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.