Eastern Alpine Competition Committee Fall Meeting

Killington Ski Club Building, Killington, VT Sunday, Ocober 18, 2015 9:00 am

Minutes Committee Members Present (Voting): Connie Webster, Chairman; Dan Marshall, Vice-Chairman; Bev Oliver, Secretary; Kirk Dwyer, past EACC Chairman; Sally Utter, Children’s Committee Chairman; Adam Chadbourne, Development Committee Chairman; Doug Hall, Alpine Officials Committee Chairman; Laurel Lashar, ME; Rob Dowd, NJ; Laura Sullivan, Tri-State; Julie Woodworth, VT; Dirk Gouwens, NY; Tao Smith, At-Large; Peter Girardi, Athlete; Chris Frank, Athlete; Sam Damon, Athlete; Roger Brown, Athlete. Committee Members Present (Non-Voting): Peter Dodge, College; Dan Marshall, High School Committee Members Absent: Absent: Sean “Stumpy” McGee, SARA; Dan Chayes, PA; Andrew Gannon, NH; Doug Williams, At-Large; Mike Davenport, EASEF; Nadine Price, Masters;. Staff Present: USSAE: Patti Nichols, Eastern Alpine Program Manager USSA: Chip Knight, USSA National Alpine Development Director Guests: Roger Kimball, TSASRA; David Smith, NJSRA; Mike Savage, ME; Michael Browne, VT; Alex Krebs, VT; Lori McClallen, VT; Mariel Meringolo, VT; Peter Cornish, VT; Bryan Pell, VT; Kathy Okoniewski; NY I. Welcome and Call to Order, 9:11 am – by Connie Webster, EACC Chairman II. Administrative Announcements •

Proxies o Rob Dowd for Dan Chayes o Laura Sullivan for Sean McKee o Laurel Lashar for Doug Williams.

III. Approval of the Agenda • Request to add Eastern Support for Pocket Guide for Coaches under New Business • ASC Report – add to the end of Reports Motion: To approve the updated agenda. T. Smith/R. Dowd/Unanimous IV. III. Minutes of the Previous Meeting V. Motion: To approve the minutes of the 4.26.15 EACC meeting

D. Gouwens/L. Sullivan/Unanimous

VI. EACC Chair and USSA Staff Reports A. EACC Chairman - Connie Webster 1

Connie expressed a welcome to all the athlete representatives for being present at the meeting this fall and thanks to Chuck and Killington Ski Club for use of the facility. B. Martin Guyer, Eastern Alpine Director – sick and could not attend the meeting. He sent notes below presented by Patti. •

Staff changes at the national level: Lester Keller, Western Region is gone, replaced by Bill Gunesch, Michelle Demschar is gone, Western Development Coach is Jeff Pickering, Darlene Nolting, Rocky/Central Manager has been promoted to Director of the Rocky/Central Region

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In the East: Eric Harlow has resigned, replaced by Martin Guyer as Eastern Alpine Director;

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The competition calendar has been revised significantly to hopefully provide a clearer path providing success at every level: the ECS has been replaced by a Super Series and an ENL series has been created to address the needs of the entry level FIS athlete.

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The Eastern Region Handbook has been redesigned to provide easier access to the information.

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Regional Training Group criteria: has been posted to the Eastern website (clear path development pipeline) and is based off of NTG criteria.

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The World Cup will be coming back East next year to Killington.

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Regional visits are expected to continue this season, with the goal of reaching every division. The real goal is to deliver focused programming to younger age groups. Martin and Tom are available for help upon request by the division/state.

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Brian Krill has moved up to Coaches Education from Club Development with support from Ron Kip. They are presently working on distribution of the Coaches Pocket Guide.

C. Chip Knight, National Alpine Development Director •

Staff Changes: o Eastern Alpine Director – Martin Guyer. o Eastern Regional Coach – TBD soon.

