Attendance

Teams Represented

Tara Club, Baton Rouge Country Club, University Club, Pelican Point, Bocage Racquet Club, Jambalaya Park Pool, YMCA of BR, Magnolia Woods, PARDS, Greystone Country Club, Lake Sherwood, Mirabeau Park Aquatic Club, Southern Oaks Athletic Club, Kenilworth

Teams Not Present

Calloways, Fenwood Hills, Country Club of Louisiana

Meeting Summary

Election of New Officers

League President Rob Dowie called the meeting to order just after 7:00pm at Bocage Racquet Club.  The meeting began with the election of new officers.  Rob Dowie, Heather Shaw, and Daniel Wendt ran unopposed for President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer respectively.  

Meet Changes

The President prefaced this discussion by reviewing last season and the amount of rained out meets.  This was primarily due to unpredictable weather in the afternoons in the Baton Rouge area.  He opened the floor for discussion regarding changing the default meet day, possibly to Saturday mornings instead.  The YMCA, which has been hosting meets on Saturday mornings by default already, said they struggled with working parents who don't live in close neighborhoods struggling to take off work and battling transportation issues.  BRCC recommended a 9am start time after Bocage asked when "the morning" meant.  Tara Club expressed concern about longer meets delaying pool openings, but agreed that closing the pool for an entire afternoon on Thursday took more time away from pool hours than an hour or two delay on Saturday mornings.  Magnolia Woods recommended an 8am start time.  The President offered an amendment to the GBRSL Rules whereby meets would, by default, take place on Saturday mornings.  The amendment was unanimously adopted.

The discussion then turned to time issues.  Pelican Point expressed support for an 8am start time.  Tara Club was concerned due to the amount of time it takes for them to set up their deck for swim meets.  The YMCA reminded everyone that the Rules state the pool must be cleared 15 minutes prior to the start of the meet.  Kenilworth expressed support for a 9am start time.  The President suggested the host team could decide if the meet started at 8 or 9am and it was unanimously approved.

Outcome - Swim Meets will, by default, take place Saturday mornings with the host team deciding if the meet begins at 8 or 9am

City Meet

The President discussed the situation last year of having the meet hosted at JPP.  He then went through the calendar for this year, focusing on the July 4th weekend, and Long Course meets not long after that.  TAQ will be able to host City Meet in the newly-again renovated Natatorium at LSU.  June 29 and 30 were tentatively scheduled for City Meet, depending upon TAQ availability.

League Structure Changes

BRCC expressed a desire for a more formalized League.  When you look at the other large League in Louisiana, the Greater New Orleans Country Club Swim League (GNOCCSL), they collect dues, have a more formalized structure with officers and penalties for teams not in compliance with Rules, and collect records for the League itself.  BRCC expressed a desire to move in that direction by assessing a fee on individual swimmers and hiring someone to take care of meet merging, recordkeeping, etc. for the GBRSL.  Greystone expressed support, especially in terms of record keeping and tracking best times, fastest swims, etc. from season to season.  Mag Woods said they don't need the help for running programs, but it would be nice to have more accountability within the League.  YMCA expressed support for accountability, especially for scoring standards for dual meets.  Last year the scoring standard was changed by the League, but not all teams adopted the new standard.  Mag Woods asked for the cost of this and what the budget would be.  The League Secretary expressed concerns due to the massive change in the League Rules this change would necessitate.  He suggested that, for this season, he would do more record-keeping than what has been done in the past, create a website for the League, and the President would create a Committee to develop a recommendation for League Structure Changes that would give a recommendation for next season.  The suggestion was unanimously adopted.

Post Season Activities

Greystone expressed a concern regarding an individual fee on swimmers and parents wanting a longer season because of it.  University Club suggested that some parents don't necessarily want more meets, but would appreciate a longer season in terms of practice time.  A point of order was made by the YMCA that SELA Aquatics teams often have an "All-Star Swim Meet" amongst SELA Aquatics Swim Teams post City Meet.  The Y has, in the past, offered a competing post-season meet to non-SELA operated teams.  The President asked the room if anyone wanted a longer season into July, to which there was silence.  Rob reiterated that individual pools can get together after the season and do whatever they want, and suggested that pools interested in a longer season reach out to Heather Shaw at the YMCA for a post-season meet.

Scoring Non-swimmers

Mag Woods asked for a review of the non-standard treatment of coach assisted swimmers.  In the past, each club was given discretion to score or not score these individuals.  This created scoring issues between meets and brought into focus the fairness of a coach assisted swimmer scoring points when an unassisted person took longer but finished by themselves.  The YMCA suggested adding an assisted event.  Greystone presumed that would make the meets run longer.  University Club suggested clubs encouraging parents not enter non-swimmers in meets.  The President said there were issues with sanctioning nonswimmers on a swim team, and asked if that should be something the League encourages.  Tara Club believed that having an assisted event would cause nonswimmers to want to join the team, which creates an unsafe situation for practices and meets.  Mag Woods made a point of order that individual club rules for joining the swim team was irrelevant to the discussion.  BRCC moved that there would not be an additional event, but that coaches could assist swimmers in the water, that they should take no more than 2 minutes to get across the pool, and that they will be counted as an exhibition event.  Greystone seconded and the resolution was adopted unanimously. 

Outcome - swimmers may be assisted by a coach, but they will not score and coaches should take no more than 2 minutes to move them across the pool

Upon the conclusion of that discussion, there was no more business to which to attend.  The President adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:10pm.