Item

Description

Outcome

1

Call to Order

7:50 pm

2

Roll Call

See below

3

Approval of Agenda

Dani motioned; Jim seconded. Approved as presented.

4

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting(s)

 November 20 and December 18 EC Meetings

Dani motioned; Jim seconded. Discussion: adjust the November minutes to reflect the December discussion regarding the 4-hour rule clarification on the Backstroke interval.

Paul motioned; Jim seconded. Minutes approved as amended.

5

Athletes First → shared Athlete Committee assignments. First committee meeting of the new groups (over 20 athletes attended).

6

Old Business

None

7

New Business

Reports from USA Swimming Meetings attended, if applicable

Paul, Courtney, Will attended USA Swimming Leaders call. Paul - reminders from Joel:

LSC’s reduce barriers to be able to participate in swimming. GC resource program for aspiring LSC leaders.

No spring workshop; only one meeting/workshop going forward; all at the same time as the ABM. Women in Governance - Cindy is our current rep in the program and a new cohort will be starting next for. National Diversity Camp applications opening next week. Listing of calls and meetings available on the Events tab of USA Swimming website; or committee home pages.

Whistleblower Policy - First Read (Finance Committee)

The Finance Committee has been working on a draft of a new Whistleblower Policy. We are asking the Executive Committee to review it this month and be prepared to take action at its February meeting.

Niagara Whistleblower Policy DRAFT

Each LSC needs to have its own policy; can’t piggyback off of USA Swimming policies. Discussion regarding best way to protect anonymity as needed but also a quick and generic way to get the whistleblower reports quickly and effectively. Form is possibly an option with JotForm (not Google form).

ACTION: all should review and comment; ready to discuss at the February meeting. This will not supersede Safe Sport policies regarding complaints; this is more fiduciary.

2024 - 2025 Calendar - Restricted Weekends (PC)

Propose that Tech Planning work with other committees when preparing the bid calendars to block out planned weekends for major LSC events (camps, clinics, HOD, special meets, coach training, etc.)

Charlie mentioned full 12-18 month planning received pushback because it was so far in advance; but all agreed a half-year in advance at preceding HOD for the previous season would be a good approach.

• Strategic Planning - to be planned for a later date
• Niagara Executive Committee On-Boarding - to be planned for a later date

Even as volunteers, we need to fulfill our responsibilities. We should meet in person twice a year without a Zoom option so we can set and work to meet our Strategic Plan, and to ensure proper on-boarding. Setting dates for future meetings is imperative (see below). Recommendation to potentially get together at the Open Champs meet since most of the EC would already be present.

Set dates for remaining EC meetings for this fiscal year

Dates set:

2/12

3/9 (in person between sessions of Open Champs for onboarding and critical in person work)

3/18 (Zoom for regular business)

4/15

5/20

6/17

7/15

9/7 - in person; required @ 1pm

8

Reports & Committee Status: Minutes Link

Mike discussed his email from January 1st and asked for any questions or clarifications; none needed.

Reminder to all: please be sure to record any committee meetings and then record minutes to send to Dani for posting to the website. Please also invite GC to any committee meetings. Lastly, please recall the official record of any meeting is the submitted minutes, not the recording. Recordings will be deleted after they are converted to minutes.

9

Reports of Officers

• General Chair – Michael F. Switalski – No Report
• Admin Vice Chair – Will Chidsey  – No Report
• Senior Vice Chair – Anna Lapoint/Peter Koenig – No Report
• Age Group Vice Chair – Danielle Andalora  – Report
• Finance Vice Chair – Zac Gaskill – No Report
• Treasurer – Paul Cary  – Report and Financials, Budget Development Timeline
• Jr. Coach Rep – Tom Steuer  – No Report
• Sr. Coach Rep – Mike Giancarlo – No Report
• Sr. Athlete Rep – Elle Noecker – No Report
• Jr. Athlete Rep – Peter Peyser – No Report
• Safety Committee Chair – Leo Gibbons –  Safety Report
• Tech Planning Chair – Charlie Schutt  –  No Report
• Officials Chair – Bob Nicita – Report
• Diversity Chair – Unfilled – Outreach Program Summary (PC) - Sent out to club contacts who have outreach swimmers. No formal changes in policy. Note that qualification application does not need to be sent in, rather retained by clubs. November 1 deadline should not hold a club back from submitting requests with proper documentation.
• Disability Chair – Courtney Christ –  Report
• Athlete Wellness Committee – Jim Stromski  – No Report  
• Competition and Sanctions Manager – Rick Aronberg – No Report
• Registration and Office Manager – Deborah Bourke  – No Report
• Zone Team Manager – Taylor Yim – No Report

Suggestions: hold budget conversations with your committees starting now.

Paul will send out budget planning documents beginning in February.

10

Adjourn

Dani motioned; Leo seconded. Meeting adjourned 8:53pm.