SDSI-LSC Meeting 9-23-06 (attachment 4.a.)

 

United States Aquatic Sports Convention XXVII

Dearborn, MI

September 10-17, 2006

 

 

Thank you for the opportunity to attend the USA Swimming annual convention and meetings.  As the South Dakota General Chair, I was in attendance Thursday, September 14 – Sunday, September 17, 2006.  These meetings served as a tremendous orientation and learning opportunity for me as the new General Chair for South Dakota Swimming, Inc.

 

While at the Convention, I was able to participate in two of the Central Zones meetings, LSC Chairs delegation meeting, USA Swimming House of Delegates meeting and several educational sessions.  In addition, there were many opportunities to network and meet with other state USA swimming officials including the new General Chairs from North Dakota and Wyoming.

 

I will provide a brief overview on news, highlights and information obtained at these meetings.  I would be happy to discuss any of these areas further or other items from the Convention. 

 

·                    Central Zones meeting (s):

o       2007 Central Zone Championships: August 3-5, 2007 Topeka, KS.  John Dicus, MV General Chair (hand-out)

o       2008 Central MegaZone Championship, August 6-10, Indiana Swimming/IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN. (hand-out)

o       2009 open for bid.  Need to select date August 7-9 or week before or week after?  Preference?

·                    Arlene McDonald (IN) was elected Central Zones Director

·                    Betty Kooy (MW) was elected Secretary/Treasurer

·                    Report from USA Swimming to CZ – (hand-out)

·                    There were several CZ pieces of legislation approved (hand-out)

 

·                     Quadrangular Championship Meet (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming)

·                    I met with the LSC General Chairs from Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota.  The 2007 Quadrangular Championship Meet is April 14-15 in Hardin Montana.   The four state group would like South Dakota to host in 2008 preferably at a Black Hills location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·                    I attended the General Chair delegate meeting.  There is a strong focus on LSC leadership.  USA Swimming will host a General Chair leadership conference in 2007.  Possibly in January.

 

·                    USA-Swimming House of Delegates:

·                    Elections:

o    Jim Wood, President

o    George Block, Technical Vice President

o    Mary Jo Swalley, Program Development Vice President

o    John Wilson, Administration Vice President

o    Peter Carney, Treasurer

·                    Background screening Task Force – Hand-out

·                    Incentive Program for inclusion of Swimmer with a disability, $50,000 set aside for a two year program. (hand-out)

·                    2006 Club Research and Recognition Initiative Data for South Dakota (hand-out)

·                    Amendments to USA Swimming Rules & Regulations (hand-out)

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Scot Graff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(attachment #4.d)

SDSI-LSC  Fall Meeting 9-23-06

2006 Central Zone Championships

Oklahoma City, OK

 

South Dakota took a record 64 swimmers to the 2006 Central Zone Championships in Oklahoma City, OK August 3-7.  Sixty swimmers were entered in the pool events, with a total of 186 pool entries and 176 relay entries.  Fifty-four swimmers were entered in the Open Water Championships on Monday, August 7.  South Dakota Swimming took fifth place overall with a score of 1808 points.  Team South Dakota was second in the Open Water.  South Dakota had ten individual first place finishes and two relay first place finishes.  In the Open Water, South Dakota had two champions, as well as many top eight finishers.  167 individual best times were swum throughout the meet, including both prelims and finals.  One swimmer qualified for the USA Swimming Junior Nationals in Irvine, CA, in two events and one bonus event.  Many state records were broken, but statistics were not available on the SD website at this time.  Overall, South Dakota came to the meet ready to swim and did so very well!

 

Coaches for the team were Bryan Hirt, and Chuck Baechler; Juniors, and Kate Zabler and Paula Gordon for the Seniors.  In addition to the 63 swimmers on the bus, we took 10 chaperones and four coaches and 2 drivers.  With the large number of swimmers, we rented a 15-passenger van and took a Suburban for the coaches and transportation once in OKC.

 

As our numbers have increased over the last three years, we need to increase our bus capacity and room reservations and our chaperones accordingly. We had one 56-passenger bus reserved and 23 rooms.  We housed and transported 78 people.  This was not enough, so we were able to rent a 15-passenger van and a small trailer.    We also need to choose lodging carefully, as our first hotel was not acceptable.  We were extremely fortunate to find a new hotel with 24 rooms available the day the meet began. This hotel was more expensive, but it was safe and closer to the pool venue.  I believe an on-sight visit to the hotel or recommendations from the host team must be used to select future hotels for our team. 

 

Other recommendations for future Zone meets are:

 

Money:  We need to have more than one person with money for expenses.  With two groups, Juniors and Seniors, and two vehicles, it did not always work to have one person with the credit card.  The credit card limit was not high enough to cover the hotel(s) and the van rental, as well. If a second or third vehicle is needed, it may be wise to have gas cards or a visa card with a limit for gas and groceries.  This would help eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for chaperones. 

 

As we try to stay in hotels with complimentary breakfast, we need to make arrangements to have the breakfast available before 6:00 AM, when Senior swimmers are needing breakfast.  If that cannot be done,  we need to budget and make arrangements for breakfasts ahead of time.

 

This year, we arranged to have an open water practice at Catfish Bay Water-ski Park in Sioux Falls.  This was of great benefit to swimmers and parents alike, as many have never had an opportunity to swim an open water event.  I recommend we continue to hold and open water practice. 

 

This year, most of our outdoor pool practices were cancelled or cut short due to lightning.  If possible, arrangements should be made to hold practices indoors in the event of inclement weather.

 

Entry forms could use some updates, as there was some confusion as to suit costs and shirt orders, etc.  I would be happy to help update these forms.  It would also be beneficial if separate checks were made for each swimmer in a family, as opposed to one large check, especially if swimmers are not in the same group (Junior/Senior). 

 

Re-imbursement and payment to coaches should be done as soon as possible.  If necessary, a reimbursement form could be created to help coaches itemize hours and expenses. 

