Meetings

Minutes of the Philadelphia Division Annual General Meeting

July 24, 2016

 

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Philip Sjostedt, at 5:05 pm. Vice Chair, Charles Davis was not in attendance. Treasurer, Jeanne Gallagher attended via teleconference. A quorum was determined to be present.

 

The July 2015 AGM meeting minutes were distributed and approved as written.

 

The Treasurer reported on the Division assets, and the Treasurer’s report was accepted as provided. Ribbons will continue to be provided for sanctioned youth events. The Board agreed that collection of a Division share from club competition entry fees would be waived for the 2015-2016 competition season only, 8/1/2016-7/31/2017.  Collection of the fee will be re-visited prior to the start of the 2017-2018 season. Referee and bout committee pay will remain the same at $250 for the head referee, $200 for regular referees, and $150 for bout committee. The division equipment will be updated with the new chip to comply with the change in sabre timing.

 

The Treasurer reported on the Referee Development Initiative. Potential referees will be reimbursed the cost of the clinic after passing both the written and practical portions of the exam. The clinic does not need to have been taken within the Philadelphia Division. No reimbursements were made during the 2015-2016 season.

 

The 2016-2017 Board of Directors was elected. Due to multiple candidates, ballots were provided and counted for the position of Vice Chair. The other nominees were unopposed and were declared elected by the Division Secretary. Philip Sjostedt was re-elected as Division Chair, James Flint was elected as Vice Chair, Elisabeth Sibley was elected as Secretary, and Jeanne Gallagher was re-elected as Treasurer. The Board-Elect will serve August 1, 2016 through July 31, 2017.

 

The Division Qualifier dates have been set with the Junior and Cadet JO Qualifiers to be held December 10-11, 2016.  The Board is working with Pixie Roane to secure the use of the gym Wallingford-Swarthmore High School or Middle School. The Y14 and Div 2/3 Summer Nationals Qualifiers will be held March 25-26, 2017. The Board is working with Catherine Humphries-Bennett to secure the use of the gym at William Penn Charter.

 

New Business

 

  • Updated Division Bylaws have been drafted and sent to Don Alperstein for review and feedback.

 

  • Discussion was held concerning the Division sponsoring a referee clinic to promote referee development. Lara Masters will reach out to Brad Baker about this.

 

  • Once the new Board is in place, the Division will look into updating the website.

 

  • Lisa Martini proposed that the Division set up a Yahoo group for notification purposes rather than sending physical mailings.

 

  • The Chair brought up the idea that the Division set up electronic balloting for elections. The Bylaws would need to be rewritten to accommodate this. The Board will investigate further.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:37 pm by the Chair.

 

Philadelphia Division USFA

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

July 26, 2015

 

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Philip Sjostedt, at 4:03 pm. A quorum was determined to be present.

 

The June 2014 minutes were read and approved with correction of a typo in the Vice Chair’s name,and it was noted by Josh Herring that the request for rewrite of the Bylaws was noted to be missing from the minutes.

 

The Division Chair reported on the dissolution of sections and the disbursement of assets, of which the Division received a share in the form of a check.

 

The Treasurer reported on the Division assets, and the Treasurer’s report was accepted as provided.The Board agreed that collection of a Division share from Club competition entry fees would be waived for the 2015-2016 competition season only, 8/1/2015-7/31/2016.  Collection of the fee will be re-visited prior to the start of the 2015-2017 season. Approximately $1925 was received for dissolution of sections. Rebates from 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 and 2 quarters of 2014-2015 were received from the NO on dues. Both are considered a windfall. There will be an increase in referee pay to $250 for the head referee and $200 for regular referees as well as the bout committee person to be paid $150. The Division will be looking into updating the website and the associated cost. Some Division equipment is still out on loan, and older equipment is available to loan.

 

The Treasurer reported on the Referee Development Initiative. Potential referees will be reimbursed the cost of the clinic after passing both the written and practical portions of the exam. As of the 2015-2016 season, the clinic does not need to have been taken within the Philadelphia Division.

 

The 2015-16 Board of Directors was re-elected. No petitions were received. The Secretary cast the unanimous vote for the slate as proposed.

 

The Board-elect for 2015-2016:          Philip Sjostedt, Chair

Chuck Davis, Vice-Chair

Sara Nash, Secretary

Jeanne Gallagher, Treasurer

 

The Board-elect will serve August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2016.

 

A presentation on data gathering was given by Vice Chair, Chuck Davis, and Chair, Philip Sjostedt.  Fencer population demographics and their potential use for promoting the sport of fencing as well as determining what fencers are looking for in terms of fencing opportunities were discussed.

 

Division qualifier dates and locations have been set and those events are on FRED. Junior and Cadet qualifiers will be held on the same weekend based on feedback from fencers. Jelena Zeljkovic noted that one of the parents brought up that the JO Qualifier dates conflicts with a Div 1A ROC. Conflicts are unavoidable. ROCs are not region specific. New England also has a U17 qualifier the same weekend.

