New England Interscholastic Rowing Association

Annual Meeting

St. Mark’s School

January 12, 2008

Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Houston at 1:35pm. Those schools attending were: Bancroft (Agricola, Baker, Tongue) Bay View (Moser), Belmont Hill (Richards), Berkshire (Mackenzie), Boston Latin (Curran), Brewster (DeNitto), Brookline (Sisk, Skaliotis), Brooks (Krivacek, Palm), Brunswick (Falco, Martin), BB&N (Fiore, Kornet), CRLS (Wickenheiser), Canterbury (O’Keeffe), Choate (Coppolino, Scanio, Waterhouse, White), Concord H.S. (Garos, Printzlau), Deerfield (Rosenbladt), Derryfield (Broderick), Dexter (Fazen, Tucker), East Lyme (Mahon), Farmington (Butterfield), Greenwich Acad.(Brisson), Greenwich H.S. (Cabrera, DeCarlo, Young), Groton (Anderson, Niles), Gunnery (McColloch, Reinhardt), Hanover (Kermond, Reynolds, Stevenson), Hingham (McCaig), Hyde ( Voeller), Kent (Houston), Lincoln (Gross, Mercante, Shotwell), Lyme/Old Lyme (Buch B., Buch W., Zubek), Middlesex (Foster, Mills E., Mills W.), Middletown (Shapiro, Shiel), Miss Porter’s (Ford), NMH (Jenkins, Reeder), Andover (Washburn), Exeter (Morris), Pomfret (Anderson,), Salisbury (Curtis, Fitzgerald), Shrewsbury (Krause P., Krause R., Regan), Simsbury (Carabillo, Collins, Raymond), Southfield (Tisei), South Kent (Galusha), St. John’s (Ermilio), St. Mark’s (Harris, McBride, Porter), St. Paul’s (Morgan), Stonington (O’Neill, Tebeau), Tabor,(Ciraolo), Taft (Baran, Farrar, Tarshis), Thayer Academy (Kim), Winsor (Stone).

Guest schools in attendance were: Avon (Passmoor), Worcester Academy (Dow).

The meeting began with a presentation by Larry Gluckman. The business meeting began at 1:35 with an introduction of new coaches of existing programs, programs applying for provisional membership, and guests.

A Motion to accept the minutes of the ’07 meeting was passed, followed by roll call.

I.  Regatta

  1. Row 2K
  2. Oli Rosenbladt presented a service from Row 2K that they could provide a custom NEIRA results page for us. It would be strictly for NEIRA races and it would be much easier to post and find our results instead of pouring through results from all regattas. To input results go to input—HS scholastic—NEIRA It would cost more than our usual $500 donation, but our increased vendor fees would cover the cost of about $1250. Please carefully check for accuracy and detail (names of schools and 4’s or 8’s in the title) and correct errors quickly.
  1. Regatta Central
  2. We will continue to use Regatta Central for waiver storage and registration. Any new developments will be sent out as soon as possible.
  3. Operations
  4. There was a Lake Commission meeting in October. John Ermilio was present to represent the NEIRA interests. It was thought that there were serious issues with us running the regatta on Memorial Day weekend, however it turns out we are well supported. The residents appreciate us leaving the ramp open to boaters on that weekend.
  5. We need to make sure we continue to follow the rules and make sure our coaches and crews are well educated in these rules so that we remain in good standing with the Lake residents.
  6. John Ermilio is no longer coaching at St. John’s, but he will remain on as director of the regatta. Matt Hastings will also remain as assistant director.
  7. There will be speakers set up at the far end of the parking lot and past the dock (hopefully covering all boating areas), for announcements and race announcing.
  8. The referees have requested that coaches make sure their coxswains and rowers know the traffic pattern for warm-ups, that they know how to back into the stake boats and they know how to pinch (scull) to keep the shell pointed.
  1. Lane assignments
  2. Last year we decided to try a new heat/ lane assignment system. We adopted it for the heats only. The Committee of Management proposed that we adopt it for the finals too for this year. After much discussion about wind, fairness, and match up of comparable crews, motions were put forth.
  3. A motion to keep the existing lane assignments for next year (heats 1-6, or 6-1 and finals center out) was defeated 14 for and 19 against with 1 abst.
  4. A second motion to have heats and final lane assignments in the new system (both 1-6 or 6-1) passed with 19 for and 14 against with 2 abst.
  5. We will revisit this system next year provided new information can be presented.
  6. Regatta issues
  7. In ’07 there were two schools that scratched very late from the regatta and one school that did not show after being qualified to attend. A few members of the Committee of Management met after the regatta, and developed what we thought were fair consequences for these occurrences. Taft and Berkshire scratched just days before the regatta. Their memberships have been changed to provisional and they must provide a letter from the athletic director of their intent to attend the regatta if qualified. Berkshire and Taft are still qualifying races for other schools. Bromfield School did not show up to the regatta after being qualified. They may not attend this year’s regatta, they will have three more years of provisional membership, and they must provide a letter from the athletic director of their intent to attend the regatta if qualified.
  8. Coaches from Berkshire addressed their issue and wanted to know what the protocol was for dealing with these issues that don’t occur on race day. The bylaws do not address these issues, but the sportsmanship guidelines do. The protocol for issues that don’t occur on race day are:
  9. The Committee of Management will send out e-mails and gather information.
  10. A special meeting will be called, the issues reviewed, and a decision made regarding consequences.

