It's ACM Time Again

[Canadian Paddler]

I will post topics for each ACM motion. Motions marked 75 / 25 and will be handled under regulation 5.9 (page 175) and voted on immediately. If the motion receives 75% support it will be immediately adopted, if it fails to receive 25% support it is immediately lost. If the motion gains support of between 25% and 75% it will be debated.
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Location
We will be meeting at the British Canoeing building in Nottingham. The British Canoeing building is at the far end of the car park. There are limited tea and coffee facilities. In particular, there may be a shortage of mugs, so please bring your own.
Catering
A free buffet style lunch will be available to delegates on the day. We will need to know the number of people wanting to eat, so please let Colin Woodgate (slalom.Secretary@britishcanoeing.org.uk) know by 18th November if you are coming.
Electronic Paper work
As a cost control and sustainable approach, we are reducing the amount of paper being produced for the ACM. As previously agreed we are distributing the ACM Agenda reports and proposed calendar electronically. Please ensure that you print and bring with you any paper work you require at the meeting.
In order to vote a club must be registered, registration of your club can now be done online: http://bit.ly/SlaReg and Votes are only given to the slalom rep, or a registered proxy, proxy votes can be recorded on line as well: http://bit.ly/SlaProxy
Notes on the conduct of Consultative Meetings
• Votes to which a registered Club are entitled must be held by one of the nominated representatives of that Club. Representatives must be full members of their National Association. Please bring your BC / CW / SCA / CANI membership card with you.
• A Club that is unable to be represented at a Consultative Meeting may vote by proxy as defined in the regulation 6.7. Proxy forms will be have been made available with the Agenda papers, or may be found on the committee pages of canoeslalom.co.uk.
• Representatives who leave the meeting may assign votes or proxy votes to the Chair or other named person with voting instructions by using the procedure used in proxy voting.
• All votes must be cast in accordance with Club instructions. In the case of amendments and amended motions, the person holding the vote shall use it according to her / his instructions. The instructions may give discretion to the person using the vote in any situation. Where there is no discretion given the proxy may not vote on amendments or amended motions
• A motion to suspend a specific, or all Standing Orders, or to change a regulation requires a two thirds majority of votes (excluding proxy votes) to succeed.
Before the ACM please ensure your Club’s Affiliation to BC / CW / SCA / CANI is current. If you are unsure, contact your National Association.
I look forward to seeing you to the meeting.

Hon Secretary – Slalom Committee

[Canadian Paddler]

Phew they are there. REMINDER teh ACM is an OPEN meeting you cam all come and have your say on how the sport grows, changes and progresses

Notes

• tables do not work well and I cannot face trying to space out the tables with spacedotspace etc. So Where there are tables you will have to try to make it out, or get a copy of the Agenda.
• Equally I cannot face trying to mark removed words and added words (again, in a different way) so th emotions show the changed rule, not how it changes
• If I have missed removing something, so a motion does not make sense PM me please and I will try to sort it.

These motions come after
Welcome by Chair, and introduction of some Senior British Canoeing employees attending
Reports (tabled where we can to reduce the time on this!)
Elections:
4.1 Vice Chair
Martyn Setchell has been proposed and seconded by the Slalom Committee. In the absence of any other nominations he will be elected unopposed.
4.2 Secretary
No nominations have been received. Nominations may be made up to the time of the election.
4.3 Committee Members
Co-opted during the year: Steve Linksted (Divisional Development)

Term Expiring 2017, Co-ordinators: Jacky Stokes (Marketing & Publicity), Peter Curry (Safety / Competition Management), Andy Grudzinski (Technical / Timing).
Retiring at this meeting Nick Taylor (Lower Divisions),
There are therefore three positions open for two years, and two for a single year.
Steve Linksted, Peter Curry, Andy Grudzinski, and Andy Neave were nominated for election by the Slalom Committee.

Term Expiring 2018, Co-ordinators: Hazel Ridge (Volunteers)
Other posts (en bloc)

Announcement of the 2017 Ed Ecclestime Award
Recognising the contribution over many years of volunteers and the impact they have made. Nominees this year:
• Gareth Bryant
• Andy Grudzinski
• Dee Lindesay
• Colin Woodgate

