October 1, 2005

The meeting was brought to order at 5:15 pm by Tomek Amborski, Chair.

Attendance: Tomek Amborski, Chair; Chloe Soroquere, Vice Chair; Greg Massialas, Club Rep (The Massialas Foundation – M-team); Harold Hayes, Club Rep (Pacific Fencing Club); Geoff Milne, Club Rep ( First Place Fencing); Anthony Joslin, Club Rep
(Coastside Academy of Fencing); Peter Burchard, Club Rep (Halberstadt Fencing Center); Michael Pacheco, Club Rep (Sonoma Fencing Academy)

BAY CUP MANAGEMENT
The first order of business was a report from Tomek Amborski, Chair, of his discussions with USFA officials and the two other Divisions Chairs regarding Eric Dew’s suspension.

• USFA officials advised Tomek that Eric Dew is not allowed to attend any Division meetings, even as an observer. The request was made by attendees for Tomek to check the Division bylaws to determine if Eric Dew can indeed attend Divisions meetings as a simple observer. Tomek will report on his findings before the next meeting.
• Based on the letter issued by the USFA and a discussion held between the three Divisions Chairs, Mike Massik and Don Alberstein, legal counsel for the USFA, it was determined that Eric Dew is barred from handling any administrative or
  treasury functions for the Bay Cup for its events to be sanctioned by the USFA. This is to be in place for the duration of the suspension only.
• A new Committee made up of the three Divisions Chairs will now officially run the Bay Cup activities. The Committee will appoint an administrator and a treasurer to handle specific functions. The Bay Cup checking account will be
  transferred to be managed by the Committee and appointed treasurer and Eric Dew will be removed from the account. Concurrently, Eric Dew will transfer administrative rights to the Bay Cup website to Mary Griffith (Mountain Valley Division Chair) who will manage and update the website until an administrator is designated by the Committee.
• A motion was made and unanimously approved to ensure that the new Bay Cup Committee should maintain the current Bay Cup tournaments program and schedule, barring small adjustments for conflicts that may arise, and to task the Northern California Division Chair, Tomek Amborski, to gain support for this decision from the other two Committee members.
• Any and all future communications and concerns about Bay Cup events should be directed to any one of the three Bay Cup Committee members (i.e. Divisional Chairs).

REQUIREMENTS FOR CLUBS HOSTING THE DIVISIONAL QUALIFIERS
The second order of business was to set the requirements for clubs hosting events.

• A unanimous decision was reached to require all event hosting clubs to provide center lights on the strips for all weapons competitions.
• Agreement was also reached that strips width in Northern California Division clubs, even while often not conforming to the USFA regulation, do not pose any risk.
• A discussion was held about ensuring fencers safety by considering the issue of runoff at specific clubs (Sonoma, GGFC and EMFC) and establishing a rule to apply during tournaments. Legal runoff should be 1.5 meter at the end of the strip. Clubs and their referees will be asked to apply the following rule for strips with limited runoff: when a fencer reaches the end of the strip, s/he should be moved up 2 meters and continue fencing under this warning. The warning will be cancelled when the opposing fencer reaches the end of his own strip. A fencer can verify with the referee if they are still under a warning. Tomek Amborski will propose this runoff solution to the other Divisions Chairs to unify the rules in all Bay Cup events.
• Clubs must also provide sufficient pace and number of strips to hold events in single flights. Legal space between strips to accommodate referees and lights is 8 feet minimum. The following hosting clubs competition strip capacity was determined to be as follows:
• Pacific Fencing Club 2 strips
• Platt 4 strips
• First Place Fencing 3 strips
• Sonoma fencing Academy 4 strips (will increase soon)
• Coastside Fencing 4 strips
• HFC 6 strips
• EMFC 5 strips
• GGFC 6 strips (with 2 located upstairs)
• Marine Academy 1 strip
• These requirements affect the type and number of competitions that can be hosted by any club.

The attendees requested that Tomek Amborski, as Division Chair, share with the other Division Chairs the new tournament rules for clubs holding events and recommend and strongly encourage adoption of stated rules by other divisions.

LEVEL, COMPETENCE AND EXPERIENCE OF REFEREES
The third order of business was a discussion around the lack of experienced, qualified referees to support the multiple local and regional planned events. Tomek Amborski and Peter Burchard will work together to come up with a proposal on creating a program for certifying new referee candidates (preferred candidates are experienced, local teenage fencers) and provide an incentive for the candidates and their clubs to go through the program. They will also provide a proposal for re-certifying for existing Bay Cup referees to meet true Fencing Officials Commission level.

DIVISIONAL QUALIFIERS
The fourth order of business was to identify the qualities of candidates for overseeing upcoming Division Qualifiers. The individuals will be responsible for:

• Acting as bout committee chair
• Overseeing the proper application of Divisional and USFA rules
• Approving the event pre-registration (and verify participation), format, and send
  in results

As such, candidates must have basic knowledge of all rules and be in possession of the Division rule book, USFA rule book and athlete handbook. Tomek Amborski will share this with all club owners and ask them to propose candidates that meet the requirements. A recommendation was made to create incentives for novice fencers (less than 6 months fencing or first season) to participate in qualifier events and help others qualify. As such, a motion was made and unanimously approved to:

• Rename the qualifiers as “Northern California Championships” and as “Youth 16 Northern California Championship” for the Junior Olympic Qualifier.

Furthermore, the following was recommended for implementation:

• Require pre-registration for all Division qualifiers event participants,
• Encourage novice fencers to enter by subsidizing 50% or more of their entry fee,
• Provide award and prizes for novices to thank them for their participation.

REVIEW OF POSSIBLE CONFLICTS WITH BAY CUP EVENTS
The fifth order of business was a review and confirmation that the Palm Spring scheduled event does create an issue or conflict with any of Northern California Division events.

REVIEW OF EMFC ASSIGNED BAY CUP EVENTS
The last order of business was a discussion of the multiple Bay Cup events scheduled at EMFC for the following dates: October 23, January 29, February 12 and April 1

The foreseen number of competitors in Y14DLBF was estimated at 40 fencers (or more). Based on the determination of club capacity and new tournament rules, the current space at EMFC will not allow for the efficient execution of the competitions currently assigned on those days.

Tomek Amborski proposed to give EMFC one week to propose a new facility (gymnasium) to host all three events as planned. If they are unable to do so, they will only be able to host two small events or 1 large one and the other(s) will be held either at GGFC or HFC. Tomek Amborski, Chair, will follow up with EMFC and advise GGFC and HFC as appropriate and adjust the bay Cup website to reflect any changes in venue.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.