Plains Texas Division Annual Meeting

March 28, 2009

Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas

I.      Chairman Robert Bauman opened the meeting.

II.     A motion was universally carried to suspend the reading of the minutes from the last division meeting.

III.    Julie Clements presented the treasurer’s report. The division account shows a balance of $3526.

IV.    Aimee Nusz presented the secretary’s report. As of Feb. 1, 2009, there were 91 members of the division.

a.   Aaron Clements commented that the division needs to increase its membership by July 31, because the number of members affects how many congress representatives the division is allowed.

b.   At the date of the meeting, the division is only allowed one congress representative. The division needs to increase its membership to 113 for two congress representatives.

V.     Aaron Clements reported that the Bylaw Committee has not yet met but needs to at some point.

VI.    Discussion turned to division tournament sanctioning rules.

a.   Chuck Slaughter clarified that the decision to limit the number of tournaments allowed to each club was not official even though all the clubs had been following the suggestion.

b.   Chuck asked that we rescind the recommendation as we should not put artificial limits on how many events a club can have sanctioned. All agreed.

c.   Aaron Clements advised the division and member clubs not to abuse the privilege.

d.   Aaron and Chuck clarified that the division will follow the recommended procedure for tournaments as outlined in the USFA National operations manual.

e.   The division can desanction events if they do not follow the rules and policies as outlined in the USFA National operations manual.

VII.   Aimee Nusz noted that the next divisional tournament will be in Lubbock in 2010 as per the “gentlemen’s agreement” determined at the last divisional meeting.

VIII. Robert Bauman opened the nominations.

a.   Aimee Nusz nominated Chuck Slaughter for chair. The nomination was seconded. Motion was carried.

b.   Chuck Slaughter nominated Mark Webb for vice chair. The nomination was seconded. Motion was carried.

c.   Jay Young nominated Julie Clements for treasurer. The nomination was seconded. Motion was carried.

d.   Aaron Clements nominated Aimee Nusz for secretary. The nomination was seconded. Motion was carried.

IX.    Discussion turned to the congress representatives.

a.   Aaron Clements explained the job of a congress representative is to elect the members of congress. He also suggested that we elect two representatives and two alternates and submit those names to the USFA even though we do not have the required number of division members at this juncture.

b.   After a short discussion to determine who plans to attend Nationals, Robert Bauman and Julie Clements agreed to serve as congress representatives, with Robert Bauman as the first choice.

c.   Alternates chosen by unanimous vote were Bary Nusz and Chuck Slaughter.

X.     It was moved to leave the appointment of section representative to the executive committee prior to the section meeting. The motion carried.

XI.    The meeting was adjourned.

Division Meeting Attendees:

Aaron Clements

Julie Clements

Ryan Ward

Josh Evans

Robert Bauman

Richard Howard

Chuck Slaughter

Gayle Slaughter

Jay Young

Aimee Nusz

These minutes submitted to the division council by Aimee Nusz, Division Secretary.

Plains Texas Division Annual Meeting

April 19, 2008

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

I.          Chairman Jay Young opened the meeting.

II.         Aaron Clements, chairman of the division nominating committee, reported that the nominating committee had not received other nominations and the committee had met by email and renominated the current slate of officers.

A.   Jay Young declined to be nominated chairman.

B.   Jay Young opened the chairman position for nominations.

C.   Richard Howard nominated Robert Bauman. The nomination was seconded.

D.   Aaron Clements nominated Chuck Slaughter. The nomination was seconded.

E.   After a brief discussion, a hand vote was taken. Robert Bauman received 15 votes (seven votes from those present plus Richard Howard executed eight proxies from ACFA). Chuck Slaughter received two votes. Robert Bauman was elected division chairman.

F.   Aaron Clements suggested the rest of the slate be adopted as originally presented.

G.  A vote was taken to accept the rest of the slate. The vote was unanimous.

H.   Chuck Slaughter was elected Vice Chairman.

I.    Aimee Nusz was elected Secretary.

J.    Julie Clements was elected Treasurer.

III.        A second vote was taken to elect the USFA Congress representatives for Summer Nationals. After a short discussion to determine who plans to attend Nationals, Bary Nusz and Chuck Slaughter agreed to serve as congress representatives. The vote was unanimous.