After the motions we will approve the 2018 Calendar

Then have open discussion of
8.1 Back to Back runs vs First Runs, Second runs (Martyn Setchell)
8.2 Entry Opening Date (Mark Abbott)
Increasingly, competitions are getting oversubscribed early in the season, with people entering for the whole season very early I the year. The drop off from these entries is often as high as 30% before the race. This is unfair on other competitors, who may not be able to commit so far ahead, so are forever on waiting lists, and on newly promotes who can no longer get entries.
Imposing a date before which entries will not be accepted is intended to reduce the drop off, and allow people a chance to get an entry to the slaloms at the middle and back end of the year.
8.3 Abuse of Officials (Andy Grudzinski)
8.4 Course Erection (Mark Abbott)
The current rules allow for unofficial practice for division 1 paddlers. It is acknowledged that many Division 1 paddlers spend considerable time on courses ‘mastering certain moves before a race (or between races on a two-day event sometimes early in the morning). This has the disadvantage that when they gain promotion to Premier they are unable to paddle courses as they are used to numerous practice runs.
It is also acknowledged by many that due to the unlimited practice and the ease at which some people are getting to Premier the standard in Premier is now lower than it should be with many paddlers unable to deal with the required standard of paddling.
To help addressing these issues we propose to amend the rules to:
• Remove free practice from all Division 1 races.
• No course to be erected until the day before the competition. In the case of a double event, the course for the second day is not to have been erected in the preceding 4 weeks.
Both options will improve the quality and ability of division 1 paddlers, helping to improve the standard of anyone promoted to Premier whilst reducing the ‘home paddler’ advantage.
8.5 Coaching (Mike Chandler)

[Dee]

Curiosity, but how is it decided which motions are 75/25. Absolutely no axe to grind, just pure curiosity

[Canadian Paddler]

Guess work from the secretary, confirmed by the committee, on which motions could have a long discussion with everyone agreeing with one another before being voted for (or against) with a large majority. or changes.

i.e. ones that just move rules round for easier undertsanding have a history of a long discussion with no new points and then being adopted unanimously.

Of course, as with all meetings, a point of order could be raised at the begininning of the meeting to change some motions to (or from) 75 / 25 and/or change the order of motions

[Dee]

Thanks

[Seedy Paddler]

Thanks Colin - perhaps a tad pedantic - but can we be clear on when the meeting is? Front page identifies 25th & 26th November, you seem to indicate it will complete in a day (ever hopeful that will be the case). I am sure the official calling notice will detail but thought we may as well broadcast on here as well.

CD

[CeeBee]

8.4 Course Erection (Mark Abbott)
The current rules allow for unofficial practice for division 1 paddlers. It is acknowledged that many Division 1 paddlers spend considerable time on courses ‘mastering certain moves before a race (or between races on a two-day event sometimes early in the morning). This has the disadvantage that when they gain promotion to Premier they are unable to paddle courses as they are used to numerous practice runs.
It is also acknowledged by many that due to the unlimited practice and the ease at which some people are getting to Premier the standard in Premier is now lower than it should be with many paddlers unable to deal with the required standard of paddling.
To help addressing these issues we propose to amend the rules to:
• Remove free practice from all Division 1 races.
• No course to be erected until the day before the competition. In the case of a double event, the course for the second day is not to have been erected in the preceding 4 weeks.
Both options will improve the quality and ability of division 1 paddlers, helping to improve the standard of anyone promoted to Premier whilst reducing the ‘home paddler’ advantage.

The statement regarding removing practise runs at Div 1 as this has the disadvantage that when they gain promotion to Premier they are unable to paddle course as they are used to practise runs will just move the problem from Div 1 promotons into Premier to Div 2 promotions into Div 1. For many new Div 1 paddlers, they will never have raced at this level of water and therefore practice is essential for not only improving their skills but allowing them to get a decent race and so feel that they have done their best. At least those promoted from Div 1 to Prem will typically have paddled on the appropriate water level for a couple of seasons and had the opportunity to enter Premier races as Paddle Ups when they realise they are reaching the top of Div 1. I think abolishing practice time and practice runs for Div 1 will be a huge negative step in the development of paddlers.

I do agree that courses should not be set many days in advance and practised on repeatedly by those who are able to train at the venue in the weeks leading up to the race. Whoever is setting the courses needs to ensure that the bearers and gates are moved sufficiently from their training positions so that at neither Prem races or Div 1 races, the course has gates in positions that have been practised, particularly upstreams. This should be signed off by the Chairman of the Jury.

I agree that the course should be set no earlier than the day before the competition.

[JimW]

18 different subjects, some of them having more than 1 proposal to debate - am I alone in wondering if we are doing too much tinkering with the rules?

There are some problems with what we have, but in most cases they are a result of compromise and there is no single solution that will suit everyone. The biggest issues seem to be external influence and cannot be solved with rule changes anyway.
Mostly what we have works, does it really need this much tinkering with?