2007 USA Diving
Convention
Hawaii Coach Delegate Report
2007 USA
Diving Convention Report
HDA Coach
Delegate Jeff Stabile
Summary of Events at
the Convention:
The 2007 USA Diving
Annual Meeting (Convention) took place in Anaheim, California, September 26-30.
It was over twice the size of last year’s Convention, with more than
100 attendees. My guesses as to
why: location – Southern
California has a dense population of diving enthusiasts; coaches’ education
– more than 15 workshops were held to help coaches improve their knowledge and
skills; and change -- USA Diving is entering its next and different chapter,
with new CEO Debbie Hesse ushering in a hopeful atmosphere of open communication
and the promise of a true departure from business as usual.
Some
dynamics were similar to last year. The
Governance Committee’s report was accepted with minimal discussion, and the
Rules Committee’s report generated solid discussions on issues of substance,
discussions which led to a quick sidebar of the Rules Committee followed by a
more compete, well-presented report. Each
General Assembly meeting ended early, like last year.
I attended the Governance and Rules Forums and Meetings (as a member of both
Committees, I kinda had to!), as well as the Membership Committee Forum, part of
the Committee for Competitive Excellence Meeting, and several Coaches’
Education Seminars.
First
Session of General Assembly
In
the first General Assembly, several awards were announced:
Association Award winners; the Moose Moss Age Group Coach of the Year,
Bob Gunther of the Woodlands Diving Academy; Benjamin Foundation Award Winner,
John Wingfield, coach of the World Championship Men’s Synchro Platform bronze
medal team.
President’s Report:
President
David Burgering gave his report: he
noted the increased attendance at Convention, and asked everyone to encourage
folks to come to Atlanta next year. He
introduced Debbie Hesse, USA Diving’s CEO hired earlier this year.
He mentioned that insurance premiums have dropped (knock on wood, we all
stay safe and the rates stay low). He
emphasized the three most important priorities for this year:
to win medals in 2008 Olympics, to build the base of the sport, and to
improve marketing and promotion.
He
presented Bill Harris, the Board of Directors’ candidate for the Independent
Director (a new position created by a USOC-recommended restructuring of National
Governing Body elected officers). The
acceptance of the nominee was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved by the
Board of Governors.
Administrative Report:
Vice
President, Administraton, Bill Farrar gave his report:
Future Champions work over the last year has resulted in a DVD as well as
a rules revision of the FC program. Also,
Coach Education opportunities have been expanded and improved – suggestions
for continued improvement are welcome – think about what you’d like to see
at the next Convention in Atlanta. He
passed out ballots for Male and Female Athlete of the Year and Team of the Year.
He noted the wonderful book by Janet Gabriel regarding coaching resources
which USA Diving has made available.
Bids for Events:
Bids
were presented for the 2009 National Preliminary/Zone Meets.
Winners were: Zone A: Open;
Zone B: Huntersville, NC; Zone C:
Minneapolis, MN; Zone D, Los Angeles, CA.
Other Bids were submitted to the appropriate Site Selection Committees,
and the results of their work was not made available to us by the end of
Convention.
Second
Session of General Assembly
USA Diving Foundation:
During
the second session of the General Assembly, Trustee Tom Gompf reported on the
USA Diving Foundation – monies are going out to worthy recipients, the Ray
Rude Foundation provides additional helpful funds, Jared Book has been voted
President of the Foundation.
Someone
from the International Swimming Hall of Fame discussed how ISHOF is the best
diving “museum” in the world, and he appealed for memberships/donations
support.
The
consideration of Code Changes proceeded, with a stenographer present to ensure
the transparency of the process (see later section of report for Code changes
that were approved). The new
Rulebook will not include the Code, which will be available only online from
here on out.
