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2007-2008 Annual Meeting
Women's Varsity Meeting
Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 9:00-10:45
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Tom Tracey, Director of Officials; Ed Haas, Director of Communications; Matt Anderson, Michigan; Eric Stilz, Utica; Alan Huckins, Hartwick; Felix Mercado, Brown; Joe Tristan, Penn State Behrend; Vaughn Smith, Washington & Jefferson; Curtis Robinette, Mercyhurst; Luis Nicolao, Princeton; John Abdou, Bucknell; Barry King, Indiana; Scott Reed, George Washington; Joe McCommons, Queens, Carl Salyer, Maryland
The meeting opened with a discussion of the proposals.
Felix Mercado, Brown University, made a motion to revise the Saturday times for the Eastern Championship as follows: 2:00, 3:30, 5:00, and 6:30.
Alan Huckins, seconded.
The motion was amended and seconded as follows:
Saturday Eastern Championship times: 1:00, 2:30, 4:00, and 5:30.
Sunday Eastern Championship times: 10:00 7th place, 11:30 5th, 1:00 3rd, 2:30 1st
Motion passed as amended unanimously.
Barry King, Indiana, made a motion to increase the number of officials at the Eastern Championship to six. Seconded by Luis Nicolao, Princeton
Motion carried unanimously.
Discussion centered on the ECAC Championship regarding which institutions would participate and which would attend the Elite 6 tournament, as well as which institution would host the latter. It was determined that Bucknell will host the Elite 6 and the following schools will attend: Bucknell, Princeton, Maryland, Hartwick, Michigan, with one to be determined. The ECAC would include those teams qualifying as per the Eastern Championship plus a minimum of two from the MAAC. The remaining open slots would be filled by a conference call from the ECAC Selection Committee (comprised of the Commissioner, MAAC Commissioner, ECAC representative, and CWPA Poll Committee). The conference call would take place in the late fall of 2008.
Alan Huckins suggested with the loss of Queens College that that the women's Northern Division schedule be formatted to permit specific teams to play double round robin and have a single round robin championship. Everyone was in agreement to use the new format.
The Western Division coaches were polled regarding their scheduling issues. Barry King indicated he did not want to play a huge number of games on the Erie swing any longer and felt the game distribution should be equalized at various sites. It was agreed that the schedule moving forward would involved.
The Speedo Top 40 was discussed and the Commissioner explained that USA Water Polo did not get an exemption as of yet but it appeared they still want to maintain the event in the future.
Board of Directors Election
The open positions on the Board of Directors were elected by mail ballot to include the following slate:
Administrator: John Benedick, MIT
Corporate: Mark Gensheimer
At-Large: Felix Mercado, Brown University
At-large: Matt Anderson, Michigan
General Meeting
Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 12:45-2:00
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Tom Tracey, Director of Officials; Ed Haas, Director of Communications; Matt Anderson, Michigan; Eric Stilz, Utica; Alan Huckins, Hartwick; Felix Mercado, Brown; Joe Tristan, Penn State Behrend; Vaughn Smith, Washington & Jefferson; Curtis Robinette, Mercyhurst; Luis Nicolao, Princeton; John Abdou, Bucknell; Barry King, Indiana; Scott Reed, George Washington; Joe McCommons, Queens, Carl Salyer, Maryland, Carl Quigley, Saint Francis; Igor Samardzija, Columbia; Mike Schofield, Navy, Mladen Stanicic, Navy
The Annual Report and Strategic Reports were presented by the Commissioner (copies available online)
The new website was explained including the various stages of development still to come. Key functions will be the ability of coaches to update their contact information and scores from games, a recruiting page, and video capability.
The following proposals were discussed
Proposal G1
Luis Nicolao, Princeton, made a motion to change the name of the All-Academic Award to the Scholar-Athlete award to improve recognition and avoid references to the GTE award. Seconded by Joe McCommons, Queens. Motion passed unanimously.
Proposal G2
Motion was made by Felix Mercado, Brown, to create the CWPA Outstanding Student-Athlete Award. Seconded by Carl Salyer, Maryland. Criteria includes academic achievement, athletic achievement, and community service. Nominations received in spring semester. Motion passed unanimously.
Elections for coach representatives on the Board of Review were held and the following individuals were chosen:
Alan Huckins, Hartwick
Luis Nicolao, Princeton
The Technical Committee was discussed by coaches with no action items determined. However, parameters were placed on the role of the Committee Members while at the Eastern Championship. No evaluations are to take place in the future during this event. Referees may solicit clarification and ask questions, but Committee Members are not to engage them during the weekend. Coaches requested that TC Members solicit coaches input during the weekend as well.
Those present did request to have a rules discussion preceding the annual meeting next year for a half-day. Attendance by referees is optional.
The Cutino Award was discussed and member coaches were urged to take part in the voting. The Olympic Club has indicated it may withdraw its sponsorship if the voting does not improve.
Brad Peavey submitted a proposal to establish larger tournaments in which more official's training could take place. Several logistical issues were named as a stumbling block to its establishment and no action was recommended.
Men's Varsity Meeting
Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 3:45-5:15
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Tom Tracey, Director of Officials; Ed Haas, Director of Communications; Felix Mercado, Brown; Joe Tristan, Penn State Behrend; Vaughn Smith, Washington & Jefferson; Curtis Robinette, Mercyhurst; Luis Nicolao, Princeton; John Abdou, Bucknell; Scott Reed, George Washington; Joe McCommons, Queens, Carl Quigley, Saint Francis; Igor Samardzija, Columbia; Mike Schofield, Navy, Mladen Stanicic, Navy
The Division II/III Combined Eastern Championship was discussed and coaches decided not to have a combined event moving forward. Johns Hopkins was chosen as the location for Division III and Fordham was named as a possible location for Division II. Joe McCommons indicated that he will secure the site.