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Eastern Regional Training Group. o This is a pilot project; goal is to make the D Team or NTG criteria, depending on their age. o Fully structured regional training group team. o Similar to the Canadian model with their provincial teams. o This model is athlete funded. o Full year training group; nucleus for training opportunities with others.

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VOLA. o Switch from Split Timing to VOLA – effective immediately. o Phone calls and webinars will begin next week. o There will be in region training. o VOLA is the only alternative to Split Second Timing software. Not as strong or intuitive on the race administration side as Split Second. o More information will be available in the next week or so.

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FIS Approved helmets with the sticker clearly visible on the back are required for U14 and older athletes in USSA competition this year.

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Gate rule for U14s – 60” gates off the snow are required (not a minimum).

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Race manipulation: UNH Penalty – result of statistical analysis by the Classification Committee looking for gross abnormalities in race results. o Goal is to keep the integrity of the point system. 2

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Repeat race series are flagged – results of UNH Fundraiser were grossly abnormal. An adder of 27.9 points was applied to this race. Every race is run through the program. However, all fundraisers are particularly looked at for abnormalities.

National U19 Project Series – SL Series at Vail in November; GS Series at Stowe in January, and SG Series at Mt. Bachelor in April. D. Tom Ashworth, Eastern Youth Coordinator – no report: Tom was not present due to projects. Contact Tom for help in regards to state projects. E. Fall ASC Conference Call Report – Tao Smith, Eastern Representative for EACC Chair. On the call: Doug Hall; Chuck Hughes; Mike Morin; Chip Knight; Patti Nichols; Paul Van Slyke; Charles Christianson; Tiger Shaw and others. Items addressed include the Timing systems switch from Split Second to VOLA; staff update; SG for U10s, issues with the Course Setting matrix; using USSA point standards for athletes out of region; equipment issues; color changes for panels; suit requirements; maximum numbers of starts for U19s, single pole SL; resignation of Ted Sutton as TD and course inspector; UNH Fundraiser problems; more flexibility in ski equipment regulations; U14s – Type B poles that are 60” off the snow are required; Affiliation agreement, stubbies are allowed for non-scored competitions; helmet regulations; OPs for the ASC; organization chart; et al. Three proposals from Chip Knight: o To increase the women’s quota to the U19 Nationals to accurately reflect the current ratio of women to men. o The National U19 Project Series: SL Series at Vail in November; GS Series at Stowe in January, and SG Series at Mt. Bachelor in April. o Athletes who have earned the right to compete in the Olympics, World Championships, World Junior Championships as well as those ranked in the top 100 in the world are ti be automatics to the US Nationals. See Tao’s attached summary sent via email (pdf). •

F. .Criteria for Team qualification •

2016-1017: may be available by November 1st.

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An earlier posting of racer rankings is needed.

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Adjusting the quota for women to the U19 Nationals: 17W/20M per region with 5M/5W reserved for development.

VII. Committee and Working Group Reports A. Alpine Officials Committee Report: Doug Hall The clinic schedule has been posted on the Eastern website. The 2016 Competition Guide is on the website also. Distribution is starting this week. Alpine officials reminded our officials that they are charged with enforcing the rules of USSA, not interpreting the rules. Helmet violations will result in DSQ not DNS as it is an equipment violation. The requirements are posted on both the FIS and the Eastern websites. Pole lengths are 60” for U14 and younger, 72” for U16 and older. A thank you was extended to Ted Sutton for his tremendous contribution to the sport of alpine ski racing.

