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NWSC meeting minutes, March 1997



From: mdwilson@pop.mindspring.com (Marshall Wilson)
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 18:54:58 -0500
To: [NWSC Board] Subject: March minutes, August phone conference meeting agenda.

NWSC Meeting Minutes
March 22 & 23, 1997

This meeting was held in the building conference room on the second floor
at One Crown Centre, Tucker, Ga.


GENERAL

This meeting was the first meeting of the NWSC under the direction of Bill
Endicott as chairman of the committee.

Saturday March 22, 1997


CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 8:40 am Saturday morning by Bill Endicott.

ATTENDANCE

A sign in sheet was passed in lieu of a roll-call. Those in attendance were:

Officers
Chair: Bill Endicott
Secretary Marshall Wilson
Treasurer Bill Constable

1997 Board Representatives

Bill Constable, Midwest Alternate
Wayne Dickert, Dixie
John Brennan, Rocky Mtn. (Alternate)
Bert Hinkley, New England
Max Wellhouse, Southwest/Red River (mail in vote on by-laws and rules)
Tom Gelder, Pacific
Rich Kulawiec, Athlete Rep.
Mary Marshall Seaver, Athlete Rep.
Lecky Haller, Athlete Rep.

Committee Chairs & Coaches (if not listed above)

Jr. HP Team Support Committee, Dieter Kuberg
Coaches Education Silvan Poberaj
Scott Strausbaugh, Jr/HP Coach

Other Interested Parties

Herm Smith, St. Louis, MO
Terry Kent, Executive Director USCKT
Mary Burrows, St. Louis, MO
Renee Gelblat
Mike Larimer, Atlanta, GA

Mail In Votes

Max Wellhouse mailed in a vote to approve the By-laws changes to separate
the NWSC Development Committee into two committees and to amend the name to
reflect the separation of Wildwater from the NWSC.

CHAIR REPORT

Bill gave the board a report including the topics of the 2000 Olympics,
proposed USCKT by-laws changes, financial concerns.

The 2000 Olympics still are not looking good but they are looking better.
Some headway is being made on the international front for funding and
political support. Progress is being made on the issue of uses after the
Olympics. Five Olympic sites have been identified as the leading
candidates for the 2004 Olympics. Bill said it was important for us all to
start politicking now to get whitewater included in the 2004 Games.

The proposed USCKT by-laws changes were rejected by the Board. Bill said
that he thought the rejection was made for the right reasons and that the
Board was not playing politics with the issue but was trying very hard to
develop fair by-laws for the good of the sport. Bill went into some detail
about this issue. We will hear more in the future when the next proposal
is put forward.

Bill reported that the financial crisis facing us is very real and will
require a great number of changes in the way we do business and a great
deal of creativity. Bill is very interested and encouraged by the internet
and the potential for sharing information with people quickly and
inexpensively. Discussions with Rich Kulawiec and Renee Gelblat followed.
Rich is working on setting up an internet access and home page for the
purposes proposed by Bill. USCKT has also set up a home page. Bill
encouraged Terry and Rich to share ideas and explore possibilities to help
each other.

MINUTES

A motion was made by Bill Constable that the minutes of the December 1996
minutes be approved. The motion was seconded by Tom Gelder. The minutes
of the December 1996 meeting were accepted as amended by unanimous vote.

NWSC ROSTER

A motion was made by Tom Gelder and seconded by Bill Constable to approve
the NWSC roster as submitted with the following revisions: 1) Mary
Marshall Seaver was appointed to fill the position of Athlete
representative to the Executive Committee ( This appointment was approved
by the Athlete representatives present who agreed to allow the Chair to
appoint the representative to fill the vacancy due to the fact that the
athletes had not yet elected a representative), Tom McEwan was appointed as
chair of the By-Laws sub-Committee, Scott Strausbaugh was appointed as
Junior Hip Performance Team Coach, and John Holland was dropped from all
committees.

The Motion was passed by unanimous vote.

