Report

Report Item

Detail

Action Needed

Assigned to:

President’s Report

John Benton

MCA Recognition Award

This year’s award will include statewide nominations.  Bring nominations to the Sept/Nov. meeting. 

John Benton creating new nomination form to be posted on MCA Website 

Post Nomination Form on MCA Website

Benton
Osbakken
O’Leary

 New Logo

New logo is on the website. Looking to have XP Apparel present MCA Apparel.

Position Ascention

This is the last year of 2 year officer terms. We will be looking for candidates to fill the 2^nd VP position. Elections will be held in the spring of 2008.

Submit Candidates

All

Tax Audit Update

St. Paul and Duluth have been audited for taxes on bonspiel entry fees and had to pay substantial amounts for back taxes on entry fees. It is unclear whether the State of MN will be approaching all of the clubs in the state. Please let your club boards know that moving forward all bonspiel entry fees are subject to state tax and it should be accounted for. 

501c3 Status may affect your tax liability for this purpose. Please contact your club accountant to be sure. 

Bring information back to club boards.

All

Treasurer’s Report

Jay Osbakken

Report Attached:
Transaction Report

Balance: 3374.54

None

Clubs needing to pay dues.

Mankato, Detroit Lakes.

Follow Up

Osbakken

Putnam Fund Update

Balance: $31,026.80 

Proposal for Putnam Fund uses to come from John. Discuss at November meeting. Plan to enact for the 2008-2009 season.

Present proposal at next meeting

Benton

1^st Vice President

Norma O’Leary

Playdown Updates

Juniors - Two Harbors – December 27^th – 30^th 

Men’s and Women’s - Curl Mesabi - According to the website they have scheduled January 25 -27 which conflicts with the Nationals Challenge Round. It appears they have a private booking for the original weekend of January 13 -16. Norma will work with them to find a date that does not conflict. Kent Beadle suggested the weekend of the 18-20 which conflicts with State Seniors. Kent Beadle also wanted to make sure that we continue to use a poster for this event. It was noted that last year’s Club National teams were both offered a trip to Kurizawa Japan. 

State Seniors - Detroit Lakes – January 18^th-20^th - Linda C. mentioned that the date is in conflict with Senior Nationals. They were aware of the issue and  

Mixed – Itasca Curling Club – February 8 -10 

Follow up with Curl Mesabi to clear up conflict.

O’Leary

 New Event Idea: Arena Club Championship?

Ken Beadle suggested that we run a State Arena Championship at the same time and same location as the Men’s and Women’s State Championship. Response was favorable.

Beadle proposed it as a motion. Motion seconded by O’Leary. Osbakken pointed out that we may have a scheduling issue of we have too many teams. Plan is to move forward and determine details as we go. Called to vote by Benton. Motion passed with one abstention. 

Details of the event are to be worked out by the MCA Execs.

Work out details of new event.

MCA Execs

Pins and Patches

Pins:

M/W 130
Junior 96
In an average year 60 Juniors and 80 for M/W.
No contact from Mike Liapis on new pins. 

Through a new vendor we could get pins 1.30 each at a quantity of 500.  Pins would still need to be engraved with the year. 

Pins are good through:

Women’s Champ – 2014
M/W Runner-Up – 2021
Mixed Participation – 2015
Seniors – 2014 

Merriam Medal Issue – Some previous winners of the Medal do not have them. SPCC Member Jon Angst sent an e-mail to suggest that we re-instate the Merriam medal tradition. After Beadle updated him on the financial issue of the medal and the pins, Angst stated that he may have some financial backing to create an endowment to be able to fund the updating and continued use of the medal and pins. Beadle will bring the actual Merriam medal to the next meeting. O’Leary stated that it would cost $1250 to order Merriam Medal pins. Not sure when the last team(s) to get Merriam medals was. Beadle also noted that one of the original problems was the cost discrepancy between the Merriam medal for the men and a plain pin for the women. Beadle will get the Meal and bars appraised and bring it to the next meeting. Discussion on the topic was tabled until November 

Motion by Beadle to purchase 500 state participation pins (250 M/W and 250 Juniors). 2^nd by Christiansen. Motion passed. 

Patches – Everything is all set. 

Christiansen has old picture book from State. She would recommend updating the book and website with all team photos, etc. Plan to scan them in and update the website. 

Officer Handbooks – No Activity

Complete by Spring 2007

 MCA Execs

2^nd Vice President’s Report

Mike Floerchinger

New Club Development

Brainerd Lakes CC

They had 20 teams last year with 150 people who tried curling.  They are targeting 16 teams this year.  They will continue with the same approach as last year allowing up to 8 members per team rotating nights they curler.  This allows new curlers to try it out without too great an expense. Some very good junior interest. 

Vikingland CC

They had 75 members last year and expect to have 20 more new members this year.  They are expanding to 2 leagues both on Wednesday night and now have 4 sheets of ice.  They purchased new reconditioned rocks from Steve’s Curling Supply. 

