November 2013

Minutes for the Board Meeting of November 7, 2013

Attendees

Martha Corneck, Adrienne Williams, Ellen Johnston, Andy McNab, Chris Gannon, Kathy Santarella, Catherine Cunningham, Megan Loffredo, Adrienne Johnston, Liz West, Diana Coyne, Mike Arman, Elise Gabriele and Sylvia Ortega.

Approval of Minutes

October minutes were reviewed and approved.

PET-WRAT Report

Liz West reported things are running smoothly. At the end of Short Course she would like to create a report using Team Unify to see how many points families have earned broken down by practice group.

USA Swimming Report

Chris Gannon reported there are few families remaining that she hasnʼt received funds from. She would prefer to make phone calls rather than send a letter to those who owe money. She has found this to be more effective in collecting funds.

Reps Report

Charlie Fraas has offered to write questions for a WRAT Survey (complaints, suggestions, ideas and applause) that will aid in the WRAT planning and evaluation and guide how the Parents Club can help. Adrienne will follow up with Charlie about the status of the survey.

Coaches Report

Ellen proposed that the Senior Social be held Friday, November 22nd at the Westport/Weston Y. The Parentʼs Club will purchase and provide the main dish and parents can contribute sides. Games and a series of icebreakers will be played.
The 8/Under Social will be held sometime in December and Ellen will clear that with Coach Kristin.

Our club excellence application was submitted ahead of time and we wonʼt find out our designation until next year.
Practice schedule will changes ur after Thanksgiving. Because the Parks and Rec clinics at Staples will be Monday and Wednesday from 5:30-7:30, we will be changing our use of the Staples pool from past years. SAG and TAG will use all 6 lanes two times per week from 4:15-5:30. The high school prep team will meet twice per week at Staples from 6:30-730.

CT Swimming is considering lowering the surcharge charged teams. The LSC has made a lot of money over the past year. During Short Course we pay a 25% surcharge and Long Course has a 15% surcharge. A motion was made to begin charging 10% during short course and 20% during long course. CT Swimming is also looking to cap entry fees for meets.
A Gala Committee has been formed for the opening of the new Y. The event will be held next year either October 4th or 11th. Ellen has been asked to join this committee.

Ellen will be en route to Nashville so sheʼll miss the December 5th Parentʼs Club Board Meeting.
Last, Ellen reported that the coaches were thinking about bringing in different speakers: physical therapist, orthopedist, sports psychologist and a coach from a private ivy league college/university to speak with the swimmers. Dates and times will follow.

Meet Coordinator Report

Catherine Cunningham reported medals and heat awards are ready for the Freestyle Frenzy. We are still short on 13/Over volunteers. Adrienne suggested pulling some of our timers to fill open non-timing positions and asking visiting teams to provide timers. Ellen will have her group set up chairs, hospitality table and the banner Friday night. Ellen will also send an email out to those that have turned 13 regarding participation at the upcoming13/over meet.

Treasurers’ Report

Martha Corneck reported that sheʼs collected some PET-WRAT fees and paid the Swim Cap invoice of $2,100. Martha pointed out there are seven families who have still not paid their PET-WRAT fees.

A vote is needed for a new CPA. The one weʼve been using is too far away and has dropped us. Martha recommends Ray Abramson whose office is directly across the street. Heʼs familiar with tax laws affecting non-profits and he does a lot of community service. Ray would cost $1k while other quotes came in at $1,500. Martha made a motion to approve Ray Abramson as the new CPA for the WRAT Parentʼs Club; Cathy seconded the motion and the group voted all in favor.

A contribution has been made to Building What Matters.

The 8/u meet was slightly under budget, though weʼll receive 100% back on the surcharge amount. Kristin has asked Martha to refund a few people meet entries and sheʼll have that information next month.

Caps are available through coaches or at the front desk. Fees will come out of swimmers USA escrow account.

Co-Presidents’ Report

Adrienne reported on what she took from the Governance Seminar presented by Peter Clark from USA swimming on October 4th and 5th. The big item the Board needs to address is USA Swimmingʼs new Safe Sport initiative. Adrienne suggested we resurrect the WRAT Handbook and include the various USA Swimming policies on bullying, electronic communications, and travel as Appendices to the WRAT Handbook. She also suggested that we revise the Swimmer and Parent Codes of Conduct to include language that by signing the codes of conduct the signatory agrees to the various policies referred to in the WRAT Handbook. Other members of the board concurred with Adrienneʼs suggestions.

We need to address how to obtain authorization from parents on taking photos of the swimmers. (Since the board meeting we posted a note on the web site telling parents we are taking pictures and to let Ron Wimer, our communications chair, know if they want their childʼs pictures removed.) Photographers at the Freestyle Frenzy received approval by Megan to be on deck.
Adrienne asked the group if the Parentʼs Club should create a Facebook page. A motion was to create a Parentʼs Club Facebook page, Liz seconded the motion and the group voted all in favor.

Adrienne would like Peter Clark to come back to talk about early and late maturation for all the SAG and TAG swimmers moving up to Seniors. He would bring a different perspective to the parents and swimmers. This would be at no cost to the team.

On behalf of Megan, our officialsʼ co-chair, Adrienne requested that the club wait to reimburse officials for their training and clothing expenses once they complete their certification. Megan has had folks get reimbursed and never worked as an official. Sylvia made a motion for the Treasurer to hold onto submitted receipts until the Official is certified. Elise seconded the motion and the group voted all in favor.

Megan also asked the club if we would be willing to reimburse officials for a second officialʼs shirt. Andy made a motion for reimbursement of a second official shirt; Dana seconded the motion and the group voted all in favor.

Adrienne gave an update on Team Unify. She feels that they system is working well for meet and volunteer signup. She recommends our next step is to get billing – PET WRAT and USA Swimming fees – on the site. Kathy, Adrienne, Nicky, Chris and Dan Drum from Team Unify need to meet to get these additions/changes up and running by spring. This will automate the system thus stopping swimmers from registering for a meet if thereʼs an USA Swimming outstanding balance.

Adrienne lastly discussed potentially changes to a couple of line items in our budget given the Clubʼs current surplus. One was to increase the Clubʼs contribution to the Annual Campaign (formerly known as the Strong Kids Campaign) from $1K to $5K. Kathy made a motion to increase the Annual Campaign donation from $1k to $5k. Sylvia seconded the motion and the group voted all in favor.

The other item was to increase our donation to the Y from $30K to $35K. Kathy made a motion to increase the Parents’ Club donation from $30k to $35k. Chris seconded the motion and the group voted all in favor.

Next meeting will be held on Thursday, December 5th. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Adrienne Johnston
Age Group Rep