AGM

President: Katie Edwards

Vice-President Eligibility- David Legere

Vice President CURCs - Daniel Bechard

Secretary/Treasurer- Katie Breuggeling

Past President- Craig Pond

Annual Meeting Agenda

Sunday, November 8th

8:00 am Pacific/9:00 am Mountain/11:00 am Eastern/12:00 pm Atlantic

Zoom Link: https://queensu.zoom.us/j/91591888738?pwd=ZXdHbXZ5OW94S0VZajNXTDZrNFB6UT09

Password: CURA2020

1. Call to Order

a. President welcome and introductions

2. Establish Quorum

Attendance: Dave Leger (Guelph & VP Eligibility), Dan Bechard (Western & VP CURA), Ed Fournier

(Carleton), Walter Martindale (Alberta), Mark Williams (Toronto), Rami Maassarani (Queen's), James

Dyer (Trent), Katie Edwards (St. Fx & President), Jennifer Durward (Ontario Tech), Barney Williams

(Victoria), Craig Pond (British Columbia & Past President), Aalbert Van Schothorst (Victoria), Kate

Gorsline (Ottawa), Mark Laidlaw (Calgary), Mike Pearce (British Columbia), Katie Bruggeling (Queen's &

Secretary), & Peter Somerwil (Brock, arrived late at point 9)

3. Approval of the Agenda

RM moved

MP seconded

4. Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes

MW moved

JDurward seconded

a. Business arising from the previous meeting's minutes

5. Executive Reports

a. K. Edwards

KE:

- The last number of months interesting with many meetings.

- RCA proposed a combined CURA/NRC in 2020. Executive was not interested because important

to be independent.

- It became clear that CURAs was not feasible and the decision was basically made for us

- Executive has some ideas for winter plans: coaches series and virtual competition

- The USports application was submitted but the review has been delayed by a year.

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- Concerned about the feasibility of next season.

b. D. Bechard

DB:

- Would like to continue with schedule of East West East West Other.

- Next year is in Ontario, hosted by Brock in Welland. Nothing has been signed or booked yet.

- 2022 in West (UBC)/2023 Ontario/2024 West/2025 Other

- Is vacating position and not running for re-election.

- Sustainability as a league and event is important, two proposals will be reviewed later aimed at

addressing these gaps.

c. C. Pond

CP:

- Need to fill DB's role for VP CURC

- Need to fill the CURC sub-committee

- New awards process will be proposed for Jan meeting

d. D. Leger

DL:

- Questions about the consumption of eligibility to non-CUs year and transfer

o No consumption of eligibility in 2020

o Transfer athletes – For athletes who already transferred (fall 2020), this will be

considered their redshirt year, making them eligible in 2021

- Created demographic information in support of the U Sports application

o Exact information included in report

6. Regional Updates

a. Atlantic: K. Edwards

KE:

- St FX is the only university in the East running rowing

- NB/St. Thomas & Fredrickton program folded

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- Dalhousie didn't convene at all this year

b. Central: P. Somerwil

PS not present.

MWilliams:

- Some programs training as their universities, and some as local clubs. Some not training.

c. Prairies: M. Laidlaw

ML:

- Calgary is training as university

- Alberta is training as the club

d. Coastal: M. Pearce

MP:

- On the water, limited dryland work

- Hopefully able to host Western CUs at Burnaby next year

7. Committee Reports

a. No reports

8. Proposals/Nominations

a. Fees – D. Bechard

DB:

- Survey from a approx. a year ago and it was clear that we are split on a lot of topics

- Clear issue with financials for host schools

- Hosting school has an average $17,000 shortfall, new proposal takes it to a $5000 shortfall

- Additionally, add to playing regulations that we do a review every 5 years after every "other

host year"

CP: We need to address the average loss.

ML: Rowing tends to keep the costs per athlete as low as possible. Example of keeping the price

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artificially low.

DL: Excellent suggestion to raise fees. Talked about formalizing how hosting works – what would happen

every 5 years? A survey? A budget summary sent to committee after each event?

DB: New VP CURC needs to understand current issues. Expectation of regatta is high.

BW: 3-5% increase every year per cost of living?

DB: Possible but still want to do annual review.

b. CURC Planning – D. Bechard

DB: Ability to schedule championships further in advance allows better planning (ex. Sponsorships)

KG: Put language into the constitution- that the system moves on as usual?

DB: Asked KE if it would negatively impact eastern schools. Point well-taken to make it more predictable.

c. Nominations for VP CURC

9. Voting

a. Fees – D. Bechard

For: All present members

Against: 0

Abstain: 0

Motion carried

b. CURC Planning – D. Bechard

For: All present members

Against: 0

Abstain: 0

Motion carried

c. VP CURC

KE: Vacant till January. Get in touch with Craig if interested.

CP: Also need to populate playing regulation committee.

10. New Business

a. State of universities discussion

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MW: Had surprisingly good and consistent fall. Athletes trained on the water as the two local clubs. Had

sanctioned land practices. Pleased with progress of team. Looking ahead how to get 35-40 indoors with

limited space. Was hoping for a spring race with McGill but will likely just be training. 2021-2022 will be

strained financially.