Events:

·         Open House on Sep. 22 with 30 people attending.

·         Level I Instructor Clinic on Sep. 29 lead by John Meilke with 16 trainees.

·         Novice Clinic started on Oct. 3 and will be held for 3 Wednesday nights.

·         Intermediate Clinic scheduled for Oct. 17

·         Curling starts on Nov. 7.

·         Open Bonspiel on Mar. 7 – 9. 

Willmar CC

They had 17 teams and 80 members last year.  They are targeting 25 teams for this year.  They are expanding their leagues to have both a Wednesday night and a Saturday night league.  They plan on having an Open House on Oct. 27 and expect a good turnout because that is the same day that the ice arena is having an open house for their new facility. 

Events:

·         4 weeks of open curling in November.

·         Leagues start on Dec. 1.

·         Plan to have a bonspiel again the 1^st week in Jan.

·         May schedule 2 additional bon spiels. 

Edina CC

Edina had 212 curlers last year and will be able to accommodate 240 curlers this year.  They had to cut back from 3 nights of curling to 2 nights due to an increase in the ice rental rates.  They will be paying $220/hr this year.  They will not be able to host a bonspiel this year due to the high cost of ice rental. Edina wishes to thank the USCA for the Rock purchase program. Edina is also wondering if the USCA might consider reducing or deferring dues for new clubs? 

Events:

·         Open house on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov 13, 14.

·         League starts on Nov. 20 and will go through mid-March

Walker CC

Walker will kick off their season with an open house on Saturday Nov. 10 with leagues starting the following week.  They will be sharing a new ice facility with hockey.  Leagues will be 3 draws on Saturdays and 3 draws during the day on Mondays.  They are purchasing rocks from St. Paul CC. 

Events:

·         Open house on Nov. 10

·         Leagues start Nov. 12

·         Open bonspiels on Dec. 29–31 and Feb. 29 – Mar. 1 

St. Cloud

Last spring, Mark Wilmert and I met with a representative for the owner of a sports facility in St. Cloud.  He was considering having curling and 3-person summer hockey share the ice facilities – curling in the winter and hockey in the summer.  There are 2 problems with the proposal: 1) no one has come forward in St. Cloud to form a club and 2) the facility will most likely be too expensive for a startup club. 

Received information on bonspiels from the following:

·        Duluth
Vikingland
Walker
Itasca
Two Harbors 

Expect to get bonspiel information from the following:

·         Willmar
St. Paul
Caledonian
Thief River Falls
Chisholm
Curl Mesabi
Bemidji
Owatonna
Hibbing
International Falls
Heather Mapleton
Cook County 

Junior Report

New Chairperson Needed

High School Bonspiel

 College Bonspiel

Potential to have the High School Bonspiel in Willmar. Gorans will see if Willmar is interested. 3^rd Week in March. 

Still investigating how this is run and by who. 

Need a Chair person for this function.

Benton

USCA Directors Report

Tim Solie

Kent Beadle

New Director – First impressions were good and Solie has a better understanding of how the organization  works and was impressed by the people and their dedication. 

New USCA Website – Please check it out 

Finance – USCA Budgeted for a loss even after the dues increase, but due to a number of unexpected windfalls ended up with a positive variance. Please see the USCA DOD minutes for detail. 

Expect a “dues increase” schedule to be published moving forward. 

Membership up by 1000. New clubs in many states. 

Membership Conference ’08 – Bismarck ,ND 

Updating Instruction Program 

Junior Camps 

Background Checks for all people working with Juniors are recommended to have a Criminal Background Check done through the USCA website.  There is a nominal fee associated with the process. 

Stick Rule – IS NOT in effect this year. The USCA has decided to “study” the rule for one year before adopting a new rule. Stick curlers are being asked to look at “other” release points and send feedback to the USCA. 

Mixed and Junior women will fill to 10 teams. 

Draw shot will determine hammer before each game. 

Registration for ALL USCA events will be done online through the USCA website and Compete-At.com.  The system will be made available to clubs as well. 

Dates and Locations for all championships can be found on the USCA website. 

Andy Anderson resigned as treasurer. His position was filled by Jack Bernauer. 

Athlete funding from the USOC went up. 

Coaching Development Director was hired. 

New Assistant ADD being sought.

Hibbing – hosting Men’s and Women’s Nationals

Mankato – hosting Men’s and Women’s Club Nationals

Gopher State

 Gopher State will be held at Curl Mesabi - March 14-16.

OLD BUSINESS

 MCA Dues Increase – Osbakken withdrew the motion. Benton asked to discuss a long term plan at the November meeting. 

Putnam Fund proposal will be presented at November meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

 TCCA Grant and Scholarship Program – Nick Myers made a presentation of two handouts that will be posted on the MCA website.

Next Meeting

 Saturday, November 3^rd by Conference Call – Details to follow.

Report

Report Item

Detail

Action Needed

Assigned to:

President’s Report

John Benton

MCA Census Data

Report Attached as Exhibit 1

A document including club membership data (historical) was presented.  We should use this information to see where we are seeing increases and where there are struggles. 

