Annual General Meeting, 7/22/23 Minutes
July 22, 2023
5:00 PM
Type of Meeting: Division Annual General Meeting
Invitees: All Gulf Coast Division Clubs
Virtual Meeting Info: Gulf Coast Division Meeting
Saturday, July 22 · 5:00 – 6:00pm
Google Meet joining info Video call link: https://meet.google.com/zou-mhtg-rjr
Attendees:
Adrien Dessens, Chair
Chuck Wemple, Treasurer
Liz Mayerich, Secretary
Susan Grace, Division Armorer
James Smith, Galveston Fencing Club
Tim Newell, Bayou City Fencing Academy
John Trojanowski, Rogue Fencers Guild
Kathy Machol, Houston Sword Sports
Rachel El-Saleh, Space City Fencing Academy
Adrien Dessens called the meeting to order at 5:10 pm.
New Business:
New bylaws discussion and approval - Adrien Dessens summarized the new bylaws presented by USA Fencing. One member objected to being asked to vote on something we had not presented for review ahead of time. As the Division does not have the liberty to modify the bylaws, approval moved forward.
Liz Mayerich moved to end debate, Susie Grace seconded
Chuck Wemple moved to approve, Tim Newell seconded
One abstention, all others vote aye
New operations manual discussion and approval - Adrien Dessens summarized the changes and reviewed the document page-by-page for discussion.
Chuck Wemple asked about position of Division Armorer; added to Section 12
Liz Mayerich moved to end debate and approve, Chuck Wemple seconded
Unanimously approved
Division officer reports
Chair - attached below
Vice-Chair - no report
Secretary - attached below
Treasurer - attached below
Division officer elections
Adrien Dessens opened the floor to nominations for the position of Chair.
Chuck Wemple nominated Liz Mayerich.
Tim Newell seconded.
Adrien Dessens called for any further nominations three times, and hearing none, closed nominations for Chair.
Liz Mayerich elected Chair by acclamation.
Adrien Dessens opened the floor to nominations for the position of Vice-Chair.
Chuck Wemple nominated Tim Newell.
Liz Mayerich seconded.
Adrien Dessens called for any further nominations three times, and hearing none, closed nominations for Vice-Chair.
Tim Newell elected Vice-Chair by acclamation.
Adrien Dessens opened the floor to nominations for the position of Secretary.
Liz Mayerich nominated Chuck Wemple.
Tim Newell seconded.
Adrien Dessens called for any further nominations three times, and hearing none, closed nominations for Secretary.
Chuck Wemple elected Secretary by acclamation.
Adrien Dessens opened the floor to nominations for the position of Treasurer.
Tim Newell nominated Kathy Machol.
Chuck Wemplel seconded.
Adrien Dessens called for any further nominations three times, and hearing none, closed nominations for Chair.
Kathy Machol elected Treasurer by acclamation.
Set date for calendar meeting - August 12, 5pm
Other business
Rachel El-Saleh proposed to revive vet fencing time once a month, rotating through different clubs, no fees
Chuck Wemple nominated Susie Grace as division armorer - approved by Executive Committee
Adrien Dessens adjourned the meeting at 6:24pm
Officer Report 2022/2023
Chair
The 2022/2023 season saw a number of positives for our Division. The city of Houston hosted a number of regional events covering both youth and adult age groups. We also saw participation in these events from a greater number of local clubs. An expanding pool of competitive athletes is always a good indicator of healthy growth, especially when it is spread out among multiple clubs. We also had our usual range of local competitions, although for these the rate of growth is smaller. It would be a good point of focus for our Division to try to continue to bolster event participation at the club level.
We also held a Division sponsored foil coaching clinic at Houston Sword Sports. The event was excellent thanks in large part to the leadership of Margaret DeLong. One of the largest benefits of events like this is that it increases our ability to host future clinics without as much cost or expense. We certified 3 local coaches at the Prevot level, which will make it easier to organize and run a future foil clinic “in house” so to speak. This type of event is where I see the Division making the biggest future impact in the development of the sport. In the future I would like to see clinics like this being held in all 3 weapons to help create professional development opportunities for both new and existing coaches in the Gulf Coast. Referee development is also something to look at for the future, although at the moment the logistics are significantly more complicated and we’ll likely need to wait until a more local-friendly pathway is established by USA Fencing.
