Post by schlager7 on Feb 7, 2006 14:54:34 GMT -6
Brad Baker has posted the Agenda for the USFA Board of Director's Meeting, which will be held in Hartford, CT during the JOs.
Here is a link to the full document:
www.fencing.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1318&d=1139287332
One of the more intriguing items on the agenda reads thus:
2. Motion (Mr. Baker): Starting with the 2006-2007 season each division and section chair must sign a statement stating that, to the best of his/her knowledge, all USFA guidelines and regulations have been followed for each national qualification-path tournament. This statement should be submitted to the National Office along with the results-reporting paperwork for these events. In the event that the policies have not been followed, the division/section chair is required to enclose a brief account of what policies were not properly enforced and a rationale or explanation for why that was the case. A summary of these guidelines and regulations should be made available to all division/section officers. This summary will be created and updated, as needed, by the Divisions and Sections Committee.
Rationale: From complaints received in an individual capacity, it is clear that some divisions are routinely violating such national policies as having at least one national level referee present at qualifiers, requiring safe (legal) uniforms of competitors, checking USFA membership at events, etc.
In a specific situation from this season’s JO qualification process, a fencer from a near-by division submitted a written protest to his division’s officers concerning the manner in which the tournament was conducted. The response that he received from two of the three officers made it clear that not only were the officers aware of the regulations, they were aware that the regulations were not followed, and that the division officers thought it in the best interest of the division to continue to ignore these regulations in the future. Rather than apologize for these failings and commit to ensuring no future repetition, the officers in question defended their actions as appropriate and chastised the young fencer for having the audacity to complain about how a volunteer organized and ran the competitions.
It is clearly in the best interest of fencing and the USFA that those guidelines passed down from the national level are actually adhered to at the local level by all divisions, under all circumstances, but most especially during any national qualification-path tournaments. Without adherence to these basic policies we end up with problems with both safety and fairness in our events.
Here is a link to the full document:
www.fencing.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1318&d=1139287332
One of the more intriguing items on the agenda reads thus:
2. Motion (Mr. Baker): Starting with the 2006-2007 season each division and section chair must sign a statement stating that, to the best of his/her knowledge, all USFA guidelines and regulations have been followed for each national qualification-path tournament. This statement should be submitted to the National Office along with the results-reporting paperwork for these events. In the event that the policies have not been followed, the division/section chair is required to enclose a brief account of what policies were not properly enforced and a rationale or explanation for why that was the case. A summary of these guidelines and regulations should be made available to all division/section officers. This summary will be created and updated, as needed, by the Divisions and Sections Committee.
Rationale: From complaints received in an individual capacity, it is clear that some divisions are routinely violating such national policies as having at least one national level referee present at qualifiers, requiring safe (legal) uniforms of competitors, checking USFA membership at events, etc.
In a specific situation from this season’s JO qualification process, a fencer from a near-by division submitted a written protest to his division’s officers concerning the manner in which the tournament was conducted. The response that he received from two of the three officers made it clear that not only were the officers aware of the regulations, they were aware that the regulations were not followed, and that the division officers thought it in the best interest of the division to continue to ignore these regulations in the future. Rather than apologize for these failings and commit to ensuring no future repetition, the officers in question defended their actions as appropriate and chastised the young fencer for having the audacity to complain about how a volunteer organized and ran the competitions.
It is clearly in the best interest of fencing and the USFA that those guidelines passed down from the national level are actually adhered to at the local level by all divisions, under all circumstances, but most especially during any national qualification-path tournaments. Without adherence to these basic policies we end up with problems with both safety and fairness in our events.