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The spring AO meeting will be calendared to coincide with the EACC spring meetings. Clarification of 27 mm pole requirements for women’s World Cup SL: Both type A and type B poles have a range of size. The issue has been tabled for now. A brief clarification of Equipment list issues ensued. In the past equipment issues have been on a protest basis only. Now there is the helmet requirement which does not exactly fit the situation. Length, radius, markings, et al are supposed to be checked for speed events. For SL and GS events either check all or do not check any. If the person starts, confiscation of equipment at the finish still applies. The onus is on the Start and Asst. Start Referees. Racers not meeting the requirements need to be flagged at the start, resulting in a DNS (NPS-not permitted to start). This subject needs to be addressed at the education forums as there has been a change in policy. Info relating to this should be available at the FIS update. The helmet rule is a recommendation for Masters this season. In multi-age group races, in general the rules for U12 are followed. For course setting and including the helmet rule, In Tec events-1 down from the oldest age group; Speed events- the youngest age group. If the age groups are run as separate races, the rules applying to the age group are followed. B. Children’s Racing Committee – Sally Utter Sally has been elected as Chair of the Children’s Racing Committee after Fred Turton resigned a few weeks ago. Committee membership has been increased to the maximum allowed under the OPs, nine members. Two action items/ motions were passed unanimously at the ERCRC meeting to be presented to the EACC: •

Motion: .To re-examine a Mission and Vision statement for the ERCRC and develop a strategic plan. S. Damon/S. Utter/Unanimous.

. Motion: To recommend that at the U10 level the course setting requirement in the GS matrix is for a maximum of 1 delay gate. K. Okoniewski/M. Meringolo/Unanimous. *Note: not ratified by the EACC at this time. Also under discussion was best practices and how to effectively communicate information with the members. The quotas issue will be addressed on a conference call. Mike Leach, VT and Julie Scriven, NY and Laura Sullivan, TSARA have been working with various options. Mike has been analyzing the three options that have been identified and present these to the ERCRC via conference call, after which a vote of the committee will be taken and the result forwarded to the EACC for ratification. This should be in the hands of the EACC by November 1st. Those interested in being on the conference call may be added as non-voting members. It was noted that the Eastern Youth Coordinator may have up to 5B/5G discretionary selections (for exceptional circumstances) to the Eastern U14 Championships. There was considerable discussion relation to the posting of minutes on the Eastern website. •

C. High School Racing – Dan Marshall The Eastern High School Championships for 20165 will be at Attitash, Bear Peak, NH on March 4, 5 & 6. D. College – Peter Dodge The college schedule is set, as is the FIS-U calendar. The only real change is that there is excitement over the USSA University team which is involved now. There will be University coaches at these races ensuring the quality of the surface preparation as well as a supporting presence. One note on the calendar – likening the Super Series to a stepped up Eastern Cup Series. Actually the Super Series will turn out to be a step below the ECS. Top level in the East is Nor-Am and then top level 4

University FIS racers. Very few of the top athletes will be able to participate in any part of the Super Series due to the difference in level as well as calendar conflicts. It is more like a U21 Championship level. However it is a very good overall calendar. E. Masters –No report. F. Development Committee – Adam Chadbourne. The Development Committee has met three times in the past two months with the following issues on the table. •

Super Series concept as a replacement for the ECS. There was much discussion on this concept which has an impact on many levels. The EDC was handed this and has tried to how best handle the situation. The SS may be impacted by a lack of college participation.

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Qualification procedures for U19 Nationals and the US Nationals.

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Extensive discussion relating to ENL and NJR designation issues. o There are state quotas for both ENL and NJR races. o The Eastern Region Handbook will have all of this information. Quota selection method to the U16 Eastern Championships and U16 Finals will be reviewed in conjunction with the Children’s Committee. Sam Damon has agreed to spearhead this effort.

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Selection method to the National U16 project is determined by USSA.

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.A couple of action items will be voted on electronically. o To comp the top 5 athletes who do not qualify for the Super Series into the ENL races in December. o To use an NTSM of all events contested in a series at the SS.

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EACC ratification of EDC Action items from meetings held after the spring meetings?

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Concern was expressed as to how the Women ‘99s would be handled. A worst case scenario would be a 20% development quota available (through Chip Knight).

G. Endowment Working Group - Dan Marshall for Mike Davenport. Printed report was distributed. •

Explanation of process – funding athletes for trips or funding for process requires filling out an EASEF grant request by the Eastern Office, i.e. Martin Guyer. The form is sent to Dan Marshall who approves the request and sends it on to Stanley Goldschmidt and Mike Davenport.

