Annual Executive Board Meeting and Elections September 21, 2014

1. Call to Order: USATF South Texas President, Sue Humphrey, called the Executive Board meeting to order at 2:15pm on Sunday, September 21 at the Wellington Apartments in San Marcos Library. In attendance were the following Executive Board members: Sue Humphrey – President, Gary Lyles – Vice President, Joe Prusaitis – Membership, Bear Jones – Treasurer, and Bert Pickell – Secretary.

Chairpersons present were Ricky Williams (Officials), John Purnell (Sanctions), Scott Slade (Coaches), Randy Reina (T&F), Gerald Smith (Youth), Joyce Prusaitis (MUT), Steve McCannon (XC), and Janis Bluhm (RW). Additional current South Texas members present were AC Jaime, Seth Brower, David Dunbar, Alvin Weaver, Debbie Romero, Joe Scecina, John Head, Gary Mathis, Ruth England, Steve Sisson, Randy Rendon, Anthony Byerly, Linda Davis, Juan Dominguez, Tony Lightner, Pat McDonald, Deborah Carr, Ryan Boedeker, David Galan, Harold Bell, Quinton Brown, Garvin Hinds, Aaron Rendon, Briana Nelson, and Tyyisha Jackson.

We also recognized two of our Olympians in attendance: Gold medalist Charles Austin and Silver medalist Leo Manzano.

A quorum was confirmed.

Guests (and hopefully future USATF South Texas members) in attendance were Emilio Hayes, Eva Dominguez, and Aaron Davis.

2. President’s Welcome & Opening Remarks: Sue Humphrey welcomed the attendees to our Association meeting and thanking them for traveling from far distances to attend our meeting and election. Immediately, she asked for a moment of silence in the passing of our good friend, Gulf Association’s Racewalk chair Dave Gwyn who recently passed away. Dave was a dynamic mentor and official in Racewalking, and he freely came to South Texas to help out in many of our local and championship events.

At this point, Sue provided an update on our success and challenges for 2014.

Our successes this year include meeting accreditation standards in the membership areas; the bidding, hosting, and executing a record number of Regional and National championships in track and field and cross country; more Officials certification clinics were held throughout the association; and a successful with our MUT Grand Prix program created by our MUT chair.

We still have challenges within the association to upgrade all our sports. We have lots of potential on LDR and Disabled athletics, but no one taking the lead to create programs. We need to write a Code of ethics for the association. Open subcommittee positions are Masters and LDR. Association-wise we have logistical challenges with our distances our athletes, officials, and coaches must travel (i.e., Killeen to Pharr is 384 miles or 6 hours – or – Georgetown to Pharr 354 miles – 5:30 hrs)!

Looking ahead-- South Texas must host more meets and work out schedules with AAU and other sport programs. Our increased numbers have come from the hosting of the 2013 Junior Olympic Cross Country and 2014 Regional TF meet. Now we have to provide events to continue interest in USATF. We have a few new initiatives in USATF which our members will need to comply with for background checks. The TC Logic checks through the youth committee are good for one year. If a coach uses the background check through the Coaches Registry, their checks will cover 2 years. Either one is acceptable. Any coach, volunteer, official, or parent working with youth athletes must have a current background check on file. This is a mandate from the USOC.

New other new programs from USATF include SafeSport and RunJumpThrow. SafeSport is another program for all members of USATF working with athletes. It’s main focus is to prevent any type of abuse to an athlete. This also comes from the USOC and the course is available on the USATF website.

RunJumpThrow is a youth program to encourage new members to try track and field events. There is a written curriculum for administrators to follow. Each association is expected to host these clinics during the year. More information is also on the USATF website.

Per our By-Laws, executive board members are elected for a two-year term and can only perform in that capacity for two straight terms. Therefore, today’s elections focused on President, Secretary, and Membership Chair.

And, while this is identified as our Annual Meeting (last one for 2014) and subsequent elections, we will NOT give our annual awards as our year is not complete. For our first meeting in 2015, we will recognize those folks who have helped South Texas USATF succeed.