 

If at all possible, one person should have “Team South Dakota” on Hy-Tek Team Manager.  After each meet (SCY, SCM and LCM), results could be sent to that person to download as Team South Dakota.  With this, it would be easy to see who has qualified for Zones and completing entries would be less time-consuming.  With entries due one day following state meet, this would be a great benefit!

 

Finally, if we could figure-out a way for one person to handle the logistics (practices, transportation, lodging, room assignments, shirts and caps, etc) and one person to handle entries, this would help.  However, I recommend that these two people have direct communication throughout the summer. 

 

Although the Central Zone Championships were not without a few glitches, the meet went very well.  The purpose of the meet is to give South Dakota swimmers an opportunity to compete at the Zone level and to swim well.  With that in mind, the 2006 Central Zone Championships went extremely well!

 

Paula Gordon

2006 Head Zone Coach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(attachment 5.c.)

REGISTRATION/MEMBERSHIP REPORT

FALL 2006 SOUTH DAKOTA LSC MEETING

 

 

 

1.         REMINDER:  My e-mail has changed.  Please change all of your records of my e-mail address to cknutson@hughes.net.

 

2.         I have e-mailed all team packets to the team contacts which I have e-mail addresses for.  If you did not receive a packet via e-mail please let me know along with your e-mail address and I will get it to you right away.  I do have some paper registration forms, if you want some please let me know after the meeting and I will hand them out.

 

3.         Reminder to all teams.  In order to practice or compete as a USA Swimming Club you must have a certified coach at all times.  If the team begins practice and/or does not have a certified coach your team will loose it “Club” status with SD Swimming and USA Swimming and will be an “Organization Status”.  All of the athletes will be registered as unattached members until all requirements by the coach are met and mailed to me and sitting on my desk. All unattached swimmers are not eligible to compete in relays or for team points at any sanctioned swim meet.  I am attaching to this report the USA Swimming rules regarding this matter.

 

I cannot express enough how important it is for all teams to get to me their coach registrations, certifications and athletes certifications to me as soon as possible.  The sooner the teams get me the information the easier it will be on all of us.  Again once I begin my leave very little registrations will be processed.

 

4.         Beginning sometime this fall all coaches will need to submit to a background check in order to become registered as a coach for the new year.  As soon as I have the process from National I will be distributing them to each team.  The process will be decided at National Convention with a schedule of when each LSC must have theirs completed.  Once we know when we are due coaches will have 30 days in which to get the requirement done.  MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RENEW ANY COACH FOR THE 2007 YEAR WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE BACKGROUND CHECK DONE.  At this time I do not know if any prior background checks will be accepted.  Those of you who may have already had one done may have to do it again.

 

5.         I am attaching a Certification Ending Report which indicates the expiration of coach’s certifications.  If your name is on the list please take note of the expiration date and for which certification.  Please complete the course as soon as possible.  If you are the only coach for that team your team will be changed to “organization status” on that date.

 

6.         Per LSC Policies and Procedures Manual I am requesting that each team have their renewals to me by November 1st.  The registrations of any new swimmers must be submitted to me 2 weeks after they joint your team.  Please remember all new registration forms must be submitted to me with the parents/guardian signature.  Any registrations received after December 15th will not be processed until after the Christmas holiday.

 

 

7.         ALL TEAMS MUST SUBMIT TO ME THE ATHLETE REGISTRATIONS BY THE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION PROCESS.  I will not process any Athlete registrations that are not sent to me by the electronic format.  All non-athlete registrations, coaches, officials, etc. are not registered by the electronic method at this time.  Please highlight the returning non-athlete on the roster and mail me the fees.  I will not process registrations of any athlete or non-athlete until the fees are in my possession.

 

When entering your athletes in team manager please indicate their ethnicity on each swimmer.  In order to comply with United States Regulations we must be able to prove that each team, LSC and USA Swimming does not discriminate against race.  Teams in SD have not been indicating this on their athletes and we have been asked to provide it and get our records up to date.  If the parent has not indicated on the registration form the swimmers ethnicity please ask the parent to provide the information.  If they decline that is okay and please indicate that they declined on the registration form as well as in team manager when registering the athlete.  Remember all information you provide in the electronic registration thru team manager is what will be uploaded.  If a swimmer quits and then returns any information you provide or do not provide will over write on the previous information.    Our teams have not been taking the time to enter this information hence more than 75% of our athletes do not have their ethnicity indicated.

 

8.         Refunds.           Each year I get requests for refunds.  There are only 3 instances that I can process a refund.  These rules are governed by USA Swimming.

 

            1.         Parent wants a refund – this must be requested within 30 days from the date of joining and be for good cause.  When considering this type of request, take into consideration that the athlete has already been issued a membership card and could take that card to swim meets as proof of membership.  You should make every reasonable effort to get the card back from the athlete.  The request must be submitted to USA Swimming through the LSC registrar.  The LSC will be expected to send a letter to the athlete and club, notifying them that they have been deleted from the database and that all benefits of membership are no longer in effect.

 

            2.         Parent writes a bad check – The club and/or LSC should make every effort to collect the membership fees.  Again, you must make every effort to get the membership card back.  The request must be made to USA Swimming through the LSC registrar.  The LSC will be expected to send a letter to the athlete and club, notifying them that they have been deleted from the database and that all benefits of membership are no longer in effect.

 

            3.         Registrar error – Club or LSC accidentally renews/adds the wrong athlete.  USA swimming will issue a refund if the errors are reported within 45 days.

 

9.         It is the responsibility of each team and coach to keep current with me their e-mail addresses.   If registering a new coach please make sure to indicate their e-mail address on the registration form.  This allows me to contact them directly if a need ever arises as opposed to “calling around” and leaving messages with other individuals. 

 

            Summer teams, also beginning the 2007 year all team packets will be e-mailed.  It is your responsibility to let me know who the information is to go to not mine to track you down.

