What a weekend! Last weekend we had our annual WSCCA Coaches Conference. As always, there was a ton to be learned, much to be shared, and much fun to be had by all. We also had a great Rec Coaches meeting where we discussed issues in the rec sector right now and how we wanted to approach the WSCCA Board to handle these issues. This blog post summarizes our meeting and the WSCCA board meeting presentation which followed. Here is what we decided on by majority vote: - Keep the date by which we determine the age of the athlete at August 31 of the year beginning the current season.
- Add the following requirement to those competing at the WSCCA Junior/Rec State Championships: All recreational teams will need to provide a letter, on letterhead, from the overseeing director of their league (City administration, Pop Warner, YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Junior Football League, etc.) that proves legitimacy of the organization. - Add a Mini Division (age 8 and under) at the WSCCA Junior/Rec State Championship
- Add an All-Star Crossover Division (age 18 and under) at the WSCCA Junior/Rec State Championship, that would include teams that have one or more USASF all-star athletes on their team. I presented all of these requests to the WSCCA, noting that nearly every rec program that competed this last season was represented at the meeting. I presented them with the initial information I presented at the Rec meeting and told them of our votes. The WSCCA approved all our recommendations as presented, each in a separate motion, except for the All-Star Crossover Division. That motion failed on first attempt.
Although board members saw the need and benefits of this division, the majority felt that there should be a number of all-star athletes allowed on a rec team and have it still compete as rec. Much like USA Nationals allows three USASF registered athletes on a team, the Board members felt like this was an appropriate number. Several board members likened it to a co-ed team, where a co-ed team can still be compete in all-girl divisions if it has one or sometimes two boys on the team. A subsequent motion then passed to have an All-Star Crossover division for teams with three or more USASF athletes on the team. I must insert my personal opinion and experience here. I want all the rec coaches to know that I fought for you and for how you voted. I pointed out that when I first approached the WSCCA Board with the complaints and concerns I had received over the course of the year, they asked me to “go to the rec coaches directly” and find out what everyone as a group wanted, which of course was how I wanted to proceed anyway. When board members started pushing back on what the rec coaches wanted I pushed back at them, reminding them that I did what was initially asked of me and got the approval of the majority of rec coaches that this would affect. I was not happy that after all of this the decision was still made to change some of the components of the recommendation. Please know that I fought for you. I will be submitting another motion to officially change the requirements of participating in the WSCCA Junior/Rec State Championships:
The 2018-2019 Divisions for WSCCA Junior/Rec State are:
Mini – Age 8 and under
Mini Non-Tumbling – Age 8 and under
Youth – Age 11 and under
Youth Non-Tumbling – Age 11 and under
Junior – Age 14 and under
Junior Non-Tumbling – Age 14 and under
Senior – Age 18 and under
Senior Non-Tumbling – Age 18 and under
All-Star Crossover (3 or more USASF-registered athletes on the team) – Age 18 and under
An athlete’s age for the 2018-2019 season is determined by their age on August 31, 2018. No crossovers are allowed. All recreational teams will need to provide a letter, on letterhead, from the overseeing director of their league (City administration, Pop Warner, YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Junior Football League, etc.) that proves legitimacy of the organization.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our meeting last Friday, and who attended Coaches Conference this last weekend!