3. Secretary’s Report: Bert added further feedback on the Associations Workshop he attended with Sue. He made a point to highlight all the great successes have come under the leadership of Sue and the support of a dynamic leadership team under fire in many instances. He did mention the continual challenges in handling website issues and thanked Gary for his efficient uploading of files. Bert asked the membership if they have been receiving the bulk email being sent out and most nodded in agreement. However, Bert reminded the attending members that communication can only be effective when our members keep their individual profiles up-to-date. When members renew their membership for multiple years then change email addresses along the way, we can’t communicate with them if they do not update their profiles with correct email.

4. Treasurer’s Report: Bear Jones gave a treasury update, highlighting the funds we currently have which are $35,533.62 which is a major increase due to funds we received for hosting the National Cross Country events in late 2013. Sue stated that continual funds will be coming in from the State of Texas concerning last year’s event.

Debbie Romero asked if those funds can be used for Masters activities since most master athletes must handle travel and event costs on their own. Sue reminded the group that while Masters athletes do not have to qualify to participate in national and international events, youth athletes must follow a competition sequence, qualifying at various levels usually at different locations, so that funding to support their success is more challenging and critical.

Sue stated that we are still due income from San Antonio Sports from the state of Texas, our primary community partner in the very successful Regional and National USATF Junior Olympics series in 2013.

As our funds continue to increase substantially, we want to remind our members to propose initiatives and opportunities to use these funds through a well-thought out budgetary proposal that will affect and grow our sports. Each subcommittee chair should submit a yearly budget which will cover these funding requests.

5. Sanctions Report: John Purnell shared with the group that we are at 87 sanctions. However, since all sanctions are handled online now, we are kept out of the loop of much of the review for safety at a venue. Additionally, in many large urban areas like San Antonio, event directors can get liability insurance cheaper through their cities. While the liability is not as comprehensive as USATF’s, event directors - who put on many road races - focus on economics and we are priced out of situations. USATF’s requirement to complete a post-event report is also overlooked in many instances. Bert asked if we are sanctioning adventure events and John stated that we are not, which happens to be an area where more athletic events are gravitating to. John did say that we continue to sanction large events but that many organizations, especially non-profit charity groups, are getting their own long-term insurance. As we noted previously, income from sanctions has been the primary source for association activities in the past.

6. Membership Report: Joe Prusaitis shared with the group his recent successes in reaching out to clubs for them to increase their membership numbers. While we expected the Youth National and Regional events we hosted would bump up our membership, we were unaware of how to reach the organizational standard USATF has levied upon us. Joe did further investigating and noted that members who are unattached are not viewed in this standard; essentially noting that members who are part of a club actually increase our accreditation numbers. At that point, Joe made the connection to many unattached members such as our Officials crew and suggested new clubs be established to “house” those members. Bottomline – We went from being unaccredited to accredited almost overnight with our percentages now above 100 percent.

As of this meeting, our membership numbers went from 32 clubs to 54, and our general membership numbers from 922 (as a high in 2013) to over 1674 – a 53 percent increase! We expect kudos from USATF National’s Association committee at the USATF Annual Meeting. This is the first time USATF South Texas has ever met all of our Accreditation standards. We should go from “Provisional” accreditation to “Fully Accredited.” Kudos to Joe in working this area diligently. Our Plan For Improvement should reflect these changes.

Bert thanked Joe for the tireless effort he put into the Membership position which has reached its highest position ever.

7. Officials Report: Ricky Williams stated that we have over 202 officials with about 45 in a waiting list. He plans to conduct 5 clinics beginning in January 10 with a class in Edinburgh. Ricky also wants to initiate a “Starter’s Clinic” to pass along essentials that all event starters should be following.