A.   Alternates chosen by unanimous vote were Robert Bauman and Richard Howard.

IV.        On the subject of section representative, Robert Bauman nominated Julie Clements to serve as section representative. The nomination was seconded. Julie was elected unanimously.

V.         The discussion turned to the location of divisionals for 2009. ACFA expressed an interest in hosting divisionals as it had not been in Amarillo for two years. DTFC indicated that they had no interest in hosting Junior Olympics as they did not expect to have any junior fencers. It was noted that Midland has not been in regular contact with the division.

A.   Chuck Slaughter and Bary Nusz suggested that the division enter into a “gentlemen’s agreement” rotation. Amarillo will host every third year. Lubbock will host the rest of the time.

B.   A vote was held to determine the location of divisionals in 2009. Amarillo was chosen by a 15-5 margin.

VI.        A discussion began on the location for Junior Olympics next year. Aaron Clements reiterated that DTFC has no interest in hosting JO’s. ACFA agreed to host Junior Olympics qualifiers.

VII.      Aaron Clements called for a vote to waive the audit committee. Julie Clements seconded. The vote was unanimous.

VIII.      Aaron Clements reported on the bylaws committee. He said the bylaws committee will submit a report by May 1, 2008, for submissions to vote on at the Crown of Texas, if the committee chooses to meet.

IX.        Richard Howard announced that Martin Roth, the Swedish national foil champion, will arrive in Amarillo for training in late April. Richard invited everyone in the division to come to Amarillo to work out with Martin.

X.         Aaron Clements called for club nominations to the division executive committee.

A.   DTFC submitted Mark Webb

B.   ACFA submitted Jay Young, Skeeter Wilkinson, Richard Howard

C.   High Plains Fencing Club has one vacant position

D.   LaBelle Fencing Club has one vacant position

E.   It was noted that HPF and LaBelle can submit their club nominations to the division executive committee for approval. The positions will remain vacant until the nominations have been approved by the division executive committee.

XI.        Discussion turned to a review of the Plains Texas/New Mexico cup.

A.   It was noted that changes need to be made.

B.   Chuck Slaughter said that it is hard to work with AskFred with the format as it is now. He suggested that there be six tournaments. Four of those tournaments would count for the cup. He also thought all points should be earned from senior mixed events and that the women’s points should be separated based on points earned in the senior mixed events.

C.   Aaron Clements called for a vote to let Chuck Slaughter have carte blanche in dealing with New Mexico on any cup changes and report back to the committee. The vote was unanimous.

XII.       Jay Young asked if the division should host another referee clinic next year. Those who had attended the referee clinic during divisionals indicated that they had enjoyed the clinic.

A.   Aaron Clements noted that he can administer the referee test.

B.   The question was tabled for future discussion.

XIII.      Aaron Clements brought up that LaBelle Fencing Club has a box and a set of reels that belong to the division. Bary Nusz noted that he had not been able to contact anyone from LaBelle for several months. Aaron suggested that the division form a fact-finding committee to determine how LaBelle is doing and if they need anything. Jay Young volunteered to work on contacting the Midland club.

XIV.     The topic turned to next year’s calendar. Chuck noted that January through March 2009 will be very busy. Jay asked that all clubs come up with their tournament dates as soon as possible because the USFA 2008-2009 calendar is currently available.

A.   DTFC requested Jan. 24-25, 2009, as the date for the Texas Tech Open.

B.   Junior Olympic qualifiers were set for Dec. 6-7, 2008, which is the weekend before the Colorado Springs NAC.

C.   ACFA noted that they are looking at the calendar to change the date of the Amarillo Open.

D.   Bary Nusz suggested that the Plains Texas division contact other surrounding divisions to work on coordinating events with them.