 

-Draft schedule distributed. Input was requested from members on how to manage the schedule. Consensus is that there are too many events. Guidance of NO is that the division should not be sanctioning any event of less than 6 fencers, with the only exception being a Division Qualifier. Unsanctioned events may not be covered by USA Fencing insurance. Club owners were encouraged to verify whether their own club insurance would cover it. Kate Thomas brought up the issue of fencers registering and not showing, causing the event to fall below the sanctioning threshold. Matthew Mitchell suggested solutions for youth may be different versus adults. Marshal Davis added that team events should also be handled separately. Mark Holbrow asked for stats on last season’s events. Chuck Davis is working on pulling together that data to inform 2016-2017 scheduling. The Chair proposes scheduling through August when we do the second half of the season. Mark Holbrow and Lisa Martini described how NJ handles tournament and supported limiting the number of events and the division coming up with a balanced schedule and trying to award clubs a fixed menu of events. Kate Thomas raised the issue of clubs scheduling events for the development of their fencers. Marshal Davis wants the board to consider supporting events as not conflicts. Catherine Bennett suggests a certain number of dates. Kate Thomas pointed out that everyone is already scheduling on the same dates because of avoiding other conflicts. Matthew Mitchell wants the Board to find the optimum number of events by type. The Chair stated that in NJ cutting the number of events didn’t negatively affect the fencers. Milos Vasic noted that NJ is close to NY and may not be comparable. BCAF-W supports its fencers with in-house scrimmages. Mt. Airy invites other clubs in rather than holding tournaments.

 

The Philadelphia Cup has been discontinued due to lack of participation.

 

As new business, Josh Herring reported that the Philadelphia Sports Commission is looking to have Summer Nationals in Philadelphia in 2018. Support is requested in the form of volunteers. The Division will receive $1000. Volunteers will be fed. He was asked to find out if SafeSport is required for volunteers by Matthew Mitchell. Josh will inquire about membership and age requirements for volunteers. Club owners expressed support.

 

Division reimbursement was discussed. The Division wants to maintain working capital of $15,000. Medals are the biggest outlay. Various solutions were discussed. Nothing was decided.

 

The Division Bylaws need to be rewritten, and with Don Alperstein’s assistance, the Board will work to bring the Bylaws into line with national guidelines

 

An issue with the Division boundaries came up as part of the dissolution of sections/ Trenton was included in the division according to the NO. It is no longer part of the division. <Insert division boundaries here.>
The meeting was adjourned at 5:38 p.m. by the Chair.

Philadelphia Division USFA

Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

June 8, 2014

 

The meeting was called to order by Chair Jeff McGalliard at 4:05 pm. A quorum was determined to be present.

 

The June 2013 Annual Meeting minutes were read and approved, without change.

 

The 2014-2015 Board of Directors was elected.  Due to multiple candidates, ballots were provided and counted for the position of Chair.  The other nominees were unopposed and were declared elected by the Division Secretary.

 

The Board-elect for 2014-2015:     Philip Sjostedt, Chair

Chuck Davis, Vice-Chair

Sara Nash, Secretary

Jeanne Gallagher, Treasurer

 

The Board-elect will serve August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015.  Excepting resignations or nominations from the floor, the slate will be presumed to stand for re-election for the 2015-2016 season and their re-election will be ratified at the June 2015 Annual Meeting.

 

 

The Treasurer reported on the state of Division assets; see the document below.  The Treasurer’s report was accepted as provided.  The Board agreed that collection of a Division share from Club competition entry fees would be waived for the 2014-2015 competition season only, 8/1/2014-7/31/2015.  Collection of the fee will be re-visited prior to the start of the 2015-2016 season.

 

 

Division qualifier dates and locations have been set and those events will be posted to AskFred prior to the start of the 2014-2015 season.  Those dates are:

 

Junior (U20) Junior Olympic Qualifier                       Nov 22-23, 2014 (W-S Panthers)

Cadet (U17) Junior Olympic Qualifier                        Dec 14, 2014  (BCAF-West)

Y14 Summer National Qualifier                                 March 22, 2015 (FAP)

Combined (Division 2/3) Summer National Qualifier April 26, 2015 (Temple)

 

 

The 3rd Annual Philadelphia Cup was discussed.  The date and location of the Cup Championship is to be:

 

Liberty Fencing Club                                              May 3, 2015

Clubs were strongly urged to include advertising references to the Cup in their postings of all Division-sanctioned open events.  Other details related to the Cup are included on the document attached below.

 

Scheduling the 2014-2015 competition season was discussed.  A date of June 30, 2014 was chosen by those present as a deadline for submitting competition requests.  A date of July 13, 2014 was set as a date for a scheduling meeting to resolve conflicts for the first half of the season, August 2014-January 2015.  A timetable for steps to develop and finalize the schedule was agreed to by those present.

 

Member Mark Holbrow requested acknowledgment by the room of outgoing Chair McGalliard’s service and the room so responded.  Additional members then called for the service of outgoing Vice-Chair Ken Fernandez-Prada and outgoing Secretary Josh Herring to be also recognized and the room again responded.

 

No further business being brought to the table, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 5:15 pm.

 

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