8. Committee Feedback:

a. Athletes With Disabilities: Dave Dunbar shared some details on the fact that disabled athletes are now part of some UIL championships, and we expect this to expand with interest and involvement. We expect to get further feedback at the Annual Meeting.

b. Coaches Education/Coaches Advisory: Scott Slade gave further details concerning our next Coaches Education Level 1 class set for January 2-4, 2015 at the Drury Inn in San Antonio. We will post updated information on our website and inform our membership through bulk email. There is a Level II school also scheduled for the summer of 2015. Information is on the USATF website under Coaches Education.

c. Cross Country: Steve McCannon informed the group of our planned Association Youth and Combined Cross Country event set for November 15 in Marble Falls. Steve also reminded the group that there will be NO regional Junior Olympics cross country and that the top 12 qualifying runners at the association event will be forwarded ahead to the National JO XC. As we held our Association XC in Marble Falls previously, we hope that we can get support from officials, coaches, and volunteers to put on another great professional affair. There will also be an open, masters 5K at 8 am as the Association Championship.

d. Long Distance Running: Randy Reina informed the group that this area has the most potential to grow in our association, and he hope to grow a great team of sport chairs, endurance coaches, and affected event directors to establish a similar Grand Prix series like our MUT folks have.

e. Masters: Randy Reina also stated with the amount of experience and interest in senior athletics, primarily in road events, that we can develop a unique distance running masters team. Event director Seth Brower reminded the group of his series of events and Debbie Romero shared details of masters throwing efforts which continue to be extremely strong in South Texas.

f. Mountain-Ultra-Trail (MUT): Joe Prusaitis informed the group on our hosting of the 100K and 100M events, and the bidding to get events in 2016 in Bandera and Huntsville. Joe and Joyce also gave feedback of their very successful Grand Prix series through which there are about 400 in the series with 12 teams, some with groups as large as 90 members.

f. Racewalk: RW Chair Janis Bluhm and South Texas Walking Club coach AC Jaime gave an update on the Winter RW efforts in hosting another USATF National Elite Youth Training Camp in Pharr, primarily in between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Close to 50 kids from around the country attend week-long hands-on instruction from current and former Olympians on Racewalking. The camp culminates with one mile to 10K Racewalks on the track and roads around Pharr. One difference this year is that AC mentioned that kids must reach specific standards to come to the camp since it is limited in size due to costs (i.e., around $20,000 to put on the camp). For more details on the camp, please visit http://eteamz/stwc.

AC also updated the attendance on his team achieving top National team status once again in both USATF and AAU competitions (14th straight year!). AC was also able to secure another one of his youth walkers a collegiate scholarship – Geraldo Flores.

While the STWC has been highly successful in the RGV and opened a few doors in San Antonio, AC mentioned that he, Janis, and Bert are willing to visit and train any schools and clubs into the art of Racewalking. “That’s how it started in the Valley, and that’s how it can start in your area too.” AC mentioned that through the USATF Elite RW grant that he was able to get 3000 DVDs developed that have unique and motivational training clips to help PE coaches get their kids into Racewalking.

On the open and masters end, Bert stated that there continues to be success in getting more road running event directors to open up and offer an awards division for walkers. Prior to 2012, there was only one race in San Antonio offering awards for walkers – the SARR Women’s 5K classic (during which USATF gave recognition to the top walker). However, by the end of 2014, there will be 19 events in and around San Antonio that offer some type of recognition to walkers. Bert thanked Randy Reina, Tony Parisi, and others who have helped “police” those road events to ensure proper fitness walking. Bert stated that if this continues – and communities have more of an acceptance of fitness walking in competition – that we can initiate “Racewalk- only” segments to many of our established road events which should bring out more walkers, lead to further public training on Racewalking, and possibly lead to a purse to entice Olympic Racewalkers to compete.