This protocol will be posted on the website. Because of these issues a motion was made to require schools to scratch crews by 12:00 noon on the Sunday prior to the regatta. The motion passed. Consequence of not doing so may include banning from the regatta for the following year, or other consequences deemed appropriate by the Committee of Management.

  1. Another issue that occurred at the ’07 regatta was that E.O.Smith’s

4th girls, a school that was seeded 11th, finished 3rd in the grand final. A protest was lodged under false entry. The head referee requested documentation and E.O. Smith responded. The resolution was that inexperience in boating crews was the cause of this issue. E.O. Smith was sent a letter of reprimand for boating 1st boaters in a 4th boat.

iv.  After discussion of ways to help deal with these issues, we decided to try to use education in the form of a mentoring program. This mentoring program will pair newer coaches with volunteer experienced coaches. The Committee of Management and many other coaches have volunteered to be mentors. Newer coaches interested in being paired with a mentor please contact Betsy Collins.

II.  Membership

  1. Provisional membership applications have been received from the following schools: Bancroft School in 4’s, Thayer Academy in 4’s, and Greenwich H.S. in 8’s. All motions to accept these schools as provisional members passed.
  2. Convent of the Sacred Heart was not present to be voted in as full members. The vote will be tabled until next year.
  3. For many years Worcester Public Schools has applied to be a member of the NEIRA. For years we have said no because they do not conform to the rules of all of their participants being from one school. Their athletic department services all of the Worcester High Schools. This year we revisited the issue because they are a “home course” school and we use their facilities. The precedent has been set by the colleges with Holy Cross and WPI. This is a show of good will toward a local program. The Committee of Management has proposed that we allow WPS to be members of the NEIRA. After discussion about not allowing exceptions, and other options for competition, a motion was made to accept WPS as an honorary provisional member. The motion carried with 3 opposed. Honorary provisional member means that they are a non-voting member, but must still follow the rules and be seeded in order to participate in the regatta.
  4. A reminder that you must send a representative to the annual meeting each year. Failure to attend two years in a row will result in loss of membership.
  5. Each school must be USRowing members. Each school must have 3 separate races with 3 separate full member schools in order to be eligible for seeding.
  6. Each boat wishing to be seeded must have at least 3 separate races with 3 separate full member schools.

III.  Seeding

  1. Staggered elections for seeding committee members have been adopted. Girls 4’s committee member Andy Anderson was up for re-election, was nominated and re-elected. Boys 4’s committee member Tom White was up for re-election, was nominated and re-elected. Girls 8’s committee member Kathryn Green was up for re-election, was nominated and re-elected. Boys 8’s committee member Matt Hastings stepped down. The nominees were Colin Regan, David Reeder, and Peter Washburn. David declined and the other 2 candidates were asked to leave the room. Peter Washburn was elected with 16 votes to Colin’s 8 and 5 abstentions.
  2. Please remember to report all results in a timely manner to the seeding committees and Row2K.

IV.  Committee of Management

  1. Committee terms up for re-election were Lisa Stone G4’s and Sally Morris G8’s. They were both nominated and re-elected.

V.  Treasurer’s Report

  1. We collected approximately $15,000 in membership dues. The gate receipts were approximately $11,000-$12,000. We have had many good years in a row, so we have a small cushion for expenses. We must be prepared for the bad weather year in which gate receipts are not as good. We have approximately $23,600 in income and $19,600 in expenses.
  2. There are still QRA bills outstanding that we have not yet received. The Committee of Management proposed that we pay QRA $5,000 to keep our account up to date, so that we do not have to pay a very large bill all at once.
  3. Bill Miller donates money to the NEIRA as well as doing the programs.

VI.  New Business

  1. Andy Anderson polled the membership about the traditions of betting shirts and throwing in coxswains.
  2. Brian Ford proposed a character award in honor of a former Miss Porter’s captain who was murdered this past year.
  3. Hart Perry of the National Rowing Foundation and the rowing museum at Mystic Seaport is hosting a history forum for rowing on 3/9/08.
  4. The NEIRA encourages all coaches and programs to honor our sport and it’s history. Make sure to show good sportsmanship. Make sure you and your athletes, and your equipment are well prepared for racing and the regatta. Attend coaching clinics whenever possible.
  5. Referees needed. Please contact Albin Moser.
  6. Boating Safety clinic in CT 1/19/08
  7. Exeter has two Empacher 8’s for sale. Contact Sally Morris.
  8. Stonington is looking for a Vespoli 8 M Hull ’03 or newer.
  9. Craftsbury has summer sculling camps for girls. Contact Lisa Stone.
  10. Founder’s Day Regatta will be on 5/4/08. Information will be sent out in March.
  11. Dexter and Southfield schools are looking for races in the Boston area. Contact Stewart Tucker.

l.  A motion to change the date of the annual meeting from the 1st Sat. in Jan. to the 2nd Sat. in Jan. passed. The bylaws will be changed to reflect this change.

  1. The date of the 2008 regatta is 5/24/08.

Thank you to St. Mark’s for hosting the 2008 NEIRA annual meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 4:10pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Collins

Secretary, NEIRA