As this will be my last season as the Chair, I am very pleased with where the Division stands now and our trajectory for the future. I would like to see the Division focus on establishing a stronger circuit of local competitions, looking at ways to increase revenue (especially at Division hosted events like qualifiers), and providing more and more learning opportunities for our coaches, refs, armorers, and volunteers. As the landscape of USA fencing continues to shift, it is important that we have robust and enthusiastic leadership at the local level.
Adrien Dessens
Chair - Gulf Coast Division of USA Fencing
Officer Report 2022/2023
Secretary
As Secretary, it is my responsibility to facilitate communication and connection within the Gulf Coast Division. In the 2022-2023 season, the primary activity of the Gulf Coast Division outside of regular hosting and promotion of tournaments was the Coaching Clinic. Our primary method of communication was the Division website.
Gulf Coast Coaching Clinic: We sent out a survey to every fencer in the division to get approval to spend money on the clinic and received 22 responses, which is more engagement than we usually get. Eight people attended the clinic, six from Gulf Coast. Through exams we produced one new moniteur of foil and three new prevots.
Website: This year our website received 605 unique visits, an 11% increase over last year. The Clubs page is our most-visited page, with 354 visits. A total of 61% of visits come from Search, meaning that our website is an important resource as people seek out club information.
Officer Report 2022/2023
Treasurer
MEMORANDUM
To: Gulf Coast Division Members and Officers, USA Fencing
From: Chuck Wemple, Treasurer
Date: July 22, 2022
Subject: Officer’s Report – 2022/2023 Season
This memorandum constitutes my officer’s report for the 2022/2023 season, presents my perspectives on how the season went for our Division and an overview of officer activities and important areas of focus for the remainder of this season and next.
As Treasurer, I submitted the Division Annual Financial Report by the required deadline and received confirmation from USA Fencing that we remain in good standing. Our standard process for reporting includes copying the Division Chair for awareness and additional confirmation.
USA Fencing launched an online portal for reporting this year. It had a few bugs and lacked a bit of clarity. I provided constructive feedback to USA Fencing and will continue to provide input as new versions of the portal emerge.
Our account remains with Chase Bank and has a current balance of $5,210.20. As stated last year, the account includes a single debit card for the Division bank account to better manage financial transactions such as web-hosting for the Division website and to increase overall efficiency in business transactions. The card is in the name of the Chair, remains in his possession, and is available to the Treasurer for approved transactions in accordance with our bylaws.
Transactions between August 1, 2022 and July 21, 2023 are limited to two deposits totaling $467.50 and three withdrawals totaling $1,785.86. Details on the five transactions are included below.
The $172.50 deposit on February 3, 2023 represents fees from the JO Qualifiers hosted by Alliance Fencing. The $295 deposit on May 22, 2023 represents fees from the Division Qualifiers hosted by Bayou City Fencing Academy. USA Fencing mailed the check for the season’s Division Rebates to the previous Treasurer’s address. We are coordinating to make sure the check is deposited in a timely manner.
The August 22, 2022 withdraws of $1,584 corresponds to check number 126 paid to Margaret DeLong for her work leading the Division’s first USFCA Coaching Clinic. We followed our Division bylaws regarding required approval before moving forward with this expense. The two remaining withdrawals of $20 and $181.86 in August and September are associated with maintenance of the Division website and are debit card payments to Squarespace.
I propose the Division hold a budgeting workshop shortly after the start of the 2022/2023 season to develop a strategic approach to investing Division resources into supporting fencers and growing participation and sustainability in our sport, with an emphasis on non-traditional athletes including youth and adults from income-limited households, and people in the 40+ age category.
I’ve appreciated the opportunity to serve as Treasurer during the 2022/2023 season and look forward to providing opportunities for others to experience this position now or in the future. I am happy to make our financial reports available to any Division member who is interested.