BY-LAWS CHANGES

1. Name change

A motion was made by Tom Gelder and seconded by Rich Kulawiec to change
the name of the National Slalom and Wildwater Committee (NSWC) to the
National Slalom Committee. After much discussion, it was agreed that this
name can be confusing. The motion was withdrawn.

A motion was made by Tom Gelder and seconded by Lecky Haller to change the
name of the National Slalom and Wildwater Committee to the National
Whitewater Slalom Committee. A friendly amendment was proposed by Tom
Gelder and seconded by Bert Hinkely to make the name change a blanket
change that will delete any references to wildwater as may be stated,
interpreted or implied from the by-laws.

The amendment was passed by unanimous vote.

The motion was passed by unanimous vote of those present including a "yes"
mail in vote by Max Wellhouse.

2. ESTABLISHMENT OF JUNIOR HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM SUPPORT COMMITTEE

A motion was made by Tom Gelder and seconded by Wayne Dickert to add a
Junior High Performance Team Support Committee to the standing committees
of the National Whitewater Slalom Committee.

The motion was passed by unanimous vote of those present and with a "yes"
mail in vote by Max Wellhouse.

3. CHAIR OF THE JUNIOR HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM SUPPORT COMMITTEE

A motion was made by Tom Gelder and seconded by Wayne Dickert to nominate
Dieter Kuberg to the position of Chair of the Junior High Performance Team
Support Committee. No additional nominations were received and nominations
were closed.

Dieter Kuberg was elected to the position by acclamation.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

USCKT Board Report

Proposed new By-Laws failed. Sprint representatives were against the
proposal due to the increased bureaucracy. Bill Endicott reported that the
concern was justified. A new committee has been appointed to re-write the
By-Laws proposal. Slalom will lobby to keep a 30% representation on the
Board.

A concern over subterfuge was expressed at the USCKT Board meeting by Mike
Sloan and Don Giddens.

Bill said that he did not share this concern. Bill mentioned that after
working with representatives from Sprint that he believed that most if not
all Board members were working for the good of the sport.

The NGB status change is behind the proposed by-laws change. The sport is
driven by the USOC who controls a large chunk of funds. The ACA/USCKT
money squabble is a driving force with the USOC who believes the fights
over money are bleeding the sport. From the USOC perspective, the ACA and
the USCKT both have deficiencies in fulfilling the role of NGB. Old
agreement worked for a while but the USOC said it did not comply because
of the lack of autonomy for the competition sports and the sometimes cross
purposes of an NGB that is focused on recreation and environmental issues
as a primary concern. A 50/50 USCKT/ACA board is not enough to satisfy the
USOC that the competition sports have sufficient control. The USCKT is
deficient as an NGB because the NGB has administrative responsibilities for
the other sports under the requirements of the ICF.

For this year, there have been no additional cuts in the slalom budget.
Sprint has experienced additional cuts due to revenues being below
expectations.

Terry Kent arrived at (:45 and spoke on the issues of the budget and
sponsorships. Due to budget cuts and pull back by major sponsors after the
Olympics, their will be no CIWS this year or any similar events. At this
date, it is too late to obtain one and organize the event. Currently there
is no Events Coordinator in the office. Terry mentioned too that
sponsorship strategies are changing and relationships are being established
with the TV networks for eight year periods. This presents a challenge to
all sports because the relationships with the networks mean there is an
increase potential to have conflicts with the sponsors at the sport level.


A wide ranging discussion of sponsorships and strategies continued. One
item that came out of the discussion was the repeated request by the office
to have events awarded earlier. Earlier award gives more time for the
Office to assist us with marketing of the event to sponsors. LOC's are
also given more opportunity to conduct local sponsorship and fund raising.
All in all more notice is much better.

2000 OLYMPICS

Slalom is not yet dead for the 2000 Olympics. Hope is still alive. Three
issues are at the center of discussions. 1) Cost. The good news is that
costs are coming in lower than the 6 million originally expected. 2)
Operational Costs. This item is being explored more thoroughly and an
operating plan for the venue after the games is being explored. 3) After
Use. The after use and the benefits associated with the venue after the
Olympics are still being evaluated

TEAM SUPPORT COMMITTEE REPORT

Mike Sloan was not present. Bill Endicott read the report.
Contact Mike for copy.

