Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Track and Field Association
November 14, 2003
Sport Alliance of Ontario
Present: Roman Olszewski (staff), John Craig (staff), Joe Sax, Albert Tschirhart (Chair), John Metcalfe, Denis Landry (Vice Chair)
Regrets: Marc Christie, David Watt, Kelly Harris
1. Welcome – The Board had a look at the new OTFA office and found it more member friendly than the previous office.
2. Review of Minutes of Last Meeting – Minutes approved.
3. Business Arising – John C. advised that for police record checks (as part of the proposed OTFA Volunteer Screening process), original copies need to be sent to the OTFA upon registration.
John C. wrote a letter to Windsor Legion expressing concern about two athletes who did not check in for the Supermeet, but ran anyway. Windsor has responded and will advise the OTFA if and what discipline will result.
John M. wrote a letter to a coach who was deemed abusive to officials at the Supermeet, and Albert has received a response. Albert still needs to deal with the issue and try to find a resolution. Albert asked for recommendations for disciplinary action. This item will be discussed again at the end of the meeting.
ACTION: Albert to form a meeting of a disciplinary committee at the AGM to discuss appropriate action and possible penalty.
ACTION: John C. to refer to past complaints in order to offer guidelines as to an appropriate penalty or action. (John reported that past disciplines of this nature consisted of a letter of apology and a requirement to work at some designated OTFA competitions as an official).
John C. advised that the Board’s previous suggestion that the office send one free copy of Athletics Magazine and a subscription form to all athletes who register with the OTFA in 2004 and don’t automatically get Athletics. Doing so will cost the Association about $1,300.00. The Board suggests that we change this plan and simply send a subscription form and refer those athletes to the OTFA website and the updated page for Athletics Magazine.
4. Approval of Agenda – new business items were discussed and added.
5. AGM Elections – John C. advised that there will be four positions up for election at the AGM on November 15, and that four candidates have been nominated. Marc, Albert and Denis have decided to run again, and a nomination form has been received for Mike Illingworth. These names will be forwarded at the AGM as a slate of candidates from the nominating committee.
6. Issues for AGM – Check in procedures. Roman will meet with Colin Inglis and Brett Lumley to discuss a common check-in process to see if we can get a standard process to reduce the confusion of athletes. The current check-in procedure does not seem to be working well, and a scratch procedure may be a reasonable alternative.
There may also be some discussion on the practice of changing OTFA Championship schedules as late as the day before the start of the meet. Informal discussion will take place on this issue at the AGM. This issue has been brought forward by a member.
Roman also reviewed BC’s proposal regarding the Legion Championships, and will introduce this as an information/discussion item at the AGM.
7. Format of the AGM – John C. asked the Board to be available at 10:30 am at the AGM to entertain formal and informal discussions with members of the Association. There are two formal meetings already established, one to deal with insurance (at 11:00am) and another to discuss common check-in practices at OTFA Championships (at 12:00 noon).
Lunch will begin at 1:00 and will include some presentations. The formal AGM will begin at 2:00 p.m. If required, Joe will formally conduct the election.
Val Sarjeant would like to sell Hamilton 2010 apparel at a discount at the AGM. The Board is in favor.
8. Other Business:
On Line Registration – John C. talked about on-line registration as a project for future years.
ACTION: John C. to factor in costs of manual registration, and determine if on-line registration is a good idea to pursue.
ACTION: John C. will begin an investigation of this as an option for, perhaps, 2005. He will report back to the next Board meeting, with some ideas of time-lines etc.
Step-Up to Excellence – the Ministry provided some grant money specifically for this initiative.
ACTION: Roman will finish the statistics which are required, and will try to get the campaign going in time for introduction next year and to produce results required by the Ministry.
ACTION: Joe will help design a logo and cover page.
There was also some discussion about changing the name of the OTFA to Athletics Ontario, and getting a new logo. Albert will bring this up at the AGM to see if there is interest in these changes.
Shane Lakins’ Ontario Rankings Proposal – Shane has asked to do the OTFA rankings on our behalf. All he is looking for is our endorsement for his lists, and to advise him of what the OTFA wants. He proposes to charge the clubs $10.00 each for access to the lists. The onus is on the clubs to submit performances.
The OTFA would like to retain ownership of this and use Shane simply as the agent. Joe suggests we pursue rankings with an information technology company as per the on-line registrations mentioned above. However, we need these rankings and Shane is prepared to do this immediately.
ACTION: Roman and/or Joe will advise Shane that we are going to pursue this on our own, but that there may be an opportunity for information sharing.
ACTION: John C. to see if the IT company can handle this as well, possibly using meet results to form ranking lists.
ACTION: Roman will ask Shane to liaise with Joe about these rankings, and Roman will ask Shane for more information.
Josh Smith Transfer Request – Roman presented the request and clarified points for the Board. The Board approved the transfer and reiterated the need to have each request for transfer come to the Board for review on a case-by-case basis.
MOTION: That the transfer of Josh Smith from Chatham TFC to Queen’s University Track Club be approved.
Metcalfe/Landry Carried
One abstention
ACTION: Roman to advise Josh Smith’s coach of the Board’s decision.
ACTION: Roman also to re-write the existing rules to make sure an athletes who registers for a seasonal membership remain with the same club for the balance of the year should they decide to re-register for another seasonal membership in the same year. Roman will also make sure Wendy includes this in the 2004 Registration forms.
MOTION: That the records recommended by the Director of Technical Services be approved.
Metcalfe/Sax Carried
Roman read a letter from a northern Ontario track athlete regarding membership fees for independent members. The letter included a request for lower fees for independent members to accommodate those traveling from the far north. The Board has already approved some changes to membership fees to make them more attractive and hopes the athletes involved can still find a meaningful way of being members.
Harassment Officers - Denis Landry agreed to be our Harassment Officer, for both the OTFA and Athletics Canada.
Privacy Legislation - John C. outlined new Privacy Legislation which will take place January 1, 2004. He advised that, for now, the OTFA appears to be in compliance with the legislation, but should appoint a Privacy Officer.
ACTION: Joe Sax agreed to be a Privacy Officer for the OTFA. The Board will also ask Marc to accept this role, since this seems to fall under his portfolio.
ACTION: John C to send copies of the Privacy Legislation guidelines to John M., Marc and Joe.
House League Track and Field - Albert provided a presentation on the idea of recreation athletics for youngsters. The Board was enthusiastic about the concept, recognizing how it fits in with Fun in Athletics and other existing programs (Trackniques, etc).
Albert will make the same presentation at the AGM, and suggest that this is the direction we have to go if we are to survive as a sport. He will also ask if there are people at the AGM who will be willing to sit on the Steering Committee to drive this forward.
Top Three Meets - Roman suggests we have two Top Three meets in the future - one in Toronto, and another outside of Central Ontario (east or west). The qualifiers for the national championships would come from both competitions. The top three meets are good, and well attended and the extra meet would enhance the provincial program.
Adjournment – 10:50 p.m.