Vancouver Ultimate
League Society
Annual General
Meeting
Tuesday November 21st, 2006
7:30pm
Heritage Hall 3102 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
Meeting chaired by Carolyn Lefebvre (President), VULS Board
of Directors with regrets for Ed Burnett, member at large.
Board Members
Present:
Carolyn
Lefebvre (President) Mercedes Hayduk (Secretary), Jenna Newman (Treasurer), Art
Hawkins, Ian Lancaster
VULS
Members Present:
28
members, 12 proxies (40 total votes, 21 for a majority)
Call
to Order:
Carolyn
called the meeting to order at 7:32pm.
Carolyn
introduced the board members present and the League Coordinator, Jeff Malmgren.
Review
of Minutes:
Michelle
Ostan moved to accept the minutes from the 2005 AGM. Dave Savory seconded the motion. All in favour.
Board
of DirectorÕs Reports:
PresidentÕs
Report
Carolyn
reported on the Board Activities for 2006. She gave an over view of why we have some members leaving
after a 1-year term. The Board
Planning session to kick off the year and set the 2006 objectives was successfully
held in January. The focus for
most of the year was on the hiring of the new Executive Director and
Coordinator; Women in Ultimate and continuing initiatives from last year. Carolyn also reviewed the reasons for
the removal of one of the Board Members, Stephanie Chow, from the Board of
Directors due to lack of communication since July.
Scott
Farris moved to accept the PresidentÕs Report. Dave Savory seconded the motion. All in favour.
Hiring
Committee
Carolyn
gave an update on the Hiring of the new Executive Director and League
Coordinator who will replace Jeff as he takes on the ED position. The decision in March to move to a two
coordinator format with the LC working under the ED position was to improve the
quality and quantity of services to the VULS membership.
Questions from the floor:
Michelle Ostan asked if these two positions are each full
time? Carolyn responded that they
are both contract positions and while at times they are full time hours plus
they are at other times not full time hours. We are in fact doubling our resources.
Touring
Teams Support Policy
Carolyn
gave an update on the touring teamsÕ policy. Currently it is as it has always been where we provide
support for touring teams in the form of fields for practice. In return, these teams are asked to
help with clinics and such. Our
recommendation, as a board, is that itÕs time to re-look at this. WeÕve run it
this way for two years and itÕs time to set up a feedback loop, collect the
thoughts of touring and non-touring players, and make adjustments as necessary.
Question from the Floor:
One
of the membership asked how is the feedback gathered from the touring teams?
All
feedback is directed through the touring team liaison.
Grants
Program
Jenna
Newman gave an update on the 2 rounds of grants administered in the summer and
fall of 2006. The board was
pleased to award Mo NguyenÕs HuckinÕ for Hearts tournament a grant. HuckinÕ for
Hearts will take place in April 2007. This tournament for beginner-level high school
players has been held annually since 2004; the grant will allow the tournament
to expand the number of participating schools. Proceeds from the event are
donated to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. No other grants were awarded in
2006
Bursary
Program
Jenna gave
an update on the Bursary Program.
Two $500 bursaries are awarded to a boy and girl to support their
post-secondary efforts.
Unfortunately, this program did not receive the attention we would have
liked it to this year. We received a very small number of bursary applications,
and none of them met the stated criteria. As such, no bursaries were awarded
this year. The board decided to set aside the 2006 bursaries funds so that in
2007, exceptionally, the VUL will award four bursaries (two male and two female
awards).
The
current board also recommends that the 2007 board re-evaluate the bursary
program with an eye to improving it, including reviewing assessment criteria
and clarifying the application process. We also recommend targeted efforts to
connect with high school coaches, athletics departments and guidance counselors
to make sure they know about this opportunity and can encourage their students
to apply. With the new league staff structure in place for 2007, we anticipate
that the program will draw on both staff and board resources, and that it can
be significantly strengthened
Women
in Ultimate
Mercedes
gave an update on the Women in Ultimate initiative. Notable accomplishments would be the open Forum held to
discuss issues facing women in the VUL and the successful start of the WomenÕs
Only League and Clinic Series which ran in the late spring/ early summer. The Board recommends taking advantage
of the two coordinator format to further develop womenÕs skills in the VUL
through womenÕs only initiatives such as one-day tournaments and further
leagues.