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Dirk Gouwens noted that there appears to be too much money in the Alpine Development Fund. Typically one year of head tax dollars are kept in the Development Fund. Some money should be moved to the Eastern Region Endowment Fund.

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A question was raised as to whether the region was collecting too much money in head tax contributions. o No money is spent on netting anymore. o Issue for the spring meeting. Policy of comping the top 5 competitors in a race – discussion o Doing this makes our regional projects stronger. o Makes it easier to entice college racers to participate. o This is already being done on the project level. o Background: Up through 2010, the top 5 point holders were comped by the RO (as well as Eastern Team, USSA members). As ski area costs started increasing, the race organizers said they could not afford to comp in this manner anymore. This resulted in comping the top 3 point holders. There was still a problem so the requirement was changed to a

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recommendation at the RO discretion. Comping the top athletes went away completely as a result. The top 350 in the world are presently being comped. The question is whether EASEF money should be used for this. This is an issue for the EDC to consider and make recommendations. There is a need to be really sensitive to a policy decision that uses head tax monies for high performing projects as the monies are coming from athletes who will not be benefiting. This has been a primary argument over the years. It has been stipulated some time ago (‘90s) that a percentage of the monies need to go to the then J2s and younger. A suggestion was made to create a sheet of ideas for request for monies. Requests should be sent to Connie who will disseminate the requests to the appropriate committees for discussion. This would not reflect scholarship applications. Procedure for scholarship for project monies go to the Eastern Alpine Director and then to Dan Marshall. The request for EASEF grants information needs to be added to the Eastern Region Handbook, being aware of the percentage of monies that needs to be kept for younger athletes.

VIII. State Association Reports A. Maine: Laurel Lashar – Sunday River opens. Perhaps have lost Saddleback and but have gained a mountain, Mt. Abrams. B. New Jersey: Rob Dowd: –.Bolton Valley has reopened with a National Winter Sports Academy but Mt. Peter is gone. C. New York: Dirk Gouwens: Thank you to Mike Browne for his many years of service to NYSSRA. Also thank you to Kathy Okoniewski for her service as Youth Coordinator for New York. Also thank you to Connie Webster who served NYSSRA for 34 years. There will be a Coaches Symposium November 1315 in Lake Placid at the OTC. This event is open to all who like to go. The information is posted on the NYSSRA website. D. NH: Dan Marshall for Andrew Gannon: Whaleback Ski Area is reopening under the general management of Gerd Riess. Baron’s Run at Mittersill Ski Area will be open for training this season. Snowmaking pipe for the Taft SL will be installed next spring. A T-bar for the top half of the SL hill has been ordered, to be installed next spring as well. There are a number of race clinics calendared in state, including a big one at Loon on November 7-8, 2015 which will address the VOLA software.. E. SARA: no report.. F. .PARA: no report. G. TSARA: Laura Sullivan: Effort is being directed towards finishing TSARA By-Laws. Speed camps, begun a few years ago, have become very popular and the number calendared increases each year. A goal is to figure out a better way to develop athlete, working with the existing demographics of TSARAs. There will be a Club Symposium on December 5, 2015. TSARA still owns 350 rolls of B-net. H. Vermont: Julie Woodworth: AdMin Sports does VARA membership as well as on line race registration for any club wishing to use that system. Use is expected to increase with the departure of Alpine Reg. They have an option for linking club membership as well and are presently looking into an on line scoring system for RAs who send in races for scoring purposes, e.g. Vermont Cups. The latter project is in the infancy stage. VARA has been happy with AdMin Sports services and looks forward to working with them in the future.

