Minutes of Board of Directors and House of Delegates Meeting
Held on March 12 2005 at 1:30pm, at the Wichita Swim Club, Wichita KS
Members present: Linda Bailey, Scott Berry, Scott Bliss, George Bruce, Jim Devine, Gary Ledford,
Mike Lewellyn, Peter Malone, Eric Nelson, Marlaine Nickelson, Dulcy Sellon, Derek Shipp,
Mike Soderling, Richard Winn.
George Bruce called the meeting to order at 1:30 pm. The first agenda item was the determination
of the date for the Missouri Valley Spring meeting. After discussion, the Board determined that
April 16th had the fewest conflicts. Lawrence will host the meeting. Coaches and officials will
meet in the morning. There will be no separate meet scheduling meeting this year. The meet schedule,
as approved by the Board, will be posted on the website as a tentative schedule. At the spring House
of Delegates meeting, clubs will be able to raise any questions they have about the schedule and it
will be approved as posted or amended by the House of Delegates. The approved meet schedule will
then be posted on the website.
Pete Malone provided the bids for the short course 2005-06 and long course 2006 meets. For the
championship meets he suggested that the Level II east meet be awarded to Lawrence and the west meet
to Emporia, the Level I meet to Wichita, the short course Division II west meet to Team Dolphins,
the Division II east meet to Kansas City Storm, and the Division II south meet to Southwest Aquabears.
Wichita would host the short course Division I meet. The long course west Division II meet would be
awarded to Wichita Aquashocks and the east site would be awarded to Topeka. The Blazers would host
the long course Division I meet. The Missouri Valley fall meeting will be September 24th and the 2006
spring meeting will be April 8th. Marlene made the motion to approve the meet schedule as presented;
Gary Ledford seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously adopted.
George reported that parents and other interested individuals had attended a meeting during the
Sectional Championships March 5, 2005 to discuss Kansas House Bill 2345 which deals with dual
participation in sports governed by the Kansas High School Activities Association. The March 5
meeting members reached a consensus to pursue the issue through two tracts, a legislative effort at
change and an attempt to work with KSHAA for an administrative resolution for dual participation.
George asked for authority from Missouri Valley to work on the administrative tract. He stated that
he would appoint a committee and with the committee negotiate with KSHSAA on dual participation. In
the negotiation process he stated that he would use information compiled by Pat Hogan of USA Swimming
on participation rules used by other states. Eric Nelson made the motion to have Missouri Valley
endorse George Bruce’s work with the KSHAA. Gary Ledford seconded the motion and it was adopted
unanimously.
George Bruce stated that at USA Swimming’s General Chairs meeting many LSC’s had reported a
decline in their seasonal registrations as a result of the on-going increase in seasonal dues. George
stated that we need to emphasize to summer clubs that in addition to insurance coverage membership
with Missouri Valley provided swimmers with access to the national times database. George is hopeful
that a dues proposal will be offered by the USA Swimming Board. If this can be done by summer 2005, it
will be posted on the website. Jim Devine pointed out that summer clubs who are electing not to
register with Missouri Valley are still requesting approval of their championship meets so that times
achieved by full year swimmers will be valid. The Board agreed that this issue will be revisited in
April after the USA Swimming Board meeting on seasonal dues.
Linda Bailey reported that Missouri Valley will now provide officials with stickers for their
registration cards to indicate their status; blue for Stroke and Turn, red for Starter, and white for
Referee. Trainees would still receive a card to record their work at meets. Officials will be certified
for two years. It was decided that trainees who work a meet outside of Missouri Valley will have a form
available on the website that they may use to have their official sessions recorded by the outside LSC.
Linda will devise this form and send it to George Bruce and then it will be posted on the website.
These officials certification changes will published on the website a sufficient number of days before
the House of Delegates meeting and then voted on by the House. The Board agreed that changes to the
Missouri Valley rules need to be made by the House of Delegates rather than by a committee.
Dulcy Sellon raised two registration issues that she wished the Board to consider. The first of these
was to have Missouri Valley use the national times database as the database for proof of times at MV
championship meets. George Bruce had earlier stated that the national times database was a feature we
can offer all swimmers, seasonal and full year. For swim results to be uploadable to the national times
database, a swimmer must be registered in the SWIMS registration database before the meet and the
swimmers’ meet entry and registration data must match exactly as to name, id and club. By using the
national time database for MV proof of times, clubs would be prompted to register their swimmers
electronically in a timely manner. It would also provide an incentive for clubs to provide the
information necessary to get their swimmers out of the registration holding tank and into the SWIMS
database. The second proposal was to change Missouri Valley’s rule permitting on deck registration at
meets. Registrations taken at meets often do not arrive at the MV office before a swimmer has
participated in several more swim meets. Results from those meets are not uploadable into the Times
database because the swimmer was not registered in SWIMS when the meet occurred. The swimmer’s times
then go into the Times holding tank. At the conclusion of the 2004 Long Course season USA Swimming
informed MV that their holding tank was overflowing and that it was apparent we weren’t performing any
meet recon work. Board members raised the issue of prohibiting a swimmer from a meet because their club
had not registered them. Other Board members stated that USA Swimming is still working on the national
times database. It was decided that these issues would be revisited after the April 16 USA Swimming
registration workshop.
George Bruce stated that the Manhattan Marlins had experienced difficulty in collecting proof of time
fines at their Division II meet. Pete Malone suggested that the host team forward information on who was
in arrears to the host of the next championship meet and that those swimmers not be eligible to
participate in the meet until the previous fines were paid. Jim Devine suggested that the team with
delinquent fines not be permitted to participate in the next championship meet. He pointed out that the
meet information now states that the team pays the fine for missed qualification swims. Mike Soderling
as the meet procedures chair will make sure the wording in the meet information will make this issue
clear.
Richard Winn, Missouri Valley’s webmaster, asked what form of written authorization was acceptable
for MV to use to ensure consent from members to have their information published on the website. Several
ways to secure this were suggested including a consent included on the officials’ registration form or a
note sent to clubs seeking consent from coaches and non-athletes. George Bruce and Richard will work on
a form to secure this consent.
Mike Lewellyn reported that he now verifies that swimmers participated in a meet for which MV provides
travel assistance and that the swimmers are registered in MV and then sends a check for their travel to
their club. He does not wait for the swimmer to turn in a request for travel assistance form.
George Bruce also asked Board members to give him suggestions for members who could be encouraged to
work on the administrative side as officers of Missouri Valley Swimming.
Meeting adjourned at 3:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Dulcy Sellon, Secretary
Missouri Valley Swimming, Inc.
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