2012 Minutes for planning session - Squash BC

Squash BC’s Executive Director’s ReportLast year squash in BC had a very good year.June 2011 to May 2012Last Sept/Oct saw the launch of our new web site. With the new logo our look was updateddramatically. The new web site also allows me to update various news items and certainother parts of the web site. (I don’t think I’m trusted with full access.) I’ve updated all thejunior section, awards and provincial champions sections. I’ve also edited most of the otherpages to reflect some of our new policies.The backend of the web site continues to be improved although the major updates are doneand everything worked very well this year. Our web site is sort of like an iceberg, 90% of itisn’t seen.The Squash Book was posted to Issuu.com instead of printing hard copies. The actual workof putting it together is still labour intensive but there are no printing costs or mailingcosts. There was zero feedback on the fact we didn’t mail them out. The Issuu web sitetracked that there was 331 views.Dara keeps Facebook and Twitter updated for those that need information on a daily basisand the e-mail newsletter goes out every second Wednesday. All in all I do believe wecommunicate very well with our membersThe junior program is going along just fine and I see only improvement on the way withthe 2020 Fund starting to pay out dividends and groups around the province taking a moreactive role in grassroots. A Canada Winter Games committee was struck and a coach andmanager were hired. I’ll let Sandra tell you all about juniors. I would like to take thisopportunity to thank Sandra for all the hard work, thought and probably sleepless nightsshe has put into the junior committee. There have been some tough issues to deal with andthey have been dealt with fairly and diplomatically. Thank you Sandra.The coaching and officiating keeps trucking along with getting people certified in bothareas the biggest challenge facing the programs. The officiating program is a timeconsuming process that shouldn’t be like that. I gave a certification course at Jericho inOctober 2010 and I have yet to be able to certify one person from that group. Coachingcertification at any level is time consuming and expensive. I believe both programs shouldbe easier to get the initial certification and harder as you go along. There are rumours atthe Squash Canada level that they may look at changing the processes.Doubles in BC seems to be going along just fine. They take care of themselves for the mostpart and I help out where I can. The ladies doubles league is growing and they just finishedtheir second year. There are a few wrinkles to be ironed out but they are getting there.Natasha Doucas has volunteered to take over the doubles committee for Marvin. Marvinhas gone above and beyond the call of duty with doubles. A lot of thanks go to Marvin forall his hard work. Thank you Marvin.Last year we had just under 15,000 matches go into the ranking system. The inter clubleagues still lead the way with 49% of the matches. The club ladders/box leagues input 35%and tournaments are at 15%. The ladder/box league system is gaining in popularity everyyear.24