first of all, congrats to the meet directors and all the volunteers on a job well done. so organized and efficient!! very impressive. the only thing i wish someone could explain to me is why the usms champ. committee changed the team scoring from large, medium and small team to clumping everyone in the same category. seems extremely unfair to have what i call "real teams" competing against state mega teams. there is no possibility for "real teams" to ever come close to competing against them. if you are going to give team awards at the end of the meet, is there any way you can do it fairly? our team is extremely proud to have gotten as many team members as we did to go to natls. (most of them for the first time), but unfortunately they were very disillusioned (as was i) with the idea that we would be competing against state teams. as one of the coaches i didn't have an explanation. even though we were very proud of our 7th place finish in men's division, and our 12th place in combined, we were only one of a few "real teams" in the top ten. would appreciate responses. maybe even someone from the champ.committee could explain how they felt this scoring system would be more fair to the majority of swimmers. then i can pass it along to my teammates.. i don't want them to be so disillusioned that they lose interest in attending any future natls. thanks
Leianne,
Just because an issue is being hotly debated by about 20 or so people on the forum and maybe an equal number on the floor of the USMS House of Delegates, shouldn’t preclude the people who should “own” the issue from taking ownership. And in my opinion many hotly debates languish for years because they must be decided by the House.
For example, if the language in our rule book for 104.5.6—Club Scoring read “Appropriate team scoring and awards as determined by the Championship Committee.” (sorry only 1 sentence not 3) instead of what we have today. The Championship Committee could meet and set up event appropriate scoring, right now. Instead, Pacific has to propose L2, it failed, and we need to wait another entire year for R2 to be proposed and voted upon by the House. NOTE the language in quotes above is just an example, however it closely resembles the language in 104.5.7—Awards “Appropriate awards as determined by the Championship Committee…” NOTE2 – who else out there remembers when the House of Delegates used to pass around samples and voted on the awards presented at nationals?
Our House of Delegates meets once a year, while the Championship Committee can and should meet much more frequently. The Championship Committee can spend more time throughout the year and should be much more effective in discussing and providing solutions to this. The committee should be willing, able and effective. Championships are a product/service USMS provides to our members; if the committee responsible for this service can’t find ways to improve product quality then I appointed the wrong people to serve on this committee. (NO offense intended to our current committee members, since our code prohibits you from taking action today on this matter)
This issue, while hotly debated, is narrowly focused on how team scoring is conducted at 2 swim meets (USMS SCNC and USMS LCNC). And in reality only effects about a quarter, or less, of the clubs at those national championships. The House of Delegates spent more time discussing this one point then we did on our Strategic Plan, our budget, Club Development, LMSC Development or practically any other item brought before the House.
And one final note (in this post) if you think about it our House of Delegates is just another committee, albeit much larger than our standing committees. So if you say “I do not think that ANY committee … should determine the method of scoring” this leaves a vote of the members.
Leianne,
Just because an issue is being hotly debated by about 20 or so people on the forum and maybe an equal number on the floor of the USMS House of Delegates, shouldn’t preclude the people who should “own” the issue from taking ownership. And in my opinion many hotly debates languish for years because they must be decided by the House.
For example, if the language in our rule book for 104.5.6—Club Scoring read “Appropriate team scoring and awards as determined by the Championship Committee.” (sorry only 1 sentence not 3) instead of what we have today. The Championship Committee could meet and set up event appropriate scoring, right now. Instead, Pacific has to propose L2, it failed, and we need to wait another entire year for R2 to be proposed and voted upon by the House. NOTE the language in quotes above is just an example, however it closely resembles the language in 104.5.7—Awards “Appropriate awards as determined by the Championship Committee…” NOTE2 – who else out there remembers when the House of Delegates used to pass around samples and voted on the awards presented at nationals?
Our House of Delegates meets once a year, while the Championship Committee can and should meet much more frequently. The Championship Committee can spend more time throughout the year and should be much more effective in discussing and providing solutions to this. The committee should be willing, able and effective. Championships are a product/service USMS provides to our members; if the committee responsible for this service can’t find ways to improve product quality then I appointed the wrong people to serve on this committee. (NO offense intended to our current committee members, since our code prohibits you from taking action today on this matter)
This issue, while hotly debated, is narrowly focused on how team scoring is conducted at 2 swim meets (USMS SCNC and USMS LCNC). And in reality only effects about a quarter, or less, of the clubs at those national championships. The House of Delegates spent more time discussing this one point then we did on our Strategic Plan, our budget, Club Development, LMSC Development or practically any other item brought before the House.
And one final note (in this post) if you think about it our House of Delegates is just another committee, albeit much larger than our standing committees. So if you say “I do not think that ANY committee … should determine the method of scoring” this leaves a vote of the members.