WM: Club sports did not allow anyone to participate off-campus. Students joined the Edmonton RC.

Starting indoor training soon in a larger space with reduced numbers. Students aren't allowed at the

indoor tank in BH. Uni club sports is doing well budget-wise because no money was spent this fall.

DB: Seemless summer, then off the water mid-fall because of COVID cases. Novice recruitment

happened pre-COVID. Now back on water. Alumni supportive of the situation. Fear of surviving multiple

years like this.

EF: Able to row as Carleton and on the water three times a week in singles. Able to do bubble doubles

for a while but lost that due cases increasing. Could still do household doubles. Overall happy with

maintenance of numbers – had 20-24 active athletes. Almost no novice recruitment, only 7-8 people.

Budget was cut by 50%. Fortunately, we didn't have much expenses. Support from school down – no

sports med. Winter training – ergs assigned to athletes. Mostly training on their own. High-performance

centre slowly reopening, TBD if rowing gets access.

JDyer: Rowing as the university with a team of about 45. Peterborough RC cleared for large boats.

Winter training still TBD– still working on protocols and may need to use the relationship with rowing

club. No novice program. Looking ahead, Jess R will be returning as head coach. JDyer will be going to

teachers' college.

JDurward: 15 athletes, about half of what was expected. No coaching or equipment resources to field

novice team. Hoping to do winter novice recruitment. Still working on indoor training details – will have

erg access. Only one day/week as OnTech plus 2 S&C, but able to get out 3-4 as the rowing club. Had a

false positive, got shut down, but then it was a mistake. Athletics has been supportive.

AV: Didn't get on the water until late July. Series of challenges with large boathouse and multiple users.

Has site for erging.

BW: Taken a lot of collaboration. Thanks to exec for work. Athletes love/miss CUs.

MP: Rowing since July. Things have gone relatively well on the water. Lots of inter-squad work. Roster

numbers strong. Had a novice program. Will have budget crunches - using the time to get ahead of

budget cuts and getting alumni engaged.

Annual Meeting Agenda

RM: Rowed through the rowing club then switched to Queen's. No novice program. Numbers up despite

many staying home. All HP coaches laid were off and are gradually getting back to work. Rowing dodged

the worse of it. Athletics hurting financially but still a good level of support.

DL: Athletes had good compliance with mitigation protocols. Trained through the university. Most of the

team came back; only a few first years stayed home. Rowed 3-5 times a week depending on the level of

athlete. 36 athletes, including 4 who stayed home. Lots of interest in rowing from novices – brought in a

small group and has a good group. Training indoors in the field house with 8 ergs. Training strength

outdoors. No 2021 discussion at this point. Engaging with alumni and hosting a virtual banquet in

January.

KG: Rowed 3 times a week. Most of the team back. Ottawa hotspot, but the club has done a good job of

mitigating risks. The school budget may not be affected but has not been updated yet. Pay per service

for S&C, shut down, hopefully back in again soon. Small group of novices. Some challenges with uni

support staff on strike. Indoor training TBD. Might work with Nordic team for training. Impressed with

athletes.

ML: Athletes are in good spirits. Budget is fine because there's no spending. Women's numbers good,

men's bad. Worried because graduating and no novices. Program mainly built through novices. Has

facility and space to train, but Alberta case numbers up, so potentially could get shut down. Worries

about 2021.

PS: Late approval to get on the water. Smaller team. Singles plus some household boats. Only a few

novices. Can do indoor training. Financial picture unknown/potentially bad.

KE: Rowing as the club. Strong numbers – approx. 40. Crew boats allowed—indoor training with ergs &

strength at local cross-fit. Budget self-funded, so not impacted. Spirits good. Doing volunteer work.

b. Winter training and virtual competition

KE: Virtual competition – later in winter On erg. In lockdown for facility access

Multiple ppl: concern re erg access

KE: Plan something - TBD on the exact methods

c. Exhibition races and eligibility

No discussion – prev. mentioned in DL's report

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d. Recruiting moratorium

KE: Reiterate recruiting moratorium. In-person visits banned and face to face contact.

e. Next-Gen Hubs

MP: Surprise about the hubs shifting. Was not reaching original intent on their end. Program had lots of

problems. Felt that the review outcomes were not fair. Did not consider the head coach position in it.

Frustrating piece, and disagrees with it. Re-evaluating the RCA relationship. Lack of

engagement/communication with RCA and universities. Potential for the partnership to be good but not

achievable with current RCA people in place. RCA knows their thoughts.

KE: Exec would like to be on the same page as CURA for this issue.

ML: Why do we need a partnership with RCA? It's unusual across sports to have integrated relationships

with NSOs. The development system was better without formal partnerships. Hub/university

partnership system does not make sense.

CP: Overcomplicating structure. Not RCA program only. Own the Podium too because of individual

athlete focus. Damaged relationships between RCA and clubs.

ML & MW: Agreed.

