Northern Division
ND Fall Meeting Agenda
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Right Now Technologies, Bozeman, MT

Call to Order:  1:15 P.M.

Welcome/Identification of Members present:  T. McNamara, C. Smith, J. Bowditch, S. Carstensen, B. French, J. Stielow, J. Bildahl, J. Ueland, J.C. Knaub, M. Knaub, B. Krueger, R. Bay, J. Wolf, R. Jacobs, S. Erickson, C. Krueger, A. Hale, T. Duncan, S. Hale, S. Krueger

Old Business:

• President's Report The season outlook is good. We have a replacement for Jenn S., and we have a new Alpine Officials chair also that will help us track the progress of our officials.
• Program Status – clubs report on their current overall status
  • Big Mountain:  Seeking a coach.  Numbers are good.
  • Big Sky:  Jeremy Ueland is the new program director.  Geoff McDonald is the YSL director.
  • Bridger Ski Foundation:  Roger Bay is the head coach, hiring an administrator.
  • Casper Mountain:  Christopher Smith is the new Program Director/Head Coach.
  • Discovery: Race team is working with the mountain, seeking a PD and Head coach.
  • Great Divide: Steve Erickson reports their numbers are good.
  • Missoula:   Jared Roberts, the new head coach on the way; their J4 numbers are high.
  • Silver Run: Same coaching staff, similar numbers.
  • Showdown: Recruiting athletes; numbers are good.
  • Rocky Mountain College: 15 men, 10 women, aiming for another national championship.
• WR ACC overview –Jenn Stielow
• Policy and rules updates on the USSA website:  http://www.ussa.org/PublishingFolder/assets/Files/Alpine_UpdateReview_0708_2.pdf
• Regional phone conference will take place on Oct 19^th.
• Calendaring status: see the ND website for an updated calendar J2 Nationals are now 3/3-3/11
• Current Venue/race organization status
• Each site please come prepared with an update on your site.  Include:
• Certified officials update
• Venue status (safety needs/snow conditions/etc.)
• Each club needs to check for their current homologation status; several in our division have expired.
• All race administrators are requested to send documentation of the race officials for EACH race to Sheri Hale and Mike Kelly, the Alpine Officials Chair. Mike will keep records so our officials can continue to move up the ladder.

Mike Kelly

8509 Panorama Dr.

Bozeman, MT 59715

406-580-9117

• WEST Team and camp reports up to date at regional and NDS levels:  Jenn reported on athlete progress at Mammoth,  J2 Flight school, Topolino Shoot-out camp, Mt. Hood camp.  Next camp has been moved from Europe to Mt. Hood, NorAm prep camp for Beaver Creek will be at Mammoth.
• WR athlete tracking program:  this will allow the WR to follow the progress of all of the promising athletes in our division.  Each athlete will have a file that includes fitness assessment data, camp attendance history and video clips.  Coaches can place their athlete in this system, and can add their own video clips to the athlete’s file.  This data could be used to place an athlete in a wild card slot in the future.
• Officials Chairman:  Craig Krueger nominates Mike Kelly to be our Alpine Officials Chair. Roger Bay 2nds.  Motion passes.
• Calendaring (2007-08)  The updated calendar can be viewed on the ND website.
• Doug Smith DH Western Region Elite Race:  No longer a NorAm.  The Big Mountain team is asking for help beginning 5-10 days prior; they are offering housing for workers.  Installing B-netting is a particular concern.
• Athletic Competition Committee:  Roger Bay, interim chair, reports on the new staff serving on the ACC.  There are supposed to be 7 members; 1 chair, 3 coaches from the east, 3 from the west.  Currently Roger is the interim chair, and Jacobs, Pavlick and Brown are serving.  Rick Jacobs nominates Dick Collins, Jeremy Ueland, and Jared Roberts.  JC Knaub 2nds.  Motion passes.
• Northern Division Manager Position Welcome to the new ND Administrator, Sheri Hale! We are very grateful for her experience and willingness to keep us on track.
• Financial Overview
• The checking account from the Community Bank in Missoula has been moved to our Wells Fargo account.  Payroll is current with USSA.  We have approximately $2500 in outstanding payments due.  We have approximately $3500 in the checking account.  Club dues have not been received from most clubs yet.
• Travel Issues:
• Season report to date – projects done so far (invoicing & reconciliation)
• Race attendance confirmation process and travel policies – need to be concrete and located in the ND Handbook
• All liability release forms, team agreements and credit card backup forms must be turned in to Sheri Hale ASAP.
• Rick Duncan – Rick explained the process by which athletes may transfer from their home high school to Powell County HS during the competition months.  They can then have the flexibility to complete their high school  curriculum via the Plato on-line classroom program.  There is no tuition charged for this.  This program is for self-motivated students.
• Goals and Tentative Schedule for Winter Meeting The winter meeting will be held during the Big Sky race on January 19, at 7PM.  Tentative location will be the BSSEF office.  Watch the website for details.

New Business:

• On snow coaches clinic/course setting forum – in conjunction with a coaches education clinic.
• Proposed Officials Clinics & Testing –
• Alrick Hale announced tentative plans for a western Montana official’s clinic to be held on or around October 23^rd in the Whitefish area.  Testing for referees, timing and calc., race administration.  This will parallel an athlete assessment session.
• Roger Bay can administer a referee’s clinic for the Bozeman area.
• A motion was made to WITHDRAW the following June 2007 ND regulation:

"All coaches attending a USSA or FIS race have a level 1 coach’s certification and all course setters have a minimum of a level 1 referees license."

Rick 2nds.  Motion passes.

• Motion made to require All ND coaches attending a USSA or FIS race have a current USSA license and have a minimum level 1 referee’s certification.  Craig 2nds.  Motion withdrawn.  Discussion follows.
• Motion made to require All ND course setters attending a USSA or FIS race have a current USSA license and have a minimum level 1 referee’s certification.  Roger 2nds.  Motion passes.
• Craig distributes extra FIS team jackets and WR/ND team coats to attending clubs to be auctioned off at their fall fundraisers.
• ****Intents for Nov. are due to the ACC chair (copy to Sherri) are due Oct 1.***
• Parents are urged to view the USSA policy updates for the 2007-2008 season.  
• One item of particular interest is that ALL racers, all ages, are required to wear mouth guards during a race.  Mouth guards have been proven to reduce concussions during falls.  We are requesting that all start referees and starters share in the enforcement of this new rule.

Meeting adjourned around 3:30

Submitted by Susan Krueger and Sherri Hale.