Sailor Athlete Advisory Board Conference Call Minutes

November 1, 2001 - Approved by majority vote

1. Roll Call: L. Parks, J. Appel, D. Brenner, M. Gaillard, B. Merrick, L.Gleason, attending as guests: K. Burhans, E. Kratzig, S. Leech

2. Report from AGM. An informational meeting was held at the annual general meeting in St. Pete Florida on Thursday, October 18, 2001. Dialogue from that meeting generated some proposed changes in the wording of the definition of athlete.

3. Clarifications and changes to the athlete definition were discussed and approved by those in attendance.

4. The submissions to the ISAF from Bermuda and the Etchells class regarding athlete representation in the ISAF were discussed. In the opinion of the SAAB members present the US Delegation should support this concept. The details of how that should be established could be an area for further discussion. The ISAF delegation should use its best judgment in discussing the details at the upcoming ISAF meeting.

5. There was extensive discussion about the on line sailor-athlete registration system. All SAAB members are asked to please register themselves. The committee chair is currently doing confirmation of athlete registrations. There is a need for cooperation in handling this task. Louise will propose a plan to delegate this work effectively among committee members. A likely scenario is to have two members assigned each month to receive and approve new registrations and proof read a random sample of already existing athletes.

6. There was discussion about the proposed press release. The press release would be distributed via e-mail and further comments would occur on line.

7 The S-AAB status was changed to a Council. All references to S-AAB need to be updated to S-AAC.

8. Confirming committee members and athlete representation compliance throughout US SAILING will require coordinated timing with the press release and sailor-athlete registration campaign. The ODCC and other committees have expressed a need to have additional athletes involved.

9. US SAILING Spring Meeting will be held at the Adams Mark Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO. Friday March 15 - Sunday March 17, 2001. As a committee the SAA-C needs to have better representation at these meetings in order to be respected and to accomplish our mission effectively. All members are encouraged to attend, if possible. Louise will do some preliminary research on finding affordable accommodations in Colorado Springs.

10. James Appel, Dean Brenner, Suzy Leech, Elizabeth Kratzig volunteered to have their names submitted to Jim Muldoon as athletes interested in his lobbying efforts in Washington, DC.

11. Athletes and class reps were reminded to educate sailors about submitting their location forms promptly for NAN drug testing. The consequences for failure to do so can include up to two years suspension from sailing competition. A question was raised about disabled sailors and NAN testing. Louise will follow up with additional information.

12. New Business. The committee was updated on the status of the OSC fund-raising RFP. There was a discussion about performance enhancing services such as strength training, sports psychology and coordinating these services for US Sailing Team members. Louise is working locally in Miami to develop this type of a program in conjunction with Gary Bodie and others.

Addendum 11/6/01:

A. Due to the lack of a quorum at this meeting the changes to the definition were put to an electronic vote via e-mail where they were also approved by a majority of the members on 11/5/01.