The August 11-12 Board Meeting was held at the 2001 Annual Retreat at Salt Fork State Park. Following informal meetings on Friday evening, the BoD and Officers conducted two long but productive days of business. Minutes were recorded by Al Herbert, edited slightly for this issue. The full meeting summary is available online at www.ovr.org/executive/.
| In Attendance: | Emi Vishoot, Terry Miller, Bob Dickenson, Glenn Purdy, Rick Laskey, Al Herbert, Keith Burke, Steve Donahue, Ron Wyzynski, Nick Nystrom, Art Faura, Bob Price, Troy Dixon, John Buck, Tom Kohl, Don Burroughs, and Bill Zehler. |
| Guest: | Hank Trimble. |
| Absent with notice: | Michelle Fox, Patty Salvatore, Brian Hemelgarn. |
Bob Price: Commissioner's Report
The Diversity Committee is requesting all Regions track minority involvement.
USA Volleyball is looking at developing/purchasing an online registration system. This would avoid each region having to enter their members' names. [The OVR is already moving along these lines. - Ed.]
There will be 9 Junior National Qualifiers with 4-year contracts to host. A Bid Manual is being developed to outline requirements for hosting a Qualifier.
Bob P. is now a member of the ROD's Long Range Planning Committee.
Emi is now on the YJOV Competition Committee.
Ron Wyzynski: CEO Report
The Ohio Valley Region registered 11,676 members for last season. This should make us the largest region.
Molten is the official ball of USA Volleyball for the next two years. We will use Molten balls at as many Region events as possible. The "Pro Touch" will be used by the men and the "Soft Touch" by the women. OVR will no longer sell Spaldings.
The Hyatt will be the Tournament Hotel for the second weekend of the 2002 Junior Regionals. Officials and staff will be housed at the Hyatt.
The Region's High Performance teams finished 5th (14U) at Orlando and 2nd (16's & 17's) at Colorado Springs.
Ron requested that the Region continue to fund a High Performance program. A Director and coaches need to be hired.
Ron recommended that the Junior Registration fee be increased from $40 to $45. This would be the first increase in four years. The increase would be used to fund Club Tryout insurance, High Performance teams, and USA Volleyball registration increases.
Rick Laskey, Referees' Chair
OVR now has over 250 Professional Officials. There were 60 new officials certified this year.
There will again be three Professional Official Clinics offered for the coming season. Dec. 1 in Columbus, Dec. 2 in Pittsburgh, and Dec. 8 in Toledo. These are mandatory for Professional Officials. Officials are to bring other interested persons to the clinics for certification. We will continue to need more officials as the number of tournaments increases.
Rick and Nick will look into ways to train and test Player Officials via the web.
Terry Miller, Scorekeeper Chair
No changes in the scoresheet for the coming year.
The National Office wants more hand-on training of Junior Officials.
Suggested the Region identify outstanding Junior Scorekeepers and hire them to keep score for the Adult Regional matches.
Keith Burke, Men's Tournament Dir.
More adult tournaments are needed in the Region, e.g. in Toledo. The Region should approach tournament directors to offer more adult dates.
Tournaments will not be posted on the Region's web page without the respective Tournament Director's approval.
Tom, Michelle, and Keith were asked to review both Tournament Packets and publish drafts for the October meeting.
Keith asked if he could move some AA teams down to A. The composition of the categories was left to Keith's discretion.
Bob P. commented that players may not move from one club to another. He also suggested that a club not have more than two teams in any category.
John Buck, Bid Tournament Coordinator
Is evaluating 5 and 6 team pools played across two days for the Region's Bid Tournaments. This would enable the teams to play more teams before bracket play begins.
Bid Tournaments will be April 20, 21 and 27, 28. This will avoid the Adult Regional weekend.
Bill Zehler will select tournament locations.
The entry fee for the bid tournaments will increase (exact amount TBA).
Don Burroughs, High Performance
Used the USA Volleyball template for holding tryouts to select players.
Would like to see a requirement that coaches be CAP II certified.
Recommends using college coaches to instruct the HP teams.
Tryout fee was $10. Selected players paid another $300 to be in the program.