Jim Newman commented that Deb Saderaun is surveying past and current members of their club to determine what drove their decision to stay or to leave.  Curl Mesabi has lost an equal number of members to what they gained.  Mark Willmert believes that  the survey  would be of interest to others and be beneficial if they could share the results 

The census project can be referenced with regard to USCA/MCA dues.  What do clubs want/need from the two organizational bodies.  What do they feel they are missing?  The MCA needs quality answers to these questions in order to adequately address and answer club concerns regarding dues.

Ongoing Discussion

John Benton

 Junior Chair

The junior chair remains vacant.  Sherry Halloway had expressed interest, but is pursuing another position with the USCA. 

A request was made that all in attendance go back to their clubs and inform them of the need for a Junior Chair.  Solicit interested parties.

Find a person to fill this position.

All!

MCA Recognition Award

 The Northwest Region Clubs did not nominate anyone from their region for the award.  Next year’s award will include statewide nominations.  Bring nominations to the Sept/Nov. meeting. 

Nomination form to be posted on MCA Website 

Post Nomination Form on MCA Website

Jay Osbakken

Norma O’Leary

Conference Calling

Still researching this option.   Have had discussions with the USCA to see if there can be some kind of joint agreement with them to utilize their conference calling resources. 

If we were able to utilize conference calling, it would still be important that as many people as possibly attended the January meeting and the Spring meeting.

Continue discussions with the USCA regarding teleconferencing options

John

 MCA Event Representation 

 It is important to attend MCA/USCA sanctioned events as a show of support for the host club and the participants.  All officers and representatives are encouraged to attend events if possible.

 All

 MCA Officer’s Handbook 

Norma is preparing an MCA Officer’s handbook to be used as a reference for incoming representatives and officers.

Project is in process

 Norma

Treasurer’s Report

Jay Osbakken

Dues Paid

Report Attached

Exhibit 2

Jay presented the itemized listing of membership dues paid for 2007.  There are several clubs with membership dues outstanding:  Dakota, Detroit Lakes, Hallock, Stephen, and Mankato have not paid dues. 

Dues to MCA should be sent separately and should not be included with USCA dues. 

Follow up with Mankato. 

Follow up re: dues

Jay

Putnam Fund

Balance was $29,753.80 in 12/2006.  Still working to get access to this account.

Jay

1^st Vice President

Norma O’Leary

Report Attached
Exhibit 3

John Benton presented Norma’s report.

Pins

 Norma still in contact with Mike Liapis regarding other pin options.

Follow up on pin proposals. 

Norma

USCA Directors Report

Kent Beadle

Bob Fenson

Art Jytyla

USCA Directors

 Reports Attached Exhibit 4

Kent Beadle presented the report on behalf of the directors.

 New WCF Representative

Mark Swanby is the new WCF Representative

2^nd Vice President’s Report

Mike Floerchinger

Club Development

St. Cloud has recently expressed interest in a curling facility.  They have a facility in mind, but need people to run it. 

Buffalo and Ramsey have also expressed interest.

 New Club Development

Edina Curling Club – Mark Willmert

• Currently playing on six sheets of ice; M,T,W, dedicated ice.
• 9 draws each nite.
• Currently 230 members – 75% new curlers

Vikingland Curling Club – Nancy Haggenmiller

• 2^nd year playing on W night, 3 sheets of ice.  75 members.
• They would need another set of rocks to add an additional sheet of ice.
• Looking for a dedicated facility.
• Hosted first bonspiel in 06/07 season – 13 teams.

Willmar Curling Club – Kevin Madsen

• Curling on 4 sheets of ice currently at 80 members
• No opportunity for additional ice time.
• Planned upgrades to the facility should benefit the CC
• Started a Junior Program that serves 9 kids.
• Host Open Curling for $2 (supported by Community Education and Recreation) this helps keep their costs low ($30/hr for ice time) as the membership provides the instruction for community events.
• Willmar also hosted its first bonspiel this year.

Brainerd/Crosby Curling Club – John Raboin

• John acknowledged both Nancy and Kevin for their help in getting things going with their new organization.
• Ice quality this year wasn’t great, but they are working on it.
• Nancy, Kevin, and Mike all helped with the Open House.
• Curling is Saturday night with 3 draws, 6 end games.  82 members and 53 guest curlers.
• They set up rosters of 8 for a team fee of $600.
• Currently using 4 sets of rocks from USCA.
• Suggested reduced membership rate for the first 3 years for new clubs.

Walker – Tanis & Don Beadle

• Walker will be discussing “rock” needs at their meeting on 4/30.
• Will be curling in the new Community Center scheduled to open in October.
• Fall instruction and Open Houses are being scheduled.
• Hoping to attract 100 members to curl on 4 sheets of ice 1 or 2 nights a week.
• 35 people have already deposited toward membership.
• Hoping to begin leagues in January.