CEO
Report:
CEO
Debbie Hesse gave a report (I am including a rather detailed account to help you
get a sense of our new leader):
Bio – wife, hubby is swim coach in Indiana; mom
to daughters aged 9 and 5; swimmer, swam at Texas A and M; live in small
town. Has always been a water
person. All life’s experiences
have brought her step by step to this position with USA Diving;
first job was with P&G, hated it, realized she needed to go
non-profit and find a passion; did some work with “professionalizing” swim
coaches; went to ISHOF and worked there, was exposed to other aquatics; met
hubby and moved to Texas; realized she missed aquatics;
her relationship with Michele Mitchell led to her getting role with USA
Synchronized Swimming – was there for 7.5 yrs; took time off to be with
family; got involved with Special Olympics; now involved with USA Diving J
Impressions of first 8 months: Sees passion and excitement
in the community
Reality
and Perceptions: Most successful
FINA Grand Prix performances since 1988; volunteers
and coaches who are passionate; awesome athletes who love the sport; alumni
volunteering/supporting in every capacity in every event.
Town Hall Meetings – some fun, some contentious, some
very productive. Learned a lot,
worked to resolve situations that are out there.
Conducted surveys: responses were excellent by both general members and
coaches regarding what USA Diving/NTC can offer.
Have held, and will continue to hold, Board and staff
retreats to help people learn to work together and move forward.
Example: High Performance
Retreat session to help provide direction for next 4 years, define HPD.
Future Champions video from Barb Parker – great promotion
of the sport at the grassroots level.
Diving Manual from Janet Gabriel – may be a “bible”
of resources! By the way, that’s
Dave Burgering on cover – will autograph every copy
The monetary foundations have come through for us both
short and long term!
USA
Diving has produced a bi-weekly e-newsletter, the quarterly magazine, and had
two ATT webcasts of events (attblueroom.com).
FLIPSIDE
– USA-D has lost money for the last 8-9 years; it has lost over half the
members recently; it still has some processes that are not the most efficient;
there is still a lack of communication and trust; and a perception of
narrow focus on elite athlete.
Goals – to win at international meets, to promote grass
roots/membership, to promote sport (marketing).
HOW? Always
listen to members and follow the ideas presented in the following acronym
[Delegate note: I blew this – I
think it’s supposed to be treat, but I have the following. Maybe it was Responsibility instead of Communication?]
Trust
Communication Excellence Accountability
Transparency
Vision – USA can be a leader among US NGBs; we can be one
of the premiere diving countries; we can appeal to grassroots; can be a
marketing leader; and we can have an organization of volunteers, staff,
coaches, athletes who can work together.
We need some patience to help create that magic – Bill
Harris and I were in a leadership class in Indy, listened to great leaders in
the city, then went to the Colt’s manager (who seemed to create a special
magic in the cities in which he had teams).
I asked him how he seemed to create this magic, and expected the
marketing answer – but he said “The magic happens when we win!”
Plan to Achieve Vision – follow a more diverse,
businesslike model; create a more staff driven organization – we now have 8
staff [introduced them all]; We need everyone’s input and help to succeed –
it doesn’t happen all at once! It’s
not about competing with other organizations, it’s about making US great.
We need to build the basics first – and to do that we need your
patience and support. Much of this
plan follows the ideas in QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, by John
Miller.
While on a trip to the Woodlands, I mentioned the idea of
magic and told them I wished I had a magic wand to help us get the things done
to make USA diving great again! At
the end of the trip, Laura Wilkinson presented me with a gift – the magic wand
I had mentioned. [waves the wand over the crowd, meanwhile her husband enters
the room]. Thanks to Mark for love and support.
Thanks to the staff for support. Thanks
to the coaches and athletes for challenging USA Diving to be great.
Yes,
a challenge, but I embrace, and I believe in the wonderful people associated
with the sport.
The
2008 Calendar of Events was presented (see later section for events directly
pertinent to our Association).
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Coral Minton reported that USA-D BOD recently
approved a new set of auditors – however, the draft of financials presented is
hot off presses, BOD not yet approved. 'We
just want to be transparent!' Will
move to a new accounting system that makes things easier to compare actuals,
budget numbers, and past years’ numbers. Will be done on quick-books, so it should be easier to see
and understand.
USA Diving Foundation Chair Jared Book noted: these are
funded activities, and the financials only include activity from 2006, there are
also lots of accounting terms that make no sense to the layperson.
Third Session of General Assembly
The third session of the General Assembly focused on Code
and Rules Changes. I am a member of
both Committees and was involved in working during these presentations, so did
not take detailed notes during this section. Perhaps the other Hawaii Coach
delegate can fill us in about this session.
