Minutes of the OTFA Board Meeting

Friday, January 25, Mississauga

Present: Albert Tschirhart (Chair), John Metcalfe, Roman Olszewski, Marc Christie, Joe Sax, John Craig, Denis Landry (joined at 7:05).

Guest: Val Sarjeant

6:02 p.m.

1. Welcome from Albert. He explained that the intention of this meeting was to provide background information for new Board members, to get fresh ideas and to informally discuss the direction and initiatives of the Association.

2. John Craig explained the office structure and duties of the present staff. He also provided an explanation of past and current government funding levels and the application process for new funding. The application process is very time consuming and labour intensive. The government continues to reduce it's funding of our sport, and future declines should be anticipated. The government rates each application and then scores it against a measure of membership (a Reduction Factor), which reduces the potential OTFA grant substantially. Roman and John have lobbied the government for changes to the system so that the success of our elite athletes is also a factor in the funding formula, but there is no word yet on whether or not this initiative will be considered.

In the meantime, the Association needs to increase the membership numbers reported to the Ministry in order to change the Reduction Factor and stop the cuts in our grants. This will take a concerted effort and the cooperation of many, but it will be worth the time if we are successful.

John then reviewed our Bingo - from which the revenue is also in decline - sponsorship opportunities, and Treasurer Dave Watt's review and insights of our situation. It is clear something has to be done to increase revenue.

3. Roman reviewed the current Technical Budget and provided some information with respect to past budgets and the reason for some of the funded programs. There is traditional funding of some OTFA initiatives because of past government interest in specific sports areas. More flexibility now exists in the process, so a review by a Staff/Board committee should determine a revised Technical Budget. Denis suggested that while the Technical Budget was sound, the money was spread so thin that it was hardly noticed by recipients; it might be better to provide more money to fewer programs so the impact would be more substantial.

4. There is a need to bring all the different track and field bodies under one umbrella. Minor Track, Masters Track, the ORA, the OCC, the OOC, the various school groups and the OTFA should all be more closely aligned.

Albert suggested that, if we are going to get these other groups together with the OTFA, and help enhance our membership numbers, then our Officials might be the key. This is the case in other sports, where sport officials are not allowed to be involved in competitions in which players or participants are not Association members. If the Officials insisted on working only at competitions where  all participants were OTFA members, then membership numbers would rise. This would not be onerous, but could involve only a small fee which would register all participants as members. Perhaps as an incentive the Officials could keep the fee to help provide uniforms, travel and upgrading, and the OTFA could use names and addresses of athletes to support membership numbers in government grant applications.

5. The Ontario Coaching Council - Roman and Denis provided a brief review of the OCC, its history and current status. The OCC worked well for several years under different leadership, but the current council is struggling. Perhaps the OTFA can provide some assistance, especially since there is an initiative for the year 2003 to make sure all coaches of registered OTFA athletes are certified. To this end the OTFA will host an OCC meeting at the upcoming Juv / Sr Indoor Championships at York U. in February. The meeting will be held Saturday evening, and Roman will make sure something goes into the newsletter, on the Website and via email.

6. Roman provided a look at his 'Standards' program, Step Up! To Excellence. An enormous amount of work went into this program, and the concept is sound and could work well as an incentive. The standards could also be used as a system for determining those eligible for a 'B' Championship. Standard 10 achievers might be invited to the OTFA AGM to receive awards.

7. John provided some information on the Screening Initiative program that the OTFA must embark on. Lots of work needs to be done, but we also need to react fairly quickly. Support information suggests a 10 step plan, and while this is our objective for the future, there may be a way to get the program underway with fewer steps initially.

8. One of Ontario's finest and most dedicated officials, Les Roberts, passed away on January 15. The Board recognized Les' substantial contribution to our sport, his tireless service, his pursuit of fairness and his willingness to assist. A moment of silence was held in his honour at the Combined Events Championship in January, and will be held again at the Jv-Sr. meet in February as a tribute to this committed official.

9. John provided Joe with draft papers, written by Bill Payne, about OTFA membership and marketing. Bill may be able to provide some direction and some assistance to Joe and Val.

10. Albert suggested we may want to introduce an Espoir age group to the OTFA. We are already planning a competition in the summer for this age group, and it may help bridge the gap between Junior and Senior athletes.

11. Albert has a pilot program targeting a house-league type track and field opportunity aimed at kids in his community. The multi-week program will be developmental and will involve some coaching, talent ID and competition.

12. Several initiatives and ideas were presented throughout the evening. Albert looked for volunteers to head up some of the projects;

-  to initiate a drive to bring all the different track and field bodies together, John Metcalfe will contact the Officials and High School bodies, John Craig will contact the ORA, Sport for the Disabled, and the Masters Associations, and Joe and Val will contact the Minor Track and Field Association.

-  Marc will head up the Screening Initiative, and John Craig will send him the background information he has on file

-  Albert had a letter drafted to go to the new federal Minister of Amateur Sport, and he will look for opportunities to forge a stronger link with the Minister

13. As a new Board member Marc Christie was appointed to be the Director of General Operations, and John Metcalfe was appointed as Director of Technical Development. Joe Sax was appointed as a Board member and will take over the position of Director of Marketing and Membership. Val Sarjeant will assist Joe in his new portfolio.

Adjournment - 10:15 p.m.

Next Meeting: Friday, March 22

6:00 p.m. Technical Meeting

8:00 p.m. Full Board Meeting

Meeting Place - Travelodge Airport