Junior Report

New Chairperson Needed

High School Bonspiel

College Bonspiel

Larry Barrott ran the High School bonspiel in Mapleton this year.  There was no college event this year.

Need a Chair person for this function.

Gopher State

Curl Mesabi will host Gopher State March 8-9, 2008

 OLD BUSINESS

Membership Votes

 Edina Curling Club

Brainerd Lakes Curling Assn.

Vikingland Curling Club 

All accepted into membership of the MCA…Welcome! 

 MCA Dues Increase

A motion to increase MCA dues to $3 was made by Bob Fenson, seconded by Jim Neuman. 

Hibbing Curling Club, represented by Terry Huusko expressed concern over the dues increase and is questioning what they receive as far as benefits for their dues. 

President John Benton pointed out that in conversation with several club members in Hibbing, and from other clubs, no one has really been able to quantify exactly what they would want as far as benefits, just that they don’t feel they are receiving any. 

Mark Willmert suggested that a plan be developed for future increases (i.e. a forward plan to include this and future years).  The plan would include such things as what the increases would cover. 

A suggestion was that a proposal be developed that would include the “vision” of how the membership funds would benefit clubs. 

A motion to table the dues increase at this time was made, seconded by Kent Beadle.  Motion to table 11, opposed 4, abstained 1.  Tabled.

Putnam Fund Use

Ongoing discussion about the possible uses for Putnam funds. 

It is suggested that the fund be looked at not purely as a funding sources, but as a self sustaining option for the MCA. 

Continue to explore possible allocation of funds from the Putnam account.

All

 NEW BUSINESS

USCA Representative

Art Jytyla’s term as a USCA Representative has expired.  Art was thanked for his service to the MCA and his representation. 

Tim Solie, Mapleton Curling Club was nominated as a candidate for the USCA Representative position vacated by Mr. Jytyla. 

No other nominees were announced. 

Tim Solie was voted in as the newest USCA Representative for the MCA.  Welcome Tim! 

Duluth Curling Club Tax Audit

The Duluth CC recently was billed and fined for not paying tax on bonspiel entries.  In an Audit by the MN Dept. of Revenue Use and Sales, the Duluth Club was charged $13,000 in taxes and an additional $2000 in interest penalty for taxes not paid. 

This situation was presented to inform other clubs to carefully review their bonspiel records and ensure that they are meeting state and federal requirements with regard to taxation. 

Next Meeting

 Our next meeting is schedule for September 8^th at Cassidy’s in Hinckley. 

Report

Report Item

Detail

Action Needed

Assigned to:

Treasurer’s Report

Jay Osbakken – Presented by Norma O’Leary

Transaction Report

Norma distributed the transaction report for review. 

Membership fees are due to the USCA

Putnam Fund

Kent Beadle indicated that the balance in the Putnam account as of last summer was approximately $20,000.

Group was asked to submit proposals to the president with their ideas on how to allocate the funds. 

It was suggested that a smaller group be assigned the task of looking at the Putnam fund (i.e. past performance, current investment, etc.).  Pam Cavers has volunteered to be part of the committee as she works in investment and securities. 

Harold Anderson must be contacted to see if he has any of the financial statements. 

  
Submit proposals to John by 3/15/2007

 
Contact Harold

 
All/John to coordinate

 
John Benton

MCA Dues Update

An MCA dues increase will be proposed for the 2007/2008 season.  Looking to increase dues for next season will be more proactive and allow clubs to plan, especially the newer clubs. 

A justification report should be prepared to present to Clubs and members. 

A vote on the dues increase will be held at the Spring meeting. 

Report Prepared

Jay Osbakken

1^st Vice President

Norma O’Leary

Championships

Junior Men’s and Women’s State Curling Championship was held in Grand Rapids this year.  There were 8 Men’s and 6 Women’s junior teams participating.  Representing Minnesota at the U.S. Junior Curling Championships in Seattle, WA will be the women’s team of A. Sormunen, Duluth and the men’s teams of C. Plys; Duluth, and A. Wald; Hibbing. 

Minnesota Club Championship was held in Bemidji.  There was an increase in participation in this event with 15 mens and 4 womens teams competing.  The teams that will represent Minnesota at the U.S. Club Naitonals in St. Paul are the Norma O’Leary rink of Duluth (champions), and the Margie Smith rink of St. Paul on the womens side.  The men will be represented by the Mike Farbelow rink of St. Paul (champions) and the Jon Medure rink of Duluth.

·                     Increased promotion (poster) was sited as a possible reason for the increase in participation this year.

·                     Nationals site (St. Paul) was also cited as a possible draw to participate. 

Minnesota State Mixed Championships are scheduled for Two Harbors beginning February 9.  Preparations are under way. 

Pins

We ordered 100 Junior Pins this year.  We didn’t receive any clear price points from Butch, so are unsure of what quantities are most cost efficient.  We used 58 pins this year, so will need to re-order. 

