Saturday afternoon cleanup

The afternoon started with new business.

First item was a "Swiffer" amendment to rule 6076 changing 'whether' to 'when.'

Second item was for rule 3000 regarding nonqualifying competition sanctions, adding the line "the use of the standardized nonqualifying competition announcement is optional." Bad idea. Now we're back to guidelines versus rules. Since there was not a majority in the affirmative, it did not pass. The party in favor of the amendment asked to have it counted, but the motion to have a count of the vote was voted down.

There was a cheer to thank the amazing staff at Headquarters! Here! Here!

The Professional Skaters Association gave their annual outstanding judging award to Rosemary Santee. Congrats Rosemary!

The people at the Doubletree distracted many of us from business by putting out an amazing spread of cookies. Thanks to the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club for sponsoring the "cookie break."

It was time to adopt the budget. A piece of new business was suggested to allocate up to $30K for legal fees to review all the association bylaws and revise them to correct inconsistencies, improve cross-references, make them workable and adjust them to best practices. I think it's a great idea and it passed.

Adoption of the budget as amended.

AAC raffle announcement - Midwest athletes sold the most tickets.
Winner of the raffle for two tickets to U.S. Nationals and airfare- Wendy Enzmann

Nomination Committee Chair Kathy Slack presented the remaining members of the slate of officers.
They were voted in by acclamation.
Sam Auxier spoke to the group and started by quote Matthew McConaughey: "Alright, alright, alright!"

Finally, we ended the day with a great salute to President Pat St. Peter for her service to the organization.

That's all folks!!!

After the bylaws, on to the requests for action

The rest of the morning was spent going through the reports and the isolated items. 

Justin and the Athlete Services group gave their reports. Lainie and Membership Services group gave their reports. 201 was referred back to committee.

Wendi and the Technical Group gave their report. 347-353 were being referred back to committee

Then the election results were announced

1014 – 971 – 486

President

Sam – 762

Ron - 209

Athlete Services Group Coordinator

Robbie – 393

Doug – 567

Isolated item #331 is about the official judging system and hardware. It was amended to clean up language that seemed exclusionary. Adopted as amended.

Isolated item # 345 is about selection of judges at national competitions. The request to unstrike the language about the desirability of geographical representation. Accepted.

Isolated item #325 was unisolated by the isolator.

Isolated item #512 had not been approved by the board. Troy Goldstein isolated it to have it approved. The discussion was about taking out the option of doing a double twist in the Intermediate Pairs free skating program. The original decision is overturned and it is approved to be changed.

Isolated item #527 was un-isolated by the isolator.

New isolation item #345 – amend implementation date of eliminating the supplemental MIF test to one year later – July 1, 2015

Administrative/Legal Gretchen and her team were brought up. Winston Burbank from the Audit Committee brought up Mario Rede (Sr. Director of Finance) to praise him to announce that for the first time, the auditors didn't find ONE number out of place. Unheard of for organizations of our size.

The morning finished out with the In Memoriam. So many names. 

Finishing up the bylaw amendments

The meeting started with an updated credentials report

326 Delegate

485 Proxy

203 Athletes

1014 potential votes

We tried to get started with Exhibit G (to include in the bylaws the election requirements and procedure for members of the Nominating Committee that are currently included in the Standing Rules), but it was noted that with the increase in the number of delegate votes that the athlete votes need to increase by 3.

We were all fine with that, but Joe Armstrong stood up to say that we don’t split athlete votes and it should be increased to 250 votes.

Pause the meeting and let Dorothy, Tom James and the rules people chat. They came back with the athletes are entitled to 3 more votes.

Back to Exhibit G. Ed Mann spoke in opposition and spoke truth that this is a process and not a bylaw and should go back to committee. Passed to refer back to committee.

On to Exhibit H which requires the holding of an actual balloted election at Governing Council for any officer or director position where a candidate is seeking a fifth or greater term and in all contested elections of officers; and to provide specific election rules relating to the two-thirds vote requirement for candidates seeking a fifth or greater term. The shared rationale was candidates for a fifth or greater term would be balloted and a procedure prescribed for the conduct of elections in contested races. This addresses some housekeeping issues with elections and the dissatisfaction expressed by a great many members over the use of acclimation to fill the need for a two-thirds vote for the fifth or greater term.

