CASPA AGM Minutes - March 2005
Katie Rowe
CASPA
Coordinator,
2004-2005 |
The Council of Australian Scrabble Players
Associations (CASPA) met in Hobart Easter, just before the Australian
Championships.
Here is the minutes from that meeting. |
CASPA ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING
Friday 25th March, 2004.
Venue: 22 Newhaven Drive, Howrah
Present:
Katie
Rowe (Co-ordinator)
Karen
Richards (Rules)
Carol
Hudson (Treasurer)
Alan
Mathews (ATB Editor)
Christine
Foot (ACT)
Bob
Jackman (NSW)
Richard
Birch (NSW)
Martin
Waterworth (Qld)
Carmel Dodd (SA)
Veronica Baines (SA)
Sharon
Bellette (Tas)
Cynthia
Curr (Vic)
Marj
Miller (Vic)
Glenys
Lawrie (WA)
Wilma
Vialle (Incoming Co-Ordinator)
Harry Malcolm (Incoming National Ratings
Officer)
Edward
Okulicz (Incoming Web Co-Ordinator)
Apologies:
Alistair Kane, Barry Harridge, Wayne Willis, Ellen Frajman
Meeting
opened: 2:03pm
1.
Minutes of AGM 9th
April 2004 were circulated prior to the meeting - taken as read.
Accepted by
Glenys Lawrie and seconded by Sharon Bellette.
2.
Co-ordinator's Report. Circulated prior to the
meeting - taken as read. It was noted that Peak
Ratings are to first apply to the 2006 Trans Tasman, not for the 2005
World
Championships. Glenys advises that guidelines for tournament directors
will be
published soon. The report was accepted by Glenys Lawrie, seconded by
Alan
Mathews.
3.
Treasurer's Report. Balance
as at 31.3.05 is $12,882.67. It was noted that the balance is due to
funds
received to support the Australian WSC team. No specific projects were
mentioned. Karen Richards requested funds be allocated to pay for the
necessary
reprinting of the Tournament Rules booklet. Glenys informed the meeting
that
CASPA's Public Liability Insurance was only paid for 11 months rather
than the
usual 12. The cost of $2.50 per quarter for the printing of ATB will
remain
unchanged. The report was accepted by Glenys Lawrie and seconded by
Karen
Richards.
4. ATB
Editor's Report. Received
prior to the meeting. Alan indicated he will continue until a
replacement can
be found. An increase in budgeting for prizes in the ATB from $200pa to
$400pa was
requested and approved. Report accepted by Glenys Lawrie, seconded by
Veronica
Baines.
5.
Mattel Liaison Officer's Report. Received. Ellen is happy
to continue in this role. Accepted
by Carol Hudson and seconded by Marj Miller.
6.
National Ratings Officer's Report. Received and read by
Glenys. It was noted that the reference
to the "undeveloped" rule should read "undetermined". Katie
requested that this be examined by the Ratings Advisory Committee.
Harry
reported a smooth handover of the ratings office from Alistair.
Alistair's
report was accepted by Glenys and seconded by Karen.
7.
Rules Officer's Report. Received. Karen noted
the difficulty on the committee caused by an
unexpected resignation that was not filled in a timely fashion. The
need to
rewrite Rule 12 was noted and the move towards rotating boards taking
precedence over flat boards was mentioned. Karen notes that Tournament
Directors
should have discretion over the use of private equipment such as
rotating
boards. Karen's report was accepted by Christine Foot and seconded by
Sharon
Bellette.
8.
Tournament Director Guidelines. Submission from Glenys
was taken as read. Accepted by Martin
Waterworth and seconded by Richard Birch. A need to discuss the
implications of
byes and forfeits was mentioned. Glenys proposed this be discussed via
email.
Bob suggested penalties for latecomers (both for first and subsequent
games)
should be examined. Edward suggested a limit to the amount of overtime
permitted to ensure latecomers do not hold up tournaments. These issues
were to
be referred to the Rules committee.