 

 

 

 

10.       Membership Renewals of Officials.

 

            All teams, both year round and seasonal teams, must notify the LSC Official’s Chair each time their officials participate at a meet.  This must be done in accordance with the format set by the SD LSC Official’s Chair.  I cannot and will not register an official for free membership who is not approved by the official’s chair.  At this time I do not have any summer team official approved for free membership.  If anyone feels that they are entitled to a free membership, verification needs to be provided to the official chair immediately.

 

11.       Reminder that all teams hosting a meet must provide me with the registration report the Monday before the meet.  This allows me time to run the report, verify with my database, determine what needs to be done to correct the error and notify the host team with any instructions.  This report is in the meet manager.  Click on File, click on export, click on registrations.  The only report I can run is the sd.3 file.  Do not e-mail me any other registration report as this is the only one that works.

 

13.       New:  When registering more than 1 new non-athlete’s please use both registrations on the Non Athlete Registration Form.  This is due to the fact that I have limited filing space and I must keep all registrations for a minimum of 7 years however National prefers 10 years.  Please help same paper and space by using both registrations on the form.

 

14.       Reminder to all teams that last any swimmer participating in a meet who is not registered will be assessed a fine of $100.00.

 

 

15.       PROPOSED POLICY CHANGES TO BE ADDED TO THE LSC POLICY HANDBOOK

 

            A.        I would like to suggest the fine imposed on a team for an unregistered swimmer participating in a meet be changed for better clarification.  I suggest that this statement be in the Eligibility portion of the sanction to read as follows:

 

            “All swimmers must come to the meet prepared to show verification of their membership or they will be deck registered before they can enter the water.  The Meet Referee must verify the application and the host team will mail the registration and check to the SD Registrar along with a $10.00 deck registration fee immediately following the swim meet.  If a swimmer participates in a meet and is not registered the swimmers team will be assessed a $100.00 fine for each day of competition.

 

The reason for this proposal is because I never received a copy of a registration form or check from a meet referee or host team after a meet was held when I let host teams know that certain swimmers were not registered.  I never received information from the team of the swimmer or the host team or from a referee that an individual was deck registered.

 

            B.         Late Fees.        In past years I have asked that teams have their renewals to me by December 1st.  On an average 2 to 3 teams met this deadline.  Therefore per our LSC Policies, renewals are due to me by November 1st of each year.

 

 

 

 

I am proposing the following late fee schedule for teams who do not submit their renewals to the registrar by November 1st of each year:

 

Registrations postmarked and received after November 1st - $50.00 fee;

Registrations postmarked and received after November 15th - $100.00 fee;       Registrations postmarked and received after December 1st - $150.00 fee

 

No registrations will be processed until the team has paid the late fees.

 

 

 

 

  Certification Ending Report

  Coach                                                                  LSC                    Club                          Expiration Type               Expiration Date

 Houston, Cassandra Naomi                    SD                 ASC                   CPR                          4/3/2006

  Ahrendsen, Wendy Jean                       SD                 BSC                   CPR                          10/9/2006

  Zabler, Kathryn Mane                            SD                 BSC                   CPR                          4/24/2006

  Ufken, Emily A                                     SD                 BSC                   CPR                          3/19/2006

  Mayer, Shelby Lane                              SD                 DDCC                 CPR                          4/23/2006

  Olsen, Michael Lee                               SD                 DL76                  CPR                          9/2/2006

  Olsen, Michael Lee                               SD                 DL76                  FIRST AID                  9/8/2006

  Olsen, Michael Lee                               SD                 DL76                  SAFETY                    9/8/2006

  Hoffman, Holly A                                  SD                 EAST                 FIRST AID                  5/6/2006

  Hoffman, Holly A                                  SD                 EAST                 SAFETY                    12/3/2006

  Hoffman, Holly A                                  SD                 EAST                 CPR                          12/14/2006

  Hemmingson, Kaitlyn R                        SD                 GOLD                 CPR                          7/15/2006

  Anderson, Stacy Rae                            SD                 GOLD                 CPR                          6/3/2006

  Baechler, Charles Arthur                       SD                 MAC                  CPR                          5/25/2006

  Baechler, Charles Arthur                       SD                 MAC                  SAFETY                    5/28/2006

  Olson, Candice Gayle                           SD                 MCL                   CPR                          11/11/2006

  Schmeichel, Kathleen Joy                     SD                 MCL                   CPR                          5/1/2006

  Schmeichel, Kathleen Joy                     SD                 MCL                   SAFETY                    5/30/2006

  Huckins, Kent W                                  SD                 PST                   CPR                          10/7/2006

  Weeldreyer, Paula M                            SD                 PST                   SAFETY                    8/23/2006

  Weeldreyer, Paula M                            SD                 PST                   CPR                          10/7/2006

  Ehrenfried, Karleen A                            SD                 PST                   CPR                          10/7/2006

  Haberman, Laura K                               SD                 PST                   CPR                          10/7/2006

  Harper, Christopher James                    SD                 RCR                   CPR                          10/1/2006

  Certification Ending Report

  Coach                                                                  LSC                    Club                          Expiration Type               Expiration Date

  Olney, Duncan Richard                         SD                 RCR                   CPR                          6/17/2006

  LaBelle, Michael                                   SD                 SAS                   SAFETY                    10/18/2006

  Stoddard, William Alan                         SD                 SEAL                 CPR                          9/8/2006

  Gordon, Paula Margaret                        SD                 SFX                    CPR                          8/22/2006

  Mueller, Edie Jo                                   SD                 SFX                    CPR                          3/20/2006

  Aldren, Jason JOn                                SD                 SFX                    FIRST AID                  11/22/2006

  Aldren, Jason JOn                                SD                 SFX                    SAFETY                    11/22/2006

  Rumrill, Debra C                                   SD                 UN                     CPR                          6/11/2006

  Rumrill, Debra C                                   SD                 UN                     SAFETY                    8/23/2006

  Anderson, Kyle Dane                            SD                 VAST                 CPR                          5/19/2006

  Hirt, Bryan Anthony                              SD                 VAST                 CPR                          8/15/2006

  Mahowald, Melanie Ann                        SD                 VAST                 CPR                          12/14/2006

  Rasmussen, Kara M                             SD                 VAST                 CPR                          5/19/2006

  Heermann, Peggy Sue                          SD                 WASC                CPR                          10/18/2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(attachment 5.e.)