E.   Aaron Clements suggested that divisionals be held April 18-19, 2009.

F.   Chuck Slaughter will put up a tentative calendar on the division website.

XV.         Chuck Slaughter moved to adjourn the meeting. Julie Clements seconded. All were in favor.

Division Meeting Attendees:

Aaron Clements, DTFC

Calvin Wilkinson, ACFA

Skeeter Wilkinson, ACFA

Hanson Wallace, DTFC

Trent Carroll, ACFA

Robert Bauman, ACFA

Richard Howard, ACFA

Chuck Slaughter, ACFA

Jay Young, ACFA/DTFC

Julie Clements, DTFC

Aimee Nusz, ACFA

Bary Nusz, ACFA

These minutes submitted to the division council by Aimee Nusz, Division Secretary.

Plains Texas Division Executive Committee Meeting

Dec. 2, 2006

Russell Hall, Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas

USFA Members Present: Chuck Slaughter, Division Chairman; Julie Clements, Division Treasurer; Aimee Nusz, Division Secretary; Aaron Clements, DTFC Club Representative; Richard Howard, ACFA Club Representative; Bary Nusz, ACFA Club Representative; Gayle Slaughter; and Dr. Robert Bauman.

Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Division Chairman Chuck Slaughter.

Order of Business:

I.          Josh Evans was appointed to replace Mark Tickner in his unexpired term as the third club representative for Amarillo College Fencing Association (ACFA).

II.         The division treasurer made an oral report on the state of the division’s funds. The division has approximately $3,700, with no withdrawals or deposits made in the last three months. The treasurer also requested that anyone with questions about the division’s funds should contact her.

III.       A motion was carried to suspend the bylaw requiring an annual audit. Therefore, the division does not need to form an audit committee each year without some indication that an audit is needed. The motion carried based on the following arguments: (1) no questions have been asked this year or last about the division’s accounts; (2) the division can always call for an audit if someone requests one; (3) and past chairmen have set a precedent by not appointing an annual audit committee.

IV.       The secretary was appointed assistant to the treasurer and was given authority to make deposits to the division account. The treasurer also will generate new signature cards at the bank to add the current chairman to the bank account. The treasurer also will talk to the bank about setting up an online banking option.

V.        The division discussed the referee clinic to be hosted by High Plains Fencing (HPF) in March 2007. The division carried a motion to present HPF with $100 to help with clinic expenses with up to $100 extra available to guarantee the club will not lose money on the clinic. To receive the extra subsidy, HPF will need to document the number of clinic participants and present the receipts for Amgad Badawi to the division treasurer.

VI.       The division discussed the new LaBelle Fencing Club in Midland. The chairman and Aaron detailed a list of division equipment that could be available to send to Midland in an effort to help them grow their club. LaBelle currently has 12 members who also are registered with USFA.

A motion was offered to separate the two Eclipse boxes owned jointly by the division and Double T Fencing Club (DTFC). One Eclipse box would become the sole property of the division and the other box would become the sole property of DTFC. The division-owned box then could be sent to LaBelle Fencing in Midland. The motion was carried.

A motion was offered to buy out the Rocky Mountain Section’s half share in two sets of reels currently half owned by the division and half owned by the section. The reels are in the possession of HPF. The motion was carried with the provision that the division would pay no more than ~$100/reel.

The chairman will contact Matt Vann at LaBelle Fencing Club to see what equipment they have and what they need. A motion was carried that the division will give the Midland club the Eclipse box and the set of reels purchased from the section if Midland should need the equipment.

VII.      A motion to change the division cup was proposed and tabled.

VIII.     The division discussed the divisional tournament scheduled for March 24-25, 2007, in Lubbock. A motion was carried that the division will pay airfare, hotel, and the honorarium to bring in at least two FOC-certified referees to referee at divisionals. The total cost should be ~$300-$400. The names suggested were David Sierra, Amgad Badawi, and Andrew Lambdin-Abraham.

IX.       A divisional meeting is called for Saturday, March 24, 2007, at the conclusion of the day’s events at the divisional tournament. The chairman requested that any business for the agenda be emailed to him.

X.        The division discussed the requirements of the Division Bylaw Committee. Current members include: Aaron Clements; Chuck Slaughter; Dr. Robert Bauman; Jay Young; Matt Hite; and Bary Nusz. The committee was reminded that their report must be ready 30 days before the next scheduled division meeting. Aaron said the committee welcomes suggestions on the bylaws and those interested should let a member know of their concerns/suggestions.

