CCA AGM Minutes
June 11, 2016
Cross Country Alberta
2016 Annual General Meeting
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Edmonton, Alberta
Present:
Jo Wolach, Cross Country Alberta
Flora Giesbrecht, XC Bragg Creek
Mike Burgess, Devon Nordic
Chris Hanstock, Edmonton Nordic
Michaela Waldvogel-Smith, Edmonton Nordic
George Smith, Calgary Nordic Training Group
Ken Bagnall, Birkie Society
Vaughn McGrath, Fort Saskatchewan Nordic
Alanna Butler, Parkland
Heather Morris, Edmonton Nordic
Marsh Hoke, Muskeg Flyers
Barbara Prescott, Muskeg Flyers
Pierre LaFontaine, Cross Country Canada
Aaron Dodds, Edmonton Nordic
Brian Lucas, Birkie Society
Margaret Barron, Strathcona Wilderness Center
Les Parsons, Camrose
Jean Funk, Strathcona Wilderness Center
Lukas Mark, Capital Region Training Group
Cam McGregor, Birkie Society
Glen Cowper, Capital Region Training Group
Terry Protz, Cross Country Alberta
Ken Burgess, Birkie Society
William Thompson, St. Albert Nordic Ski Club
Farley Klotz, Foothills
Rod Neaner, Foothills
George Foxcroft, Birkie Society
Chris Jeffries, Alberta World Cup Academy
Larkin Wasmuth, Capital Region Training Group
Andrea Davy, Edmonton Nordic
Michael Neary, Cross Country Alberta
Micheline Spencer, St. Albert Nordic Ski Club
Jean Funk opens the meeting with the confirmation we have met quorum.
1. Jean funk introduces the board nominations.
2. Motion to approve agenda-
a. Micheline Spencer
b. Seconded: Heather Morris Tipples
c. Carried
3. Motion to approve 2015 AGM minutes
a. Moved by: Chris Jeffries
b. Seconded: Vaughn McGrath
c. Carried
4. Jean Funk: reviews Bylaw draft membership process review.
a. Puts questions to the floor:
b. Vaughn: is there a spot in the agenda for Bylaw review committee and be formed?
c. Jean: the next board will do the call to the membership to form the bylaw committee.
d. Vaugh: difference in opinion. Ideally the membership should bring about the bylaw changes.
e. Jean: We havea technical disagreement in who is responsible. We have an agreement to present to the membership at the AGM.
f. Vaughn: Disagrees- ideally the members should drive that committee.
g. Jean: Members then need to volunteer for that committee.
h. Vaughn: That’s why we need to discuss it here because the members need to step up to do it.
i. Jean: If the membership chooses not to bring forward any names when asked that is a responsibility to the members. We will send out the call.
5. Jo Wolach: Annual Report: (see complete report attached)
a. Change can come in many forms, we have had change in provincial and federal levels including changes in CCC leadership.
b. Weather challenges: little snow and an early spring. With an absence of snow in Medicine Hat we were able to pull off cross country skiing at the ABWG in Medicine Hat. A big thank you to Sport chair Blaine Whitford and his volunteers who made this happen.
c. Sport Director from CCA Michael Neary did great work with the difficult weather conditions this year.
d. Two AB Cup Races and seven loppets were cancelled due to weather conditions
e. CCA thanks the organizers for all their hard work for events that were able to run
f. Change is also coming in our sport model. We feel strongly that we will be operating with fewer primary grant dollars.
g. We need to look at more collaboration with other groups. We want again to be the top province in Canada. We need to work together to be that top province and club. We need to grow that recreation in our sport.
h. Questions? None
6. Michael Neary: Managers’ Report:
a. Staffing updates:
i. Laura FIlipow hired full time. Rebecca Reese not returning from Maternity leave.
b. Andrew Urton has stepped down as the field worker for SFNA.
c. Marketing:
i. We added a social media policy thanks to our social media director Rod Neander.
ii. Alberta Nordic Skier Magazine was cut from budget
iii. Laura Filipow developed a new website for SFNA
iv. Social Media presence expanded with Facebook contests, photo contests.
d. Membership:
i. just over 6,000 members. You can see an increase over the last 10 years. We had a low season for snow in the majority of the province. It’s consistent and it’s a steady rise but we have reached a bit of a plateau.
e. Events and Scheduling:
i. two Alberta Cups were cancelled but we did reintroduce the provincial relay at the end of the season again.
ii. We created a new bid application for the AB Cups
iii. Artic Winter Games in Greenland: Alberta had a team go over and win 2 medals.
iv. Youth Champs in Bragg Creek
v. University Series: three of six events cancelled.
