Special Board of Directors Meeting SFTL Masters Booster Club
March 9, 2025
6:30 PM
Zoom
President Wesgate called the special called Board of Directors meeting to order at 6:35 PM via Zoom video conference.
Present
Jody Wesgate, Erica Weston, Eddie Tiozzo, Melissa Scott
Absent: Phil Wenzel, Matt Goracy, and Mark Richards
Others Present: none
Coach Blake’s Proposed Budget for Attending the USMS Open Water Nationals on April 4th and 5th in Sarasota, Florida
Discussion: Directors discussed how the coach gave short notice of his desire to have the Booster Club cover his personal and team T-shirt costs for the Sarasota open water championship meet. The Board first learned of his intention at its Directors’ meeting held March 1, 2025, and received a proposed budget on March 5, 2025. Directors also discussed the following: (i) the lack of precedent for sending a coach to an open water meet; (ii) Board’s previous determination to not support open water swimming due to safety & liability concerns; (iii) only ten registered swimmers as of date of meeting; (iv) coach’s intent to compete in one of two events; (v) lack of promotion or communication to team about event; (vi) Sarasota meet is a USMS sanctioned open water event unlike many other open water events in South Florida; (vii) cost of shirts; (viii) coach’s dedication and commitment to open water swimming and reaching out to new swimmers; (ix) benefits of promoting open water swimming to team members; and (x) imminent need to finalize the supported swim events for remainder of 2025 and to create a policy for accepting and reviewing requests for financial support related to swim events.
Motion: Melissa moved to cover all of Coach Blake’s proposed swim meet costs pertaining to travel (accommodations, gas, & per diem totaling $532) but not to cover his personal meet registration fee nor any fees for team apparel such as t-shirts or caps. Seconded and passed.
Motion: Jody moved to add a stipulation to the coverage of costs whereby Coach Blake agrees to: (1) promote and educate the membership about the Sarasota event and his plan to attend; and (2) provides the Board with a follow-up report. Seconded and passed.
Summary of Action Items: Jody will communicate to Coach Blake the Board’s decision to cover some but not all costs and the accompanying stipulations. Directors shall prioritize the finalization of a swim meet calendar at the next Board meeting. Directors shall create a policy requesting coaches to share their interest in attending a swim meet and/or supporting members at a swim meet at least three months (or some other timeframe) prior to the swim meet’s date. Policy shall also include a requirement that the event is adequately communicated to the entire membership and a requirement for a minimum number of members to be registered for the event.
Meeting adjourned at 6:55 PM
Meeting minutes submitted by Secretary, Melissa Scott.
SFTL Masters 