January 28, 2006
5:00pm

The meeting was called to order at approximately 5:20 PM

Present were Tomek Amborski, Chloe Soroquere, Anna Estrada, Glenn Willette, Anthony Joslin, Jonathan Jeffries, Valerie Rosenblatt, Alexey Kuznetsov, Harold Hayes, William Cracraft, Greg Massialas, Peter Burchard, Liz Earls, and Michael Pacheco.

Attendance was taken.

It was noted that Ms. Rosenblatt was the EMFC representative and that Mr. Kuznetsov was there as an observer and had no vote.

It was also noted that George Platt’s Swordplay did not appear on the Northern California roster. Because of this it was determined that Ms. Earls could remain as an observer but would not have a vote.

JO QUALIFIERS
The divisional representatives, Anthony Joslin and Anna Estrada, presented results of the JO qualifiers. It was moved the reports be accepted and the results approved. The motion was passed unanimously. It was moved that both representatives be paid and this was also approved unanimously.

There was some discussion of the problems that occurred during the foil qualifier and it was determined that the system broke down because of an unclear understanding on the part of the organizer and the division representative of what the role and responsibilities of the division representative would be.

The tournament organizer is responsible for setting up a bout committee. The bout committee is responsible for ruling on fencing issues that come up during the course of the tournament. The division representative is only there to make sure the previously agreed upon format is followed, and to assure that all participants are USFA members of the Northern California Division.

After some discussion it was agreed that the following should be taken care of by the division representative.

• The representative should have a copy of the most recent USFA Rule Book, a copy of the Northern California Division qualifier rules, a copy of the most recent USFA Operations Handbook, a copy of the most recent Athlete Handbook, and a copy of the Northern California USFA roster. This will be provided to the division representative by the division before the qualifier.
• The division representative will be responsible for checking all registrations. All fencers will be required to begin check in with the division representative.
• The tournament format should be reviewed, approved, and posted on the wall, and the fencers advised that they should review the format so there is no confusion.
• The representative should be accessible at all times. She or He may leave the venue, but must be within 15 minutes of the venue, and available by mobile phone when not at the venue.
• Lunch will be provided for the division representative by the organizer.

PRE-REGISTRATION FOR QUALIFIERS
A motion was made to require pre-registration for SNQ. Motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

It was decided that the entries would be made directly on the Northern California Division web site. Confirmed entries will be posted on the web site. Currently the entry fee is $20, as determined by the division. Pre-registration would not require online payment. Payment would be made upon arrival at the qualifier.

A motion was made that a $5 penalty would be charged for late registration, and that this $5 fee would go to the division. The close of registration would be the Sunday before the qualifier, and late registrations would be accepted up to the close of check in the day of the qualifier. This motion was seconded and passed by a margin of 8-6.

YOUTH/CADET SNQ
During the August meeting it had been decided that the Y14/Cadet SNQ would be held at Halberstadt and GGFC. However, some of the representatives were concerned that the events were split between the two venues and would make it difficult from the perspective of coaching.

Discussion was held on the possibility of holding the youth/cadet qualifier at a single venue.

Motion was made that clubs be asked to submit their bids for hosting the qualifier at a single venue. Bids will be accepted until February 28th. The division will make the decision one week after the deadline. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

The venue should have room for 10 full size strips.

DIVISION II/III/VET/SR TEAM SNQ
The tentative date for the qualifier had been set for the weekend of April 8th & 9th. It was brought up that the PCS circuit has a foil and epee event scheduled on that date, however the general feeling was that this would not create enough of a conflict to merit changing the date.

A motion was made to take bids for this qualifier as well, with the February 28th deadline, the committee making the decision within a week of the deadline. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

DIVISION REPRESENTATIVE FOR SNQ
The chair called for volunteers to serve as division representative at the youth qualifier. There were no volunteers, therefore the chair, Tomek Amborski, agreed that he would assume this responsibility for the Youth/Cadet qualifier.

The division representative for the Div II/ Div III/ Veteran/ Sr. Team qualifier will be determined at the time of the bid.

BAY CUP TASK FORCE
The next issue was the election of three members of the Bay Cup task force, which will consist of the three division chairs and three elected representatives from each division.

The four nominees were Glenn Willette, Chloe Soroquere, Jonathan Jeffries, and Michael Pacheco. At this time the Northern California USFA roster was reviewed and it was discovered that Michael Pacheco is currently not a USFA member. He expressed his intention to join the USFA immediately and therefore was allowed to run.

The election was held and Ms. Soroquere, Mr. Jeffries, and Mr. Pacheco were elected. Mr. Willette will serve as an alternate.

Mr. Pacheco will not be eligible to participate unless he joins the USFA (the deadline is February 28). Also, according to the division bylaws he cannot serve on the Executive Committee as club rep for SFA until he joins the USFA.

Mr. Pacheco arrived after the initial discussion of who could vote and who could not. He participated in all of the votes, although ineligible to serve on the Executive Committee.

Because all of the votes were unanimous, with the exception of the vote on the $5 penalty for late registration, and because his vote would not have altered any of the outcomes, there was no need to revisit the issues and repeat the votes.

BYLAWS
Because of the late hour the discussion of the bylaws was postponed, but it was noted that the issues of alternate representatives for the clubs should be discussed in the future.

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