The Commissioner noted that the Premier League appears unlikely to continue based on the fact that the NCAA has stated they will not approve a waiver in its current form. Any change in the status will be noted in an email to the membership.
Joe Tristan, Penn State Behrend, made a motion to adopt the same times and number of officials (6) for the Men's Eastern Championship. Motion was seconded by Felix Mercado, Brown University. Motion passed unanimously.
General Proposals (All teams eligible to vote)
Proposal G1
Sponsor: League Office
Division(s) Affected by Proposal: All
CWPA teams
Proposal:
Change the name of the All-Academic Award to the Scholar-Athlete award
Statement of intent (one sentence):
To improve recognition and avoid references to the ESPN the Magazine award
Statement of financial impact expected on member teams
None
Current policy that the proposal seeks to change:
Award is currently named All-Academic
Rationale for proposal:
Changing the name helps distance the award from the CoSIDA awards provided and provides better recognition.
Proposal G2
Sponsor: League Office
Division(s) Affected by Proposal: All CWPA
teams
Proposal:
Create the CWPA Outstanding Student-Athlete Award
Statement of intent (one sentence):
To honor an individual athlete for outstanding academic, community, and athletic success.
Statement of financial impact expected on member teams:
Award cost
Current policy that the proposal seeks to change:
None
Rationale for proposal:
Many conferences have an award such as this and its establishment would not only correct this disparity, but provide a great opportunity to recognize some of our best graduates.
For a listing of the criteria and proposed selection process, see the attachment. If this proposal passes, teams are providing the CWPA office staff the right to revise the selection criteria as necessary, given appropriate balance between the various elements. Club Proposals
Proposal C1 (women's club teams eligible to vote)
Seeding Process for the Women's National Collegiate Club Championship
Author: League Office
Proposal:
The top eight division winners will be seeded according to their division's finish the prior season. Places nine and ten will be reserved for the top two division runner-ups in order of their division's finish. The remaining places will be filled with the divisions according to their division's finish the prior season, with random draws used to break ties in placing. Using 2008 as the example:
Current Seeding
1st Position: Sierra Pacific Division
2nd Position: Pacific Coast Division
3rd Position: Big Ten Conference
4th Position: Northwest Division
5th Position: Mid Atlantic Division
6th Position: Southwest Division
7th Position: North Atlantic Division
8th Position: Southeast Division
9th Position: Midwest Division
10th Position: New England Division
11th Position: Texas Division
12th Position: New York Division
13th Position: Heartland Division
14th Position: Pacific Coast Division Runner-Up
15th Position: Sierra Pacific Division Runner-Up
16th Position: Host/North West Division Runner-Up
Proposed change
1st Position: Sierra Pacific Division
2nd Position: Pacific Coast Division
3rd Position: Big Ten Conference
4th Position: Northwest Division
5th Position: Mid Atlantic Division
6th Position: Southwest Division
7th Position: North Atlantic Division
8th Position: Southeast Division
9th Position: Pacific Coast Division Runner-Up
10th Position: Sierra Pacific Division Runner-Up
11th Position: Midwest Division
12th Position: New England Division
13th Position: Texas Division
14th Position: New York Division
15th Position: Heartland Division
16th Position: Host/North West Division Runner-Up
Financial Impact:
None
Rationale:
Introduction of the seeding in this proposal will improve the accuracy of the final placings within the National Championship, allowing the predominantly stronger teams to have an opportunity to finish in the top eight positions, as opposed to being eliminated in the first game.
The seeding will also reduce the number of disparate contests in the following rounds by pairing teams of similar ability as the tournament progresses.
The proposal does not overly benefit the runner-up teams, since it requires a division runner-up to still play one of the top eight finishers from the year prior, regardless of their own division's finish. In addition, it still maintains a process whereby a division's finish the prior season reflects its current seed, which has proven to be very accurate to determine the relative strength of a team as borne out by the results over the years.
Varsity Proposals
Proposal V1
School #1 Sponsoring Proposal
Brown
School #2 Sponsoring
Proposal
Hartwick, MIT
Author : Felix Mercado Brown University
Division(s) Affected by Proposal: All CWPA Varsity teams
School #1 Sponsoring Proposal: Brown
School #2 Sponsoring Proposal: Hartwick
& MIT
Proposal (write a paragraph exactly as you want it
distributed):
Both these proposals are for the scheduling of the Eastern Championship:
- To move the 2nd day of CWPA Eastern Championships game times up to 2p, 3:30p, 5p, and 6:30p
- Move the start time on Sunday to 10 and move the Championship game to last game of the tournament.
Statement of intent (one sentence):
To improve the championship format.
Statement of financial impact expected on member teams:
None
Current policy that the proposal seeks to change:
Times for Eastern Championships
Rationale for proposal (no more than 300 words):
- This allows any teams in the semi-finals time to have dinner at a decent time and plenty of rest for the next day. It also shortens the amount of dead time for the other teams.
- Moving the games up an hour is more fan friendly and moving the Championship game to the last game of the tournament it puts the entire focus of the end of the tournament on the awards ceremony and the winning team
