Present:
A.M. Anderson
Geoff Broadhurst
Bob Fenson
Peggy Hatch
D. Clark Higgins
Warren Lowe
Richard Maskel
Jack McNelly
Donna Purkey
Leland Rich
Ann Swisshelm
Jane Thompson
Tom Violette

Not present:
Phil Draper

Also attending:
David Garber, Executive Director; Doug Anderson, Director, Member Services; Rick Patzke, Director, Communications

1. President’s report

a. Welcome, roll call. Anderson called the meeting to order at 9:07, and welcomed committee members and guests, including first time attendees Swisshelm and Purkey.

b. Prior minutes. Motion by McNelly, Higgins second to approve minutes of last meeting. Approved.

2. Treasurer’s report

a. 2000 results and 2001 budget. Higgins distributed his Treasurer’s report covering fiscal year 2000 outlook, and a 2001 Budget draft, and reviewed details with the committee. The preliminary surplus of over $60,000 will be reduced as year end expenses come in.

b. Deferred item. Meeting agenda item c., USCA dues not paid for athletes entering playdowns, has been deferred pending specific procedure in writing.

3. Governance & organizational issues

a. Arbitration. Anderson reviewed the status of a pending arbitration related to a grievance originating in 1999.

b. Disciplinary action. Anderson reported that there will be a hearing, later in this meeting, regarding one of the two athletes recently suspended by Anderson. The suspensions followed an investigation of a violation of the Player/Coach Agreement at the 2000 Junior World Championships, including the Zero Tolerance clause approved by the USCA board in March, 2000. An extensive discussion ensued, including a review of past USCA actions and investigations regarding Player/Coach Agreement violations. The committee has received documentation for its review prior to this hearing. Violette reviewed past cases and noted that there had been direct evidence from specific people in prior cases of limiting an athlete’s right to compete. In one case where direct evidence was lacking, the sanction had been limited to probation. Fenson relayed the concerns of one coach.

Governance. Presentation and discussion: the USCA and the relationship between recreational and competitive curling

Meeting agendas on USCA web site. Swisshelm expressed her belief that the USCA should post its agendas for its Executive Committee and board meetings on USCA web site. The committee, by consensus, agreed to direct staff to post meeting agendas on the USCA web site, with the proviso to note that meeting agendas are tentative and subject to change, and that, once at a meeting, directors present can, at their sole discretion, change the agenda during the meeting.

Strategic Plan. Anderson reviewed the development of the USCA Strategic Plan. President-elect Hatch has been assigned the job of overseeing the administration of the Strategic Plan. Hatch led a discussion reviewing the plan, item by item. Hatch will prepare several revisions for board consideration in September. Each Priority Issue was reviewed and plans and program requests for 2001 were discussed, by the committee members and staff members who administer the programs.

During the discussion of the Strategic Plan, a possible project to survey membership opinion, in a statistically credible manner, was discussed, with no conclusion.

Strategic Plan, continued

Later in the meeting, just prior to a break for dinner, Anderson distributed a discussion draft regarding a major competition format change designed to better match the USCA Strategic Plan Priority Issues #1-3. Anderson’s proposal would be subject to discussion and comment from all constituencies between now and the April, 2001, board meeting. Anderson suggested everyone read and consider the discussion draft.

Appeal hearing for one athlete. 12:50-2:00 p.m. Tom Casper represented an athlete at a hearing regarding a disciplinary action (the athlete elected not to be present). Casper spoke for about 30 minutes. Several committee members commented or asked questions of Casper. After Casper left the meeting at 2:00pm, the committee decided to deliberate now rather than later in the meeting. The committee had an extensive discussion of a number of issues. Motion by Higgins, Violette second, that the committee upholds the sanctions, imposed on the athlete by the President, amended to read: You are suspended from participation in any curling competition leading up to state, national or world competition for one year commencing March 23, 2000, with the exception that you will be permitted to compete in state/regional competition that leads only to the National Olympic Qualifier. You are declared ineligible for participation in USCA/USOC sponsored/funded programs, including, but not limited to, camps. Approved with one opposed.

The committee discussed the situation of a second athlete who also received a sanction. An appeal is pending.