WM: OTP, RBC, etc. distractions

AV: Partnership is problematic. Historically uni coaches worked with the national team to allow seamless

operations. Multiple provinces want to centralize athletes. USA has athlete contracts. How do we

protect the athlete? NSO/PSO have too much athlete control. For a university student to participate, we

need parameters/contracts. Clear transition date.

DB: Review blamed universities. Regional hub athletes were more likely to submit radar than university

athletes. Radar has 90-95% compliance. The issue was how Chuck/Ian was accepting the data. It wasn't a

compliance issue but was a circulation of data issue. Regional hub athletes were more likely to hit

standards than university hub athletes—incorrect data and counting of athlete lists. Conflicts within the

season because of NRCs, testing, and camp requirements.

AV: UVic data a problem too.

CP: UBC data problem too.

MP: Appeals to Chuck and Ian are unheard. Need to make concerns known to people on the board.

WM: RCA should be keeping fingers out of university programs.

ML: Volunteering to put that message together if we want to say something.

KE: Interesting to hear perspectives. Talked to Ian and Chuck. We want to support our athletes and their

goals to reach the national team. University coaches feel responsibility for the whole athlete. Should we

turn our efforts inward and do what we do best?

CP: Agreed. Look inwardly.

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AV: We need to reflect on the power of CURA. It needs to be reinforced that it is the focus for studentathletes.

Need to start focusing on the other people on the team. Pulling radar a waste of time for the

rest of the team. Need to start putting up boundaries.

BW: They always say feedback from PSO/NSO is that people like it. More than just people on this call.

KE: What do we need from RCA?

AV: The only constant is the person driving relationships down the tubes. Their job is to be high

performance, but that's not our mandate. We shouldn't be doing business with them.

KE: Had a frank conversation with RCA about decision-making. What's the takeaway here? Do we make

a statement? We could do a better job of defining our collective goals.

AV: Strongly advocate against a letter. Start to defend what the university system is. Their behavior with

US teams' is different. Athlete contract with formal transition dates. Unlikely there will be a radar

window. Unlikely we will ever partner with RCA again.

WM: Sample of contract shared with CURA coaches?

DB: Its their program, and they can do what they want with it. Radar works for Western. We can't make

a statement/contract/expectations with all programs.

PS: Felt the process was determined before it began. Row Ontario had already created the training

centre before it was announced. Could make CURA no longer a part of RCA.

BW: What's the other universities' relationship with RCA?

KG: No real impact and limited relationship.

ML: No relationship.

RM: Minimal to no impact. Does not change the way we operate.

EF: Same here.

DL: Disregard for student-athletes. No impact on us.

KE: Little impact. RCA wouldn't want uni rowers to not be members.

CP: The discussion needs to go to Ian/beyond.

KE: To what degree does any potential alignment with USports play into this?

JDyer: Relationship good with RCA due to key individuals involved at Trent.

CP: USport alignment could make RCA uncomfortable. Would hate to walk away completely.

(ML left)

KG: Dependent because need NSO support for USports application.

MW: Nothing with RCA other than insurance.

KE: Happy to continue to have a conversation with RCA. Create boundaries moving forward.

BW: Systems are the problem, and their systems don't align with universities anymore.

KE: Important to have conversations like this to reaffirm these are shared values. There are more than a

couple of people who say this isn't working.

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AV: Next time RCA has a conversation, the most powerful statement is that we will check in with CURA.

Labeled the four horseman by PSO/NSO.

KE: Wants to be involved in future conversations about university rowing. Asked to be CC'd. Happy to

have a conversation with Terry. Former hubs- send documentation of issues to KE?

PS: Clarify not paying dues by CURA, not club/universities. Specifically, not register CURA.

KE: Could make our stance known.

BW: Athlete contract will get their attention.

KE: Former hubs send me supplementary documentation. Happy to bring this forward.

WM: RCA Board/President vs. employees?

PS: Accurate. Bring to board.

MP: Agreed. Jenn Wallinga was reaching out to get feedback.

KE: Will wait to hear from hubs for points and then possibly write a note to the board.

f. Zoom PD interest

KE: Potential topics include technique, sustainability, succession planning, and a roundtable on each

programs’ tips/challenges. Is there interest?

AV: Zoom fatigue?

MP: Good idea. Focus and short for each one. Opportunity to try something different.

JDyer: Mike Purcer good at facilitating informal discussions.

JDurward: Have had mental health discussions (ex. Resilience, nutrition) with OnTech coaches.

KE: Send topics if you think of one.

KG: Program building would be good.

g. Captain's group

KE: Create a group for captains to contact one another. Interest?

Multiple people gave thumbs up via zoom

KE: Will look at how to connect them.

h. Virtual meeting in January

KE: Next meeting will be virtual. Will align with RCA virtual conference date.

i. USports application status

KE: Submitted and deferred for future review.

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j. Yearly awards

KE: Not realistic to do typical awards because most are based on performance. Does anyone think we

should be doing awards?

ML: No

BW: Athlete council would be valuable here. Non-traditional leadership was happening over the

summer. Team captains meet up to discuss this.

KB: Craig is looking at awards re-structure for January.

CP: Yes, will submit proposal.

11. Adjournment

PS moved.

AV seconded.