SD Swimming Meet Schedule 2006-2007

Winter Short Course – 2006-2007  (Revised 9-23-06)

Date

Place

October 14-15

 

October 21-22

Rapid City (21st only)

October 28-29

Vermillion-USD (28th only)

 

 

November 4-5

Yankton (4th only)

November 11-12

Pierre

November 18-19

Brookings/Spearfish

November 25-26

 

 

 

December 2-3

Mitchell

December  9-10

Watertown

December 16-17

Sioux Falls

 

 

January 6-7

Aberdeen

January 13-14

All-Stars

January 20-21

Rapid city

January 27-28

Sioux Falls/Spearfish

 

 

February 3-4

Pierre

February 10-11

Watertown

February 17-18

 

February 23-24-25

Novice at Mitchell

 

 

March 2-4

State Championship at Spearfish

March 8-11  (Date Corrected 9-28)

Sectionals in Chicago

 April 14-15

Quad. Meet in Montana

 

Summer Long  Course  - 2007  (Tenative)

June 1-3

Watertown

June 8-10

Brookings/Chamberlain (9th Only)

June 15-17

Huron

June 22-24

Yankton/Milbank/Rapid city

June 29-July 1

Mitchell

July 6-8

Aberdeen

July 13-15

Sioux Falls/Webster

July 20-22

Novice / Sectionals 19-22 @ U of MN

July 27-29

State Championship

August 3-5

Seasonal Teams Championship

August 10-12

Central Zone Meet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(attachment #5.f.)

Sanction Report

Fall 2006 LSC Meeting

Lori Bork SD Swimming Sanction Chair

 

·        Sanctions overall have improved in the language that is being written into them. I think the template has helped. I still would like to get that posted to the Website. Many of the issues that I have could be solved if we had someone who would keep our website current. Thank you to all that submit your sanctions to me in a timely fashion.

·        I have had issues with sanctions this year and many of them pertain to individuals not paying attention to the content in the USA Swimming rule book or the SD LSC policies and bylaws. Below is outlined a list of these issues. Please remember as I make decisions that it may take me several days because if I have an issue I am usually attempting to research the issue and that takes time. Here are just a few of the issues and how I responded to them and the decisions I made regarding them.

 

1.      Many teams have been granted sanction numbers and sent out invites and then wanted to change the format of their meet at the last minute. I will not approve that and here is why-it is to difficult to contact swimmers and parents and let them know of the change. The burden of this usually goes the coaches and this is unfair. Also swimmers and families make plans based on the meet format and this causes problems for them. If your meet is too small or too large for a particular format then please plan accordingly. Take breaks if you need to etc.

 

2.      Teams have sent sanctions to me requesting that warm ups be cut short. I will not change this-USA swimming rules state that in a session ( for example-the mile) the warm-up must be at least 30 minutes. Please plan accordingly and book your pool far in advance of your meet so you are not put under a time constraint.

 

3.      Sanctions are being sent in late and then there are changes. Our SD LSC policies state that a sanction must be sent in 30 days prior to the meet. This is hardly being followed. Only about 2 teams did that this year. Please remember that I need time to look over the sanction and to research any issues that may arise from the sanction. If you are needing to get the sanction out then send it in ahead of time. Emailing about changes needed takes time so please plan ahead.

 

4.      I do not provide meet invites for teams. If you are hosting a state meet then plan ahead and get the invite from the team that hosted the meet last year or in the case of many teams most of you have hosted a state meet and I am pretty sure someone on your team has it on their computer. I do not want to be responsible for sending out meet invites.

 

5.      Teams who host state meets must pay the $20.00 sanction fee. I had teams angry about this. I do not make the rules. That has been an LSC policy for as long as I have been doing sanctions. If you have questions about fees please refer those to Dave Margheim our LSC treasurer. Also please send your fees to me. If Dave gets the fee then I have no way of knowing if they were paid or not. I will not grant sanction numbers until I have the check in my hand. I have gotten too many emails stating that the check was “in the mail” and then had to follow up several times to find out if it was sent, where it went etc. It becomes very time consuming.

 

6.      Please remember that if you send out an invite without it being sanctioned that you are setting your team up for many problems. Your team is not covered under USA swimming insurance which puts your team at a liability risk and also the swimmers times are not legal and recognized. I have had several sanctions go out this year without them coming to me. Three sanctions were sent out this year without numbers. Two of them were summer teams who I am sure changed meet directors and it just didn’t get passed on that sanctions need to done every year, another was a year round team which I am sure it was the same issue and one was a team who was upset that I did not get the sanction done in time and threatened to send it out without a number. Please keep in mind the risk that you are taking when you send an invite out without a number. The only reason I caught these was because two got sent to me and one of our coaches asked why there was no number on one.

 

7.      Please pay attention to the language you are putting in your sanctions. I think that many meet directors are just copying sanctions and not really reading what is in them. We had a large issue with age groups this summer that will need to be resolved for the whole state. This will apply to both summer and winter teams.  I want you all to know that I will not change sanctions once a number has been issued unless it is a very good reason and if it affects most of the swimmers.

 

8.      I am still having problems collecting for time trials. It is impossible to collect the fee for that. Some teams send it others don’t.  I have a proposal to solve that problem.

 

9.      There were many questions that came up about what teams can charge for the per swimmer fee for state meets. This needs to be decided. In the LSC policies manual I have it states that head tax is $1.10 and that the per swimmer fee is $2.50 per swimmer. I am hoping the manual gets changed to the correct fee of $2.00 per swimmer.