4. Executive Director

a. Workload and staffing levels. Garber referred to the detailed report he had recently sent to the committee, in which he described the options he felt the USCA had in order to match staff resources with desired program work assignments. Key programs involved are those designed to take advantage of the unprecedented opportunity presented by the U.S.-hosted 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The Games represent a rare opportunity for the USCA to promote curling, from recreational/club level to elite level, and to increase USCA marketing revenue. However, in order to exploit this opportunity, Garber expressed the opinion that the USCA has three options: reduce and/or eliminate some existing programs; transfer some program work to volunteers; or, add a minimum of a one-half- time staff position to support the work Patzke and Anderson need to do. Garber stated that he had provided the Treasurer with a budget proposal for the latter option. He asked that the committee approve this budget as proposed when it deliberated on the budget for FY2001 later in the meeting. Discussion ensued.

b. Travel coordinator: Motion by Lowe, Hatch second, to reappoint Evelyn Nostrand as USCA Travel Coordinator. Approved unanimously. Garber will ask the AAC to express their specific concerns regarding booking hotel rooms at 2000 nationals.

c. Job descriptions. Garber will distribute committee job descriptions to officers and committee chairs during the summer, for review and updating.

d. Property insurance project. Garber is working to develop a club fire/property insurance program to complement the popular "panol" liability insurance plan that is currently used by over 60 USCA member clubs.

5. Member Services

a. Member marketing seminar. Broadhurst reported that the marketing seminars have been very successful for some clubs, but that it has been very difficult to recruit clubs to commit six members to attend the seminars.

c. Regional relationships. Pete Mitchell, Doug Anderson and now Broadhurst have attended several regional meetings in order to increase communications, to find ways to increase USCA-region coordination and cooperation in efforts to build membership, and to encourage all regions to add growth and growth discussions to their regional meeting agendas.

6. Competitive Programs

a. Citizenship rule for 2001 Nationals. Thompson reviewed the background of, and led a discussion on, the issue of limiting participation in the 2001 Men’s and Women’s National Championships to Olympic-eligible athletes. Violette described the issue in terms of the Amateur Sports Act and the USOC constitution (the 2001 Nationals will be a part of the 2002 Olympic Team Selection Procedure). Interpretation of USOC policy has been received from the USOC Ombudsman, and from several staff and volunteer members of the USOC International Games Preparation Committee. The main concern is to minimize or eliminate valid grievances from athletes who may "displaced" from the Olympic qualifying process. The USCA appears to have two options: retain the current rule, or remove the nationals from the Olympic team selection process. The latter has been considered undesirable from a "select the best teams" view. Extensive discussion followed of the options. Motion by Rich, Swisshelm second, to uphold the March decision of the USCA board to for 2001 only. Approved unanimously. [Note by meeting recorder: in view of additional information, this motion was reconsidered during a committee conference call June 27, 2000. Refer to call minutes.]

b. Podium funding. Thompson reviewed 2000 programs, including an extension for high performance camp(s) now planned to be conducted in mid-August. The new Athlete Development Director will work with the USCA Elite Programs Committee to promulgate the USCA’s Podium grant proposal for 2001. McNelly stated that the USCA should improve its use of Sports Psychology resources. Anderson asked Thompson and McNelly to finalize Podium plans in the next two weeks.

c. Worlds and Olympic volunteer program. Anderson reviewed the background of the USCA’s volunteer program for USCA umpires, hog line officials, etc., leading to and including the 2002 Olympic Games. Anderson has recently exchanged letters with WCF president Roy Sinclair. Sinclair will ask Bill Forsythe to propose five (plus Forsythe) U.S. officials to join the WCF team of 17 senior officials for the 2001 Junior Worlds and the 2002 Olympic Games. The final list is to be made in consultation with the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee.

d. 2002 Olympic team, coach, team leader and extra officials selection procedure. Thompson reported that all have received a current draft of the USCA’s proposal for the USOC.

Motion by Hatch, Fenson second, to approve the 2002 Games Team Leader selection procedure as amended. Maskel suggested alternative terminology for USCA worlds, which it was agreed would be discussed through the Coaching Committee. Approved contingent on final draft.