vi. Loppet Series: four cancelled, eleven ran
vii. Regional series: got powder, built 4 speed
viii. Tentative schedule for AB Cup Events has been created. Still to be confirmed.
f. Athlete Development
i. Bunnies are up
ii. Jackrabbit and Trackattack both down.
iii. Could relate to the poor snow season in half of the province.
g. Paranordic:
i. We continue to develop the para side
ii. Partnership with Saskatchewan. Overall it was a great winter for para, even though there were three camps that were cancelled.
h. Ski Fit North Alberta
i. SFNA got a new partnership with ATCO, GE, AB Treasury Branch.
ii. We will continue to grow and develop
7. Financials
a. Jean Funk is presenting on behalf of CCA Treasurer Patrick Moore, who is in Austria.
b. The two members of internal audit committee are John Cushing and Terry Protz
c. Questions from the floor:
i. There was a significant decrease in the insurance and expenditures
ii. Michael Neary responds: This is due to the fact Zone 4 allocated it to the clubs directly, instead of filtering in through CCA.
iii. Vaughn McGrath asks for clarification on the Budget
d. Motion: Move to approve the 2015-2016 financial statements as provided by Doyal and Company
i. Moved by: Jean Funk
ii. Seconded: Barbara Prescott
iii. Carried.
8. Budget:
a. Motion: Move to approve Deborah Whitten and Mike Dickenson to be auditors for 2016-2017
i. Moved by: Jean Funk
ii. Seconded: Vaughn McGrath
iii. Carried.
b. From the floor:
i. Glen Cowper: In the report to the membership please specify how the funding is allocated for the Arctic, Alberta, and Canada Winter Games.
ii. Jean Funk Response: We will provide that.
c. Funding reduced by 25%
d. CCC insurance fees and Zone 4 fees will be discussed at the CCC AGM next week.
9. Membership rates:
a. 2016 proposed is a one dollar increase for the three member ages: Child, Youth, Adult.
b. We are bringing back the motion from 2015 regarding the one dollar increase to children and youth as we were confused to whether or not it was passed in actuality.
c. Motion: Move to approve the 2016-2017 budget as presented
i. Moved by: Jean Funk
ii. Seconded by: Micheline Spencer
iii. Carried
d. Motion: Move to approve the reports as presented
i. Moved by: Larkin Wasmuth
ii. Seconded by: Barbara Prescott
iii. Carried.
10. Special Resolution
a. Jean Funk: Proposes to Michael Neary to read the special resolution before we break for lunch. Vote on resolution will be passed after Lunch.
b. Michael Neary reads special resolution: (see attached)
c. AGM is tabled for half an hour for lunch.
d. George Smith reads first resolution
e. Motion: Move that no points race for AB be held on a weekday.
i. Moved by: George Smith
ii. Seconded: Glen Cowper
f. George Smith: Explains that it is very difficult for his membership to attend a weekday race. Would prefer to have the Relay at the end of the day on Sunday
g. Chris Jeffries: I suggest having a team relay after the events on Saturday so that people can still leave early on Sunday if they need to.
h. Vote:
i. All in favor
ii. None opposed
iii. None abstained
iv. Carried.
i. Motion: Move that aggregate CPL and AB Cup points should be posted next to the start list for AB Cup Points
j. Vaughn McGrath: speaks against the motion. He suggests taking time to think it though whether its cost effective in terms of time.
k. Chris Hanstock: Would Zone 4 charge more money to do that?
l. Michael Neary response: No, it should not
m. George Smith: in response to Vaughn: My rain reason was clarity for athletes and for spectators
n. Chris Jeffries: Who is doing these calculations? Trying to get start lists out would be tricky. To find someone who is going to do that day is time consuming.
o. George Smith: Of the 18 AB Cup categories, there are 10 that do not have CPL points.
p. Glen Cowper: This will need more time to think through
q. Vaughn McGrath: Could revise your motion to delegate the decision to the Tech Committee. Rather than mandating it to happen you could put it to the tech committee, table it for next year
r. George Smith: suggests a pilot project
s. Motion: George Smith: refines motion (friendly amendment) to read: “To ask the CCA Technical Committee to consider this in the 2016-2017 season as a pilot project in a few categories.”
i. Moved by: George Smith
ii. Glen Cowper: Seconded
iii. All in favor
iv. None opposed
v. None abstained
vi. Carried.
t. Motion: Aligning the masters’ distances with the Canadian international standards. They will not have sprint races. Minimum 10k for men 5k for women
i. Moved by: George Smith
ii. Seconded: Lukas Mark
iii. All in favor
iv. None opposed
v. Abstaining: Vaughn McGrath, Farley Klotz
vi. Carried.
