Combined Report of Action Now Available

The Combined Report of Action, which details all the rule changes from the past season, is now available on the USFS web site. Right now you can find it as the top news item on the home page. You can also get to it directly here

Saturday Morning

This mornings’ meetings started out by playing Davis & Whites OD from the Olympics. What a wonderful way to inspire the room to get our work done today.

The 2011 Film Project

David Raith (Executive Director of USFS) is coordinating a project to produce a feature length film telling the story of figure skating in the US and commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the loss of the 1961 World team.

The film is going to bring together Peggy Flemming, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano and Michelle Kwan to discuss how they have been helped by the Memorial Fund. The production group of Lookalike Productions unveiled a trailer for the film and the release date of February 17, 2011.

The technical committee members each gave a quick report on their work over the year. They each recognized the new national appointments in their area. Our own Lisa Erle was received her National Referee appointment and Michael Ricigliano received his National Dance judge appointment.Business of the meeting began with debate on rule 307 which concerns non-US citizens ability to compete in USFS competitions. There can be many scenarios in which skaters would be affected. This basically pertained to skaters whose parents have moved internationally for economic reasons (ie. job relocation) and would like to compete in USFS qualifying events. They would not, however, be able to compete internationally representing the US.

Next order of business moved to rule 344. This change would allow an intermediate skater to perform ONE triple jump in the short program. (Remember that they are already allowed to do TWO triples in the long). There was good discussion on both sides of the issue. The delegation seemed pretty split on the issue. The council took a count of votes on the issue and it was resolved that the a triple jump WOULD be allowed in the intermediate short program.

Spotlight on Mike Ricigliano

Many of you know Mike Ricigliano as a fellow skater and judge and proud member of the St Moritz Club. We are so happy that, through his hard work and tireless volunteering at test sessions and competitions, USFS approved his promotion to a National Dance Judge appointment. We all congratulate him and his achievments.

Saturday Morning

The technical committee members each gave a quick report on their work over the year. They each recognized the new national appointments in their area. Our own Lisa Erle was received her National Referee appointment and Michael Ricigliano received his National Dance judge appointment.

Business of the meeting began with debate on rule 307 which concerns non-US citizens ability to compete in USFS competitions. There can be many scenarios in which skaters would be affected. This basically pertained to skaters whose parents have moved internationally for economic reasons (ie. job relocation) and would like to compete in USFS qualifying events. They would not, however, be able to compete internationally representing the US.

Next order of business moved to rule 344. This change would allow an intermediate skater to perform ONE triple jump in the short program. (Remember that they are already allowed to do TWO triples in the long). There was good discussion on both sides of the issue. The delegation seemed pretty split on the issue. The council took a count of votes on the issue and it was resolved that the a triple jump WOULD be allowed in the intermediate short program.

Thursday Meetings

I attended a serious of meetings and seminars at Governing Council this past Thursday.  Below is a short summary from each meeting:

ISU Proposals
First up was a presentation on the upcoming IJS changes to be made by the ISU at their June meeting.  Gale Tanger began the meeting giving an overview of the ISU and the ISU competition structure which is composed of the Grand Prix events, World Championships, Olympics Games and other Championship events around the world.

Next, Gale went into the various changes that are most likely to be adopted this year:
  
Age Requirements
First off was the change to age rules that would make the cutoff 18 years old for all Junior level competitors for Junior Grand Prix events and Jr Worlds.  Currently, pairs and dance men are allowed to compete Jr. through the age of 21.  This would have a significant impact on USFS, taking out 80% of all current Junior pair teams and 72% of all current dance team eligible to compete at the Jr. level.

Judges
Next, we discussed the number of judges on each ISU event.  Previously the number was lowered from 12 to 9 with the benefit being a reduced financial cost to the host of each competition.  However, as Gale pointed out 13 judges were still being brought to ISU events, and then a random draw was done before each event to choose the 9 that would be on each panel.  Thus, the United States had proposed going back to using 12 judges on each event.

Singles Technical Changes
Finally, Gale did a fabulous job presenting all of the most likely changes that will be occurring in singles skating.
A complete list of ISU proposals for the June conference can be found HERE.


