Attendees
Kirk Krack, Mandy Cruickshank, Tom Lightfoot, Perry Gladstone.
Not in Attendance
Ken McCallum
Executive Positions
Kirk, Mandy, Tom, Ken and Perry were elected as board members after the AGM held in July. After some discussion, it was agreed that the members would hold the positions as outlined below:
| Kirk Krack | President |
| Tom Lightfoot | Vice-President and Secretary |
| Mandy Cruickshank | Treasurer |
| Ken McCallum | Director of Competition Development |
| Perry Gladstone | Director of Marketing and Sponsorship |
Insurance
Kirk reported that he had secured liability insurance for CAFA late last month and that coverage started on August 1st, 2002. The $1,800.00 policy covers up to $3,000,000 in liability for all CAFA members, including executives, managers, coaches, trainers, officials and volunteers. In order to better understand the policy, Kirk will distribute copies of the policy and related pamphlets to the other board members.
Sanctioned Events
Since the insurance policy covers sanctioned or authorized activities, Kirk asked which events would be sanctioned. After much discussion, the board agreed on the following:
- National and Regional competitions will be sanctioned
- The Judges in Learning course will be sanctioned
- Other CAFA accredited courses will be sanctioned once the courses are developed
- Training sessions will not be sanctioned until safety protocols for training sessions are written up and there is a means of accrediting instructors and/or coaches
Kirk volunteered to draft a framework on which events will be sanctioned and how they will be sanctioned.
Goals for the Year
Education System
Kirk re-iterated that CAFA still needs to develop an education system now that the education is covered by insurance. Perry pointed out that CAFA should decide on its own requirements for an education system. Several options and implications of licencing an education system were discussed, including the one on the table from Performance Freediving, which is being offered at no initial cost in consideration for coverage through CAFA’s new insurance policy. It was decided that a customized program to be developed by Performance Freediving for CAFA would best serve the organization.
Tom volunteered to write up a set of requirements for the next meeting. It was agreed that once reviewed and approved by the board, the list of requirements will be presented to Performance Freediving to be incorporated into a customized education program.
In the meantime, each board member will consider what would be reasonable terms and conditions for the licensing of the education program to be discussed at the next executive meeting.
CAFA Visibility
Kirk opened up the visibility discussion by explaining what had been done in this regard in the past year:
- Underwater BC Weekend in November
- Ken’s attempts to contact provincial underwater councils
- Various TV appearances on Discovery Channel, Outdoor life and BC news
Perry indicated that he had some ideas for increasing CAFA’s visibility but that he needed to know what resources were available before he could come up with an actual proposal. As the final financial report for 2002 was not yet completed, and CAFA has not yet drafted a budget, much discussion ensued. In the end, the board agreed on the following sequence of events:
- The board would reconvene prior to next month’s meeting to draft a budget.
- Perry would present a marketing plan for the next month’s meeting.
Perry reported that he had sold CBC Radio on a freediving concept for an episode of Out Front. He also had a full page article on Freediving in Canada published by the Nova Scotia Underwater Council newsletter and has been comissioned by Deeper Blue for a six part series on his training and experiences leading up to the Pacific Cup in Kona, Hawaii.
Judges in Training
Four students are signed up for the upcoming Judges in Learning course in Ottawa. Kirk mentioned a desire to run another course in Vancouver before the March Western Regionals.
Kirk proposed a fee of $50 per person be established for the Judges in Learning course. All agreed.
Clubs and Facilities
- Perry has started a freediving club in Toronto
- Peter Pazdera and Tom are in the process of re-starting the Vancouver club
- Tom Alberelli of Dolphinos dive shop in Ottawa is expected to start a club soon.
- There are a handful of people in Nova Scotia interested in getting involved in the sport.
Kirk expressed a desire to get a club going in the Montreal area as there are several known freedivers there. The board discussed which areas are most important to develop and what efforts can be made to do so. Kirk and Perry will continue their current efforts as this topic is discussed further.
Upcoming Competitions
Western Regionals, September 14-15
Mandy reported that Ken has already started organizing this competition, including booking the pool and getting costs. Ken will be the primary judge and Helen Lightfoot will be the secondary judge. The constant ballast event will be Saturday at Ansell Place. The static and dynamic events will be held Sunday at the UBC outdoor pool. Eight to ten competitors are anticipated.
Eastern Regionals, September 28-29
Kirk and Tom Alberelli will organize this competition. Kirk will be the primary judge and one of the students from the previous week’s judging course will be the secondary judge. The constant ballast event will be held at Morrison’s Quarry on Saturday and the static and dynamic events will be held on Sunday. The pool is yet to be determined. Four to six competitors are expected.
Nationals, May 2003
At the June 2002 executive meeting, the board was considering holding the 2003 Nationals as an open international event. Kirk now proposed that the upcoming Nationals be kept as a Canadian only event, due to the fact that this is the primary qualifying event for Team Canada in a World Championship year. All agreed.
Other Upcoming Competitions
The board will work out a schedule for next year’s competitions at the next meeting.
Membership Renewals
Mandy explained to the board that the monthly process of asking members to renew was becoming very time consuming. She asked if all memberships could come up for renewal on the same date so that renewal reminders could be consolidated. Tom and Kirk expressed concern that a single renewal date would make the income flow too uneven, and open up the problem of pro-rating membership fees for first time members.
Perry proposed that CAFA propose pre-authorized transactions to its members so that memberships get renewed each year by default. While the other board members expressed reservation that most members would not go for such an option, Mandy agreed to look into the option of pre-authorized payments with the bank.
Tom felt that there must be some way to streamline the process of renewal reminders so that it doesn’t take up so much of Mandy’s time. Tom will look into ways of automating membership reminders through the use of a membership database.
Mandy also stated that the rate of membership renewal was very low and that all members from last year’s SFU program have let their memberships lapse.
Competitive Memberships
Kirk expressed his concern that many freedivers are discouraged from competing due to the $75 required to upgrade from a regular membership to a competitive membership. Kirk proposed that the competitive memberships be phased out. The extra income from competitive members, which goes towards paying for insurance, would be replaced by a $25 sanctioning fee, which CAFA would charge competition organizers per competitor. Competition entry fees would therefore be $25 more than they would be otherwise, but there would be a reduced barrier to entry for first-time and occasional competitors.
The change would be phased in such that people who are already competitive members will pay $25 less for each competition. On the next renewal, the member will pay the normal $25 membership fee, become a regular member and pay the normal fee for any following competitions.
All present agreed to the membership change. The change will be implemented for the upcoming regional competitions in September.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:34 pm.