You knew it was going to be a “lively” discussion, but then it got bogged down in ‘strike this’ and ‘amend this’ and ‘change this to conform to that,’ and my ADD kicked in and I decided to get some breakfast. Part of the confusion was that we changed the President’s term to two-years and this is about one-year terms.

So we voted to amend the amendment – that passed. And then it was asked to amend the amended amendment. That got voted down.

We finally got back to voting and it was voted down since it just made no sense.

Now on to the isolated items! 

The Meeting Part I

Now that the preliminary and warm-up events are over, the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Governing Council officially began. And what is a figure skating event without an Opening Ceremony? 

Olympic Team Leaders John Millier and Kathy Slack talked about their experiences at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and shared a slide show from the Olympics. John about a skater who had a superstition about looking for a sparkle on the floor before every competition for good luck. John decided that he was going to start dropping sparkles on the floor as part of his role as team leader. Although, he said, she never really needed them - and then he introduced that skater - Special guest and U.S. Figure Skating Olympian Ashley Wagner.

Ashley talked to the crowd about coming up from the grassroots. “I was not a freakiously great skater. I just had a passion for it.” Ashley shared about how challenging this past year has been. It started off with Mr. Nicks deciding he didn't want to travel anymore, having to change coaches and choreographer, then her training rink closed down and finally how tough National were. She admitted that the short program wasn’t the best and she was terrified before the long program. But she was grateful to her skating family for making her skating dreams come true and selecting her to be on the Olympic team. 

The Business Meeting started

The secretary reported the number of clubs and the number of possible votes

321 delegates

477 proxies

200 athletes

Total 998 votes

After getting through the usual reports and business dealings, it was time to start the fireworks with "Isolating Items."

From the Interim Report of Action #1

Items 

331 (pg20) - Official calculation software and hardware for U.S. Figure Skating

345 (pg25) - Selections Committee

347-353 (pgs 27-30) Moves In The Field changes - these have to be isolated to be sent back to committee

From the Interim Report of Action #2

Items

201(pg 1) - Parents membership - has to be isolated to be sent back to committee

325 (pg 2) - Changing age classes

512 (pg 6) - Intermediate Pairs well-balanced free skate

527 (pg 13) - Qualifying rounds

But then first things first - bylaw amendments. Some would be easy and others, not so much. And as tradition goes, something will always come up that surprises us. Dorothy (our fabulous parliamentarian) led us through the process.

• Exhibit A – adding sexual orientation to the anti-discrimination language in USFS bylaws. Passed unanimously.
• Exhibit B – moving the Parents Committee from Athlete Services to Membership Services – passed unanimously
• Exhibit C –  Aligning the president’s term with the Winter Olympic Quadrennium. We knew this one was going to create a "lively discussion."  An amendment from the floor to delete the limitations on the number of terms if the President is elected in year 3 of the quadrennium. The amendment was accepted and the exhibit was adopted with the amendment and without too much lively discussion. Nice surprise.
• Exhibit D adding consistent age and membership requirements for all delegates, members of the Board of Directors, and committee chairs and members. Passed.
• Exhibit E to make any past or future ISU World or Olympic Champions honorary members of U.S. Figure Skating. Sounds like a no brainer, but it turned out to be more complicated than anyone thought. An amendment was offered requesting to change the scope of bylaw to include all World and Olympic medalists, not just gold medalists. Dorothy informed the body that the amendment was out of scope, but Tom James disagreed. (Let's get ready to ruuuummmmbbbbllllleeeee)

The delegates had to vote to determine if the amendment was out of scope. The vote looked close, so it was time for the first count. With 998 possible votes and the need for a simple majority, only 499 votes were needed. The final count? 893 agree with the chair that it was out of scope. 