9. Web
Co-ordinator's Report. Received. Katie requests
that a centralised list of clubs and
tournaments be retained even if only to duplicate information on State
sites.
This was agreed to by Marj. Katie expressed concern about the accuracy
of
information on the website. Edward requested that each State should
nominate a
person to check the content of the website as it related to that
particular
State's information. Bob suggested that up-to-date ratings files should
be
available somewhere on the website. The idea of a highlights version of
ATB
being made available for download was discussed. Bob indicated the need
for the
website to contain information about CASPA decisions. Katie thanked
Steve for
his work setting up the website and maintaining it. His report was
accepted by Glenys
Lawrie and seconded by Karen Richards.
10.
National Championships. The pairing algorithm to
be used for the 2006 Titles was discussed.
Edward suggested that the exact intent of the National Championships
should
decide the pairing system used. Glenys read Karen's suggestion about
the use of
one-reset-per-day (Melbourne Pairing). Richard noted that lower-rated
players
have a negative view of this system as they feel it effectively cordons
lower-performing players into a lower section. It was decided to adopt
a Swiss
draw system with one reset after lunch on day 2, and for this to be
reviewed
after the 2006 event.
Hosts for future titles:
2006: Queensland. 2007: New South Wales. 2008: Victoria. WA: 2009. SA: 2010.
Marj
wanted to know if the system of allowing wildcard entries to the top
section
for local players would continue. Glenys suggested that this query
should be referred
to the Ratings Advisory Committee. Harry supported the retention of
this
system, but Bob was adamant that it "should die here". Glenys noted a
decision was needed before the next AGM.
Karen suggested that there should be a 'floating boundary'
between
sections where people in a certain ratings band could decide to play in
the top
or bottom section. Bob suggested that the Ratings Advisory Committee
should
make a recommendation on variable sectional boundaries. The committee
was in
favour of
retaining two
sections, with the exact criteria to be determined by the Ratings
Advisory
Committee by 15 August 2005 for publication in the
September
ATB. The fall-back position was mooted as two sections
split around the current cut-off of 1300 with
a floating boundary of 100 points either side. Carmel requested a CASPA
decision on a
floating boundary. Moved by Glenys Lawrie, seconded by Sharon Bellette.
11.
Australian Masters and State Challenge. Submission from Naween
Fernando and Andrew Fisher was
received and taken as read. Marj suggested this could perhaps only run
in
non-WSC years for funding reasons. Glenys pointed out such overlaps
also occur
with the Trans-Tasman. Marj advised looking at the results of the
inaugural
event. Accepted by Marj Miller and seconded by Glenys Lawrie.
12.
Report from WESPA. An
email from Liz Fagerlund was noted about the whereabouts of our
proposed WESPA
representative, Howard Warner. Andrew Fisher was suggested as a
possible
replacement. This was to be followed up within one month.
13.
Collins Dictionary. Bob
expressed concern that WESPA should be making this decision, rather
than
associated bodies following the ABSP, who plan to move in January 2006.
Glenys
points out that WESPA is involved in the decision on a de-facto basis.
Alan
expressed concern about the effect of "cleaning up" the dictionary.
Martin requested a positive decision that we will follow the UK. Bob proposed we follow
WESPA. This
was agreed.
14.
World Scrabble Championships 2005. CASPA had
not been informed of a date beyond "early Fall" (Northern
Hemisphere). Glenys notes that Onwords reports November as the most
likely
month. Glenys proposed $1000 should be allocated by CASPA for each
representative. Moved: Carol Hudson. Seconded: Veronica Baines.
15.
Peak Ratings. Glenys
requested this be discussed by the Ratings Advisory Committee. Karen
noted a
decision should be published in the ATB before the commencement of the
qualifying period. Alan confirmed that for the June ATB, this is to be
15 May.
16.