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VARA currently has about 1500 members registered at this time. Calendars are set. A Coaches Education program with excellent content will be held on November 7 at Pico. The VALA Gala is on October 24th. There also a number of AO clinics on the VARA schedule. Alex has done an excellent job as Youth Coordinator for VARA and has a number of events calendared for this season. These include a couple of U14 and U16 Tec events and a couple of events with NYSSRA. EASEF funds were requested and granted for some of these projects last season. IX. New Business A. Proposal for Coaches Pocket Manuals – Tao Smith This is a proposal put forth by Martin Guyer regarding funding for a special project for weekend coaches and less experienced coaches in the region. USSA has created a Pocket Manual which contains a list of drills, proficiencies, links that can be scanned to watch videos, etc. for coaches •

Presently every club will get one or two free copies of this guide from USSA. Cost for purchasing is $10 each or $7 for mass ordering.

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Proposal for discussion- Cost for East to come up with funding for these manuals to be distributed at no cost to all coaches in the region (1800 coaches at $7 . . . $12, 600). o Why not an app? o To be offered at Coaches Symposiums, Level 100 or Level 200 clinics and available for ordering on line. o Review of content. o Discussed: Allocation of EASEF funds this fall of up to $7.00 per guide for the purchase of 1800 Coaches Pocket Guides. Most in attendance were dissatisfied with this approach, expressing the comment that the monies could be better spent in other areas. o Go back to Martin to make a full proposal to the EACC with all details. o Another thought: Possibly order subsidize a reasonable amount for the region, to be ordered by request from the clubs, i.e. at $1-$2 each. Needs to be set up so that the individual pays something. A conference call will be set up to discuss and create a proposal for the EACC to consider.

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B. Avalanche Awareness Education - November 7, 2015 in Bretton Woods, NH. Info is on the Eastern website. Old Business – none. Spring meeting tentative dates – April 23-24, 2016 site to be determined. USSA Congress is May 11-15, 2016. Motion: To adjourn the meeting.

T. Smith/R. Dowd/Unanimous

The meeting ended at 1:08 p.m. Submitted by,

Bev Oliver

Recorder

Addendum: A. EACC Conference Call 12/1/15 Notes: 1. Children’s Racing Items o U14 Quotas for the Eastern Championships NHARA

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MARA

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Total 166 7

VARA 48 TSASRA 13 NYSSRA 31 PARA 10 SARA 6 NJSRA 6 Performance will be based on athlete rankings calculated using each athletes best 2 single runs/or overall results from the series. First place(s) will receive 1 point; second place(s) will receive 2 points, etc. Ties will be broken by using the next best results (3rd best result, then 4th best result, etc.) o

Ratification Motion: To re-examine a Mission and Vision statement for the ERCRC and develop a strategic plan. S. Damon/Kathy O./Unanimous.

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Ratification Motion*: To recommend that at the U10 level the course setting requirement in the GS matrix is for a maximum of 1 delay gate. K. Okoniewski/M. Meringolo/Unanimous.

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The latter motion will go to the USSA Congress in the spring as an eastern recommendation.

2. EASEF Assessments The EACC has approved a reduction in the ESAEF assessment of $5 down to $2 per head per race. 3. U16 Quotas to the Eastern Championships and Can Ams At this point the quotas will be the same for 2016. The Eastern Development Committee is working on them 4. USSA Coaches - 'USSA Compact Guide to Coaching' The EACC voted to approve the subsidy of any Eastern Region club or program which -chooses to purchase the pocket coaches’ manual (6 or more) will qualify for a 60% purchase rebate on bulk orders. With rebate, out of pocket cost is $2.80 per pocket manual. To receive a rebate, please send a copy of your purchase order invoice to [email protected] and Dan Marshall for approval and submission. Checks will be mailed to your nominated address from EASEF. 5. Children’s Projects: The EACC approved an increase in funding assistance for states that run children’s projects from $2000 per state to $4000 per state. States must make requests to Dan Marshall, EACC Vice Chair. B. Electronic EACC ratification: Development Committee Action items from August and September 2015 presented but not voted on at the Fall 2015 EACC meeting. Passed: 12 in favor; 0 opposed; 9 did not vote.

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