Mike Liapis attended the meeting to inform the group of another vendor option.  We could potentially buy the supply of pins from the vendor (500 is usually their price break point), and have Butch engrave them with the year if we choose to continue in this way.  Proposal was made to have Mike Liapis, Butch Rojeski, Sherry Holloway, and Norma O’Leary meet regarding pin options to find the best and most cost effective solution for this need.  Perhaps a vendor bid proposal would work to determine which vendor(s) we should consider for use. 

New men’s and women’s pins are still under proposal as well.

 
Schedule a meeting or call with named participants

 
Norma O’Leary

USCA Directors Report 

Kent Beadle

 Bob Fenson

Finance

Club Development

Grievance

Nominating Committee

Kent is waiting to hear about the membership dues increases and the effect on budget. 

Memberships up? 

With playdown numbers up the budget will improve.

Policies and regulations should be clarified in championship booklets. 

There is a youth committee which includes Mark Swanby, Chris Moore, John Wilson, Kent Beadle, Chris Schuey, and Nicole Jornstadd. 

MN was awarded a boys and girls junior team to go to Winnipeg.  Alex Carlson from St. Paul, and Aaron Wold from Hibbing will be going. 

There is a “Right to Compete” grievance under review at the USCA.  (Update 2/2/07, grievance was denied). 

Bob will not run for the WCF position. 

Need to replace Art Jytala and Bob Fenson as USCA Board Representatives year after this.  Everyone should be thinking about people in their club who might be good replacements.   

Motion to increase travel reimbursement to $300 passed by the board.

Junior Report

Sherry Holloway

We are still seeking information about the High School bonspiel and College bonspiel.

Contact Andy Borland

John Benton

Officials Report 

Jay Osbakken

No report

OLD BUSINESS 

 Hall of Fame Nomination

Nomination of Mark Haluptzok for the USCA Hall of Fame.

USCA Directors

Conference Calling

Conference calling seems to be cost prohibitive, although there is continued investigation and discussion into this option.  A suggestion was made to rotate the meeting venue to improve club participation.  It was also suggested that the conference call option be employed even with this rotation to continue to gain further participation.  This topic continues to be open for discussion.

John Benton

NEW BUSINESS

World Juniors Update

TCCA – Lite Rocks Program

 

MCA Recognition Award

Jim Neuman from Eveleth attending the meeting to give an update on preparations for Junior World’s in Eveleth.  Jim and group have visited many clubs and left volunteer sign up boards with them to actively seek help for the week. 

Shirley Coe, George Phillips, and Bill Forsythe will be the officials at the event.  They are still in need of level 3 officials. 

Need level 1 or level 2 timers and observers for the event. 

The TCCA wishes to invest in several sets of “Lite Rocks” to be used for youth curling and open houses.  They are interested in working with the MCA on funding this program.  Cost is approximately $3500 for 16 stones. 

TCCA has introduced a scholarship program for junior curlers.  The first award will be made next curling season. 

Again, the TCCA is working to change its focus from Twin Cities curling to statewide endeavors. 

Bemidji District.  Bemidji, Thief River, Detroit Lakes, etc. should submit nominations. 

Contact all with a letter

 
John Benton 

Next Meeting

Hinckley 

Saturday, April 28^th at 11:00 a.m.  Cassidy’s Restaurant

Report

Report Item

Detail

Action Needed

Assigned to:

Treasurer’s Report

Jay Osbakken – Read by John Benton

MCA Account

The account with Mark Turner’s information has now been closed.  Jay will open a new account with the new Federal ID number.

Create new account with new Federal ID#

Jay Osbakken

Putnam Fund

Putnam Fund Update – Harold Anderson is still receiving information on the fund The account with Mark Turner’s information has now been closed.  Jay will open a new account with the new Federal ID number.

 and is forwarding that info. to Mark? or Kent Beadle.  Jay will work on getting the contact information updated.

Update contact information for Putnam Fund

Jay Osbakken

Budget

Jay has prepared the budget in a different format to make it easier to follow.  The budget may be on the “tight” side as he used only the pat couple of years for reference.  Would rather be prepared than short.

MCA Dues

MCA dues increase is bad timing with the USCA, but we’ve been at $2 for several years.  May want to consider going to $3 or $4 due to the fact that we are paying out to more junior teams and have fewer playdown teams.  Historically as high as $8 in 1977-1978, but that may have included USCA fees as well.

Kent suggests that the revenue numbers should more realistically be based on 3,000 members and that we are actually looking at higher revenues.  The increase is the right thing to do, just poor timing.

MCA increase for next season on the agenda for the November or January meeting.

MCA dues increase as Agenda item for Nov or Jan meeting

John Benton

USCA Travel Expenses

USCA travel expenses.  Not sure how long the reimbursement has been $200, but wondering if it should be raised to $300.  Some states don’t pay anything.  Under advisement.   Table for future meeting (Nov.) 

USCA Travel Expenses as Agenda item for November meeting

John Benton

MCA Web Page

Web page can be changed for a nominal amount.  Norma O’Leary is taking over the responsibility for the domain registration of the MCA website.  Jay will keep the site updated.