Bert stated that with the passing of Dave Gwyn, we are not sure of what will happen to the John Evans 50K Racewalk which is a team-selection qualifier that Dave usually puts on in January. We should get some feedback from the Gulf Association if this is still planned.

g. Sports Medicine: Allan Besselink was not in attendance.

h. Track and Field: Nothing new was mentioned in this area other than to reiterate that after our primary track season is over, we hope that coaches will interact with each other and develop informal scrimmages or practice meets with their athletes. We applaud the events that Seth, Luke’s Locker, and San Antonio’s Free Spirits programs offer to all comers.

i. Youth: Gerald Smith thanked everyone in attendance for their support in handling our Association and hosting the Regional JO Track & Field championships in San Marcos. The events were highly successful; however, we didn’t expect the large turnout of clubs and families would be a challenge in the limited Texas State facilities. Gerald stated that the Association T&F JO will probably be June 19-20 but that the site has not been selected yet. We will also need to interact and diffuse dates with the AAU to ensure dates do not conflict. Gerald mentioned that Regional 12 will be in Dallas (SW Association) July 6-12.

9. Old Business:

a. Association Workshop: Sue gave further feedback on topics discussed at the USATF Association Workshop. She also informed the group of the need for all USATF members to complete a SafeSport test, from which we expect to see further procedural guidance. Sue shared with the group the proposal from National to combine the Association Workshop and the Annual Meeting; essentially having the workshop one to two days before the annual meeting which would save money and time. We expect to hear more about this proposal which has pros and cons at this year’s meeting in Anaheim. This would conflict with the current Youth Workshop, so there is still conversation about the details.

10. New Business:

a. National Junior Olympics Cross Country 2016: We are working with San Antonio Sports in bidding for the 2016 National event. Our approach and support would be the same with a 60/40 contracted split with San Antonio Sports. Currently, Sue, Scott Slade and a few other members are reviewing the bidding process and working on various venue suggestions. San Antonio’s Shooting Complex which was used for the highly successful 2013 National JC XC has now upped its rental fees. Retama Park racetrack and facilities are now being considered. Sue mentioned that since San Antonio Sports was the primary driver and supporter for the 2013 event, USATF South Texas Association supplied the officiating, logistics, and other assets for the events to be successful but “…we didn’t spend a dime.” If we bid for this event at the Annual Meeting, it will be in the same contract and direction. Stay tuned and help us out if this develops into an organizing committee.

b. Annual Meeting Delegates: About a month prior to this meeting, our Executive Board and representative sport chairs held a phone conference to discuss that Annual Meeting requirements, proposals to USATF, and how those affected programs will be represented. We plan to follow the same successful process as we have in the past few years. We will have affected sport chairs attend their meetings as primary, and then have available delegates to attend areas where our representation is lacking. Granted, we do watch funds we spend on this 2-3 day trip but we also want to be integral in the decision-making, and opportunity- sharing that occur at this very large forum. We haven’t received our Elite Athlete Listing yet from which we need to have a few represent the Association at the meeting. Sue will continue to work within her National connections to get this area covered. We plan to share more with the Membership online and in bulk email.

c. Throws Proposal: Seth Brower shared a proposal that elite Masters thrower Carol Finsrud wishes to provide a throwing pad and field for throws training. Email has traveled back and forth between sport chairs and the Executive Committee on costs for the work, materials to be used, and how the pad will be made available to developing athletes. We will share more about this very positive proposal in further email and online.

11. Open Discussion: We offered the floor an opportunity to surface any new business but didn’t receive anything new beyond our discussions up to this point.

12. Elections: Our election subcommittee of Scott Slade and Joyce Prusaitis handled nominations for the positions of President, Secretary, and Membership Chair. Inputs were received prior to the meeting from a few of the attending members. After a lively selection process, the following members have been selected for two- year terms: President – Bert Pickell, Secretary – Sue Humphrey, Membership – Gerald Smith.

Our new board will visit by phone in late October.

13. Adjournment: We thanked Randy Reina for securing the location for the meeting, and we hope to have future meetings at this location if possible. We adjourned around 4:30pm. Our next meeting is tentatively planned for Sunday, February 22 at 2pm.

Bert Pickell Sue Humphrey Secretary President