11. Board Elections:
a. Jean Funk: Second and third call for board nominations
b. Leadership Development: Terry Protz
i. Acclaimed
c. Youth and Athlete Development: Matthew Saurette
i. Acclaimed
d. Treasurer: Ken Bagnall
i. Acclaimed
e. Marketing: Rod Neander
i. Acclaimed
f. HR Director: Phillip Meagher
i. Acclaimed
g. Events and Scheduling: Aaron Dodds
i. Acclaimed
h. Alberta Ski Team Director: Mike Cavaliere, Jeanie Godfrey
i. Mike Cavaliere voted in.
i. Motion to destroy ballots:
i. Moved by: Terry Protz
ii. Seconder: Farley Klotz
12. Motion to Adjourn:
a. Moved by: George Smith
b. Seconded: Micheline Spencer
c. Carried
Jo Wolach, CCA Chairperson
Times of Change
Welcome!
Change can come in many forms and this past year has demonstrated this. We have had change at both our provincial and federal government levels, dramatic changes in our economy and change in leadership at the CCC level.
Weather has been one of change – this past winter saw little snow in many parts of the province, comfortable temperatures and an early spring. With the absence of snow in Medicine Hat and Cypress Hills Provincial Park we were able to “pull off” an exceptional Alberta Winter Games, with much manual labour from the AB Parks crew lead by Darwyn Berndt and his 3 staff. A big thank you to Sport Chair Blaine Whitford and his crew of a half dozen volunteers who also provided amazing help. Snow was moved manually to create a race course for our upcoming athletes who competed. As well, much assistance came from Mike Neary, CCA Sport Manager who assisted Alberta Parks and the Medicine Hat organizing committee. The AB Winter Games skiing events would not have happened if it was not for the great effort by the AB Parks and games volunteers.
Two Alberta Cup races and seven loppets were unfortunately cancelled throughout Alberta, including the premier Birkie Loppet. Other events were miraculously pulled off with the help of many dedicated volunteers. CCA thanks the community organizers and the Alberta Cup Race host clubs for your preparations and event hosting.
As Eoghan Curran, from Alberta Sport Connection has shared with us, change has begun with our funding model. We will be operating with fewer primary grant dollars. We need to look at more collaboration, from CCA Provincial Sport Organization (PSO) level, to the smallest clubs. How can we work together? How can we best work as a team? We want to once again be the top province in Canada, and to do that we need a “Team Alberta Effort”. We need to work together to once again be the top province, and have the top clubs and finally we will be part of the direction to have top finishes in the world. It takes small steps and this is change!
How can we look towards other sports and work together? The Alberta Sport Connection (ASC) is mandating that sports collaborate and finds ways to work together. Cross training, working with summer sports to share training programmes are some examples. In Russia, part of their summer training involves swimming. CCA can look to a sport, such as swimming, talk to them and see how they have changed their focus to become a strong entity in our country.
We are making steps in this direction. Our focus is moving back to provincial camps with leadership provided with our club coaches. Can we find more collaboration to bring Lake Louise Camp back to a more provincial focus? What about our retired “Swift Camp”? Can we make changes to update our camps but bring back our provincial focus? We have the talent, we have the means, we have a national body for our upcoming athletes to aspire to. We just need to look at how to bring it together!
Funding is bringing change as Eoghan Curran of the Alberta Sport Connection stated earlier. Our reporting and accountability will be more stringent. At the CCA Alberta Meetings in April 2015, club members said that they wanted less costs associated with the Alberta Ski Team programmes. We have addressed this but it has been tough on our budget. CCA has lead a review of the costs associated with provincial and territorial ski team programs across Canada. CCA programmes have been and continue to be one of the least expensive in Canada in both total fees and fees for specific program components. CCA listened to the membership in the preparation of the 2016-2017 budget, but be aware, budget will be impacted in other areas.
Last April, CCA conducted “Team Alberta” meetings to hear from the membership. We listened and we are currently working on suggestions to make change. This past year we have passed a social media policy. A new AST policy was approved to bring it more in line with LTAD, ASC accountability reporting and to highlight Canada Winter Games as well as other High Performance goals. ADT will be the next policy looked at. A new fill policy for AB Winter Games was implemented. Alberta Ski Team selection criteria was once again looked at and changed in order to support the U23 Athletes in our province. The last task we tackled was that of creating a new bid package for hosting AB Cup Races. The use of a scoring grid, similar to CCC, will be used in order to create greater transparency in hosting selections. We now have a Director for Para Nordic on our technical committee. Margaret Barron and Mike Neary have worked together to add Para Nordic into our business plan and are currently looking at ways to increase participation. Finally, the By- Laws passed at the CCA AGM 2015 were presented to Service Alberta and were approved!