Mentoring
Program
Art
Hawkins gave an update on the Mentoring Program. Mentors this year attended the UPA Coaching Clinic to
progress the mentoring program and provide some added value to mentors. This program is most successful with
more than 30 mentors for summer league and will not be successful with less
than 20 mentors. We were short on
Mentors this fall and it was noticed by some of the teams. Mentor teams are identified through the
office of the League coordinator.
Any new team to the VUL receives a mentor regardless of level to ensure
the culture of the VUL is adequately represented.
The
recommendation to the upcoming Board is that a joint captain and mentor clinic
be run one afternoon in place of a simple meeting between captain and
mentoree.
Spirit
Committee
Ian gave
an update on the Spirit Committee.
Spirit overall is not an issue in the VUL other than small acute issues
that spring up throughout the year which are dealt with through the Coordinator
and the Board. However, there is a
need to keep an eye on spirit as it is part of the culture of ultimate in the
VUL. The Board is looking for a
status check on how the membership feels about Spirit in the VUL and has asked the
membership to complete a questionnaire.
Questions from the Floor:
Ash Laul asked about the t-shirts for the mentors?
They were ordered late and are in the mail.
Mike Flurry asked what the League receives from the touring
teams in return for the use of fields?
It is the general opinion of the membership that we should
somewhat support touring teams.
The teams themselves provide support for all the clinics run by the VUL
and that is how the league benefits from providing fields.
PresidentÕs
Summary
Carolyn
thanked the 2006 Board for their hard work. They were a great group who took each decision seriously and
acted in the best interest of the league always. 2007 will be a great year with lots of changes and Carolyn
wishes the new board the best of luck.
CoordinatorÕs
Report
Jeff
Malmgren gave an update on the CoordinatorÕs activities for 2006
We are
seeing a trend that some of the older teams havenÕt returned to play in the
Fall League which is part of the reason for the decline in Fall registrations. There is the question as to whether or
not this is an anomaly and perhaps is something to look at next year.
Jeff
suggested it could be time for splinter leagues i.e. rec leagues womenÕs or
masters.
Artificial
turf is the future of Ultimate as it is the future of fields in Vancouver. We will never lose a field due to bad
weather with Turf. We consciously
reduced the use of UBC fields as they are expensive and not as well maintained
as the Vancouver Parks Board fields.
Jeff is very involved in these issues as the president of the Vancouver
Fields Sports Federation.
All social
events were a success again this year including the Volunteer Appreciation
Dinner with 32 league mentors and volunteers in attendance.
Planned
upgrades to the website were delayed for a number of reasons the largest being
uncertainty surrounding the development contractor. These will be undertaken in this fiscal year.
Our
sponsorship in 2006 remained solid with both GAIA an R&B stepping up their
role and presence within the league and making plans for greater involvement
next year.
This is
JeffÕs last Coordinator report to the membership and is very excited to move
forward in the Executive Director Role
Questions
from the floor:
Jordan
Menu asked if there are any broader issues to convert current fields to turf?
Jeff responded that we have the most turf fields in Canada
and it is definitely where field sports in Vancouver are headed.
Scott Farris asked if there will be a year where we donÕt
use UBC?
Jeff replied that yes, if we donÕt grow but that doesnÕt
seem realistic. UBC is about to
build a turf field and we are their biggest customer. We want to keep our line of access to turf.
One of the membership asked if we can lobby UBC to upgrade
fields?
Jeff replied that we currently do this but the fields
arenÕt their biggest source of revenue so they are low on receiving resources.
Kathryn Wood asked if we have strong support from the
membership to move to turf fields?