Motion by Fenson, Rich second, to approve the 2002 Games Coach selection procedure as amended. Approved contingent on final draft.

(Thompson will fax notes to Garber)

Motion by Hatch, Thompson second, that the regional competitions for the National Olympic Qualifier will use the team residency rules established for the 2001 National Championships. Discussion. Approved 6-3, with the AAC reps opposed, and four members not voting.

Extensive discussion ensued regarding whether or not there should be open team residency requirements at the regional NOQs. The motion was reconsidered.

Motion by Hatch, Broadhurst second, to re-approve the previous motion. Discussion. Approved, 8-3, with the three AAC reps in opposition, and Rich and Higgins abstaining.

Motion by Rich, second by Higgins, that the women’s National Olympic Qualifier field be a 16 team field, seven non-qualifiers from nationals plus one team from each region. Approved. Default tiebreaker if a region doesn’t enter a team will be number of region entries, then, if still tied, region’s ranking at nationals.

Consensus agreement that Violette, Thompson and Anderson will work out remaining details.

e. ADD Selection Committee. McNelly reported on the committee’s selection process, including Friday’s interviews of five candidates. The USOC has advised the USCA that it will not fund an ADD unless the ADD is exclusive to the USCA (i.e., may not also work for another country). The committee of seven included three USCA-AAC members, and the proposal to follow was reached unanimously. McNelly reported that all five candidates had excellent credentials and interviews. Ed Lukowich of Calgary was proposed as ADD, unanimously, to the Executive Committee. Motion by McNelly, Lowe second, to authorize McNelly and Garber to hire Lukowich as USCA Athlete Development Director for a term through April 30, 2002, at a maximum specific fee, subject to negotiation. Approved unanimously.

(the following motion was made after a break)

Motion by Lowe, McNelly second, to approve a compensation package tentatively accepted by the candidate subject to approval by this committee. Approved unanimously. Anderson asked Thompson and McNelly to document job objectives with the new ADD. Elite Programs is to devise targets and goals, including the possible use of an athlete evaluation form. There was an extensive discussion of the impact of this change.

7. Championships

Site approvals. The committee authorized Fenson to conclude agreements with each 2001 USCA National Championship site.

• -Men’s/Women’s, Madison (WI) CC
• -Mixed, Rice Lake (WI) CC
• -Juniors, Rochester (NY) CC
• -2^nd Chance, Chicago (IL) CC

National Olympic Qualifier (NOQ). Sites are needed for NOQ and for the Olympic Trials. Fenson and his Site Selection Committee will utilize criteria developed by McNelly’s Elite Programs Committee for administering NOQ site selection.

Drug testing. The World (WADA, IOC) and U.S. (USADA) Anti-Doping groups are to be operative after the Sydney Games. The USCA should then be out of the drug testing business. However, in- and out- of competition testing will be mandatory. Drug testing rules/procedures will be under the new USOC/IOC system.

8. Marketing (Draper)

Motion by McNelly, Higgins second, to authorize Anderson to sign the USCA/USOC/OPUS Joint Marketing Agreement. (The JMA was reviewed previously by the committee.) Approved unanimously.

Motion by Hatch, McNelly second, to approve the idea, as suggested by Garber, for the graphics for the new USCA affinity credit card. Approved.

Motion by Hatch, McNelly second, to authorize Anderson and Draper to act on the USCA’s behalf by signing, at their discretion, a binding agreement regarding the NGB Internet Collaborative, subject to legal counsel, and after the due diligence process has been completed, as described in the interim agreement dated June 9, 2000, between the Warren Company of New York, Ltd. and the USCA. Approved unanimously.

Sponsorship. Anderson reported that he will appoint a new standing committee in order that the USCA become more proactive in the sponsorship area.

9. Operations (Draper)

No report.

10. USOC McNelly

Ogden venue access, stones, team housing status. McNelly reported on a June 15 conference call held with Aimee Preston and Amanda Maits of the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee (SLOC) and McNelly, Maskel, Lowe and Garber of the USCA. McNelly will attend the USOC 2002 Games Prep meeting in Park City, Utah, June 28-30, and is looking into 2002 team housing.

New USOC management and NGB/athlete funding programs. Information has been distributed to the committee.