Study to investigate the development of expertise in Scrabble. Wilma
reported that this study is in progress and will look at three areas
(psychological, sociological and neurological), and that a team of
collaborators
is being assembled. Wilma plans to link this to a study on gifted
children for
purposes of linkage grants. The committee expressed interest in the
future
progress of the study.
17.
Appointment of Office Bearers
Co-coordinator:
Wilma
Vialle
Mattel
Liaison: Ellen
Frajman
Treasurer:
Carol
Hudson
ATB
Editor: Alan
Mathews (until someone appointed/volunteers)
Ratings:
Harry
Malcolm
Rules:
Karen
Richards
Web: Edward
Okulicz
Ratings
Advisory Committee Convener: Barry Harridge.
Marj
thanked Katie for her hard work as CASPA Co-ordinator. The committee
thanked
Carol, Karen and Ellen for continuing in their roles.
Katie read from Barry's
email about his appointment. The role, make-up and size
of the committee were discussed. Martin suggested that Harry, as
National
Ratings Officer should "ex officio" be on the committee. Harry felt
his office should be kept separate. Bob suggested the National Ratings
Officer
should have input into decisions affecting the office. Wilma
favoured a
larger
committee. It was agreed the Ratings Advisory Committee should include
five
representatives and Barry. Karen Richards, Graeme Lock Lee, Trevor
Halsall,
Edward Okulicz and Harry Malcolm were announced as the first members.
Martin
requested a review of this committee after 6 months. Wilma requested
the
committee immediately meet to determine their terms of reference. Katie
and
Karen suggested this could be done within one week.
18. General business
i) Proposed
increase in cash prizes for ATB competitions. Already agreed to.
ii) Proposal
to contribute to travel expenses for ATB Editor and National
Co-ordinator. Alan
felt that the Editor should get assistance to attend the AGM, claiming
that
anything "extra" given would act as an incentive to take up
challenging positions. Harry disapproved of this, claiming it is potentially a bad precedent. It was agreed to
retain the status quo, Katie suggesting
this may be a State issue.
iii)
Proposal (from Qld) that CASPA should consider all relevant matters
raised on
the CASPA list and endeavour to provide a timely response to the email
list and
ATB. It was pointed out that the
CASPA list is merely a discussion forum, and not intended to be used
for
submissions to CASPA. Martin requested a statement from CASPA
about the
list's intentions. The position is that the
CASPA email list is a discussion list, and that proposals are
still to
be sent to State ASPAs for consideration. The ATB should have a
statement to
this effect, and it should also be periodically posted to the list.
Wilma noted
that State committees represent members, and only a small proportion of
members
subscribe to the email list. Wilma requested that discussions and
deliberations
be posted on the Website.
iv) CASPA's
right to derate a tournament.
The issue of
the proposed Notturno tournaments was raised. Bob noted that CASPA
currently
has the right to derate a tournament, even after it has been completed
and
rated. Karen supports having (approves
of) more different types of tournament being rated. Bob
questioned the
value of criteria for rated tournaments if State committees could
approve
non-standard events, and
requested
the Ratings Advisory Committee consider the matter. Marj, Cynthia and
Harry
assured the committee of the legitimacy of the Notturno events and
advised it
was approved pending a six month trial. The second paragraph of the
Guidelines
for Rated Tournaments is to be removed, and the Ratings Advisory
Committee is
to recommend non-standard events for ratings approval. Glenys expressed
concern
about taking rights from States. Bob pointed out that the Ratings
system is
National. The Victorian committee's decision to allow Notturno events
to be
rated would be accepted by CASPA. Karen and Glenys suggested that the
criteria
be changed to allow five game tournaments
as the new minimum.
Glenys
Lawrie moved that five games be the new minimum for rating tournaments.
Bob
Jackman seconded and the motion was passed unanimously.Bob Jackman
moved that
State input into non-standard tournaments should be advised by the
Ratings
Advisory Committee. Glenys Lawrie seconded and the motion was passed
unanimously. Guidelines for Rating Tournaments is to be revised
by the Ratings Advisory Committee.
Meeting
closed at 5:24pm.
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