Bill Zehler, Juniors' Program Director
Feels the OVR should expand the HP teams. Wants to see one person coordinate the teams and coaches. Bob P. moved that the OVR create a High Performance/Coaching Education Director. Troy seconded. Unanimous vote in favor. Bill, Troy, and Keith will develop a job description.
Steve will coordinate the schedule of Impact clinics.
Troy will coordinate a power League for the older Open teams. National office would like to see the Regions sponsor Starling programs.
We had 650 teams play in our Regionals last season.
Would like to see our Regionals become two-day events for the teams instead of a single day.
Tom Kohl – Juniors Tournament Dir.
1,500 court/dates were sanctioned last season. Expects more this season.
Coaches must be Impact certified before the start of their second year of coaching in the Region.
Will modify the Tournament Results Form before the coming season.
Election of Region Commissioner
Bob Price was the only candidate to apply. Bill moved that Bob be re-appointed for another three-year term. Troy seconded. Vote was unanimous except for one abstainer.
Steve Donahue, MIS Director
Distributed updated regional statistics. 189 coaches attended Impact clinics. Only half the coaches turned in their forms.
Al Herbert, Junior Official Development Director
The Junior National events no longer required certified scorekeepers and second officials. But the OVR will continue to improve our player/officials by rating them during every match.
Only 300 second officials' names were sent to Al to complete the certification process. This season, a web page form will be developed for the Club Directors to enter their certified players' names.
The Region is looking at running a Boys Tournament at the KSU Annex the first week of January.
Nick Nystrom, Webmaster and Publications Editor
Web access has continued to increase and the current host is highly reliable and well-suited to our load. Requests for paper copies of newsletters have stopped. [One request came in following the meeting. —Ed.]
The next Newsletter is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Plans to finish the Region's Handbook by Nov. 1.
Will write a Job Description for his function. Needs several other job descriptions for the Handbook.
Bob P. will buy a digital camera to use at Region events. More images will be added to the web site.
Will evaluate adding member registration as a web form.
Bob Dickenson – Elections Chair
Brian Hemelgarn is the newest elected Board Member.
Emi Vishoot – Liaison to OHSCA
Presented a video to be used to promote Boys Volleyball in Ohio High Schools. This was funded by the OVR.
Elected to Competition Committee of YJOV.
Reported on how the OVR Boys teams did at Nationals.
USA Volleyball will soon be displaying Boys Tournaments on their web page.
The Boys High Schools programs in Ohio are now coordinated by the Ohio Boys Volleyball Coaches Association.
Old Business
Salary Survey Committee: A committee was formed at the previous meeting to review salary structures of other regions. A survey was distributed to six regions similar in size to the OVR. Three responded. Given the data, the committee proposed a new salary scale for the CIO and Commissioner position. After a lengthy discussion, Bill moved to change the CIO's salary to $30,000 (from $20,000) and the Commissioner salary to $17,500 (from $6,000) retroactive to the 2000-2001 season. These salaries will be reviewed every two years by the Board. Bob D. seconded. 12 voted in favor and 1 abstained.
New Business
Bob P. moved that the Region create the Glenn Purdy Meritorious Service Award. Terry seconded. 12 voted in favor with 1 abstaining.
Al moved that the Region increase Junior registration fees from $40 to $45. Nick seconded. 11 voted in favor and 2 abstained.
Terry suggested that the Region's Compliance Officer should not be a Board member since the Board is the final part of an appeals process. Bob P. will research this and discussion will continue at the next Board meeting.
Bunny Brooks is proposing a Southern Ohio Volleyball League. Wants the league to be sanctioned by the Region. She will be invited to the October meeting to further discuss the League concept.
Rick moved to remove the Collegiate classification from the registration form. Steve seconded. Vote was unanimous in favor.
Chip Reiley is bringing the East Coast Early Bird Tournament to Columbus for the 2003 – 2005 seasons. It will be a good opportunity for the Region's teams to play teams from other regions.
Should the Region sponsor an inter-regional tournament during June of 2002? It could be a combined event with a Boys Tournament, Girls Tournament and High Performance Camp all spread across a week and a half. More discussion will follow on this idea.