 

·        As you can see I had many issues this year but I want to stress that many teams were very responsible and accountable but I need to have some mechanisms in place to make this job less stressful. Here are my proposals and I will let the group discuss and decide which if any they would like to implement.

 

A.     Sanctions must be sent in 45 days prior to a meet. If a team fails to send the sanction in the appropriate time then a fine will be added to their sanction fee. The group can decide on the fine. Last summer I was treated rather disrespectfully by some teams when their sanctions were sent in late and then it took more time to get them put together due to changes. I am sometimes gone in the summer also so I may not look at my email every day. I need more time than 30 days to get everything put together.

 

B.     I would like to see the sanction fee raised to $25.00 instead of twenty. This would cover time trial fees also. If a team chooses not to do time trials then they still need to pay the fee. It will make it so much simpler for me.

 

C.     Please make a decision on age groups and the summer teams must make a decision and put it in their by laws about their summer championship. Right now there is nothing in their bylaws and it became a huge issue this summer with one swimmer thinking that he/or she was qualified to swim and several others not practicing thinking there were not qualified to swim. Our current policies state that age groups are 17-18.

 

D.     Please make a decision on what the per swimmer fee will be for state meets or if we need to just set a maximum amount that we can charge. The current by laws list the head tax as $1.10 and the per swimmer fee as $2.50. I want to have some guidelines to go by so I can be consistent when I do sanctions.

 

Thank you all for the hard work that you do to improve SD swimming.

Respectfully submitted:

 

Lori Bork SD Swimming Sanction Chair

 

(attachment 5.h.)

Officials Chair Report  

Fall 2006 LSC Meeting (9-23-06)

 

South Dakota currently has 80 officials.  After reviewing the list, there are several more in the process.  Of the 80 officials, 31 have their national certification. Again, I believe there are some still in the process from the 2006 Short Course Championships.  I have brought a copy of the list of officials for review by each club.  If each club indicates which officials are no longer active, it helps up with a better perspective of how many officials we have available to work meets.  There are several issues that we need to address concerning officials:

A.     Should the LSC pay the USA Swimming fees for officials meeting certain     requirements?

B.     Shortage of officials for the C-Novice and Summer Teams Championship meets

C.     Officials training

D.     What makes up a session in regard to training and working?

E.      Swimposium

 

 

 

A.     LSC payment of USA Swimming fees

Should the LSC pay the USA Swimming fee for officials, and if so, what are

the requirements and how are they tracked?

According to the current policy, officials who have worked the majority of the                sessions at at least four swim meets within the LSC’s jurisdiction during the

                  last calendar year are entitled to have the LSC pay their membership fees.

The current tracking of this is a burdensome and inaccurate process.  If we continue with this practice, my recommendation would be to put the reporting responsibility on each club.  Each club knows their own officials, plus how many meets the official has worked. The report would be sent once per year in the fall.   If the LSC is to continue the payment of fees, do we need to re-evaluate the requirements?  According to the certification guidelines (Section 1.4 – 1.8), the minimum renewal requirements are a minimum of four sessions per year.  This same requirement meets the standard to have the LSC pay the official’s USA Swimming fees.  Another method would be to pay for a certain number of officials from each club.  Each club can then determine for themselves if the club wants to pay the remaining fees or distribute the savings to all officials.  The other option would be that the LSC does not pay the fees for any official.

                       

B.     Shortage of officials for the C-Novice Championship and Summer Team Championships

It has been an ongoing problem that we have had a shortage of officials for these meets.  We need to develop a system to assure that we have enough officials to work these meets.

 

C.     Officials Training

After talking to many officials throughout the state, I am hearing that officials are interested in more training.

Recommendation:  hold an officials training clinic in conjunction with the fall LSC meeting.  Fall is when the proposed rule changes come from USA Swimming.  There are some rule interpretation differences in our state now, and by holding one clinic at a central location, we can provide more consistency for the swimmers.  Summer teams need to be included as well.  We can all learn from each other.

 

D.     What makes up a session in regard to training and working?

The current policy for Stroke and Turn, Starter and Referee require a certain number of sessions as an on-deck apprentice.  Now that we have different formats from meet to meet (split session, prelim/final, etc), it is unclear how long one session is.

Recommendation:           

Stroke and Turn – work a minimum of 12 hours as an on-deck apprentice served under at least two sanctioned meets. Apprentice time should also include working all 4 strokes plus the IM.

Starter – work a minimum of 15 hours as an on-deck apprentice.

Referee – work a minimum of 20 hours as an on-deck apprentice served under at least three sanctioned meets under at least two different referee trainers.

 

E.      Swimposium

Each LSC is eligible for a Swimposium once every three years.  USA Swimming will provide the Swimposium for our LSC.  Possible clinincs for athletes, coaches, officials, and parents.

Recommendation:

Plan the Swimposium for April 2007 at a central location

The information needs to be distributed to the teams well in advance so we can have maximum participation.

 

 

 

We have many volunteers that keep SD Swimming working for our swimmers.   Thank you to all who give so willingly of their time.

 

 

 

 

Edie Mueller

Officials Chair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(see attachment #6.f.)

 

OFFICIALS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

PROPOSED POLICY CHANGES – 9/23/06

 

The policy manual is not readily available to officials.  The items proposed here are better handled (and are already addressed) in the formal training clinic.

 

4.2.1 do not accept – already stated in 4.2

 

4.2.1.1 do not accept – what does benefit of doubt mean?

 

Here are two critical principles:

 

1.  Every swimmer receives the benefit of the doubt – the judge must be

certain the observation is a violation of the rules.

 

2.  The rules of swimming define fairness so it is the responsibility of each official to protect all swimmers from the competitor who does not comply with the rules.

 

Following those statements, is it fair to the other swimmers who completed the race in accordance with the rules to throw out a DQ because the slip has an error when the swimmer clearly violated the rules?  Many times the DQ slip is written by someone other than the official who made the call.  Many of the meets have gone to a system of “writers”.  The writer may or may not be a certified official, so many times the call is lost in translation.  Many problems can be avoided if the referee checks over each DQ slip. 