Running a Successful Competition
Next up was a group a speakers each relaying information about a successful competition that they have been a part of hosting.  I am proud to say that many of their ideas are already in use for our annual competition, or are already being planned for this years Skate St Moritz.

Remember to save the date:
2010 Skate St Moritz
September 10-12, 2010
at the Oakland Ice Center in Oakland, CA


Fundraising
Finally I attended the fundraising meeting that Susan was asked to present at.
First up was a presentation on myskatingmall.com, a unique opportunity that perhaps SMISC will have to take advantage of in the future.
Next, we were presented with an idea for a skate-a-thon fundraising event.  Perhaps our Jr Board will plan a fun opportunity such as that in the future.
Susan spoke about some of her most recent fundraising endeavors for USFS and with the SMISC.
Finally we were given a guidebook and general information about fundraising put together by USFS.

Thursday afternoon

On Friday afternoon, I had the honor of being part of a panel on fundraising. I worked with Ryan Janke, Susi Werli, and Elizabeth Harty, a charitable organization officianido when it comes to what you can and cannot do regarding the IRS.

The first to present was Ryan who told us about Myskatingmall.com. This is a program of fundraising for clubs. I plan on presenting this to the SMISC membership sometime in the near future.

Next up was Susi Werli. She talked about hosting a skate-a-thon. It sounded like a lot of fun and a great way to raise funds in an afternoon. That is something we could explore with the Jr. Board.

I was up next and talked about Destination Vancouver and the events that were hosted by the Jr. Board in the last year.

Elizabeth Harty ended the session with a Q&A regarding what restrictions apply to a non-profit pursuant to IRS rules.

It was a great session and I am honored that USFS asked me to participate.

Friday Afternoon session

This afternoon went by really fast! We started the session with Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora thanking everyone for their support. There was a video clip of the 2010 Olympians and comments by Mark and Amanda.

We were then surprised (well not really surprised--I saw him in the lobby) by a special guest speaker--Frank Carroll. He spoke for a few minutes. I thought it was pretty good.

We then started the actual meeting. It went not as usual--rather quickly--which is so unusual. We isolated the items on the agenda that we want to discuss and went through the exhibits. The session went very quickly and we adjourned early. All the exhibits that came up before the council were approved with very little controversy.

Tonight is the AAC dinner which several of us are planning on attending. It is usually a very fun evening and we're promised that we will play "skating bingo". This is Justin Dillon's last year as chair of the AAC so it sounds like he will go out with his usual flair. Good for Justin. We are taking a quick break to regroup, then it's off to get "gussied up" for dinner. Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora are reportedly going to sit with the SMISC contingent so it should be fun.

There will be pictures.

Off to the AAC Dinner!!!!
Suziesk8s

Friday Afternoon General Meeting

The athlete welcome speech was given by Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig who recounted some of their memories from competing at the Olympic Games.

Frank Carroll was honored by the council with a standing ovation for his life long dedication to our sport. He gave a wonderful speech about how important teaching all levels of skaters is so important to him. He promised that he will continue to coach as long as he is physically and mentally able.

President Pat St. Peter gave a welcome speech that included some milestones in membership and renewals of contract with sponsors and the renewal of our contract with NBC for the next four years.

The business of the Governing Council got underway with a report of the state of investments of the organization. It seemed that the investments that are under management, while there was a loss of principal during the this economic downturn, have recently recovered any lost ground and have increased substantially this year. The list of trustees that volunteer their time to USFS to manage these funds was displayed and reads like a who’s who of former skating stars and financial sector stars.

The council began to debate any concerns with the Interim Report of Action which is a list of proposals that committees have made, the Board of Directors have reviewed and have either approved, amended, clarified, deferred or did not approve.

Often in the rulebook there are conflicts between the bylaws and the rules. When there is such a conflict the bylaws always take precedence. Many of the exhibits for bylaw amendments concerned with removing any redundancy or conflict between the bylaws and the rules. All of those exhibits were adopted by the council.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing an exhibit which describes and clarifies the classification of an introductory member. There were quite a few parliamentary issues with making those changes but they were able to be reconciled.

