OHSCTA Annual Coaches’ Meeting
March 11, 2012, Sherwood
A. Annual report of the Association given by the Executive Director
- James Horton stated that three amendments to the OHSCTA Constitution were passed in recent months by near unanimous voting: New tournament format (15-0), new tiebreak system (14-1) and new eligibility rules (14-0). He said that this represented such broad agreement that he hoped these issues are now settled and the focus of attention can now go to league expansion.
- James announced that his successor at Executive Director, Andrei Botez, would begin his two-year term on Sunday.
- James brought up the subject of Chess for Success and their apparent desire to expand into the area of high school team championships. James questioned whether this would be a good thing. He said that OHSCTA is the single body in the state that officially crowns high school chess team champions and that OHSCTA does a good job with it. He said having another organization doing the same thing would only confuse matters. He said that he would not support such a move. The consensus of the coaches was the same.
- James mentioned that the OHSCTA Championship tournament is now considered an OSCF qualifier. Dan Dalthorp explained what this meant. Ed Addis gave his opinion that a season of league play should also be considered an OSCF qualifier. Dan Dalthorp explained why OSCF could not allow that. James noted that in a previous conversation, Dan had come up with a good idea about holding more OSCF weekend chess tournaments like the one he runs each year in Corvalis. James said that if there were an OSCF chess team tournament held in the Portland area each year it would allow Portland League coaches to inform their players about it and arrange for teams to participate in them. This could add a new dimension to teams ordinarily only involved in league play and might prove fun and popular with players.
- Financial report was given by Treasurer Jon Nuxoll. Beginning balance in Sept 2010 was $2,442.82. Ending balance after Sherwood tournament was $2,849.81.
B. League reports
- Portland League: Stephen Runion. Steve said Lake Oswego took first, with Clackamas a very close second.
- Mid-Western League: Zane Kesey for Dave Swanston. Zane said that Cottage Grove came on strong and surprised Pleasant Hill with a 5-0 sweep as the season closed to take first.
- Southern League: Nancy Keller said that they had started and expansion into Medford.
C. Tournament issues
- All agreed the tournament was going well, but there was concern about how closely the table rows were placed and the possibility of interference by team members and spectators standing so close to observe. A decision was made to move the rows further apart prior to Saturday’s start of round 3.
- James said that our tournament host—Kris Field-Eaton—had done a fantastic job and that she and her crew should be commended.
D. Committee reports
- James said there were no existing committees; all completed their work and disbanded.
E. Tournament Organizer’s report
- James said he had been the tournament organizer and that it went well but had been a lot of work.
F. Elections
- James said that OHSCTA Secretary Dan Sharp had not been heard from for quite some time and would need to be replaced. James said he didn’t know exactly what the duties of the Secretary were—as near as he could tell there were no duties. Jon Nuxoll said that it was a requirement to have three officers on our Board, so to do this have an Executive Director, Treasurer and Secretary. James said that he had been maintaining the website and the e-mail system from his position as Executive Director, but that we could shift these responsibilities to the Secretary and nominate and elect a new one. Andrei agreed that he would like this. James Horton was nominated and elected by unanimous vote by the coaches present.
G. Amendments to the Constitution
- James asked if anyone had any thoughts on new amendments needed that were needed. Ed Addis said that the rule on the team captain’s role needed revision. There was discussion on the rule, and it was decided that an amendment should be drafted. Andrei helped craft one on the spot; it was voted on and passed.
H. The date and potential sites for the following year’s tournament
- There was general discussion on this topic. We knew that CFS is scheduled for the first weekend in March (the 2nd and 3rd), It was decided that for the OHSCTA Championships, the second weekend in March (the 9th and 10th), was probably most preferred, with the last weekend in Feb being second. We will await coaches looking into the subject when they return to make the final call. The decision was made for a Constitutional amendment to extend the window to the second weekend in March.Three coaches stepped up to offer possible sites for next year’s tournament: Dan Dalthorp, representing Corvalis, Zane Kesey, representing Pleasant Hill and Randy Smolensky, representing Junction City. Follow-up will be done to determine which site will be utilized.
I. Other items of interest to the members
- Taylor Wilhour mentioned that, though a member of the tiebreak committee, he wasn’t consulted on the last-minute shift from Performance of Opposition to US Am Team System. James acknowledged that it had been rushed and apologized for having left him out.
J. Treasurer’s Report by Treasurer Jon Nuxoll, Marist HS (reported after completion of championship)
- Beginning balance in Sept 2010 was $2,442.82. Ending balance after Sherwood tournament was $2,849.81.
Meeting was adjourned.