 

When we include the two principles above, it ensures fairness, balance and competence in officiating.

 

4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.3.1, 4.2.3.2, 4.2.3.2.1, 4.2.4  do not accept – protests are already covered in the USA Swimming rulebook as stated in section 4.3.  Remember that each situation is unique and many times there is more than one possible resolution to the situation.

 

6.2.1 do not accept.  If the proposed change were accepted, that would mean a minimum of 5 clinics per year.  The training for the entire state could be accomplished with one clinic a year to be held in a central location.  This would also lead to more consistency in officiating and lessen the chance of differing interpretations.

 

6.2.2  do not accept.  USA Swimming releases the proposed rule changes in the fall of each year.  As stated in section 6.2, the liaison on each member club is the contact to inform of the proposed rule changes.  The best forum for open lines of communication is at the meets during coaches and officials meetings. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9-23-06 attachment #6.c.)

 

South Dakota Summer Long Course Meet Rotation Schedule

YEAR

NOVICE MEET

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

2007

Rapid City & Sioux Falls     

Brookings

2008

Rapid City & Aberdeen

Mitchell

2009

Rapid City & Yankton

Aberdeen

2010

Rapid City & Sioux Falls

Yankton

2011

Rapid Cit  & Brookings

Sioux Falls

2012

Rapid City & Mitchell

Rapid City

2013

Rapid City & Aberdeen

Brookings

2014

Rapid City & Yankton

Mitchell

2015

Rapid City & Sioux Falls

Aberdeen

2016

Rapid City & Brookings

Yankton

2017

Rapid City & Mitchell

Sioux Falls

2018

Rapid City & Aberdeen

Rapid City

2019

Rapid City & Yankton

Brookings

 

South Dakota Winter Short Course Meet Rotation Schedule

YEAR

NOVICE MEET

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

2006-2007

*Mitchell  (Pierre)

Spearfish

2007-2008

Rapid City & Yankton

Brookings

2008-2009

Spearfish & Brookings

Sioux Falls

2009-2010

Rapid City/Watertown 

Aberdeen

2010-2011

Spearfish/Sioux Falls

Pierre

2011-2012

Rapid City & Mitchell

Rapid City

2012-2013

Spearfish & Vermillion

Yankton

2013-2014

Rapid City & Aberdeen

Spearfish

2014-2015

Pierre

Brookings

2015-2016

Spearfish & Yankton

Sioux Falls

2016-2017

Rapid City/Brookings

Aberdeen

2017-2018

Spearfish & Watertown

Pierre

2018-2019

Rapid City/Sioux Falls

Rapid City

*Whenever a city cannot host a meet as scheduled, the meet is open for bids.           

Pierre was unable to host the ’06-’07 Novice Meet.  Mitchell’s bid was accepted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(attachment #6.f.)

SDSI – LSC MEETING – 9/23/06

PROPOSED SPECIAL RULE OF ORDER – Gary Hagerty

 

I would like to make a motion that SD LSC adopt a new policy to be included in their Policy Manual.

This new policy is to insure that we take advantage of technology in order to keep our policy manual up to date.

 

Any motion which is to be presented at a SD LSC regular meeting or special meeting for a vote and which will affect the policies of the SD LSC will be submitted to the LSC Secretary in writing as it is intended to be placed in the policy manual no later than one month prior to the championship meet immediately prior to the LSC meeting so that there is sufficient time to distribute to all teams and officers prior to the meeting.  Furthermore, the document shall be presented in an acceptable electronic format so that replacement in the policy manual can be accomplished in a reasonable time frame if the new policy is approved.  The only exceptions to this rule will be for motions that bring the SD LSC into compliance with Federal, State and Local laws or USA-Swimming rules.

 

Rationale:

1)      By having a written policy manual that is up to date, we will have a much stronger organization as we will all understand the rules.  (I realize that this will not remove all differences such  as when we are allowed to host swim meets, but it will help.)  By having the policy ready to be inserted into the manual, we will be in much better position to keep the manual updated (rather than waiting 10 years).

2)      By having the policy changes to the LSC secretary in sufficient time to be distributed early so that teams can discuss the measures among all of their swimmers and families:

a.       We will make decisions which better represent all of SD swimming.

b.      We can increase the quality of discussion by having all members in attendance at the LSC meeting having had an opportunity to think about the motion in advance.

3)      It is realized that this motion is more restrictive than necessary, but consider the following:

a.       It is in line with the process used by USA swimming.

b.      Currently, we are offering policy changes that happen very fast and often created without much forethought at the LSC meeting.  We need to stabilize the rules so that we determine and learn exactly what the rules are.  This policy will help to create continuity and consistency within our LSC.

c.       This policy will not restrict the free exchange of ideas at the LSC meeting.  However, if a new idea is generated at the LSC meeting, this policy will require that it wait until the next meeting to be voted on.  This will insure that only new policies or changes to the policy that are truly good will be brought up later after a cooling off period. 

 

(attachment #6.f.)

SDSI – LSC MEETING 9/23/06

OFFICIALS POLICIES CHANGES – Gary Hagerty

 

I would like to make a motion that SD LSC adopt a few changes to their Officials manual as presented in the most recent Policy Manual.

 

 

1)      All writing in plain black text is copied from the April 20th, 1996 revision of the South Dakota Swimming, Inc. Policy Manual.  This is the last known version of the Manual.

2)      All writing in bold black text indicate changes which need to be discussed.  (Note:  The inclusion of bold text is for discussion purposes only.   They may be altered or removed during the discussion.  Furthermore, any item can be not indicated as up for discussion can be raised at any time.)

3)      All writing with a double strike through it represents items in the Officials’ document that should be considered to be stricken out.

