Referee Committee

Minutes of Meeting

September 14, 2016

Telephone Conference

Attendance:

Referee Committee:

Tom Fuller – Chair

Ruth Macnamara–Vice Chair, Secretary

Terese Friel-Portell – At Large Member

Howard Meisner, NE– Regional Coordinator Representative to Committee

Marcus McElhenney – Athlete Representative

USRowing Staff:

John Wik – Director of Referee Programs

Tom Fuller called the meeting to order at 8:00 PM

Proposed Rule Changes for 2017 – John Wik

Thank you Howard for putting the proposed rule changes together for us in a cohesive document. John Wik will post the proposed changes to the USRowing Website on October 1st for the general comment period. The comments will then be circulated to the Committee on November 1st for discussion. The comments will also be shared with the Rules Committee.

-Have any comments been received on the Para / Adaptive Rules during this past 8 months while the Rules were in use in an advisory capacity? John Wik had one comment from the SE regarding FISA’s consideration to change to a 2000 meter race course. There might be other changes to the FISA rules at the Extraordinary Congress.

-ACTION: Tom and John will reach out to High Performance Committee to find out if the Trials Rules will be omitted from the Rules of Racing and only be in the Trials Selection Procedures and High Performance Group.

Awards for 2017 – John Wik

Franklin Award – Joan Sholl

Wolf Award Sub Committee is working – Winner to be announced

Mama Z Award – Melissa Chun

Corkie Award – no one was nominated – ACTION: Tom Fuller will talk to Chris Lang and look into whether this is an annual award. It was not included in the list of awards to be given this year.

Reorganization of the Referee Committee – John Wik

Glenn, Tom and John Wik discussed restructuring Referee Committee. The concept is to bring the subgroups that interact with the Committee to the table so that they can share their needs and offer more transparency to the processes. Move to a 9 member Committee. The Re-Structured Committee will include:

-A chair, appointed by CEO – no other function than management and administration of the Committee;

-One member from Referee College;

-Two Regional Coordinators (geographic coverage);

-One Trials Coordinator;

-One FISA Liaison;

-Two Athlete Representatives;

-One At-Large Individual appointed by CEO (look at USRowing owned events)

The reorganization has been approved by the CEO. John Wik is contacting individuals who will be on the Committee. Each group will select the person from their Subcommittee to be on the Committee. John Wik will talk to each new member before December and explain how they want it to unfold.

John Wik proposes that on 12/2/16 at 10am at the Annual Convention Committee Meeting, the current Committee will conduct the normal end of year housekeeping issues. At the end of their business, John Wik will describe and introduce the new Committee. At that point, the current Committee as we know it will disband and the new Re-Structured Committee will take their seats and start a new meeting addressing2017 goals.

-The Regional Coordinators will add 3 new members to increase the total number to 9 members. Two models are being considered:

First of the two would be for the newly added coordinators to be elected from the 3 larger regions MW, MA and SE.
The second of two models being considered is the Director of Referee Programs, with the CEO’s support and advice from the respective Regional Coordinator, will appoint a Deputy or second Regional Coordinator for those three regions.

-The intent is to keep the Committee moving forward with the Subcommittees who are doing the work.

Marcus makes a motion to descend into Exec Session; Tom seconds

Descend into Executive Session at 8:29PM

Marcus makes motion to ascend out of Executive Session; Tom seconds

Ascend out of Executive Session at 9:11PM

ACTION: Tom Fuller is going to set up a separate meeting for this Committee to discuss issues and items of the restructuring and the goals of the Referee Committee going forward.

Expansion of the Regional Coordinators to 9

ACTION: John Wik is in the process of getting input from Regional Coordinators for plans of how to move forward with this intent.

Tom Fuller makes a motion to move into Executive Session, Terry seconds

Descend into Executive Session at 9:14PPM

Tom Fuller makes a motion to ascend out of Executive Session; Marcus seconds

Ascend out of Executive Session at 9:25PM

Working Conditions for USRowing Referees at USRowing owned events (Review of Masters Championship)

Reports reflect that athletes were very pleased with Masters.

From the Events Staff’s point of view, the regatta seemed to go smoothly. There were very few issues to be dealt with from the Events side.

From the Chief Referee’s report, the chief had no concerns.

Some senior Referees in attendance had grave concerns about the working conditions. They addressed the issue that the Hotel was less than ideal in its location and conditions. The hotels rooms had mold, mildew and once those concerns were addressed, the odor was such that many were very uncomfortable in their rooms. There were very long work days, 13-14 hour. It was reported that it was difficult to perform the Chief Judge duties in the late evening because of the lighting. 41 referees were in attendance. With additional local referees in attendance, there still wasn’t sufficient coverage. Referees reported a lack of water, opportunity to use the restrooms, etc. It was not safe for the VOLUNTEER referees. There were two individuals monitoring what was going on at Masters, Kris Thorsness currently on the Board and Laura Kunkemueller, post Board Member. Laura sent a 2 page letter to the Board outlining the referee safety issues. The result of that letter was the Board set up a subcommittee to focus on Referee working conditions at USRowing’s owned events. Members of the subcommittee are: Joe Manion, Kris Thorsness, Gary Caldwell and Glenn Merry. The subcommittee had their first meeting and that was 45 minutes long. The result of their meeting was the letter sent out two weeks ago to all the referees across the country.

Guidelines for the Selection of National Championship Chiefs and Deputies (Authored by Howard and reviewed by Regional Coordinators and very recent National Championship Chiefs) Document Attached

The Regional Coordinators are seeking the Committee’s approval of this Document as they are nominating Chiefs and Deputies for 2017 National Championships. These are GUIDELINES!

Ruth made a motion to accept this document as written. Marcus seconded.

MotionPassed 5-0.

Code of Conduct – Marcus

Comment period is still open until mid-October. No new comments. Once the comment period is closed, Marcus will circulate the comments to the Committee.

Discussion

Chief Referee Reports – Youth National Report will be submitted by Monday, September 19. Action: John Wik will distribute to the Committee.

Additional Questions:

-Any applications / requests to sit for the FISA Exam in 2017? John Wik has none. Tiffany Knapp went to Rotterdam for her observation. Tom Fuller has not received any applications.

-What are our plans for Convention? When should we travel? Arrive Thursday December 1st through Sunday morning December 4th. Hartford CT is the closest airport to Springfield CT; please start to share your travel plans and try and double up on rental cars.

Meeting adjourned at 10:20PM EDT.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth Macnamara

Vice Chair, Secretary

USRowing Referee Committee

703-201-4547