Then it was noted under B that it said “any person or synchronized skating team member..."So does that mean that a synchronized skating team member isn't a person? The language was changed to "Any person or team member..."

Then it was time to vote on the amendment, right? Nope, another delegate asked to have it referred back to committee. 

Exhibit F was to clarify that the team membership pertains to synchronized skating teams as well as Theatre On Ice teams. Passed.

And that's when the day ended. 

Midwest Caucus Meeting

NatalieDee.com

Being part of the Midwest, I was only able to attend my own caucus. (Although I would have loved to be a fly on the wall at Eastern)

The meeting started with the Pat & David show since it’s natural to have Pat come talk to her people first (she’s one of us!) David shared great news that we have many of our national sponsors have resigned for next year include the news that Prudential has signed on to be the title sponsor through 2018!!

Thanks to our athletes for being so great that it helps our brand succeed. 

Ann Barr took some time to talk about the changes to the MIF – She explained why the changes were being proposed. She said the group felt that we had made the moves too difficult (such as the forward inside loop).  Ann says she believes that coaches have to teach beyond the requirements if they want their skaters to be competitive.  A lot of the delegates in the room are saying that the coaches at their clubs have told them to vote against these changes.

(NOTE: one hour later Ann and Heidi Thibert announced that the RFA was being referred back to committee)

Next up: Strategic Plan with Lainie and her traveling show (Gretchen Bonnie, Pilar Bosley, Winston Burbank, Terri Levine and Heather Nemier)

Information for the plan was gathered from the strategic planning committee, survey results from 239 clubs (lots from the Midwest), the athletes, the board and an outside sports marketing company. 

Here's a brief summary of what was presented: 

The goals of the new Strategic Plan include expanding grassroots, increase awareness/interest/participation, increase member retention and further athlete development

Goal: Increase Awareness, Interest and Participation Through Marketing Efforts and “Branding”

Tactics include:

• retain outside marketing and media relations firm in 2014 to advise
• create a strategy to better present events to increase attendance and revenue
• develop better presentation of officials’ scores – in arena and for TV and internet broadcast

Expand grassroots and increase members

Tactics: 

• Learn to Skate USA 
• Working group with the STAR board to develop business model for rink managers 
• Communicate bridge program to wider audience 

Assist club in increasing membership and retention

Tactics:

• Work with PSA, STAR and USFS Committees to identify ways to lower overall costs of participation
• Identify and implement expanded communications network and education initiatives
• Identify and implement initiative to attract/retain more male skaters
• ID and implement initiatives to expand high school and college skater 

Review and Update Strategy for Athlete Development

• Work with successful high level coaches to define AD program and resources necessary to implement it
• Address issues identified in research done by US Figure Skating’s Sports Science and Medicine Committee and equipment manufacturers on why injuries are occurring and ways to minimize them
• Review other NGB’s athlete development programs and international selection procedures. 

Next steps

• A survey will be sent to all GC delegates
• Board review in late May/early June
• Finalize Plan and Implementation Timeline

Break time!

Big news coming out today is that both the parents membership and the MIF are being referred back to committee.

John Coughlin got up to endorse Sam Auxier as President of US Figure Skating. 

Election of nominating committee members: 

Southwest: Peggy Graham

Upper Great Lakes: Kris Arneson Cutler

Basic Skills

The session started out with great news! The Basic Skills mobile app will be available on android starting next week. 

Elise Preston talking about the success that they see at Wollman Rink in New York City.  Elise says they have almost 1800 skaters, but the official numbers from USFS is 2,380. Wollman has limited season because they are outside, it runs from October to March. They have a great progression program for the skaters. They start in Junior Academy and move up to the Elite Academy. Although their session seems pricey to outsiders - it's $1025 per season - it is New York City. But it's a great value because the fee gets them lots of ice time as well as a cute fleece jacket.

http://www.wollmanskatingrink.com

There were discussions of various types of programs such as Baby Blades – a skating class for toddlers or Jumping Jacks which is a developmental program for boys. I love the names of both of those programs. 

