OHSCTA Annual Coaches’ Meeting
March 11, 2012, Sherwood
a. Annual report of the Association
given by the Executive Director
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James Horton stated that three amendments
to the OHSCTA Constitution were passed in recent months by near unanimous voting: New tournament format (15-0), new tiebreak
system (14-1) and new eligibility rules (14-0). He said that this represented such broad agreement that he hoped these issues
are now settled and the focus of attention can now go to league expansion.
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James announced that his successor
at Executive Director, Andrei Botez, would begin his two-year term on Sunday.
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James brought up the subject of Chess
for Success and their apparent desire to expand into the area of high school team championships. James questioned whether
this would be a good thing. He said that OHSCTA is the single body in the state that officially crowns high school chess team
champions and that OHSCTA does a good job with it. He said having another organization doing the same thing would only confuse
matters. He said that he would not support such a move. The consensus of the coaches was the same.
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James mentioned that the OHSCTA Championship
tournament is now considered an OSCF qualifier. Dan Dalthorp explained what this meant. Ed Addis gave his opinion that a season
of league play should also be considered an OSCF qualifier. Dan Dalthorp explained why OSCF could not allow that. James noted
that in a previous conversation, Dan had come up with a good idea about holding more OSCF weekend chess tournaments like the
one he runs each year in Corvalis. James said that if there were an OSCF chess team tournament held in the Portland area each
year it would allow Portland League coaches to inform their players about it and arrange for teams to participate in them.
This could add a new dimension to teams ordinarily only involved in league play and might prove fun and popular with players.
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Financial report was given by Treasurer
Jon Nuxoll. Beginning balance in Sept 2010 was $2,442.82. Ending balance after Sherwood tournament was $2,849.81.
b. League reports
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Portland League: Stephen Runion.
Steve said Lake Oswego took first, with Clackamas a very close second.
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Mid-Western League: Zane Kesey for
Dave Swanston. Zane said that Cottage Grove came on strong and surprised Pleasant Hill with a 5-0 sweep as the season closed
to take first.
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Southern League: Nancy Keller said
that they had started and expansion into Medford.
c. Tournament issues
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All agreed the tournament was going
well, but there was concern about how closely the table rows were placed and the possibility of interference by team members
and spectators standing so close to observe. A decision was made to move the rows further apart prior to Saturday’s
start of round 3.
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James said that our tournament host—Kris
Field-Eaton—had done a fantastic job and that she and her crew should be commended.
d. Committee reports
e. Tournament Organizer’s
report
f. Elections
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James said that OHSCTA Secretary
Dan Sharp had not been heard from for quite some time and would need to be replaced. James said he didn’t know exactly
what the duties of the Secretary were—as near as he could tell there were no duties. Jon Nuxoll said that it was a requirement
to have three officers on our Board, so to do this have an Executive Director, Treasurer and Secretary. James said that he
had been maintaining the website and the e-mail system from his position as Executive Director, but that we could shift these
responsibilities to the Secretary and nominate and elect a new one. Andrei agreed that he would like this. James Horton was
nominated and elected by unanimous vote by the coaches present.
g. Amendments to the Constitution
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James asked if anyone had any thoughts
on new amendments needed that were needed. Ed Addis said that the rule on the team captain’s role needed revision. There
was discussion on the rule, and it was decided that an amendment should be drafted. Andrei helped craft one on the spot; it
was voted on and passed.
h. The date and potential
sites for the following year’s tournament
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There was general discussion on this
topic. We knew that CFS is scheduled for the first weekend in March (the 2nd and 3rd), It was decided
that for the OHSCTA Championships, the second weekend in March (the 9th and 10th), was probably most
preferred, with the last weekend in Feb being second. We will await coaches looking into the subject when they return to make
the final call. The decision was made for a Constitutional amendment to extend the window to the second weekend in March.Three coaches stepped up to offer
possible sites for next year’s tournament: Dan Dalthorp, representing Corvalis, Zane Kesey, representing Pleasant Hill
and Randy Smolensky, representing Junction City. Follow-up will be done to determine which site will be utilized.
i. Other items of interest
to the members
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Taylor Wilhour mentioned that, though
a member of the tiebreak committee, he wasn’t consulted on the last-minute shift from Performance of Opposition to US
Am Team System. James acknowledged that it had been rushed and apologized for having left him out.
Meeting was adjourned.
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