June 12, 2024
Meeting called to order at 7:07pm CST by Brad Kassing.
Attendance: Marie Ralff, Brad Kassing, Christopher Speers, Dan Bocock, Dan Hanks, Lizzie Hill, Ronald Klepadlo, Anna Marmann, Lauren Stierman, Alyssa Bourne Yoder, Niina Baum, & Lauren Stierman.
Treasurer Report: Marie has opened a bank account with Bluevine. She is just waiting on funds from Wells Fargo. We owe $1,900 for DID Fees. $7,500 is the rough USFSS balance. USFSS has 72 members. Dan B makes a motion to approve. Lizzie Seconds. All in favor.
Meeting Minutes: Minutes were not ready yet for approval. Board will vote on it later.
Athlete Selection Committee: Lizzie shared the athlete selection criteria Dan Hanks proposed to the committee. The committee reviewed and made edits. Lizzie presented the final version to the board. Athletes need to have competed in at least 3 races in a season, more than 3 races is encouraged, athletes who have not competed in 3 races in a season will still be eligible if there are open spots. The selection committee will look at the number of competitors and strength of competition in classes/races athletes competed in. Athletes who go to at least one race outside of their state will be prioritized in the selection process. Going to a WCh requires travel and the selection committee wants to see demonstration of athletes being able to travel for races. Athletes must be in good standing with USFSS and the sport of dog sledding. Brad asks for feedback on the 3 race minimum for the selection criteria. Marie asks about race cancellations impacting the 3 race minimum. The athlete selection committee is understanding that things such as weather can impact races and will take that into consideration when making selections. Athletes will need to have USFSS membership and DID for the season prior to WCh.
Niina makes a motion to approve the selection criteria. Marie seconds. All in favor.
Race Accreditation Committee: Applications are coming in. The deadline is the 15th of June. So far there are at least 7 applications. Chris recommends creating some sort of survey for races who are accredited to ensure they are meeting standards.
Audit Committee: No update as there has not been a need.
501c3 Status Committee: Now that USFSS has regained its 501c3 status this committee is no longer needed. Next steps can be handled by the Audit Committee. Niina makes a motion to dissolve the 501c3 status committee as USFSS now has its 501c3 status back. Lizzie seconds. All in favor.
Sponsorship Committee: Committee has met twice to discuss how USFSS can get sponsorships for the organization and for 2025 WCh. There will be three forms for sponsorships. One for USFSS in general, one for sending athletes to WCh, and one for 2025 WCh in Minocqua. Marie is creating a spreadsheet for organizing sponsorship ask initiatives: What companies are being contacted, what for, who is contacting, etc. WITB is seeking USFSS to commit to providing a certain dollar amount towards 2025 WCh. Dan presented a sponsorship form/letter the committee developed for USFSS general sponsorships. Marie added that Andrew Comoletti is helping create two promo videos to help with garnering sponsorships. There was discussion about USFSS committing $5,000 to 2025 WCh. The sponsorship will present a proposal to the USFSS board at the next meeting for a dollar amount that USFSS will commit to WITB for 2025 WCh.
QuickBooks: Marie brought up purchasing quickbooks for USFSS for $70-$80/year with the non-profit discount. Brad makes a motion to spend up to $100 for one year subscription to quickbooks. Lizzie seconds. All in favor.
WCh and Continentals: Niina shared that she will be putting together a spreadsheet that outlines all the tasks and things that will be needed for 2025 WCh and then each task will be assigned to various committee members. Need about $5,000 in extra funding to pull off a continental championship.
GA: Dan Hanks and Anna Marmann attended the IFSS General Assembly. The biggest thing that came out of the meeting was that for snow world championships, they set a list of eligible places for hosting to ensure consistency.
Open Board Positions: There are three board vacancies. Two active athlete board positions and one at large director board position. USFSS has received 4 applications from Kirya Dunlap, Sally Bair, Alyssa Bourne Yoder, and Lauren Stierman for the 3 open spots.
The board decides to table voting on new board members. The board will promote the open positions to the memberships to garner more applications, and will determine if any current board members are looking to discontinue their current positions to see if USFSS will have additional open spots. The board will review and vote on new board position applications on July 9, 2024.
General Membership Meeting: Marie proposes having a general board meeting for all members to attend. The board will have a general membership meeting in September. This would be once a year.
Social Media: Marie proposes doing some more consistent social media communication.
Canadian Association of Harness Dog Sports: President of CAHDS is concerned about the changes in USDA regulation for transportation of dogs across the borders. She wants to create a committee around this to help navigate the implications of the regulation changes. She is seeking two people from USFSS to join the committee.
Brad makes a motion to adjourn. Lizzie seconds. All in favor. Adjourned at 8:52pm CST.
USFSS 