Minutes of the July 29, 2007 Club Directors' Meeting

A Club Directors' meeting was held on Sunday, July 29, at Westerville South HS (Westerville, Ohio). The purpose of this meeting is to discuss concerns that have been brought to the attention of the Ohio Valley Region directors and staff, and to suggest solutions to be presented to the OVR board during its August meetings. Please direct any inquiries to Tom Kohl, OVR Juniors' Tournament Director, at kohl@ovr.org.

Introduction

Introduction by Bill Zehler
1. Meeting purpose - to allow directors time to voice opinions and concerns that can then be brought to the BOD in August
Participant introductions
State of the Region
1. Membership growth despite clubs/teams moving to Keystone Region
State of USAV
1. Major restructuring occurring at USAV
  1. BOD being downsizing to 12
  2. Restructuring happening over the past 2 years
  3. OVR had 5 seats on the USAV BOD - now OVR has 2
  4. Biggest demand from USAV made to OVR is that membership is "required" to occur via USAV
  5. OVR has put a large amount of capital resources into developing our regional system
  6. OVR is sending Nick Nystrom and possibly others to USAV to help USAV update their registration system
2. YJOVD info
  1. Sportsmanship and ethics were big topics
    1. Sportsmanship - officials may be asked to help "police" it
    2. Ethics - club directors and recruiting
  2. May not exist in the new structure
  3. Various commissions may be a part of the new USAV restructuring
3. OVR is the only region with elected leadership
Agenda items
1. Move "national" items to later in meeting

Agenda

Friendship tournaments only in January with no other sanctioned tournaments
1. Designed to help get players needed certifications
2. Also used as a training ground for new officials
3. Run by clubs and tournament directors
4. $50 cap on entry fee proposed by Jodi Schramm
5. Guidelines should be posted regarding hosting a friendship tournament
  1. Is it training for players or officials? Or just scrimmage?
6. General feeling is that there should be sanctioned events in January
Coolers/Food in tournament facilities
1. Several instances of alcohol this year brought into facilities
2. Some clubs use concessions for additional tournament revenue
3. Proposal to remove all coolers from inside/outside of facilities - may be in vehicles only by Jodi Schramm
4. Proposal to move tournament info above officials list on the tournament page by Al Herbert
5. Clubs and tournament directors relied upon to police this issue
Boys teams not use "national" or "regional" designations
1. Agreed since most play each other anyhow
Update Athlete's Bill of Rights to omit verbal agreement
The rule concerning "no contact" with players from another club should also be extended to no contact with coaches from other clubs
1. People are not property
2. Coaches are adults not kids
3. Coaches should not be part of the "no contact" policy by Bob Price
  1. Consensus of those in attendance agreed
OVR just post the final standings according to results and no points for the OVR Championships
1. Consensus of those in attendance agreed
12s and 13s should be divided into National and Regional teams
1. Propose that tournaments be designated as national-like or regional-like
2. Consensus = no for 12s and yes for 13s
IMPACT
1. Info regarding importance of correct and consistent name on certification and membership records
12-team tournament format
1. Proposal is to go back to gold, silver, bronze
Representation of the OVR BOD and a new structure proposal - Jodi Schramm
1. Current BOD does not adequately represent the revenue-generating majority of the region membership
2. Current leadership does not represent the regional junior population
3. Implement on-line voting
4. BOD should be made mostly of those involved in juniors programs
5. Invite those interested in BOD restructuring to make proposal to the August BOD meeting
Process for sanctioning events/getting approval
Pros and cons of tourneys being filled prior to them being listed on the website
1. Suggest that once an event is sanctioned it should be posted to the website since sanctions can be done as of September 1
2. Tom Kohl uses a percentage system to formulate a process by which courts/sites are added to a weekend
WV tournaments
1. WV way behind in membership growth
2. Suggest that WV host large events making travel worth the travel effort
3. Suggest having power challenge or big-point event(s) in WV to draw teams
Put in place a "power league" sanction
1. Not a regular tournament format modeled after other region models
2. Play over several days
3. National teams in many regions are joining these leagues
4. 15s-18s
5. Currently have about 30 clubs within 3 hours of Toledo area
6. Good amount of interest for regional power leagues
Tryout rules/dates and clarity on all rules in writing
1. dates already set
Database for families that don't pay on a regular basis, like this other club directors can be alerted, when the kid is kicked off a club for non-payment
1. Fees is a club issue not a region issue
2. Suggest using playing time to get fees paid
3. Players cannot be denied a tryout but can be denied membership upon application
OVR Championships
1. Used central Ohio sites and convention center
2. 960 teams at convention center
3. 2008 - first 3 weekends in Convention center
  1. 20 on first weekend
4. 100 teams last year in U12
5. Overflow of 14 Regional played off site
6. 971 teams entered the convention center event with 28 teams withdrawing after the deadline
7. 1 team was declined entry
8. What should happen to teams dropping out late or not showing up?
  1. Allow under-staffed teams to use players who've already played in the event with specific guidelines
JVDA
1. Handout of objectives
2. Bids need to go back to the regions and qualifiers need to come from regions
3. Feeling is that the championship is currently a fundraiser for USAV
4. Proposal is that each type of bid become its own championship event
High Performance
1. Info on how our program is directed
Bid Tournament
1. With current point system, some teams become ineligible via point then "buy" their way in by attending only higher point value tournaments
2. Current seeding system should not be used as sole criteria for seeding. Seeding should be done by committee. Conference calls made to discuss individual situations of seeding issues.
3. Format = more than 16 teams in a division then go to 2 days
4. Date more important than site
5. Sunday before Bids, teams seed themselves
6. Al Herbert took straw poles on consensus of group related to bid

In attendance

Adam Evans, Cleveland Renaissance/Ohio Elite
Phil Anders, Dayton Juniors VC
Paul Claridades, Charleston VC
Don Burroughs, OVR Coaches' Education/HP
Ron Coleman, Trail Blazers VBC
Greg Collins, Miami Valley Jrs VC
Tina Collins, Miami Valley Jrs VC
Stephan Donahue, OVR BOD
Meredith Ervin, Westland VC
Fred Fischer, CCYA VC
Tony Geer, Glass City VC
Bart Gensburg, East Ohio VC
Michelle Hills, Toledo VC
Steve Kaighin, Glass City VC
Tom Kohl, OVR JTD/Western Ohio VC
Terry Miller, OVR BOD
Bojan Miocinovic, GreatLakes-Quicksilver VC
Scott Nelson, Columbus Volleyball Academy
Gretchen Niebling, Lineshot VC
Loren Paulozzi, SouthwestVC
Bob Price, OVR BOD/Westerville VC
Patricia Salvatore, OVR BOD
Jodi Schramm, Premier VC
Kevin Sedensky, Western Buckeye
Tony Tahan, Spirit VC
Jeff Thewes, Elite Sports/Varsity Elite VC
Hank Trimble, OVR BOD
Emi Vishoot, OVR BOD
Daryl Ward, Kaepa Buckeye VC
David Williams, Wooster Elite VC
Larry Worth, Vanguard VC
Bill Zehler, OVR Board/Borderline VC