by John Pinyerd USAWildwater Committee Chair

Attendance:
WWC members attending by phone: Tom Wier, Doug Ritchie, Ben Sandiford; Attending in person: John Pinyerd, Chris Hipgrave, Shaun Smith, and Rob Murphy

Old Business:

• Wildwater Volunteer Recognition: Ben Sandiford: Will have plaques prepared for Tom Calhoun, Chuck Brabec, and Ed Loffell that name them as “Honorary Members of the USA Wildwater Team”. John Pinyerd will write a brief article for USAWildwater.
• Treasurer’s Report: Hipgrave/Sandiford: Currently we have a total $12,667 in commitments and cash for 2006. After an open discussion on how the tiers I-V worked in the ’05 budget, it was agreed upon that Hipgrave/Sandiford will prepare a proposal for the 06 Budget for WWC discussion and approval (following similar guidelines to the ’05 budget).
• Number of Boats at the World Championships Rules Change: Hipgrave will provide a proposal to the WWC Bylaws language to reflect new ICF Rules change allowing 6 boats/team in each class with 4 boats per class per competition.

WWC “At Large” Board Members Selection:
In order to fill the three vacant “At Large” positions on the WWC, the voting members of the WWC nominated and unanimously approved these new “At Large” members:

• Geoff Calhoun – previously served as Eastern Division Rep and works tirelessly to promote and coach Wildwater.
• David Jones – a many time WWC member in the past who can potentially help us with fundraising in the future.
• Chris Wiegand - previously on the WCC. As Director of the Front Range Paddling Association, Chris is a key link to the development of Wildwater in CO.

New Business:

• 05 Rankings: Pinyerd will follow up with Martin Bay on the status of the 05 Rankings. If Martin is unable to complete them, Murphy will handle them (Wier will provide support on the methodology).
• Team Trials Update: Hipgrave is working with sponsors to provide housing, cash for uniforms, etc.
• Uniforms: Hipgrave/Sandiford met with Layers this past week for a 06 Uniform. After discussion, it was agreed that Masters uniform jackets should be the same as the senior team if possible.
• 2006 Worlds Update: Hipgrave – Although the ICF has not given official approval, the Worlds (including Masters Classes of 35, 45, and 55 age groups) is being scheduled for Karlovy Vary CZ June 13-18.
• 2006 Housing/Travel Plans: Mike & Kristen Beck will need to move forward with securing housing in KV CZ.
• USA Masters Racers at the 06 Masters Worlds: Masters Racers (that are not on the regular team) will be requested to make a donation to help pay for their uniform and will need to have completed a regional or national level whitewater race within the last year to help show that they are capable of racing at the Masters World Championships.
• 2006 Nationals Update - Pinyerd – After discussion, the WWC unanimously voted to leave the 06 Nationals as scheduled on June 16-18 in conjunction with FIBArk in spite of the conflict with the Worlds. USA Wildwater will work to promote Nationals as the race you must do if you cannot go to the Worlds.
• Training Camp Funding: Sandiford to have a check sent to Pinyerd for $400 for the Chute the Hooch Training Camp (which had about 30 people attend). We need for training camps in other locations.
• New Conference Call Service: Hipgrave – Skype is the official phone service of the USOC and USACK. Conference calls via the Internet are free. We will experiment with this service and attempt to implement it for WWC conference calls.

Other:

• Recruiting Masters Racers: Sandiford will reach out to them by phone. Pinyerd will write a “Calling all Masters” article for www.USAWildwater.com
• Wildwater Hall of Fame: Sandiford will try and find John Butler and put together and article for USAWildwater.com. Murphy will work with Brent Reitz to put together an article and pictures.
• Columbia Jr. Worlds in 07: Sandiford will follow up with Dave Mason for a status update from the ICF as well as the local organizer.
• Recruiting Juniors: We must start actively recruiting juniors if we are to have a full team in 07. Hipgrave to forward Matt Taylor’s email address to Pinyerd.
• Petition to miss 06 Team Trials: Hipgrave – Chris Wiegand is officially petitioning the WWC for a slot on the ’06 USAWildwater Team for C-2 (with Nic Borst). They are well qualified based on their 05 Nationals results. Chris and his wife have a pregnancy due date of April 1st.

Next Meeting:
The next formal meeting will be held in conjunction with Team Trials, Saturday PM, April 1st. The WWFC will communicate by email until then.