4)      Hopefully several items will be addressed by these changes including:

a.       Officials realize that by USA-S and by SD LSC policy, coaches are entitled to three items of information when a DQ is called which include.  What was seen, what rule was broken and why.  This does not include being told that the swimmer agreed or any other superfluous information.

b.      We have a better distinction between the role of the official and the role of the coach.

c.       A training program is instituted in this state.  Officials that I have talked to can only remember one training clinic of any type that they have been invited to and this was at the swimposiam in Pierre a few years back.

d.      Improved communications between coaches and referees occurs.  This hopefully will alleviate the situation where a referee decides at one swim meet that rules will not be followed and expects others to follow the rules which are in direct conflict with USA-S rules at the next swim meet without communicating the changes.

 

 

South Dakota Swimming, Inc.

Officials’ Policy Manual and Procedures

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION.

 

            The Officials’ Policies and Procedures for South Dakota Swimming, Inc., are incorporated in the South Dakota Swimming, Inc., Policies and Procedures Manual at Rule 4 as Exhibit #7 #6.

 

POLICY 1

TRAINING, CERTIFICATION AND DUTIES

 

1.1   Marshall

1.1.1        Duties – See USA-S rule 102.19 102.18.  Further clarification can be obtained by reading the Guidelines for Meet Marshall’s document published on the USA-S web site (Path = USA-Swimming Home page - Volunteers – Officials – Training resources - Guidelines for Meet Marshall’s)

1.1.2        Training Requirements -  Pre-meet briefing and USA-S membership (202.3.2 202.3.3)

1.1.3        Certification – None

1.1.4        Minimum Age – 18

1.1.5        Continuing Education – Serve as Marshall at least one meet session per year.

 

1.2   Timer

1.2.1        Duties -  See USA-S Rule 102.17.3 102.16.3 B and C.

1.2.2        Training requirements –

1.2.2.1              Pre-meet Briefing

1.2.2.2              Continuing supervision by Head Timer.

1.2.2.3              USA-S Timer’s test (optional)

1.2.3        Certification – none

1.2.4        Minimum age – 11

1.2.5        Continuing education – Serve as Timer at a minimum of four sessions per year (recommended).

 

1.3   Head Timer

1.3.1        Duties -  See USA-S Rule 102.17.3 102.16.3 A

1.3.2        Training requirements –

1.3.2.1              Timer at four sessions (optional)

1.3.2.2              Recommendation from Head Timer or Meet Referee.

1.3.2.3              USA-S Timer’s test (optional)

1.3.3        Certification – none

1.3.4        Minimum age – 18

1.3.5        Continuing education – Serve as Head Timer at a minimum of two sessions per year (recommended).

 

1.4   Stroke and Turn Judge

1.4.1        Duties -  See USA-S Rule 102.16 102.15.3, .4 and .5

1.4.2        Training requirements –

1.4.2.1              Formal Clinic;

1.4.2.2              USA-S Stroke and Turn Judge test;

1.4.2.3              Four Sessions on-deck apprenticeship with trainer;

1.4.3        Certification

1.4.3.1              Complete training within one year of clinic;

1.4.3.2              Recommendation of trainer and/or Meet Referee;

1.4.3.3              USA-S membership (USA-S 202.3.2 202.3.3);

1.4.3.4              Renewal – Work a minimum of four sessions each year in a minimum capacity as a Stroke and Turn Judge;  favorable evaluation by officials chair

1.4.4        Minimum age – 18, provided that no person shall serve as a Stroke and Turn Judge in a meet in which he/she is competing.

1.4.5        Continuing education – Clinic, pre-meet briefing and/or USA-S Stroke and Turn test (recommended).

 

1.5   Chief Judge and Assistant Chief Judge

1.5.1        Duties -  See USA-S Rule 102.16.1 102.15.1

1.5.2        Training requirements – Minimum of one year’s experience as a certified Stroke and Turn Judge.

1.5.3        Certification Requirements – One years experience as Stroke and Turn Judge.

1.5.4        Minimum age – 18, provided that no person shall serve as a Stroke and Turn Judge in a meet in which he/she is competing.

1.5.5        Continuing education –  Same as Stroke and Turn Judge certification above.

 

1.6   Relay Take-off Judge

1.6.1        Duties -  See USA-S Rule 102.16.6 102.15.6

1.6.2        Training requirements – Must be certified as Stroke and Turn Judge.

1.6.3        Certification Requirements – Part of Stroke and Turn Judge certification, above.

1.6.4        Minimum age – 18

1.6.5        Continuing education –  Same as Stroke and Turn Judge certification, above.

 

 

1.7   Starter and Recall Starter.

1.7.1        Duties –

1.7.1.1              Starter -  See USA-S Rule 102.14

1.7.1.2              Recall Starter -  See USA-S Rule 102.14.4E and 102.15

1.7.2        Training requirements –

1.7.2.1              Clinic

1.7.2.2              USA-S Starter’s Test

1.7.2.3              Work five sessions as a certified Stroke and Turn Judge

1.7.2.4              Five-sessions on-deck apprenticeship with starter trainer(s)

1.7.3        Certification Requirements – Part of Stroke and Turn Judge certification above.

1.7.3.1              Recommendations of trainer(s) and/or Meet Referee(s)

1.7.3.2              USA-S Membership  (202.3.2 202.3.3)

1.7.3.3              Renewal – Work a minimum of four sessions per year in a minimum capacity of Starter; favorable evaluation by officials chair. 

1.7.4        Minimum age – 18

1.7.5        Continuing education –  Clinic, pre-meet briefing and/or USA-S Stroke and Turn test (recommended).

 

1.8   Referee and Assistant Referee

1.8.1        Duties –  See rule 102.13

1.8.2        Training requirements –

1.8.2.1              Attend Referee’s Clinic

1.8.2.2              Minimum of one-years experience as certified Stroke and Turn Judge or Starter

1.8.2.3              Familiarity with all meet positions, including certified officials, marshals, clerk of course, timer and announcer

1.8.2.4              80% score on all sections of the USA-S Official’s Test

1.8.2.5              On-deck apprenticeship totaling six sessions served under at least three sanctioned meets under at least two different Referee Trainers

1.8.3        Certification Requirements –

1.8.3.1              Recommendations of Referee trainer(s)

1.8.3.2              USA-S Membership  (202.3.2 202.3.3)

1.8.3.3              Renewal – Work as a certified official at a minimum of six sessions per year including at least one session as a; favorable evaluation by officials chair. 