JHPTSC REPORT

Scott Strausbaugh has recently been named as Junior development coach. A
team manager is needed. There is no funding for the team manager position.
Only the coaches position is funded. $2,500.00 per person has been
budgeted for team travel. Terry Kent is trying to help us come up with
uniforms for the Junior Team.

DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Contact Tom Gelder for a copy.

EVENTS REPORT by Kurt Schubring

At this time, the committee consists of Karen Blom, Bill Constable, Eric
Lokken, Tom Long and myself (Kurt Schubring). I have asked Joellen Dickey
if she would be willing to serve on the committee and thereby have a
representative from the Southeastern United States and she said that she
would. If I am not mistaken, her appointment has to be confirmed by the
NWSC board as a whole.

In the next month, I would like to get a comprehensive list of actual and
potential Local Organizing Committees (LOC's) together with the help of my
fellow committee members. If anyone has a list of sites they would like to
share, then please mail or fax a copy to me or e-mail Tom Vollstedt who
will pass it along to me. Using this list I would like to get a
solicitation of bid letters out by the end of April with a deadline for
returning any bids to the Events Subcommittee by the end of May. At this
time I am planning to submit our subcommittee recommendations to the
N.S.W.C. Board at their next meeting (I am assuming that there is a June
meeting). I realize that this timeline is not as aggressive as we would
like and we will try to move these deadlines forward in 1998.

A potential problem I see with our moving the deadlines forward is that the
subcommittee will receive a minimum of bids. I believe that a number of
sites don't even consider the following season until the current is over.
I am sure that most of you can recall that by the December meeting there
were still 2-4 events that had not received any bids at all.

We must also keep in mind that with deadlines far in advance of actual
events, we must be faithful to those who submit their bids on time. If we
accept late bids or even solicit late bids from sites which we deem to be
better, then the system will breakdown and we will deserve the enmity of
any site which has followed our stated rules and then been cheated.


JUNIOR COACHES REPORT by Scott Strausbaugh

Scott said he had just started and had nothing substantial to report at
this early point.

PROGRAMS REPORT by Wayne Dickert

Wayne said that the pool slalom was a great success with approximately 250
participants. A pool slalom consists of 5 gates in a set pattern that is
conducted in different pools across the country within a few days. Times
are reported and the winners announced.

Bill Endicott asked if the pool slalom could be held on one day and results
be tracked by internet, fax or phone to establish a leader board and
excitement nation or world wide. Wayne said that it could. Bill is
interested in the sponsorship opportunities that come with making it a one
day event as well as the enthusiasm and spirit that accompany.

RANKINGS

Motion: By Lecky Haller; Second, Wayne Dickert

Motion made that the NWSC accept the current rankings system as proposed by
the rankings committee.

Discussion: Some concern was expressed that the rankings method was
modified last year after approval by the NWSC and that the rankings of some
were affected.

Amendment: A friendly amendment stating that "Any boater believing that
their ranking is unfairly affected by the new method may appeal to the NWSC
Team Support Committee for consideration." was proposed and approved.

Vote: The motion as amended was passed by unanimous vote of those present.

Comment: Silvan suggested that the Rankings Committee look at a
system being considered by the ICF as a model for our system.

SLALOM HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM

Motion: Wayne Dickert; seconded, Mary Marshall Seaver

Motion made to accept the Slalom High Performance Team criteria as submitted.

Amendment: A motion to amend the Slalom High Performance Team criteria
by striking the second sentence was made by Rich Kulawiec, seconded by
Scott Strausbaugh. The amendment was approved by unanimous vote of those
present.

Vote: The motion as amended passed by unanimous vote of those present.

