Venue: USATF-New England Office, 2001 Beacon Street, Suite 207, Brighton, MA.
Board Members Present: Dan Hart, President; Marja Bakker, Vice President: Courtney Bird, Vice President; Kathy Nary, Vice President; Jim O'Brien, Treasurer: Betsy Harshbarger, Secretary; Ken Robichaud, Men's LDR; Mimi Corcoran, Women's LDR; Rob O'Hara, Masters LDR, Roger Pierce, Master's T&F John Finn, Cross Country; Rich Hart, Track & Field; Justin Kuo, Race Walking; Joanna Veltri and Tom Petranoff, Athletes Representatives.
Staff Present: Steve Vaitones, Managing Director; Kaysa Newlin, Office Assistant.
Opening Remarks: The meeting was called to order at 7:20 PM by President, Dan Hart, who welcomed everyone to the first Board meeting at the New England Office. In the interest of brevity, Dan invited any one interested in working on the finance committee to stay following adjournment in order to meet with Jim O'Brien. Dan also announced that Tom Petranoff would be making a presentation of his trip to Australia regarding youth athletics. In addition, Vice President, Marja Bakker, requested that each Board member "self-define" their Board position and their Association responsibilities for presentation and discussion at the January meeting.
Secretary's Report: Betsy Harshbarger presented the minutes from the November Grand Prix Selection Meeting and the October Board Meeting. Said minutes were approved and accepted by the Board.
Convention Reports: Justin Kuo reported that for the 1lth year, New England received the bid to host the one and two-hour championship races on October 3, 1999, in Worcester, unless another more appropriate venue surfaces. He noted that there were very few bids for championship events, and that the site and time of year for the 2000 one and two-hour championships may be moved to spring/early summer to increase overall participation, especially by the field of elite walkers.
Steve Vaitones reported the following host schedule for the Indoor National Masters Track and Field Championship Meets at The Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, per bid results:
- 1999-Tracs
- 2000-USATF-NE
- 2001-Tracs (with assistance of USATF-NE)
In addition, voting on the National Cross Country 2000 bid will take place in February, 1999, and as yet, the voting committee is undefined. As regards the 1999 Outdoor National Masters Track and Field championship Meet, the Maine Association lost its bid to Baton Rouge, LA.
Ken Robichaud announced that the National Masters 5K Championship Road Race has been moved to the Gator Bowl after the original bidders, Elite Running, backed out.
Tom Petranoff participated in Men's Development at the Convention. He described it as like "stepping back in time", as many of the issues being discussed were the same as in the past, with the biggest problem being the amount of money being spent on track and field events, down from $500,000 to $6700.
Marja Bakker suggested that there are currently no criteria standards upon which to base such financial awards, and these need to be developed in all committees. She noted that money and communications were the two main "flags" flown at the Convention, and that some re-structuring of the National body has occurred, i.e., the very large executive committee has been replaced by a smaller Board of approximately 30 people, with committee liaisons where appropriate. In addition, she announced that there are new national sponsors on board: Adidas America with its Kid's Program; Ultima Sport's Drink; and a credit card; along with a new program relationship with the Police Athletic League, to be defined.
Steve noted that the Associations have adopted a "wait and see" attitude toward these changes, to see if anything dribbles down to the Association program level.
Association Newsletter: Marja prepared and circulated copies of the new format for the Association newsletter for Board comment and critique. The Board overwhelmingly approved it, with many compliments on a fantastic job. Dan formally thanked Marja for her efforts and high quality work. The newsletter will be published four times each year and mailed by Larry Eder, publisher of American Track and Field Magazine.
Treasurer's Report: Jim O'Brien reported that there was no report to pass out, but that all finances were in order. He will be meeting with Steve regarding office renovations, and Marja made a motion to allocate funds from this new budget for office rehab. The motion passed unanimously. Dan asked for help or expertise from Association members as regards the office rehab project.
Staffing 1999 Championship Events: Dan remarked that we should not rely on Steve to staff all the major events due to the number of events that actually take place in New England. He suggested that the Committee Chairs assume the responsibility for said staffing (cross country, track & field, long distance running) and that there be a clear distinction regarding "day-of-event-assignments" and preparation and follow-up details. Dan requested that all Board members come to the January meeting ready to commit to individual meets and tasks.
Committee Reports
- Cross Country: John Finn reported that he has only been able to attend two event since being elected due to his travel schedule. He plans to organize a cross country meeting and is working with Dan to resolve some scheduling conflicts.
- Track and Field: Rich Hart reported that there has already been one Track and Field meeting and a second will take place in late January. In addition he participated in a New England Coaches roundtable discussion in mid December. He noted the following: Indoor Meet at Boston University scheduled for February 2 1, with sponsorship soon to be determined; New Balance Athletics will be sponsoring the Can Am series, with the site selection to be determined, in addition, NB is interested in once again sponsoring Track and Field Clinics at U. Mass Boston over the April vacation; the last outdoor Twilight Meet of the season will incorporate the New England Championship Meet.
Special Presentation: Tom Petranoff gave a presentation on his trip to Australia on behalf of Little Athletics Australia. This is a youth program he helped to design and implement which teaches safe training and developmental skills through track and field. Tom designs and sells special field implements to better enable youth to learn and enjoy field events. His goal is to create similar programs here in the United States to incorporated into schools, clubs, etc.
The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Betsy Harshbarger
Secretary
USA Track & Field - New
England
usatfne@ix.netcom.com
P.O. Box 1905
Brookline, MA 02446-1905
United States
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This page was last updated
Tuesday, January 05, 1999.
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