Web Page new host and ongoing maintenance

Norma O’Leary/Jay Osbakken

Playdown Banquet Funding

State Playdowns have traditionally hosted a banquet.  Is a $500 cap reasonable for this expenditure?

Add proposed cap to November Agenda.

John Benton

Collection of Membership Dues

Membership dues will be collected in January and February via letters to the clubs.

Send membership collection letters to clubs

Jay Osbakken

Other

Concern for current cash flow.  Paying everything out in January and not taking anything in until February/March.  When the Putnam Fund is in order, we will have a cushion of $2-$3,000.

2nd Vice President

Mike Floerchinger. – Club Development

State Calendar

Most club websites look like they are updated, but still working on verifying bonspiel dates for all of the clubs who wish to be on the MCA calendar.  USCA website is not a good resource in that it is usually not current.  Bonspiel calendars from everyone would be helpful to have for the November meeting.

Get 2006-2007 Club Bonspiel Calendar Information to Mike F.

Everyone

Club Development/ USCA Member-ship Meeting

Attended the Club Development Membership Meeting.  Primary points of interest:

Background checks required for coaches info is available on USCA website.

Continued interest in arena curling and community development of interest in curling.

Clubs should associate with the state or region closest to them, not necessarily their own state (i.e. Upper Michigan).  This is a change from previous procedures.

New rocks for clubs.  Proactive work on the part of the USCA paid off to realize there was going to be a shortage of stones with new clubs and new interest

Existing New Club Information

Dakota Curling Club - Warehouse site is available and details need to be finalized for a winter league.

Alexandria - W and Sun night leagues.  Hosting open houses and instructional evenings. 5-week Junior Curling program is being offered as well.

Redwood Falls - Curling starts 11/12 through Parks and Recreation.  One draw on two sheets.

Willmar - 4 sheets to handle 22 teams.  2 draws on Wed and 2 draws on Saturday; first draw for Juniors, second Saturday draw is through Comm. Ed. And is pick up game – pay $2 to curl.  Good way to draw interest from the community.  25-50 kids anticipated for the junior program.  Looking to host a bonspiel in January to include Redwood Falls, Alexandria.

Worthington - Is not going well.  Needing someone to take over that program.

501C3 is a complicated issue.  New clubs are struggling with this issue. 

Championship Rotation

Is it necessary to maintain the rotation of championships given new formats?  Rotations were set to accommodate the larger number of playdown curlers.   See if others want to join the rotation.  May have to be at least a four sheet club.

Club Development

Ken Olson has stepped up to be the President of the new Edina Curling Club.

Mark Willmert is the new President of the TCCA.

Troy Schroeder will be the TCCA liaison to the MCA.

TCCA hosted several clinics supporting Edina and Dakota initiatives.   TCCA will invest in equipment to support new clubs.  TCCA will establish a scholarship program to support juniors.

Affiliates of TCCA would be Edina and Dakota.

TCCA is not a club, but rather a regional organization that supports development of the sport.  Would like an affiliation with MCA/USCA on some level to help leverage the organization as they move forward with fund development.  What type of affiliation or relationship is appropriate for this type of entity with regard to the MCA?  How/should the Putnam Fund be used in this initiative.

What is the next step…discussion with MCA and TCCA to determine what would be best for the organizations and curling.

TCCA should prepare a proposal with regard to what their expectations are and also discuss with Ken Olson and John Benton.

Brainerd Club

Is there any help MCA can offer Brainerd at this time?

Any funds available?

MCA and TCCA will meet to discuss Putnam fund options.

What are some of the expenditures?

John Benton / Mike Floerchinger /TCCA

1^st Vice President

Norma O’Leary

Championships

Junior Men and Women will be at Itasca Curling Club.  Should the patches say “Itasca” or “Grand Rapids?”  Usually it’s the city.  Dates are 12/29-12/31

Men’s and Women’s MN State Club Playdowns in Bemidji 1/11-1/14.

State Mixed in Two Harbors 2/10-2/12

State Poster being created by Lime Valley Advertising, Inc.

Poster to be presented at November meeting.

Get poster ready to present at November Meeting.

Need to contact Seniors for Information about where and when.

Same for High School.

John Benton

Norma O’Leary

Pins

Pins through Butch Rojeski.  Pretty well stocked with the exception of the Men’s pin which is $28/each with a minimum order of 25.  Can Butch look at other suppliers for this type of pin to bring it closer in line to the pricing of the Women’s pins and other pins? 

Talk about other pin options all together.

Ask Butch about other options for the Men’s pin specifically. Looking at other options for Men’s pins.

Norma O’Leary

Officials Report

Jay Osbakken

General

Preparing a form letter for chairpersons of the sites that are hosting championship events with regard to what he needs for volunteers.

Send form letter to championship sites requesting volunteers

Jay Osbakken

USCA Directors Report – Kent Beadle

Membership

Rock Program – important initiative from the USCA

Youth Curling is being chaired by Maureen Brundt

Marketing

Rick Patzke shared that the USCA is continuing is strong relationship with NBC and ESPN.

