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Review of the NSCAA Board of Directors Meeting in Philly this Weekend
By Amanda | July 28, 2008
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After coaching in New Jersey for two years, the Philadelphia skyline holds a special place in my heart.
I arrived in Philadelphia on Thursday excited to represent the Women’s Committee at the NSCAA Board of Director’s meeting. When I got there, I was cordially welcomed by Al Albert, the NSCAA President. He asked me if I’d be willing to accept a position on the BOD as the Women’s Professional Soccer representative. Of course I humbly, graciously, and immediately accepted.
So the meeting went on for two days. Here’s a brief look at what happened behind closed doors.
On Friday, we went over consent reports, the NSCAA strategic plan, and reviews from important people over at the staff office including Steve Veal (Associate Executive Director), Ivan Scholz (Controller) and Rob Robinson (Finance Committee). Jim Sheldon, the Executive Director, gave an update on the NSCAA, a good segway into the Convention Manager Report from Rob Robinson. The Convention Committee is trying to address a whole host of issues with both schedule and budget so we may see some big-time changes at the Convention in coming years.
Importantly, Al Albert has been working hard to develop the NSCAA Foundation which was set up to provide soccer coaching educational opportunities to under served socioeconomic communities, geographic areas and ethnic groups throughout the United States. Our goal is to have 100% participation by all NSCAA members - and I believe they’re pretty close with the Board and Executive-level members already.
After lunch, we met Mike Curry, who led a Diversity activity where we watched scenes from Crash (the movie) and analyzed how preconceived notions, fear, and prejudice can affect us. Paul Payne (VP for Education) reported on the Education Department’s latest initiatives (which includes about a million sub committees). Jeff Tipping, the Director of Coaching, told us about the recent progress in the Education Department, while Marco Santillan from the Latin American Soccer Coaches Committee and Sam Okpodu from the Black Soccer Coaches Committee both reported on their recent and future activities.
The NSCAA hosted a great dinner across the street from the Marriott at an Italian restaurant, and there was some elbow-rubbing at the hotel bar later that evening.
The next morning the reports went pretty quickly - Past President, Secretary, Pro Reps, High School Reps and Youth Reps. Here are the Consent Items from my Women’s Committee report to give you an idea of how we’ve been working over the past 6 months to serve the community.
THE WOMEN’S COMMITTEE
Our Mission - The NSCAA Women’s Committee exists to educate, professionally develop and serve as an advocate and resource for the women’s soccer community. The Women’s Committee will recognize current and past contributors of women’s soccer and offer services and programs. The Women’s Committee will identify, support and promote women, and coaches of women, into leadership positions.
Our Reach - The 2008 NSCAA Convention Survey Results showed that of the respondents, 90% were male and 10% were female. It’s important to note that 30% responded that they coach males exclusively, 30% responded that they coach females exclusively, and 41% responded that they coach both genders. This means the Women’s Committee represents 70% of the NSCAA membership.
Booth at NSCAA Registration - The Women’s Committee staffed a booth at registration where we passed out flyers that listed all the female presenters in chronological order. Attendees were very receptive and excited to learn more about the Women’s Committee. In general, we observed that younger coaches of women are unaware of the women’s committee, and this direct marketing was a very effective way to reach them.
Women’s Breakfast -Joe Cummings was our Featured Speaker, and Louise Waxler presented the Women’s Committee Award of Excellence to Charlotte Moran. The event was extremely well attended.
The Social for Coaches of Female Athletes - The social has grown exponentially and this year was no different with approximately 200 attendees. In particular, we saw an increase in male attendees and young (20-30something) coaches. The NSCAA and Boston Breakers co-sponsored the event. Tony DiCicco was our Featured Speaker, and Tonya Antonucci announced the launch of Women’s Professional Soccer.Women’s Division of the adidas/Walt Chyzowych 4 v 4 - This year, there were four teams in the women’s division of the 4v4. Interest is growing every year - the major challenge is not a lack of interest, but instead getting players to commit early. Adidas worked with us to reserve four slots, we’d like to have six to eight in 2009.
Open Meeting For All Coaches of Female Athletes - Attendance numbers have remained stable.
Closed Meeting for Women’s Committee Members - We held our closed committee meeting immediately following the breakfast. I’d like to thank Sue Ryan for nominating me to be the new Chair of the Women’s Committee.Featured Female Clinicians - Jitka Klimkova (Czech Republic U17 Girls National Team Coach) was the NSCAA Female Featured Clinician. She presented a field session titled, “Czech Republic: Functional and Progressive Training,” and a classroom session called, “Women’s Soccer in the Czech Republic.” Emma Hayes (Arsenal Ladies Assistant Coach) was the NSCAA Women’s Committee Clinician. She presented a field session titled, “Getting Between to Get Behind,” and a classroom session called, “Global Growth of the Women’s Game.” Feedback has been very positive.
Algarve Cup Trip - Designed to be an interactive professional development opportunity for coaches of all backgrounds, the Algarve Cup Trip allowed coaches to observe national team training sessions and top level international women’s games, while interacting with national team coaches. The feedback once again was that the course was a resounding success on a myriad of fronts. Coaches continue to rave about the content, course length, unique offerings of such close proximity to WNTs from around the World, as well as support for the amount of soccer and psychology they are exposed to, engaged with and informally absorbing via observation or in-person contact with Dr Colleen Hacker, April Heinrichs and other noted Women’s Soccer experts.
Launched an Administrative Website -The goal of this site is to provide a place for exclusively for managing internal postings and publications that pertain directly to NSCAA Women’s Committee business.
WPS and NSCAA Women’s Committee - Amanda spoke with Tonya Antonucci, Women’s Professional Soccer Commissioner, about potentially building a relationship between the NSCAA Women’s Committee and WPS. She was very receptive.
Male Member Serving on the Women’s Committee - Kevin McCarthy will serve as the first male in the history of the Women‘s Committee, other than our National Staff and Board liaisons. Kevin will be working with the Soccer Journal, specifically to increase the visibility of female coaches, and coaches of females.
Coaching Course - Amanda attended and observed a NSCAA National and Advanced National Course in San Francisco. Spoke with all the women in the course individually and held a group meeting to discuss relevant issues in the game.
Convention Presenter - Thanks to Jeff Tipping, Janet Rayfield and Louise Waxler, Steffi Jones (World Cup 2010 Organizer and former standout German National Team player) has agreed to be our Women’s Committee Clinician.
Craig Bohnert, NSCAA Director of Communications, and Lawrence Fine, webmaster, gave presentations about the state of our online media. They’re actively seeking to engage users and help facilitate an online community for coaches. Certainly more to follow on this progress. (-;
Well that was pretty much it. We wrapped up some Old Business, tapped into some New Business, and Steve Malone motioned to adjourn the meeting just around noon. It was a great experience being part of my first NSCAA board meeting, and I’m looking forward to many more.
If you have any ideas, suggestions, thoughts, questions or would like more specific information about any or all of this board meeting, please feel free to ask/post. The NSCAA exists to serve the soccer community and we’re always interested in feedback.
Topics: Amanda, NSCAA, Women's Soccer |