recognition Program. This will lead to the Club Excellence Program. They have included an incentive package for the Club Recognition Program that might provide some nice items for our raffles. The Club Portal information needs to be completed for this program. Also, having our by-laws updated and our new Vision/Mission/Purpose is all part of the program. Joe is developing a proposal for the new V/M/P. Joe presented the summer coaching staff. Joe will have the Senior Group, Bill will coach the Star Z and Gold Groups, Evan will coach the Blue group, and Maria will return to coach the Star S and Developmental Groups. The Crystal Valley Connection was contacted regarding the letter sent by Mike Ganger. There will be press passes available for our meets. Bill and Joe have met several times to prepare for the summer season. Joe will have the summer packet of information ready by March 30. The year round information will be mailed no later than April 9. Wendy and Bridget will meet over Spring Break to do this. There will be some practice times changing due to Maria coaching Star S and Developmental. The practice calendar, meet schedule, parent meeting info, board rules, fundraising information, referral coupon, and information about the upcoming season will be included in the packet. Medical Forms, Terms & Conditions, and Sign-up sheets will only be needed for new families. Current members need to provide Wendy or Bridget with any changes to their current information (address, insurance info, phone number, email…) Also, please provide Wendy or Bridget with any changes in your status regarding the phone list, web, and email list. Start up dates are as follows: Tuesday April 17 – Senior Group starts, 5:30 – 6:30 Returning swimmer sign-up, Thursday April 19 – New parent Meeting 7 – 8:00, returning swimmer sign-up 6:30 – 8:30, Monday April 23 – Tryouts, 6-7 PM, Tuesday April 24 – First day of practice for remaining groups (based on calendar), April 30/May 1 – Official Registration and first dues nights. Also, meet sign-ups can occur through April 24th. The next Board Meeting will be April 16, 2007. Informational fliers will go to all the schools along with the summer camp info and swim lesson information. The student assistants will help get the packets assembled and Patti Keller will deliver them to the schools. The winter meet schedule was discussed. We have a great opportunity to raise additional funds by hosting a meet during the winter season. The deadline to get on the schedule is May 1. We will make a decision at our next board meeting. We will proceed with the family referral coupon for the summer season. As word of mouth is one of our greatest recruiting tools, we will offer existing families an incentive to bring new families to our club.
WENDY: Wendy distributed and reviewed financial reports for the club. Bill Griffin and Spenser Hanson have expressed their interest in joining the club this summer. There is a new NCAA ruling that may prevent them from competing in meets that include high school swimmers. USA swimming is appealing this ruling. All Pre-Competitive swimmers will move to Developmental either this summer or in the fall. The Great Race is on May 26. The packet is being finalized. Joe distributed the inventory list and recommended an order for next season. The board approved purchasing six stopwatches with the balance of the water money from high school and middle school meets. The remaining aquablades will be used this summer and then we will dispose of them. The senior level swimmers participating in the sectional meet will receive performance suits from TYR. The Board approved offering the “short john” as an alternative to girls for their performance suit. A discussion on the state team photo in the paper resulted in ideas for the future; let kids wear team attire other than their suits or put the boys in the back rows if they are in their suit. Wendy will order water for the summer season and remind Hawkins to let Joe know when they will be delivering it. NASA received $250 from Mancino’s for the give-back night. Medical Release booklets will need to be updated for the summer season.
BRIDGET: The responsibility list and meeting minutes are due to Joe by the Awards Ceremony. Once the meeting minutes are complete they can be emailed to Phil for the website. Meet results and awards are complete for the Concord Meet, Time Trials, and Senior State. Results need to be finalized for Age Group State and Sectionals. We have not received the ribbons from the Gator Swim Club. Results for all meets since the Gator Invite will be included in the Award Ceremony packet along with the Top Ten Times Listing. The USA list for the summer season has been given to Joe and Bill for planning purposes. The Club Portal information needs to be completed. The Summer Invite Sanction has been obtained and the meet packet will be posted on our web site and Indiana Swimming’s meet information section. Also, Bridget will send the meet set-up file to Indiana Swimming. Awards for the meet will be ordered. Joe mentioned that there will be no swim lessons on the Friday of our meet. Pre-Competitive Certificates, Senior State Certificates, Sectional Certificates, and the regular participation certificates are being completed for the Award Ceremony. Also, Brennen received a Top 16 certificate and an award for being the Top Performer for 10 & under boys for the 2006 long course season. Address labels will be printed for the year round mailing. The updated records need to be posted in the NASA office window.
BRAD: Capital projects are on hold until the new pool is complete. Brad is working on updating the concession information for the Summer Invite. The fruit delivery is complete. The delivery was difficult – it would be easier if we had a better location. The Chicken Sale is set for May 5 from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm in Middlebury. It will be a Senior Group project with Melissa Spilman supervising. There will be presale tickets available at the award ceremony. Pre-sale tickets will be due back April 30/May 1. Chicken will cost $5.00 per half. Information will be on the NASA web page. Brad will talk to Dawn Gardner about the Kohl’s workers helping out so we can qualify for the $500 donation. The t-shirts have all been distributed. We have one extra sweatshirt that will be used as a raffle prize at the Award Ceremony. Other raffle items include a “SWIMMING” photo mat, the trophy from the Gator Meet, some car decals, and M. Phelps posters. The leftover pop and Gatorade from the Sprint Meet will be used at the Award Ceremony. Set-up will be at 5:30. Brad will discuss the summer fundraiser and the chicken sale as part of the agenda. The Little Ceasar’s Pizza Kit fundraiser will be held this summer. Packets will be distributed at the start of season sign-up/meeting and in the year round mailings. They will be due back in mid May. Exact information will be distributed. The record board needs to be updated.