The session ended with a discussion about rebranding Basic Skills, which I think is great idea.  It will be called "Learn to Skate USA" and it's been publically endorsed by U.S. Figure Skating and USA Hockey - yes you read that correctly - hockey and figure skating are working together. 

There will be a promotional campaign to rebrand basic skills that will be rolled out in fall. Headquarters will be communicating with the basic skills programs and clubs during the summer months to gear up for the campaign. It's important to know that the curriculum will stay in tact. 

The best description I heard to describe the rebranding, "Same program, we’re just putting it in a Tiffany’s box with pretty blue bow."

Synchronize your watches! It's time for Synchro!

The session started out with watching part of the opening ceremony from the 2014 Synchronized Skating World Championships. Those Italians are creative. If you haven't seen it, you can find it here.

Robin Greenleaf started the session with a review of the past year include the Dream Camps and the Training Festival, the Synchronized Skating Sectional Monitoring Program, as well as the Synchronized Skating Challenge Series in the Midwest and East.

Robin next went over the proposed ISU rule changes. She reminded everyone that the changes are contingent on passing at the ISU Congress this summer. And considering that two years ago that what was originally proposed for rule changes were not what eventually came out.
Some of the proposals that caught my attention:

• Deleting three elements - Choreographic Element (which was never used), Block Step Sequence and Circle Step Sequence for Senior, Junior, Collegiate and Novice, but could be retained for Intermediate and Adult.
• Creating a new element: The Combined Element - two elements that interact with each other.
• Reduction of freestyle program time. Reduce Senior from 4:30 to 4:00; reducing Junior from 4:00 to 3:30 and reducing Collegiate from 4:00 to 3:30
• No longer illegal: throw jumps at Junior & Senior as well as jumps/jump combos - no limit on number of rotations
• Unsustained Group Lift

Take a look at ISU Communication 1856 to see some of the proposed language changes for elements.

Robin then covered the various Requests For Action
The goals for all rule changes is to continue to increase participation and to encourage teams to move into competitive levels. Although sometimes it's just to clean up outdated rules.

Highlights:
Open Masters Division - There were so many adult teams at sectionals, that they had to have qualifying rounds. What was noticed is that there was a broad range of skating levels and adding this level will help.

Change to Rule 7260: request to increase the program time by :15 second so the Pre-Juveniles can do the creative element as part of their program

Adding required hand holds to levels where it isn't currently included - "a minimum of two different clearly recognizable holds."

Changing the upper level of the age for Open Juvenile to under 20.

Last year, it was suggested to raise the age of juvenile to the age of 14 but it was referred back to committee. During the past year, the Synchro Committee did a survey of coaches about this question. The groups for and against were evenly split, no matter how they asked the question. There was just no consensus, so the committee isn't bringing any recommendation forward.

Standardized nonqualifying competition announcement & preview of test revision

On the dias: Kelly Vogtner, Lynn Goldman and Eric Hampton

There are about 350 nonqualifying competitions and many competitions change events randomly and it was getting harder for coaches and skaters to plan for competitions. These variations were happening at the lower levels where the skaters and their families were just learning about competing. It was confusing to officials, parents, coaches and skaters. Some areas of figure skating have already created a standardized announcement.
The group looked at 25 announcements and found 33 different variations of the levels and 23 different levels of compulsory moves. They looked for common ground, they talked to Athlete Development and Coaches. What makes sense developmentally?
They created a flowchart to show skaters how the system worked.
The chart starts with Basic Skills then moves on to Beginner, High Beginner and No Test (Introductory levels). The chart then separates into Test Track and the Well Balanced Program.
Lynn stressed that no new rules were created for this and competitions are not required to use it. They were just strongly encouraged to use it for the sake of the skaters.
I'm sharing the flow chart below - sorry for the low quality.

The grop moved on to the speciality events (Spins, jumps, Showcase, etc.) and created charts for each possible event that competitions can use for their announcements. If a competition has an event that isn't included in the speciality events, submit it to the competitions committee, so they can share it. 

If competitions use the standardized announcement, they can use a watermark that says "This is a Standardized U.S. Figure Skating event." If they modify anything, they need to remove the watermark. 