Pacific Coast Section Meeting

This morning we had our Pacific Coast meeting, hosted by Jessica Gaynor. We discussed issues that affect our section. We also acknowledged the judges that have served for 25 and 40 years. Our own Howard Taylor was commended for his 40 years of being a referee. Also, our own Lisa Erle formally received her National Referee appointment. Congrats to everyone!

Running a Successful Competition Workshop

Several of us (Phillip, Katie, Lisa and I) attended this really great workshop. There is so much I don't know about running a competition so I found this really useful. We received a handbook with a timeline that spelled out what needs to be done when. It's info like this that make these workshops so really worthwhile. The discussion section that followed the presentation is insightful because other clubs share their experiences.

Non-Qual Competition Meeting

Lisa, Katie, Susan and I just attended the meeting on how to run a successful competition. The presenters were chairs, chief referees and accountants of large competitions around the country. They addressed many issues that affect competitions. It was interesting to find out that most of the competitions are switching to online registration and some are experimenting with having the skaters turn in their music online. It certainly make volunteering at the registration desk at Skate St Moritz a whole lot easier………. That’s a hint to you reading this that there are plenty of volunteer opportunities coming up in September during our compeititon.

Rink Relations Meeting

This afternoon I attended the Rink Relations meeting. It was presented by STAR (Serving the American Rinks) which is a membership association that provides education, training and new resources to facilities, individuals and vendors. It is a joint venture of USFS and USA Hockey to help promote and support all figure skating and hockey events as well as train and certify rink employees in management and ice maintenance.

I can say that most of the suggestions that they had for attendees were things that the board of St Moritz has practiced in the past or has recently put into practice for communicating with the management of both of our facilities. We are basically long term tenants at our facilities and building that relationship is a necessity.

The Budget Review meeting that I attended this afternoon turned out to be very constructive full of critical questions, answers and comments. Today's economy has affected US Figure Skating adversely not unlike individuals and many other non-profit athletic organizations in the US. US Figure Skating Board of Directors in general and the finance people in particular are facing a challenging financial situation, especially in view of this year's deficit. A trend that began with the loss of TV revenue a couple of years ago is now accentuated by a poor economy that has affected the revenue. Budget has been adjusted accordingly,yet US Figure Skating is fully committed to investing in members and programs at the high end with Athlete Development, the low end with Basic Skills, while recognizing that the heart of the Association is what is in the middle from young competing athlete's, Adult Athletes, and young and old recreational skaters. It is a difficult balance to maintain, but the Board is committed to navigate through this difficult time without jeopardizing its mission. Such was the message that I received after hearing many tough questions, critical thoughts that were shared, and fair responses that were given. What impressed me the most was that none of the responsible people did attempt to dodge a question or dance around the answer. Everything was above board and straight forward. The meeting lasted 40 minutes beyond its budgeted time and no one left early, because what was being discussed compelled everyone to stay and participate. I encourage everyone to review the budget when it comes out in the Report of Action (will be posted on the website) sometime next week. We all need to know what US Figure Skating is doing, and feel free to send them our ideas and constructive criticisms.

My first day at GC

After meeting up for breakfast this morning we headed off for our first session. I went to the "Marketing Your Club" session. I found this session to be really helpful and actually coincides with the session I will be hosting later this afternoon on fundraising. The session was hosted by Ramsey Baker from USFS. He gave us lots of great ideas and members of the audience shared their individual ideas as well. This "brainstorming" is what I really enjoy and get a lot from.

We are on a lunch break at the moment and have our afternoon sessions coming up.

Hello From Governing Council

We all made it to Costa Mesa for this year’s Governing Council and have started attending the various meetings. Quite a few of us attended the IJS Proposals Meeting. This is where our USFS representatives detailed the possible changes that the ISU Congress will be voting on in July in Barcelona, Spain. These changes will affect what you either will be performing in your competitions or what you will be watching skaters perform on television.

Here are the notes that I took during the meeting. Pay particular attention to the Dance changes. From now on the proposal is to combine the Compulsory Dances with the Original Dance into a new event called the Short Dance. By combining the two segments, dance will now only be TWO parts (Short Dance & Free Dance).