LES: There are still families needing to attend the Level IV/Timer’s clinic at the start of the summer season. New families will also have to attend. The Level IV Clinic will be offered on April 30 and May 1 at 7:00 pm for all new families and the families on the list. Joe suggested that Les contact Carey Camarata to schedule him for our November Sprint Meet as Carey is already being contacted for high school meets. The Ad Solicitation Committee plans to meet soon to discuss the next steps for their committee. Les will contact Mrs. Lamble for marketing ideas. We have received ad money from First Source Bank. The Goshen Health Care System Grant application would be evaluated soon. We should hear the results some time in April. A Level II/III officials clinic needs to be scheduled early this season.
MELISSA: (Joe’s comments) Joe has updated the recruiting tri-fold and had 50 copies made. Joe will meet with the 8th graders (swimming for Heritage) to talk about the opportunities in our community for swimming. The recruiting fliers will be sent to the schools the week before spring break.
COACH KELLER: PRACTICE/TRAINING ITEMS: There are about 15 athletes training in the off season right now. After the Heritage season, 8th graders are eligible to join the off season training group. The summer structure will, for the most part, be the same as last year. There will be some time changes for practices. During next season, the coaches will implement the new rule change regarding water depth minimum for starts. MEET ITEMS: The Time Trial was successful with several life time bests. In some cases these times were not bettered at the state meet. We can expect to see more time trials and intrasquads as part of our meet schedule. Bill and Joe are evaluating the Partner’s Program. They are brainstorming other ideas to cultivate relationships between the older and younger swimmers. The Concord Invitational was a great end of season meet for our team. At Senior State, NASA was 10th overall. The boys were 6th. This is only the second time we have placed in the top ten at the winter Senior State. At Sectionals NASA was 12th, the highest placing Indiana team. The boys placed 8th while the girls placed 19th. At Age Group State, NASA placed 20th as a team. The boys were 10th. The team attire (blue jackets) looked great. The parent meeting was able to be held earlier because of out meet schedule. The Top Ten Listing for 2005 – 2006 will be included in the awards packet. When we hand out certificates at the award ceremony, all the certificates (state and sectional) will be included at one time. We distributed $1260.00 in awards to our athletes as part of the award system for new cuts earned during the winter season. We distributed 16 practice caps, 12 NASA Caps, 18 NASA towels, 9 sweats, 3 Fusion suits, and 1 travel bag. The meet schedule is tentatively set. It will be distributed at the season start-up. Hotels for the weekend of Age Group State (in Fishers, IN) will be expensive and hard to find due to the Brickyard 400 being the same weekend. The board decided to reject an offer for group reservations due to discontinuing team hotels this past season. If club members are interested in returning to having team hotels for travel meets the board will add it to an agenda for discussion and a decision. COACHING: Joe has the coaches’ evaluations and they are available to the board if we are interested. One assistant coach will be hired in addition to the coaching staff mentioned earlier. Contracts will be needed for the assistant coaches. Coaches will not be attending the Central States Clinic as it is scheduled the same weekend as the FAST Meet. Maria and the new assistant coach will need to complete the background check procedure before starting to coach. Maria also needs to update her STSC. ACTIVITIES: There will be a Star Z activity this weekend. There is a possibility of a Senior Group Training trip. Joe is looking at pairing up with another team for this activity. The Chicken Sale money will be used to offset costs for this activity and to help with expenses for the IU Meet. Information regarding the Catch the Spirit Camp will be coming out soon. There is also an Age Group Memorial Day Camp for athletes. Nathaniel Stoller is participating in an USA Swimming Select Camp over the Memorial Day weekend. Race Analysis was used at the state meets and Joe has learned how to run the program. OTHER PROGRAMS: The high school boys were 6th at state. This is the 6th year the team has placed in the top ten and the 5th time in the last six years. The middle school Hart County A Conference Meet will be held at Northridge on Monday, March 26. The B Conference will be at Concord on Tuesday. Joe is working on recruiting instructors for swim lessons. The school principals accepted the Community Rec Rental Policies. Community groups wishing to use the school facilities will be categorized in one of four priority groups. Level 1 groups are school based groups that will not be charged any money for the use of the buildings. Level 2 groups are classified as school/community groups and they will have no rental fees but will have to pay custodial/lifeguard fees. Level 3 groups are community based groups such as churches, Upward Sports, and AAU Basketball. These groups will be charged a rental fee. The last groups are for profit organizations and they also will be charged a rental fee for the use of the school facilities. NASA has been classified as a Level 2 group.
The meeting adjourned at 11:50 PM. The next meeting will be Monday April 16, 2006 at 6:15 in Joe’s office.