Sims Scholarship
Committee:
Minutes from the Sims Board of
Directors Meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Houston corresponding with the Houston
National Invitational:
Friday, March 14,
2008, 10:00pm-12:15am:
Several people came in
throughout the meeting due to coaching, judging, or running the meet.
Members Present:
Jerit Pogue (JP) President
Tim Erwin (TE) Treasurer
Kevin Muenz (KM) State Chairman / Member at large
Sean Sims (SS) Family Representative
Michael Peña (MP) Vice President
Bill Foster (BF)
Member at large
Greg Schram (GS) Secretary
Mark Sherman (MS)
Judging Liaison
Tom Meadows (TM) Proposal:
TM – Explained a new
Regional Camp for the top Level 6-10 boys.
It will likely cost 20-25K+, but the exact numbers are not known at this
time. The region is helping with about
12K. TM is asking that the Sims Board
allows an annual donation of $1500 go towards the new camp’s cost. The intent is to help the athletes have their
cost be at or below $100 each.
More discussion regarding
the camp:
It will be for 36 athletes,
be a week long, held at OU (always), it will replace the past regional short
camps, it is similar to what Kelly Crumley does with Region 5, it will help
with coach/gymnast continuing education/training, etc.
MS – Questions: 1: Is
the money really needed?
2: What about those families who
do not have a financial need?
3: Could it be donated by someone
else?
More discussion regarding
the current intent, focus, and mission of the scholarship.
SS – Discussed how Mike Sims
helped with camps. The new camp (along
with other new ideas) could help improve the image and broaden the
scholarship’s focus.
Proposal TABLED for now until we have more info on exact costs of
the camp and have redefined the mission of the scholarship.
Level 6-10 State Meet
(Handout): (The L6-10 State Meet
is being hosted by the Sims Board):
The handouts include:
1: State Meet Final
Schedule.
2: Clubs with their
corresponding levels/numbers entered.
3: All income and expenses
(both exact and predicted).
Discussion about the
schedule session/level changes due to the number of Level 10s.
Discussion about the judges
(main and assistant) fees.
Main judges are to receive
$650 + travel.
Assistant judges are to
receive $325 with travel included in that.
The TX State account is
helping out and will write 6 checks for $75 each directly to the 6 main judges.
JP will work with MS to
finalize the judges’ assignments, travel, fees, etc.
Review of meet
components/jobs:
Gym Set Up / Tear Down –
SS (Bret and GS to bring AAI PB and
PH mats from EWA).
Discussed LD Bell Equipment, other AAI equipment,
Renting/Rules, etc.
Data Entry - JP
Programs – MP
Raffle – GS and JP
T-Shirts – BF
T-Shirt
discussions:
They
will be multi-colored, both sides, and athlete names on back.
They
will cost us $7.65 per shirt, and we charged $15 (preorder) and will charge $18
at the meet to cover the s/h cost since they will likely be mailed after.
Judges – MS – working with
JP, some judges still need rooms, etc.
Gifts for Athletes and
Coaches – TE and JP. Terry Williams
might help as well.
They should cost about $3-5 per athlete and $10 per
coach.
Awards – KM and JP
Hospitality – SS
Trainer – SS and JP
Volunteers (helping with
admissions, raffle, decorations, & nearly everything) – LD Bell Parents –
SS
The total income from the
meet is tentatively listed now as $36,885 with $25,997.76 as the total expense
giving the scholarship fund a $10,887.24 potential net profit. See handout for more details.
Scholarship
Guidelines:
JP – Questions for board: 1: How do we make decisions on how much to
give?
2: How do we handle
the proposal from TM (and others like it)?
3: What about those
who get $ and then quit?
4: Can it be for
coaches too?
MP – Broaden what we are
doing now. Camps for athletes/coaches,
college help for coaches. Make sure
to split the amount given to the recipients by semester and require
transcripts.
MS – Expand to
“contributing” to gymnastics – judges, coaches, gymnasts. Use incentives. They get the scholarship after they
contribute.
KM – agrees.
BF – agrees and mentioned
need for accountability.
GS – agrees with all so far
and mentioned it could be for all – rec teachers, team coaches, judges,
gymnasts, etc – based on their “contributions” not just recently, but over the
course of time.
JP – give $ out after they
earn it.
SS – Keep it similar to the
past guidelines as the first basis for entry and then expand it.
Mission Changes TABLED to be hashed out at the GAT meeting.
Regarding the amount given:
BF – let it be general for
the committee to decide. Putting too
much structure/control leads to problems later.
JP – agrees, but would like
some guidelines. Maybe $1000 for first
year recipients?
MS – mentioned again the
financial need issue.
GS – mentioned how some people
who would be first year recipients have contributed a lot more or a lot less
than others. Therefore, if/when the
scholarship’s mission broadens to include coaches, judges, etc…it would be
something to consider and having a strict guideline could be problematic.
Financial Update –
Quick:
JP (since TE not there yet
due to HNI meet) – reviewed funds in account and % returns – conservative.
Applicants:
6 applicants. Each one had some/all of the info submitted –
essays, recommendations, transcripts, video, etc. The board members who knew the applicants
spoke on their behalf. There was much
discussion on each. Those with conflict
of interest were asked to leave the room during the voting and amount
decisions.
We said yes to 4 of the 6 –
giving each $1000 - $500 for first ½ and then $500 later for 2nd
½. They must continue to train and
maintain their GPA. (Names left off for
privacy as usual).
Those not getting the
scholarship were due to too low of a GPA or poor performance.
Final thought:
Besides the tabled items
(Tom’s Proposal & the Mission Changes)…we should look into simplifying the
application form to possibly be 1-2 pages total.
Respectfully Submitted,
-Greg Schram
Secretary - Sims Scholarship Committee / Board
(214) 415-7614
greg@schram.org
633 North King Road
Royse City, TX 75189