Sponsorship of a Thanksgiving special from Korbel.

Working on other sponsorship deals.  Hilton sponsorship may have been lost.  Hilton is focusing on summer versus winter sports.

World Championships may be on ESPN this year.

Championships

Entry fees for participants across the board will go from $200 to $250 in the Juniors, Mixed, Mens & Womens Club Championships.  U. S. National Championship fee will go from $400 to $450.  Increase proposal came from the AAC in light of dues increases to all club members.  The AAC believes that championships should be self-supporting and not a liability for the USCA.

Juniors will utilize the page system starting this year.

There will be a World University Championship.

Communicate Playdown Dues structure to all clubs and participants.

Norma O’Leary

Playdown Changes

Modifications to playdowns.

Men’s Qualifying - First round this year will qualify six teams from four different sites.  The number from each site will be determined by established formula.  The Challenge Round will consist of up to 10 teams including 2^nd and 3^rd place teams from round one and / or the top two WCT money teams or the defending Champions. There will be four teams qualifying out of the Challenge Round.

Women’s Qualifying – First round (if 14 or more teams) will be three sites qualifying 6 teams. The number from each site will be determined by established formula. The Challenge Round will consist of up to 10 teams including 2^nd and 3^rd place teams from round one and / or the top two WCT money teams or the defending Champions. There will be four teams qualifying out of the Challenge Round. If there are 11 – 13 teams the top four WCT money list teams will advance directly to the Nationals and the remaining teams will play one round for the remaining 6 spots. If there are 10 teams or less, all of the teams will advance directly to Nationals.

USCA Dues Increase

Proposed USCA dues increase is due to communication issues with the USOC and reduced funding for governance and administration. Although the timing is bad, it is likely to pass as a necessity to continue operations.

As background the USCA has done quite a bit through competitive success to grow the sport in recent years and is running a very lean staff at its offices to accomplish this. Without USOC funding to support these efforts it could never have happened.

Each club representative should be able to address the questions of concerned club members.

USCA Reps. will vote on the issue on October 15^th.

USCA Reps.

Report

Report Item

Detail

Action Needed

Assigned to:

Treasurer’s Report

Jay Osbakken – Read by John Benton

No formal report – no changes since September

Putnam Fund

No new information since the September meeting.  Kent Beadle may have some information, but is not present to share.

Call Andy Borland to verify that a new account/old account can be established via the Putnam website.

Jay Osbakken

MCA Dues Update

At one point the dues were $7 or $8 according to old documentation kept by Harold.  Still can’t be sure that the amount didn’t include USCA dues as well back in the 70’s and early 80’s.

With the USCA dues increase this year, it should probably not be looked at for this year.  Spring agenda item.

USCA Travel Expense

Should the amount increase?  An amount of $300 seems to be more appropriate.  Agenda item for the January meeting

Playdown Banquet

Expense for playdown banquet for Club Championships.  It varied greatly between the two sites in previous years.  $500 seems reasonable.  Cost of the banquet should be reflective of the number of teams playing down.  Recommended cap.  Create a format for host sites with regard to hosting a championship.

Create a format for host sites (SOP!) for running a championship

Review old documentation as a starting point

Norma O’Leary

Jay Osbakken

John Benton will provide

1^st Vice President

Norma O’Leary

Pins

Men’s pin is out of inventory and is costly.   Norma looked for alternatives.  Aanders Brorson and Scott Edie drafted designs for a championship pin for the men.  Presented the renderings to the group.  Discussion regarding the design.  It will be difficult to get the design done and the pins ordered for this year.  Women’s and Juniors are about $3-$4/pin compared to the Men’s at $25.   We could mail them if unable to have them by January.  How many pins will we order to have on hand?  Cost decreases with increased volume of order.  Need to be aware of the history of the medal.  It may be a nice idea to have the championship site display the medal trophy with the champions names engraved.  Is it up to date, where is it?   Would have to ensure security and perhaps insurance for the piece.

Ordered 100 Junior participation pins.

Display the medal at Championship site and change the pin

Poster

John worked with Lime Valley Advertising to create a promotional poster for the State Club Playdowns.  Presented the draft of the poster; announced changes that have been incorporated into the document since printing.  Will go to print with 100 of them for $120.  Numbers of participants dropped last year without promotional materials.  John will forward suggested changes to Lime Valley.

Patches

Need site information for new patches.  Described patches to vendor to avoid last year’s quality issue.

Mike Floerchinger

Calendars

State calendar updates are coming along.  Mike will contact the clubs.  Bonspiel for “First Ever Edina Open” Feb 16-18, Open, at Edina CC, 32 Teams.

Last Chance Bonspiel, Hibbing Curling Club, March 28-April 1^s (early this year).  Sunny Hill, Open, January 12-14^th.

Document from Jay for Two Harbors CC.

Contact Clubs

Attend TCCA Upcoming Meeting

Mike Floerchinger

Mike Floerchinger

Club Development

Meeting was held with the TCCA – John Benton, Kent Beadle, Mark Willmert.   