Code and Rules changes follow:
Code Changes
1. Athlete
Registration: There are now three
classes of membership: Competitive
Blue, Competitive Gold, and Masters. Competitive
Blue is for athletes who only wish to compete up to the Association and
Invitational levels; Competitive Gold is for those who wish to compete all the
way up to the National Level (including Masters if they desire); Masters is for
those athletes who are at least 21 years old.
There will be two fee structures, with Competitive Blue costing much less
than Competitive Gold and Masters.
2. The title
and structure of the elected officers/committee members has been changed to
match the guidelines of the USOC. The
idea behind this is to create a more “policy-oriented, staff-driven” model
for operating USA Diving. All
positions formerly contested will still be contested, just titles and the
authorities to which elected officers and committees report may change.
3. The Board
of Directors’ mechanisms for conducting business outside of the Annual Meeting
was revised.
4. The Finance and Audit Committee’s scope of duties and
operations was modified to fit the new role it plays by the changes required by
the restructuring of the officers and committees.
5. The Nominations and Election Committee will no longer
present a slate; rather, it will present the positions to be contested and a
list of names of those interested in filling the positions.
6. Some changes were made to the Compensation and Personnel
Committee reflecting that the CEO deals with these issues at the National Office
level.
7. Liability
waiver and Doping Release forms signed when a USA Diving member registers for
the year will cover all subsequent meets in which the diver competes for that
year.
8. The staff
position of “Chief Executive Officer” has been codified, along with a job
description, and evaluation and compensation procedures.
9. The Code of
Conduct has been referred away from the “Code” of USA Diving and authority
over it has been given to the Board of Directors, as per recognition that this
aspect of diving is a policy and not a code/law and needs to be treated as such.
The committee recommended language, based on submitted Code change
proposals and feedback from the General Assembly, for the BOD to consider and
adopt.
10. The Code
will no longer be published as hard copy, it will be available only on the web.
Rules Changes
General:
1. From now
on, Referee must give signal to diver before they go. For back take-offs, divers will stand in a ready position
near the fulcrum until the signal is given.
Any communication that happens after the signal will be cause for a
failed dive. Leeway will be given
to Future Champions athletes, for whom communication will be a two-point
deduction, rather than a failed dive.
2. Divers on
international trips must wear the official uniform as provided – athletes’
swimsuits are not included.
3. Judges at
USA Diving Championship events must now wear footwear.
4. Results of Future Championships events may now not be
considered “final” for a period of up to 24 hours after the conclusion of
the last event at a FC meet.
Senior:
1. The
International Diving Committee has been established to oversee international
Senior competition in the U.S.
2. Tabled a
motion to keep the site of the USA National Championships constant for a period
of at least four years.
3. Adopted
language that encourages the use of online meet management systems.
4. Moved
authority for meet fees over to the Finance and Audit Committee and Board of
Directors.
5. Moved
authority for Meet Entry Procedures over to the Board of Directors (and carried
out by the National Office).
6. Clarified
that placement in the USA Spring National Championships does not affect
eligibility for the USA National Championships in the summer (i.e., you don’t
get to pre-qual to Summer Nats by doing well in Spring).
7. Five divers
will move on from the USA Diving Preliminaries to the USA Diving Quarterfinals
in the one-meter events.
Junior:
1. 11 and
Under Events will now be conducted throughout the Summer Championship series (Regionals,
Zones, and the Junior and Age Group Nationals).
Note: there is no DD minimum
for 11U platform at Zones.
2. Summer
East/West Championships are no longer. There
are now 5 Zone meets, and divers MUST attend the Zone to which the Region they
attend is tied. 15 divers per event
will progress from each of the Regional Meets to the Zone meets.
If any of the qualifiers choose not to move on the Zone level, alternates
will be taken down to 18th place.
3. Divers who
fail two or more dives at Regionals are not allowed to advance to Zones, but
their final placement stands (they are not disqualified).
4. There are
now two summer Junior National events – the Junior Nationals and the Age Group
Nationals. The top 6 finishers ONLY
(no replacements, even if someone drops out) in each event at a Zone meet are
eligible to go to the Junior Nationals (the meet from which international teams
are picked), while finishers 7-12 are eligible to go to the Age Group Nationals.