XI.       The division voted not to participate at this time in a USFA-sponsored tax exemption offer.

The meeting was adjourned.

These minutes respectfully submitted to the division council by Aimee Nusz, Division Secretary.

2006 PLAINS TEXAS DIVISION ANNUAL MEETING

April 8, 2006

Amarillo College East Campus Student Activity Center

Division Chairman Aaron Clements, Division Secretary Chuck Slaughter, Division Treasurer Julie Clements, Bary Nusz, Aimee Nusz, Jay Young, Stacey Flanagan, Richard Howard, Melvin Wilkinson, Deborah Wilkinson, Gayle Slaughter, Jared Slaughter, Robert Bauman, Matthew Hite, Victoria Conoley

Held by Aaron Clements: Mark Webb

Held by Matt Hite: Joe David Romo, Melodie Romo, Karen Conoley, LaRue Hite, Stephen Aplin, Elizabeth Conoley, Victoria Conoley, Tom Conoley, Sr., Thomas Conoley, Jr.

Held by Chuck Slaughter: Chris Wrampelmeier, Benjamin Simpson, Raymond Weld, Resa McKenzie, Scott McKenzie, Mike Akins, Mark Tickner, Sheri Tickner, Jamy Ledford, Craig Ledford, Josh Evans, Courtney Slaughter.

Held by Richard Howard: Alex Laugesen

(Please note that subject areas in these minutes have been consolidated and are not presented in the same order as the business was conducted during the annual meeting. This is done because some subjects were addressed in more than one place in the agenda. - Chuck Slaughter, Division Secretary)

The meeting was called to order by Division Chairman Aaron Clements.

The Chairman called for the election of Division officers for the 2006-2007 USFA fencing year. Aaron Clements announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy for Division Chairman which invalidated the slate of candidates chosen by the Division Nominating Committee. The nominating committee had submitted a slate of candidates which included: Aaron Clements for Chairman; Chuck Slaughter for Vice Chairman; Jay Young for Secretary; and Julie Clements for Treasurer. In the absence of a complete slate of officers, the Chairman declared that the new officer elections would be conducted individually for each office.

Chuck Slaughter was nominated (and seconded) for Division Chairman. No further nominations were made. Chuck Slaughter was elected unanimously by voice vote.

Jay Young was nominated (and seconded) for Division Vice-Chairman. No further nominations were made. Jay Young was elected unanimously by voice vote.

Julie Clements was nominated (and seconded) for Division Treasurer. No further nominations were made. Julie Clements was elected unanimously by voice vote.

Aimee Nusz was nominated (and seconded) for Division Secretary. No further nominations were made. Aimee Nusz was elected unanimously by voice vote.

The Chairman called for the appointments of Club Representatives to the Division Executive Committee for the 2006-2007 fencing year.

High Plains Fencing appointed Matt Hite and LaRue Hite.

Double T Fencing Club appointed Aaron Clements and Jonathan Sosa.

Amarillo College Fencing Association appointed Richard Howard, Mark Tickner, and Bary Nusz.

A motion was made and seconded that all appointments be accepted and approved by the Division Council. The appointments were all approved unanimously by voice vote.

The Chairman called for the election of two Division Congressional representatives and two alternates to the USFA National Congress to be held July 1, 2006, during Summer Nationals.

Nominations were made and seconded that Aaron Clements, Bary Nusz and Matt Hite be elected as the Congressional Representatives. Since this election was contested, the Chair directed that the vote be done by secret ballot. After the ballots were counted (including proxy votes), Aaron Clements and Matt Hite were elected as Congressional Representatives for the Division.

Nominations were made and seconded that Bary Nusz and Chuck Slaughter be elected as Alternate Congressional Representatives for the same meeting. Bary Nusz and Chuck Slaughter were elected unanimously by voice vote.