Singles/Pairs Changes

Proposals – Technical

· Sr & Jr men – Short Program

o Flying spin and the spin in one position must be “different” in nature (flying camel with a sit/sit or a flying sit and a camel/camel)

o Only one step sequence

· Sr & Jr ladies – Short Program

o Doube or Triple Axel

o NO SPIRAL SEQUENCE

· Possible only one use of a variation per program (ie.

· Singles Free Skating

o No more than 2 double axels per program

o Men – second step seq will have a fixed value (either full or no value if a minimum number of turns and steps are done)

o Ladies – spiral will have a fixed value (2 spirals of 3 sec or 1 spiral of 6 seconds – intention to have other connecting steps and moves

· Pairs

o 7 elements

§ solo spin alternates years with Pair spin

§ no spirals

· Jump Downgrades

o ¼ to ½ under-rotation will receive 70% of base value of the attempted jump

o New definition of a Sit Spin – upper part of the skating leg must be at least parallel to the ice

Additional Possible Proposals

· Counts only once per program – Backward, Variations, Change of Edge

· Still only 2 features per foot in a combo spin

· Variations need to be significantly different

· Only the first attempt at a feature counts

· Eight revs can count twice in one spin but possibly not in two different spins

· Additional bullet for steps – at least half a pattern on one foot only is a feature

· Simple variety increased to 7 turns, Variety to 9 turns, Complex stays the same

Dance Changes

NEW FORMAT FOR ICE DANCE - Free Dance & “whatever happens before the free dance”

Short Dance (See example here)

· Choreography to prescribed rhythms or themes

· Program time 2:50 +/- 10 sec

· All music provided by the couple

· Required elements

· Differentiation from the Free Dance

· Clear judging and calling criteria

· The elements for the program will be seleceted from the following

o Dance lifts

o Dance spins

o Set of twizzles

o Step sequences

o Sequences of Pattern Dances (formerly Compulsory Dances)

o Combination of steps/turns from Pattern Dances

Novice – Pattern dances are 100% of the first part of competition score

Junior/Senior – All or part of Pattern Dance sequences included as required elelment

Junior would be (5 elements each gets a GOE)

· 1 NTMDS

· 1 short lift

· 1 set of twizzles

· 2 sequences of the Viennese Waltz – may be performed anywhere in the program (tempo is fixed in the range of the pattern dance and will be checked by the referee) must start at step #1 of the pattern

· Pattern requirement is as in current OD

Senior Short Dance

· 1 NTMDS

· 1 short lift

· 1 set of twizzles

· 1 pattern of the Golden Waltz (can be entered at any point of the sequence)

Music

· Must have an audible rhythmic beat and melody

· Must change at least once during the program

The 2010 US Figure Skating Govening Council begins

The 2010 US Figure Skating Governing Council's informal start was Wednesday afternoon (2/28) when many of the delegates began to arrive at the venue (Hilton, Costa Mesa, CA.) The Board of Directors meeting part one was on Wednesday evening, with the second and final part this morning due to end in a few minutes. Yesterday evening was the opportunity for our Club delegates to confer on the issues, and confirm our plans to attend various seminars the next day. It was all done in a very informal and relaxing manner. This morning (Thursday, 2/29) our club delegates began their assignments of attending their pre-assigned seminars/classes. This morning I attended "Skating in the Schools" seminar. It is a new US Figure Skating program under the banner of Basic Skills. It has been showing tremendous success in several regions, and now we are all getting educated on how to use this program as a tool to promote figure skating in our local communities, to increase Club membership, and to build better and stronger partnerships between Clubs, Skating Rinks and our local School Districts. All it takes are willingness by the Club to start the program with help from Club volunteers, especially those with education experience at any level from pre-school to college, and the know-how of the ways to take advantage of the resources that US Figure Skating has allocated to this program. Everything from starter kits, to liability coverage, to guide lines using the wheel that have already been invented. If you are interested in learning more, please go to the Basic Skills page of the the US Figure Skating website and look for "Skating in the Schools." Feel free to contact me for more detail information. As you might have guessed I am sold on this idea!