12/15/2013 DCCA General Membership Meeting Minutes

DCCA Membership Meeting

December 15, 2013

Secretary’s Minutes

Meeting called to order on December 15, 2013 at 1:00 pm by Jeff Martino.

In Attendance

Jeff Martino - Wilmington University

Jack Speakman - St. Mark's High School

Danielle Dixon - Milford Middle/Milford High School

Rhiannon Salsman - Postlethwait Middle School

Brian Payne - Individual

Jean Avery - Christiana High School

Marie Speakman - St. Mark's High School

Ben Hawkins - Delaware Diamonds

Christine Lynn - Caravel Academy

Ayasha Joyce - Hard Knock Athletics

Ashley Callahan - Dover High School

Shauntae Ford - Woodbridge High School

Ann Gahan - MOTYFCL

Daria Word - Reach Academy

Samantha Welsh - Providence Creek Academy

Amy Hoff - TriState Athletics

Secretary’s Report - Danielle Dixon presented the minutes from the Membership Meeting held on September 15, 2013.

New Business Topics of Discussion:

  • Committee Updates

      *Rules & Regs: We are still waiting for confirmation from Smyrna High School to submit the State's Registration Packet. Judges information will be reviewed and the selection process will begin soon.

      -Questions/Concerns about the tentative State's Packets that was presented at the September meeting:

                  *Clarification for the Recreation Divisions: the divisions for recreations teams are based solely on the AGE of the participants.  Once a division is selected based on age, you are allowed to do UP TO the max skill level shown in the chart.  Those levels are based on the USASF rules.  This was changed to create more competition in divisions that would normally only have one team registered.  These divisions are for states only, qualifier hosts may create their own divisions.

                  *Recreation teams MUST cheer for a sport at some point during the year.  If your recreation program does not cheer for a sports team, you must register in the All-Star division.

                  *Teams must compete in the same division TWICE, to qualify for states. 

                  *There is no co-ed division for middle school.  Varsity co-ed teams must have 2 or more males.

      *By-Laws: No updates at this time.

      *Scholarship Committee: The scholarship packet for the 2013-2014 season has been updated and approved by the BOD. It is available online and will be emailed to all coaches with the State's Registration Packet.  The changes made were the dates, mailing address, and essay question. If anyone is interested in helping with the scholarship winner selections for this year, please contact Rhiannon Salsman.

                  -The scholarship winner from the 2012-2013 season that had not selected a school as of the September meeting, has now selected a school and her check has been mailed. All scholarships from the 2012-2013 season have now been paid.   

      *STUNT: The STUNT division is being researched for the High School level for the 2014-2015 season.

      *Sportsmanship: No updates at this time.

      *States Committee: We are still penciled in for Smyrna High School for Saturday, March 1st, 2014, however we have not had any response from the Athletic Director in several weeks.  Marie Speakman will contact St. Mark's High School, Ann Gahan will contact St. George's High School, and Danielle Dixon will contact Cape Henlopen High School to find out their availability in case Smyrna is no longer available.

      *Coaches Conference: Jean Avery and Brian Payne are working on the coaches conference to be held August 17, 2014.  Please contact Jean or Brian with any ideas or suggestions for what you would like to see presented at next year's conference.  The coaches conference is held to educate the DCCA coaches and we would like to offer resources and presentations that the membership will find the most helpful for the 2014-2015 season.  

  • Concussion Safety and Awareness

      *Jean Avery presented Concussions and Cheerleading.  High School coaches are required to take the Concussion Safety Course every year, but most other programs are not required to take it.  Jean presented information on how to safely and effectively recognize and treat a concussion.  The best option is to immediately send the participant to the Athletic Trainer or Doctor.  Also remember, perfection before progression!  The best way to avoid injuries and concussions is to safely progress from one skill to the next, after the participants can demonstrate perfection of the lower level skill.  If anyone has any questions about concussions or the training course available, please contact Jean.

                  -There is IMPACT testing available that sets a baseline score for each participant.  In the event of a possible concussion, the participant can retake the test and a concussion will be easier to assess and diagnose.  Please contact your supervisor or Athletic Director to find out if that is available for your organization.

                  -There is also a BESS stability/balance test that can be given to each participant to help recognize and diagnose a possible concussion.

                  -DCCA will be working on adding a Reference Library to our website to help coaches access this concussion information, as well as other coaching resources, more easily.

  • Additional Suggestions, Needs, Questions, Etc.

      *There is a College Prep Clinic being held by Wilmington University on February 23, 2014.  This clinic is open to all High School Juniors & Seniors.  It is co-ed and all girl and you may send individuals or whole stunt groups.  The clinic is from 10am-2pm and the cost is $50 per participant.  Please contact Jeff Martino for more information.

      * MOTYFCL is looking for a single leg stunt clinic for their recreation teams.  Dover and Christiana have offered to help.  If anyone else is interested, please contact Ann Gahan.

      *Varsity scores sheets will be used for the All-Star/Recreation divisions this year. They are very similar to the ones that were used in previous years and the previous score sheets were based off of those Varsity score sheets.  This will be an easy transition and will make judging easier because the judges are already using the Varsity score sheets in other states.

      *Tumbling clarification: half plus one tumbling means the numbers of PASSES THROWN, not the number of participants throwing the passes.

  • Next General Membership Meeting

      *Wednesday, February 19th - Location TBD, Kent County - Dinner at 5pm, Meeting at 6pm

                  -We are looking into getting the computer lab at the Wilmington University Dover Campus and possibly offering online certification for CPR and First Aid.

Motion to end the meeting by Ashley Callahan, Second by Amy Hoff. Meeting was adjourned @ 1:43 pm.

Delaware Cheerleading Coaches Association