TRU Board Meeting Notes – 9/11/23

9/11/23

  1. Roll Call
    1. Young
    2. Hughes
    3. Hansel
    4. Hunter
    5. Wegman
    6. Kurylas
    7. Curl
    8. Ozzie
    9. Ohmann-Wilson
    10. Hiller
    11. Dodge
      1. Regrets
        1. Tomsak
  2. Joint Meeting
    1. McPhail: Please note that we combined the RRRC and Board calls as several members are either at the RWC or will be on their way soon. We opened up both calls to all members and so the attendance may look a bit different than normal.
  3. Thanks to Martin / Ozzie
    1. McPhail: Thank you everyone for your support as President. Obviously a big hat to fill (pun intended). I also want to thank Shawn for his service to the TRRA and welcome Ozzie. We’ve already had some calls to get things organized for the next competitive cycle.
  4. Perpetual Trophies
    1. Plaques
      1. Young: So in 2021 we started having perpetual trophies that we can showcase at Championships, events and anywhere we can. We are now up to 10 trophies or something like that and it is just too much to try and bring to every event on top of all the normal operational things. So I would like to propose that we change to plaques and we get high quality ones that screw in instead of glue.
      2. Hansel: I am down to get some quotes as we work with some local woodworkers. I know the TRU works with Crown Awards so we can also go with them as well. I don’t think clubs will have an issue with it.
      3. Young: Great, Hansel if you will get some quotes that would be great. Let’s make sure its agreeable and scalable. 
      4. McPhail: I will add a line item for this one time purchase.
  5. By-Law Update
    1. Tate to continue to work on until next (October) meeting
      1. McPhail: I’ve been chatting with Tate about this and he is going to have something to us by the October meeting so we can circulate. We will follow the current Bylaw voting and quorums as stated when it is time.
  6. Financials – 2022-23
    1. McPhail: I met with Pfleger tonight to discuss finalizing the 2023 cycle and start on 2024 planning. We noted that the Summit made profit and the HOF was neutral. We are above the registration budget and with the Summit being positive the numbers are looking really great. I started taking a crack at the 2023-24 budget and will share that with this group soon. We will be updating the budget format since it is my original one from over 10 years ago.
    2. Young: Wohoo! No more Comic Sans. Dodge did ask me for an updated grant for Mary Graham request from the USAR SCC.
    3. McPhail: Great, who is working on that?
    4. Young: Traci is working on it, I’ll make sure she loops you in.
    5. McPhail: Thanks.
  7. Corporation Status
    1. McPhail: No change, Tate still waiting on IRS determination letter. This ties into the Bylaws conversation above, whichever one comes first we will deal with it.
  8. Call for Event Hosts
    1. McPhail: Just a reminder, we have a busy calendar ahead of us and we will be posting a call for hosts very soon. We feel strongly that these dates will all hold:
      1. RRRC Championships April 20-21, 2024
      2. Gulf Coast Super Regionals May 4-5, 2024
      3. XVs National Championships May 17-19, 2024
      4. Mary Graham All Stars 7-8, 2024
    2. McPhail: We are still at a stalemate with the Gulf Coast and our True South counterparts. I did involve Andrew King from the USAR CCC so he is aware that we are not making ground currently. 
  9. Clubs not in good standing – all clubs fulfill attendance requirements at the Summit? 
    1. McPhail: Where do we stand?
    2. Young: Yes, they were all present! The only thing that I would note is that two of the clubs only attended the administration course and left directly afterwards. The spirit of their sanction was perhaps not understood?
    3. McPhail: Perhaps we will have to add some teeth around what “attending” means. Regardless they are in good standing and we can start the year off in a good place?
    4. Young: Yes, only ORC has fines that haven’t been paid but they aren’t participating this year.
  10. New Business
    1. Rugby Texas / Single Schools
      1. McPhail: At the HOF dinner I was approached by some representatives of some single side schools (high school) and there has been lots of frustration over the last few years. I received an update that some of the single school teams would like to leave Rugby Texas and join the TRU. Supposedly they have a meeting on Wednesday to get greater clarity on where they are going. These representatives did mention that there are other Unions that are allowing HS teams to re-join their Union. I did ask these representatives to do some research on that and get back to me. I just wanted to give you a heads up that there is a storm brewing.
      2. Hansel: I was on the RT Board for a couple of years and am pretty close with their current administration. I would love to help with that conversation.
  11. Meeting Adjournment (9:00 PM)