HQ will do a survey in the next year to get feedback on how it is working, but Kelly shared that they have received a lot of positive feedback.  This is not required at this point, but the goal is consistency across the nation.  

The one negative is how long these charts have made the announcements. Lynn and headquarters is working to fix this. 

Personal note: I get really tired of the same discussion at every session - why did you change it? Are you going to make us do this? - even though it was said over and over that this isn't a rule change.  I support the standardized non-qual announcement. Let's make it easier for our LOC, our officials and our skaters.

Part II was the Eric Hampton show. He talked about an IDEA to change the test structure to reflect the IJS system. Skate Canada changed their test system to use the IJS system and the tests now provide the skaters with much more information and feedback. 

SAMPLE/Suggestion

I would love to pass a skater with honor or with distinction. 

Eric shared a quote from a February 2010 TED talk that really struck a chord with me, "Kids' big dreams deserve high expectations, starting with grownups' willingness to learn from children as much as to teach them." - Adora Svitak 

Test revision timeline - June 1- July 15 trying it out at test session as sort of a shadow panel and review rules that might need to be changed. July 15-August 31, the group will analyze what they've learned and then present to the Board with the hope of bringing it to Governing Council next year.

I gotta give a shoutout to Eric - he has a room full of people nodding their heads in agreement. His presentation is outstanding and not a typical powerpoint that we usually see at Governing Council. We heard from some of the negative Nellies that are always around, but overall I think he was swaying the room.

Critical Issues

Summary - I'll just share the highpoints. I think there were some.

First issue brought up is the more online education for coaches and officials who are in remote areas. Pat says they are looking to do that - send an email to Lynn Goldman and Ed Mann and Alex Chang.
Will do more webinars this year - up the number of seats to 500

No new items were brought up at the board meeting yesterday or today.

Page 26 of the Interim Report - Geographical preference being struck from the decision making for judges selection for National Competitions
It will provide equal opportunity for everyone. Pacific Coast officials have a quicker rotation than Midwest and East Coast

What is the reason behind the change in the MIF test?
MIF is about building a foundation for skating skills. The group involved with the recommendation said that they were trying to make a determination as to what are our skaters lacking while still keeping it attainable for everyone else like Synchro Skaters. Say what? I don't think he meant to slam synchro.
Judges opinion about the proposed changes? The skaters and coaches are just starting to get it, why change now?
Another concern was having skaters go from Preliminary to Senior without spirals. That's not going to help the skaters.
Why was this even brought up? At the 2009 GC when we changed the MIF, there was request to revisit the decision in 4 years. (sometimes we're our own worst enemy)

#201 - having parents as members
Laine DeMore shared that HQ got feedback from club that their weaknesses included parent education and volunteers.
Another big part of this has to do with Safe Sport and Grievance. If the parent isn't a member, US Figure Skating can't do anything to them.
There was a modification to this proposal during the board meeting: Introductory membership - if the skater is getting an introductory membership so can the parent as long as they hadn't been a member previously.  Great Idea.
Karen Terry (SafeSport) shared that several issues came up this year where USFS wasn't able to do anything because the parent wasn't a member.
Why not both parents then? Offer a family member
Steve Wolkin (Grievance) He saw more and more issues with parents, but couldn't do anything for the same reason.
Some delegates are seeing this as strictly a way to increase membership dues.

One delegate said that banning a parent is meaningless. Not True! Banning a parent isn't meaningless because US Figure Skating lists these people on the website so other youth organizations can know.
Maybe this membership will mean parents will take more ownership.
Does US Figure Skating see a dues increase soon? Maybe July 2016.
How about family memberships?
I'm being Captain Obvious, but I'm guessing that this is going to be isolated!

Exhibit C - President's Term of Office
President St. Peter shared that it is hard to build relationships internationally because they don't know if you're going to be around the following year. Some NGOs have longer terms - like 4 year. But USA Hockey's president has been in there 18 years.

Kudos to President St. Peter for being so calm. I don't know how she does it.