The Chair announced his intention to create a "Division Bylaws Committee" to address potential conflicts in the division bylaws with the USFA bylaws. He announced his intent to appoint Matt Hite, Jay Young, Chuck Slaughter and Bary Nusz to the committee, with himself, as current Division Chairman, serving as an ex-officio member of the committee. The Chair directed that the bylaw committee needed to meet and prepare their report and recommendations before the Congress Meeting at Summer Nationals.

Among the specific areas to be addressed include: (1) the division bylaws regarding "quorums" appears to be in conflict with USFA bylaws; (2) division bylaws regarding the methods in which the votes of officers and club representatives, as members of the division executive committee, are counted.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion of division financial issues.

Division Treasurer, Julie Clements, did not have a written financial report but announced that the division had approximately $4,000 in the division account. She also said that the division had approximately $1,200 income this past year from USFA and tournament fees.

A motion was made and seconded that the Division approve a purchase of a fencing piste for $433 and the purchase of a Favero scorebox and storage case to replace an Eclipse box that was sold on Ebay. Discussion revealed that ACFA had paid the division the amount of money paid on Ebay for the Eclipse scorebox and that money had then been applied to the purchase of the Favero box. The motion was passed unanimously by voice vote to authorize these purchases. DTFC is to have custody of the Favero scorebox and is to make it available to all division tournaments if needed.

A motion was made and seconded that the division reimburse Aaron Clements and Matt Hite for their travel costs to the Sectional Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the previous week. The reimbursement is not to exceed $300. The motion was passed unanimously by voice vote.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion about future division policies regarding the reimbursement for travel costs of the division chair and division representatives to future Sectional business meetings. The discussion revealed a general agreement that only the division chairman and appointed division representatives should receive travel and lodging reimbursement for Sectional meetings and congressional representatives should not receive reimbursement. Other than this year’s vote on reimbursement, no motion regarding division policies on future reimbursement issues was brought before the division council. The Chair suggested that the Bylaws Committee might want to address this issue in it’s discussion and report.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion regarding an inventory of all Division owned equipment in the custody of division clubs. He stated that there was a need to prepare an inventory list and determine the ownership percentage in said equipment; that is, what percentage was owned by the division and the percentage owned by individual clubs. He also expressed that there is a need to make some decisions regarding the disposal and/or use of division equipment. A motion was made and seconded that "authority be granted to the division executive committee to inventory the equipment, determine ownership, and negotiate with member clubs on the proper dispersal and use of division equipment." The motion was passed unanimously by voice vote.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion of Division tournaments and the sanctioning of said tournaments by the Division. Matt Hite suggested that no unrated tournaments be sanctioned in the division and that there be a limit of 2 tournaments per club that are represented on the division executive committee. After further discussion, it was generally agreed that each club would also be allowed one sanctioned youth tournament, provided that tournament include Y10, Y12 and Y14 events. If this arrangement is in place for the 2006-2007 fencing season, it means that ACFA, DTFC and HPF will each be allowed two Senior tournaments and one Youth tournament that will be sanctioned by the division. No tournament limited to unclassified fencers would be sanctioned by the division. Tournaments like the Cliff Wilson (Senior E and Under) would still be allowed. The clubs would be encouraged to host at least one tournament in which all events are Open to all senior fencers, regardless of classification. No vote was taken in this area and the Chair directed that the newly appointed bylaws committee address these issues in it’s report on suggested bylaws changes.

The Chair opened discussion on Armory development, referee development and coaching development within the division. It was noted that the division authorized $300 last year to be spent on referee development. It was agreed that the division executive committee was to handle an develop a formal division policy and budget to address these issues for the coming fencing season.

It was also suggested that the division authorize payments to referees within the division who referee at division tournaments such as the Divisional qualification tournaments for Summer Nationals and the Junior Olympics. The Chair directed that the division executive committee also address this issue and come up with a formal policy and budget in this area as well.

The Chair opened the floor for any old or new business not yet addressed. There was none.

Motion was made and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. It was passed unanimously by voice vote.

These minutes respectfully submitted to the division council by Chuck Slaughter, Division Secretary.

(If there are any additions or corrections to these minutes, please submit them to me at chuck@acfencers.com and I will attach them as a separate appendix under your name. - Chuck Slaughter)