CADET NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA

Motion: Lecky Haller: seconded by Wayne Dickert

Amendment: A motion was made by Bill Endicott and seconded by John
Brennan to amend the Cadet National Team Selection Criteria to read as
follows:

Selection Criteria:

The US Whitewater Cadet (ages 8 to 14) Slalom Team for 1997-1998 shall be
selected at the four regional Junior Olympic Qualifier Races. The top four
boats at each regional qualifier (NE, SE, SW, & NW) in the K-1 Men's, K-1
Women's, and the C-1 classes and the top two boats in the C-2 class shall
make up the regional team. The top four boats in each class of K-1, K-1W,
C-1 and the top two boats in the C-2 class determined by order of finish at
the Junior Olympic Championship shall be the National Cadet Team.

Vote: The amendment was passed by unanimous vote of those present.
The amended motion was passed by unanimous vote of those present.

JUNIOR TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA

Motion: By Rich Kulawiec; seconded, Wayne Dickert

A Motion was made to accept the proposed Junior Team Selection Criteria.

Discussion: System is not fair to some juniors because a few Juniors
will be able to race 2 times; in the US Team trials and in the Junior Team
trials on the same course.

Amendment: A motion for amendment was made by Scott Strausbaugh and
Seconded by Lecky Haller to modify the language of the fifth paragraph to
read as follows: "If a Junior races in the senior trials in the morning,
they must count their score in that class from the morning run and can not
race in that class in the afternoon race." The motion for amendment also
included amending the seventh paragraph to read as follows: "If after
completion of the Junior Team Trials race an athlete is ranked in two
classes, the athlete must indicate to the Junior/High Performance Team
Support Committee Chairman, or the Designee, in which class the athlete
will be ranked within one hour of the posting of all final results.

The amendment was passed by unanimous vote:

VOTE: The motion as amended was passed by unanimous vote.


TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA

Bill Endicott began the consideration of this issue by reading a letter
submitted by Davey Hearn concerning the alternate position given to the top
qualifying junior. A wide ranging discussion was held with many points of
view expressed by coaches, athletes, and others present. It became clear
that not enough data was available to make a decision on such an important
issue at this time. Modifying this provision was also not on the agenda
the required 21 days in advance.

Motion: By Scott Strausbaugh; seconded by Tom Gelder

A motion that the Team Selection Criteria relative to the TQJ position be
tabled until the next meeting.

Vote: The motion passed by unanimous vote of those present.

It was unanimously agreed to delay further consideration of the Team
Selection Criteria until Sunday. There was not motion or vote on this
issue, only a general consensus.


PRESENTATION

Mike Larimer was invited to make a presentation to the NWSC concerning his
work and approach with ACE. Mike is operating a program that is somewhat
different than most around the country but is enjoying success with the
program. As this program is successful and addresses some of the concerns
facing the sport in several areas, Bill Endicott invited Mike to share his
approach with others who may want to consider it as a model for other
programs.

In essence, Mike's program is characterized as follows:

1. Coaches coach for pay. Athletes pay for the coaching by the month
whether attending or not. Mike believes this does two things. One, there
is an incentive to show up and practice regularly, Two, there is a
psychology of value on the part of the parents. The parents and kids
attitudes seem to reflect back to him. Anything for free is diminished in
value. Those services that are paid for must have value and the coach
therefore has value and respect.

2. More pressure is on the coach to show up on time, be prepared to
coach, and deliver value.

3. Some money goes to ACE and is used to pay coaches for travel to
races. The coach is an employee of ACE. A parents board collects and
manages the money.

4. National Team members do some part-time coaching for pay.

5. Mike's program includes three groups: 1). Competition and "A" Team
, 2). Junior/High Performance and development, 3). older paddlers,
paddling club members, rec boaters looking for added skills. Mike
maintains that coaching this last group has goodwill and out reach benefits
and helps reduce financial burden on the athletes for ACE operations and
race travel.

6. Mike conducts one full length work out per week for each of three
groups. This of course can vary by local program.

7. The development program is currently positioned at $8/one hour
session. There are three sessions per week. Recreational/developmental
sessions are $10/one hour session.