Interrelations with USCA SLOC liaison (Lowe). Lowe reported further on the June 15 conference call with SLOC (see 10.a., above). SLOC has asked the USCA to appoint two reps for the 2001 World Junior Curling Championships, an athlete and a general event liaison. Preston asked that the USCA ask its icemakers if any are interested in being on the ice for 2001 WJCC and the Olympic Games. The committee concurred that this be done. A schedule of monthly SLOC/USCA conference calls has been instituted, as well as periodic meetings. The key issue of access to venue/stones is being addressed.

11. AAC Maskel

May AAC meeting report. Maskel reported on items of interest from the May meeting of the Athletes Advisory Council. The AAC has governance questions regarding the terms of Violette, who is the USCA’s rep to the USOC AAC) and Sharon O’Brien (Violette’s alternate). Their 4-yr. terms expire in January, 2001, which does not coincide with the USCA’s May 1 terms. It was agreed that Anderson would discuss this with Violette and O’Brien. The AAC intends to have their 10^th USCA director nominated by the September meeting. The AAC had discussed access to Olympic venue/stones, including use of podium funding as needed. Other AAC comments and proposals:

• -USCA buy championship quality stones for use at future USCA events.
• -USCA evaluate annually its senior volunteers, e.g., umpires.
• -Feels that the USCA World Team Prep function has improved this season over past years, and has specific suggestions for next season.
• -Should the world team departure time be locked in or flexible?
• -Expressed a variety of concerns about the administration of the Glasgow worlds.
• -Suggested that the USCA try to emulate world-style ice at our nationals.
• -Felt that the biggest benefit of having World Team Leaders is up front of the competition.
• -Asked if there is a role for current active players as Team Leaders.
• -Propose a formal debriefing of athletes after each worlds
• -Proposed eliminating the statute of limitations for grievances.
• -Favor confirmations on hog-line violations and witnessing of measurements.
• -Asks for an AAC consulting role with the USCA drawmaster.
• -Proposes USCA consideration of using a sports marketing firm.
• -Proposes to change the time out rules at Junior Nationals for playoffs at nationals.
• -Proposes that unused junior nationals slots be filled.
• -Encourages ticket buying for 2002 Olympic Games and 2002 World Championships to maximize spectator support for U.S. teams.

Anderson asked that the AAC send details of all proposals to the appropriate USCA committee.

12. WCF Lowe

Lowe reviewed the April election results of the World Curling Federation. Lowe feels that the USCA and its WCF reps have very good relationships with fellow WCF members. No rules changes are currently pending. Violette asked if the USCA can work to effect the "continuation sweeping" rule now used in Canada at WCF level. Brief discussion of Rules of Play.

13. USWCA Purkey

Purkey reported that Carla Casper is the new USWCA president. She thanked Leland Rich for attending the Seattle USWCA meeting. The USWCA has a successful merchandising program, with proceeds used to assist USWCA programs that are not growing, such as junior curling and the Women’s Scots Tour. A big problem is that the USWCA dues come direct from the clubs, most of which are now one-board clubs who also pay dues to the USCA. Purkey sought possible solutions. Dues paying membership has declined in recent years.

14. Unfinished business

2002 Scots Tour. Higgins reported that the USCA has requested that the date be moved, perhaps to November, 2001 (the normal date is in January), to avoid conflicts with the Olympics and 2002 Bismarck Worlds. Higgins will appoint a selection committee in the near future.

New business

Finalize budget. Higgins again reviewed budget numbers. After initial adjustments, the tentative surplus is $9,550. After additional reductions deliberated and agreed by the committee, the $40,000 surplus goal was met, and the budget for FY2001 was approved.

Competitive and recreational curler needs. Anderson led a discussion on the paper he had distributed yesterday as a possible approach to fulfill the needs of both recreational and competitive curlers. A discussion ensued, with each committee member offering comments. The need for a credible member survey and the importance of tradition were some of the issues discussed. Anderson summarized by asking for more comment after committee members have further considered the position paper.

Next meeting. The next USCA meetings will be held in Minneapolis September 15-17.

Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 2:32 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
David Garber
Executive Director

Reviewed and authorized,
D. Clark Higgins
Secretary