1.8.4        Minimum age – 21

1.8.5        Continuing education –  Attend Clinic or take test every two years.

 

 

 

POLICY 2

RESPONSIBILITIES AND JURISDICTION

 

2.1      Responsibility – The responsibility, duties and authority of each official’s function is described in the USA-S Rulebook Pat One.

 

 

2.2      Jurisdiction – Except as otherwise required or mandated by USA-S rules, the scope of each official’s jurisdiction shall be that assigned by the Referee or Chief Judge prior to each session of a meet.

 

 

POLICY 3

STATE MEET OFFICIATING STANDARDS

 

3.1      The meet director of a state championship meet shall solicit from each participating team a list of certified officials who would be willing to work at the meet.  Before assigning a referee, starter or chief judge of the state meet, the meet director may confer with the Officials Committee or Chair.

 

 

3.2      The meet referee and/or chief judge shall attempt to use a variety of stroke and turn personnel to insure a diversity of involvement.

 

 

3.3      During state championship meets there shall be a minimum, the following officials working at all pertinent times: 1 referee, 1 Starter, 1 Chief Judge, 1 Head Timer, 1 Marshall, 2 timers per lane, 2 stroke judges, and 2 turn judges.  Furthermore, there shall be dual confirmation relay take-off judging consisting of a judge on each side of the pool and a judge for every two lanes on the exchange ends.  An assistant referee and a recall starter are  is optional.

 

 

3.4      The officials Committee shall periodically review the time standards for the LSC’s championship meets and make recommendations for revision to the House of Delegates.

 

 

POLICY 4

BEHAVIOR / PROTESTS

 

 

4.1      Officials who have the power of disqualification should attempt to maintain the appearance of impartiality while working at a meet.

 

 

4.2      Officials in accordance with USA-S 102.10.2, should make a reasonable effort to advise a swimmer and/or coach of the reason for the disqualification; furthermore, officials should willingly explain what they observed to the coach who is asking for informational purposes;  however, officials should not engage in discussions about rules interpretations with the coaches, swimmers or parents and should refer any person questioning a decision to the referee.

4.2.1        A reasonable effort to inform the swimmer and/or coach should be accomplished through delivery of a signed DQ slip as indicated by USA-S rules 102.15.3 and .4

4.2.1.1              DQ slips need to be carefully filled out.  The meet referee should overturn inappropriately filled out DQ slips based on the benefit of the doubt and USA-S rule 102.13.1

4.2.2        Swimmers and parents with concerns about calls should not talk to officials but instead be directed to the swimmers coach for clarification.

4.2.3        Coaches with concerns should be directed to the meet referee.

4.2.3.1              Referee’s responses to coaches inquiries need to include the three questions (suggested by USA-S document entitled, “The Referee – Protocol and Philosophy), where was the official, what did they see and what rule it broke.  IT is sufficient to only provide this information.

4.2.3.2              When a Referee asks an official the three questions, if the answers are inconsistent or provides any doubt, the benefit of the doubt should go to the swimmer and the DQ should be overturned by USA-S rule 102.13.1. 

4.2.3.2.1        When a Referee overturns a DQ based on rule 102.13.1, the referee should explain there decision to the official and be clear as to which rule and what interpretation is being used to overturn the call.

4.2.4        Officials should never inform a swimmer, parent or coach how to correct the stroke to avoid the DQ.  This is the coach’s job and there may be many ways to correct the deficiency.

 

 

4.3      Protests are governed by USA-S 102.11

 

 

4.4      The Referee can overrule a judgment call only if the referee actually observed the action that is the basis of the decision (This should be reserved only for occurrences where the action was clearly legal); however, the referee can overrule any decision that is a matter of rules interpretation by USA-S 102.13.1

 

 

4.5      In order to maintain fairness, all officials should do there best to uphold every rule.  If they disagree with any rule, then they may follow appropriate channels to change the rules.

 

POLICY 5

USA-S MEMBERSHIP FEES AND RECIPROCITY

 

5.1  Officials who have worked the majority of the sessions at at least four swim meets within the LSC’s jurisdiction during the last calendar year are entitled to have the LSC pay their membership fees.

 

5.2  South Dakota Swimming shall honor and fully recognize the credentials of all officials who are currently certified under another LSC’s jurisdiction, provided the other LSC has a similar policy.

 

 

POLICY 6

OFFICIALS COMMITTEE

 

6.1   The Officials Committee shall keep a current list of all certified officials in the state of South Dakota and make it available to each member club.

 

6.2  The committee shall also be responsible for arranging official’s clinics, appointing an officials committee liaison on each member club and keeping clubs informed of proposed or pending rule changes that affect the officials’ responsibility.

6.2.1        In arranging clinics the officials committee shall insure that there is at least one clinic both west river and east river near the beginning of both the winter and summer season.  Furthermore, there should be at least one clinic arranged for the summer teams.  The summer teams clinic should be hosted at a pool designated by the summer teams and should be on different day from the east river regular clinic to assist in providing additional opportunities for summer teams to train officials.

6.2.2        To assist in keeping clubs informed of rule changes and to keep the lines of communications open to build a team working for the swimmers, the officials chair shall create a email data base of all officials and coaches.  Furthermore,  they will use the data base to send a monthly email communicating all potential rule changes and discussing areas of improvement necessary.

 

6.3  The committee shall also work with meet directors to help provide adequate officiating at all meets within the LSC’s jurisdiction;  further, the committee shall encourage other officials, coaches and/or a team representative to provide the committee with evaluations of officials’ work.

 

6.4  The LSC Officials Committee shall keep all member clubs informed of the requirements for obtaining certification to officiate at a regional and/or national level.