TCCA is a unique entity because they are not a state or regional association however, they do have members.  One of their primary charters is to grow the sport.  Originally their intent (as a 501C3 status) was to build a club in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities. 

They are not focused on growing the sport.  They are kind of caught in between the MCA and USCA. 

One idea is that they remain totally autonomous.  The other option is that they become an “arm” of the MCA in the Club Development area.  They have a scholarship program they are working on, and equipment purchase and lease program for new clubs, etc.  They are interested in the MCA being able to provide some operating capital maybe via the Putnam Fund to support these efforts.  No decisions were made.   

Troy Schroeder will be their representative to the MCA and he will start attending meetings in January to report on the activities of the TCCA.  Communication will be important between the two organizations. 

There was discussion of the TCCA becoming less Twin Cities focused, potentially renaming their organization so that it doesn’t imply exclusivity to the Twin Cities market.  Suggested name of MN Curling Development Association.

USCA Directors Report

USCA dues increase vote was held on 10/15.  The measure passed unanimously.  Each organization will likely implement this in their own manner (some clubs may choose to absorb it this year). 

Poor timing for this.   The difficult piece of this is that the USCA is very dependent on USOC dollars.  The USOC didn’t inform of this fund decrease until late summer.  It has been discussed that this timing issue cannot happen again and that other revenue sources need to be found and/or the USOC needs to be made aware of the importance of timing for our sport.

Junior Report

Trying to contact Larry Barrot to learn more about what he was doing with regard to Juniors.  He has not been in communication with the group in the last two years. 

A possible appointee to this position would be Sherry Halloway. 

This person takes care of the High School Bonspiel and the College Bonspiel.  There doesn’t seem to be much information relating to these events.  Andy Borland may have some information in this regard

Contact Andy Borland

John Benton

Officials Report

Officially nothing to report on, no officials needed at this time. 

We will need officials in Eveleth.  Even though Junior Worlds will be run with the USCA, we should be considering this.  Phil Drobnick and Jim Neuman are contacts there. 

Grand Rapids will host State Juniors and could use some officials to help out and get the feel for this type of activity in preparation for Worlds.

Place an informational ad in the newsletter with regard to officials needed at these sites.

John Benton

Hall of Fame Nomination

We will cover this at the Spring Meeting

New Clubs

Brainerd

Discussion with regard to new clubs and their ability to absorb the membership costs.   Is there any flexibility with this?  Their board is still considering this expense. 

There was some talk about using the Putnam Fund to subsidize these costs.   Still under consideration. 

The USCA views this is a plan oversight and hasn’t been agreeable to making any adjustments in fee requirements and Brainerd has acknowledged this oversight. 

Because the membership is still pending, the MCA Secretary wasn’t expecting any dues paid.  The Club can’t officially be a member until the Spring meeting.  Can still participate in the “Rocks Program” even under pending status. 

May discuss the idea of pro-rating the dues instead of the full amount.  What was done with Alexandria and Willmar?  They did not pay dues last year.   Not sure if USCA collected dues from them or not. 

What are the dues requirements of a pending organization?  Did Alexandria or Willmar pay anything last year? 

What are the obligations of a pending member? 

Curling on Saturday nights.  20 teams.  Three draws.  Team rosters can be 4-8 people to allow more flexibility. 

Open House on 10/14 hosted about 65 people. 

Things are going well.  Duluth Curling Club donated several needed items to the Club.  Willmar has also lent a hand, especially with the Open House. 

Contact USCA with regard to fees when still a pending member.

Contact Troy at the Willmar Curling Club to learn whether they paid USCA dues last year (their first year).

John Benton or Mike Floerchinger

Kim Deiss

Edina

Edina Curling Club will rent ice from a hockey school.

The facility is indicating that ice will be ready on 12/11.

Membership at around 150.  70% or more will be novices. 

Still needing the rocks from USCA. 

M, T, W will have curling.  Tuesday afternoons and evenings there will be ice for groups.

New Business

Web Site Status

Norma has been working on the site having recently received the password from Kent.  She plans to add the State calendar to the site.  Links can be added to the event sites and posters.   

Should we include email addresses on the site?  Perhaps leave up to each individual.   

John has thanked Norma for her work on the site.  It looks awesome! 

Norma will get it set up and Jay will help with it. 

On-line scoring will be added for the State playdown competitions. 

Ideas of content should be submitted to Norma, Jay, or John. 

Currently running the site under the Two Harbors site, so MCA would owe Two Harbors for site costs.   

Domain name is registered through November 2008.  Costs should go down.

Conference Call Meetings

Investigating the potential of conference calling.  Perhaps leverage the USCA to utilize their conference calling contract.  More people could be involved if we were able to do this.

Investigate utilizing USCA Conference Call Contract

John Benton

Next Meeting

Bemidji

 During Men’s and Women’s Club State Championship

January 13^th, Saturday, Time to be determined