If any of the finishers 7-12 choose not to attend Age Group Nationals,
alternate will be taken as far as 15th place.
a. Those who
qualify for events at both the Junior Nationals and the Age Group Nationals
may compete in those events at the respective meet for which they qualified,
or may compete all events at the Age Group Nationals.
There are some other Rules Changes, but the Chair
of the Rules Committee has not yet sent out his final language.
Other Junior/Future Champions Rules Changes, from the best of my notes:
1. The Online
Meet Management, Fees and Meet Entry Procedures followed suit with the Senior
Rules.
2. Judges are
required to register with the designated online meet management system upon
arrival/registration at a meet.
3. The
committee tabled a proposal to revamp Spring Championship series to have (more)
Zones instead of (two) East/West Championships.
4. Clarified judge selection procedures for National and
Zone events, using a 5-area rotation (judges selected at Nationals from each of
the 5 Junior Zones; judges selected at East-West from each of the 5 Junior
Regionals included).
a.
Volunteers to judge must represent the Association in which they are
registered, and report their interest in judging to the meet director/designee.
5. Judging
panel rotations were amended to be consistent with the numbers of
voluntary/optional performed in each event.
Future Champions:
1. The program
has been streamlined, with some unwieldy descriptions of skills being removed,
with the number of Levels being changed.
Other Happenings At Convention
Awards
Athlete of the Year: Thomas
Finchum
Senior Coach: Ken
Armstrong (Woodlands)
Junior Coach: Bob
Gunther (Woodlands)
WHOSAM: Cassandra
Cardinell and the Krug Family
Elections
Appointed Chair for Nominations & Elections Committee:
Jeff Stabile
Coach Members: Julian
Krug and Patrick Jeffrey
Administrative Member:
Coal Minton
Athlete Member: to
be elected by Athlete’s Rep Committee
Regional/Zone/East-West/National Sites for 2008
2008 Spring Regional 9:
Scottsdale, AZ, April 5-6; Region 10:
Portland, OR, dates TBA
2008 USA Spring Nationals:
Minneapolis, MN (Qualifying: April 13-15; Meet: 16-20)
2008 West Championships:
Columbia, MO, April 25-27
2008 Summer Regional 9:
Tucson, AZ; Region 10: Santa
Clara, CA; June 27-29
2008 Summer Zones: site
TBA – new Rule change added meets for which there are not yet any sites:
July 18-20
Coach Education
For the third year in a row, the Coaches’ Education
Forums have improved and been a big draw. Due
to my Committee responsibilities, I was only able to attend some of these
educational opportunities. Perhaps
the other Hawaii delegate can share information about some more of these forums.
Flexibility
– basically we learned to stretch AFTER physical activity, that PNF
stretching helps in the short term only (might be useful for a competition), and
to try, if at all possible, to get a vibrating machine, which apparently
interrupts the nervous system’s feedback loop and prevents the body from
restricting range of motion (and this results in long term change to the range
of motion!)
Training Design –
Discussed 4-year periodization in view of competition demands, performance
objectives, and the conditioning needed to achieve the kinds of skills
(tricks/dives) and optimize potential for peak performances.
Whole session focused mostly on elite level.
Season Planning
– Basically a re-hash of what we did earlier in Training Design, but
with more specificity on diving. Again
focused on the elite, with nods to the fact that this could be adjusted to a
high school season or a junior diver’s year-long training.
Team Leader Introduction
– Experienced Team Leaders and National Office Support personnel shared
personal perspectives on the job of Team Leader.
Practical Sessions (Teaching
Visual Spotting, Dryboard/Trampoline Spotting, Tumbling Spotting, Diver’s
Dozen (form work), Hand-Spotting Basic Dives and Somies from Side of Pool)
– Great sessions that gave us a great deal of information and some
hands-on training, but there seemed to be a rushed effort to “certify”
people even if their skills were not yet truly proficient.
These are wonderful tools that need to be expanded and used
appropriately.
I have the PDF files of all the Coach Education Powerpoint
presentations and handouts that John Wingfield had available, and will bring
them to the HDA Annual Meeting. If
you are interested in obtaining copies, please bring either a flash drive or a
laptop with a USB port, and I will transfer the files for you.
OK, That’s all the info I have to report.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Stabile,
Coach Delegate for the HDA