Jeff has tried to monitor the responses from playing on
Turf fields and the touring players enjoy the turf. The reality is if we donÕt take turf then our choices
dwindle. It isnÕt the safest but
better than bad grass fields as well there are lights for evening play and
never any cancellations due to rain.
These reasons combined increase our use opportunity of the fields.
TreasurerÕs
Report
Jenna
Newman gave an update on the treasury with several notes:
- Increase in the Capital
Projects fund came from a)
movement by the board to transfer surpluses from previous years 2)
moneys accrued through the Fields levy
- Major Payables at year end
included BCDSS fees, Coord contract and admin; VPB and VSP permit fees and
clinic fees and insurance.
- Fields Levy: while this is
necessarily stated on our income statement these funds are immediately
moved, by action of the board from operating funds into the Capital
Projects fund. In 2006 this totaled $28,200.
- The VULS will not be eligible
to apply for the Casino/Direct Access Gaming funds until we have spent the
money s we have in reserve.
- The website development funds
remain unspent and will be held until next year when a major revision will
be undertaken.
- The surplus funds of $82,287
include the $28,200 collected through the fields Levy. The VULS also budgeted for $18,500
in anticipation of hiring in mid-2006 which was never spent. The aforementioned unspent website
costs were approx $10,000 and there was $10,000 earmarked for fieldÕs
improvement that will be rolled into fiscal 2007.
Questions from the floor:
One member asked about the purpose of the Capital Projects
Fund?
Jeff replied that it is to develop or upgrade fields and
can be used for that purpose only.
We intend to partner with another organization to develop fields and
need to have money in the bank to come to the table.
Toby Frost
motioned to accept the treasurerÕs report. Jordan Menu seconded the
motion. All in favour.
Old
Business
Partnership
in Parks Initiative
The
Partnership in Parks initiative is advancing well. Ongoing efforts both formal and informal have been made to
continue to build relationships both within the parks board and with other groups
and organization to further the cause of developing ultimate fields in the
community.
New
Business
1) Motion
to change the VULS constitution - Maximum number of terms
Jenna
moved to amend the VULS Constitutions as follows:
Given
that the constitution is unclear with regard to Directors term, I move that
Section 7, article d)
Be
amended as follows:
Old:
7)
Directors
d)
Term of Office. Board of Directors shall be elected for a term of two years
(from AGM to AGM), and are eligible for re-election for a maximum of three
consecutive years.
Will
be replaced with
d)
Term of Office. Board of Directors shall be elected for a term of two years
(from AGM to AGM), and are eligible for election for a maximum of three
consecutive terms.
Rationale:
the original wording contradicts itself, in that terms are each of a length of
two years, but the maximum eligibility is three consecutive years. I believe
that the edit reflects the original intent.
The motion
was seconded by Lisa. All in
favour and the motion carried.
2)
Motion to amend the VULS Constitution – One Year Terms
Jenna
moved to amend the constitutions as follows:
Given
that the constitution does not address some eventualities with regard to
Directors term, I move that Section 7, article d)
Be
appended as follows:
In
the event of mid-term resignation or dismissal, directors may be elected for a
term of one year, by decision of the board, in order to preserve the overall
balance of the election cycle.
Rationale:
under the current system, the board is elected in split terms: three are
elected in odd numbered years, while four are elected in even numbered years.
This ensures that a level of experience will be in place for each new board;
that there is some assurance that a single slate won't be allowed to dominate
the whole of the board for a full two year period; and that there is an
opportunity to voice support or dissent through elections each year. By
appointing one year terms when vacancies have been left, for whatever reason,
this balance is maintained.
Ash
Seconded. All in favour and the
motion carried.
Board
Elections
Elections
were carried out as per the VULS regulations.
Alan
Baggish 9 Votes
Art
Hawkins 36 Votes
Jenny 24
votes
Mo with 30
votes
Jordan
with 23 votes
Speedo
with 30 votes
Iain moved
to destroy the ballots; which was seconded by Mo. All in favour.
Formal
Adjournment
Art moved
to adjourn the meeting and Spud seconded the motion. All in favour.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:32pm