8. ACE has some boats available including a C-2 for trial and rental.
Boats are not free.

9. ACE does not teach beginners at this time. There are other
organizations teaching beginners and this effort is too distracting from
the competition focus of the organization.

10. ACE also has a sponsorship development program to assist with
operating expenses and to help with materials for the training site.

Mike says "Watch us at Team Trials. You will see good things."


TEAM SUPPORT/COACHES REPORT by Silvan Poberaj

Mike Sloan was unable to attend. Silvan reported that personnel was
needed. The budget has been worked out by Mike Sloan.

Bill Endicott expressed concern that decisions are not yet made on
personnel and dollar allocation to this personnel.


RULES

Rules modifications were submitted to the NWSC by the Rules Sub-committee,
Dave Mitchell. The rules modifications are proposed to bring the US Slalom
Racing Rules in to general conformity with the new Slalom Racing Rules
implemented by the International Canoe Federation.

Motion: Tom Gelder; seconded, Rich Kulawiec

A motion to accept the rules changes as proposed by the Rules Committee.

Discussion: Intense general discussion and review followed including
discussion of combined run scores vs. "best of the two runs" scores.

Amendment: Wayne Dickert requested an amendment to Article 14 to drop
the "a" in the first sentence and change the word "run" to "runs". The
motion to amend was seconded by Tom Gelder. The amendment was approved by
unanimous vote.

Vote: The motion as amended was passed by unanimous vote.


The Saturday session was adjourned at 6:30 PM.



Sunday

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 8:45 am Sunday morning by Bill Endicott.

ATTENDANCE

A sign in sheet was passed in lieu of a roll-call. Those in attendance were:

1997 Officers
Chair: Bill Endicott
Secretary: Marshall Wilson
Treasurer: Bill Constable

1997 Board Representatives

Bill Constable, Midwest (Alternate)
Wayne Dickert, Dixie
John Brennan, Rocky Mtn. (Alternate)
Tom Gelder, Pacific
Rich Kulawiec, Athlete Rep.
Mary Marshall Seaver, Athlete Rep.
Lecky Haller, Athlete Rep.



Committee Chairs (if not listed above)

JHPTSC Dieter Kuberg
Coaches Education Silvan Poberaj
Scott Strausbaugh, Jr/HP Coach

Other Interested Parties

Terry Kent, Executive Director USCKT
Mary Burrows, St. Louis, MO
Herm Smith, St. Louis, MO
Renee Gelblat
Scott Strausbaugh


WEB PAGE

Rich Kulawiec made a presentation concerning his efforts to establish a Web
Page for the NWSC. It includes rankings, race schedule, links to other
sites. Big thanks to Rich and also Renee Gelblat. Renee has put in many
hours helping Rich bring the Web page to life and we owe them both a big
dose of gratitude. Bill Endicott is very pleased with this effort and the
prospect of communicating with our membership in a thorough yet less
expensive manner.

HIGH PERFORMANCE PLANNING

Bill Endicott made a presentation concerning the HPP. It is his opinion
that we:

1. Need to keep the basics of the HPP process
2. Need to set goals and measure performance
3. Need to evaluate effectiveness of current programs and policies.

Terry Kent shared Sprint goals with the NWSC. They are:

1. Recruit new clubs and new paddlers.
2. Develop Coaches certification program
3. Junior medals
4. Senior medals

Terry also said that if we are a part of a Board that we should support
the organization and the broader goals of the organization. The planning
process, goal setting and measuring successes are part of that effort.

Bill Endicott appointed an Ad Hoc committee to review the HPP and begin the
process of goal setting. The committee members are:

Wayne Dickert, Chair
Bill Endicott
Silvan Poberaj
Scott Strausbaugh
Lecky Haller.

MEETING DATE

The next meeting date will be a conference call on August 13, 1997 at 8:00
PM. The primary purpose of this "meeting" is to award the events bids for
1998. Other topics will be limited due to the nature of the phone call and
time restrictions.

STANDARDIZATION OF ELECTION PROCESS

The NGB status will not be resolved until 1998. We need to begin now to
establish how elections will be run if we are separated from the ACA .
Bill Endicott wants to re-constitute the NWSC and establish a program of
elections that is representative and one that can controlled and verified
by the NWSC. To investigate this possible restructuring and to make
recommendations to the NWSC an Ad Hoc committee called the Revised
Structures Committee was appointed with members as follows:

Bill Constable, Chair
Marshall Wilson
USCKT member to be named

1997 NWSC TEAM SELECTION CRITERIA

Motion: Bill Constable; seconded, Rich Kulawiec

A motion was made to accept the 1997 Team Selection Criteria as submitted.

Discussion: Discussion was wide ranging concerning the Two location
event. Discussion also included the TQJ provision.

Amendment I: A motion for amendment to Item II.A. to give the NWSC
Executive Committee to determine the proper course of action. (This matter
was referred to Executive Committee because no meetings will be held by the
NWSC prior to Team Trials.) The motion was made by Bill Endicott,
seconded by Lecky Haller. The amendment was passed by unanimous vote of
those present.

Amendment II: A motion to give the Executive Committee to talk with Mike
Sloan to clarify the intent of Item C.2.c. and take appropriate action.
The motion was made by Bill Endicott, seconded by Bill Constable. The
amendment was passed by unanimous vote of those present.

Vote: The motion to accept the 1997 NWSC Team Selection Criteria was
passed by a vote of 6 in favor, 4 against. All members of the NWSC who are
athletes voted against the motion.

STREAM TEACH

Stream teach made a presentation on the progress of their program in ST.
Louis which is a broad based program that includes teaching, conservation,
hydraulic research, swift water rescue, and a whitewater slalom course.

NEXT ACTUAL MEETING

It was discussed that a meeting at the USCKT headquarters at least once a
year to improve communications and cooperation between the NWSC and the
USCKT staff can be helpful in making the total organization stronger and
more effective. A tentative date of November 1&2 in Indianapolis has been
identified.

Items discussed for the agenda of this meeting include: Elimination of the
following committees: Coaches Oversight Committee, Coaches Education
Committee ( make part of Development Committee), Science and Technology
Committee; need for financial reports, Restructuring.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 PM.


NWSC Agenda
August 13,1997


I. Meeting Place: This meeting will be in the form of a conference
call organized with the help of the USCKT. The time for the call will be
at 8:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time on August 13, 1997.

Note: It is the responsibility of each NWSC Board member to notify
the USCKT office of the appropriate phone number to be used for the
conference call.

II. Approval of the minutes for the March 1997 meeting.

III. Bids for 1998 events.

The bids for the 1998 events have not been received at this time.
It is the recommendation of the Secretary that the Board consider
presentation of a motion to grant authority to the executive committee to
award bids for 1998. The November meeting date will be too late to allow
sufficient planning time and sufficient time to obtain sponsorships for
major events. The bid solicitations for 1999 should also be sent soon for
award in March of 1998.

IV. Leap Frog Provision for the Top Qualifying Junior under the
current Junior Development Program.

A report will be provided to you concerning an evaluation of
Athlete development and ages of significant achievement for slalom athletes
worldwide. As a result of the study a recommedation is placed before the
NWSC to repeal the Leap Frog Provision of the Junior Development Program.
Please research this item on your own and form basic opinions, positions
and questions prior to the phone call.

V. Report on the Sidney Games/Slalom Status

VI. Vote on recommendation to eliminate the following committees:
Coaches Oversight Committee, Coaches Education Committee ( make part of
Development Committee), Science and Technology Committee.

VII. Financial Report

VIII. Report on Status of By-Laws

IX. Rich Wiess Memorial. Please give consideration to ideas for an
appropriate memorial to Rich Wiess. Ideas only are requested at this time.
Ideas will be put before the NWSC for full consideration and a vote in the
winter meeting.

X. Adjourment

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