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OEA Board of Directors April 9/19 Meeting Minutes

Present:  Deb Welna, Ann Neal, Caroline Abrahams, Terri Hough-Gilmour, Veronica Low, Kathleen Wilson

By Phone:  Shannon Nazar, Charlotte Hodgson, Roseanne Corbett, Andrew McDermott, Mark Nelson, Cheryl Niemuller, Pat Frewen-Lord, Kate Farrell, Peta Christen

Regrets: Lindsay Mahon

  1. Call to Order: 7:06 p.m.

  2. Meeting Opening


  3. Welna opened the meeting and welcomed members.

  4. Low motioned, P. Christen seconded and carried motion to accept agenda.

A modification was made to the minutes from the last meeting to reflect a TD meeting which has already taken place. V. Low motioned, P. Christen seconded and carried motion to accept the updated March 11, 2019 minutes.

  1. Matters for Discussion

Presidents Report

Interprovincial Championships

Based on discussions with EC it was very clear that no interprovincial championships are approved for 2019.  It is very important that Directors don’t confuse interprovincial champs with other events organizers may wish to hold, such as fun adult amateur events which may attract participants from out of province.

  1. Organizers Meeting

Discussion ensued about an email sent to Organizers asking if they would like to propose an end of year event and to date no response has been received.  We will look at the viability of holding champs in 2020.  In the meantime, the Communications Committee has reached out to see if organizers would like any publicity or media profile via OEA’s social media, or if they need assistance with their own media sites.

  1. Social Media Posts

There was quite a bit of activity related to the new EC rule for body protectors.  This will be discussed under the Communications Committee item later in the meeting.

  1. Treasurer Position

There was continued discussion about the need to find a replacement for Roseanne as soon as possible so they can shadow her and learn about the position.  An individual known to Caroline, Ann and Terri was thought to be a possibility and Caroline will reach out to that person.

Treasurer’s Report

  1. The tax return for OEA has been filed and financial statements are available on OneDrive.  To date OE has sent membership revenue only to November.  They are aware they are behind and M. Nelson noted that they’ve switched to a new membership software which is creating challenges.  It was agreed that OE will very likely get back to us to ensure OEA membership revenue is transferred.

Roseanne confirmed that M. Hodgson would make a new batch of pinnies with elastic straps to wear over air vests and probably sell for $25 inclusive.  It was agreed that her logo would be best on the inside of the pinnie and that OEA should do some social media posts thanking her company for making them available.

Roseanne also asked OEA Board members to cc her when answering emails.  Best practice would be to bcc her on responses.


Committee Report Updates

  1. Strategic Planning and Governance Committee

It was agreed that Pat will step in to this committee to fill the vacancy left by K. Bailini.  It was noted that a meeting date needs to be set up.

Action

  1. Frewen-Lord to set up a meeting of this committee

  2. Communications Committee

  3. Hodgson noted that she placed a Communications document in the OneDrive and members should keep the link handy if they want to know what’s coming up. C. Hodgson stressed that members need to get her the information at least the day before as she is not able to post on Facebook until the end of her workday.  M. Nelson reported that our ability to use Zoom for conference calls is limited as the Schomberg Community Centre does not have wifi.  K. Wilson noted that she has access to a mobile wifi hub that we might be able to try at a future meeting.  V. Low noted that conference calls are still a necessity when communications are required outside of a wifi zone.  S. Nazar raised the issue of the Ontario mini omnibus and if we should do an electronic version or a printed version.  It was noted that changes may get made on the EC website to the electronic versions, so we would have to have a disclaimer identifying that we are not responsible for changes in a printed version.  It was agreed that the Communications Committee should come forward with a proposal on a printed vs. electronic version.  It was also noted that we could have a YouTube Channel if the plan was to do interviews of competitors and adult amateurs.  The opportunity for OEA to have a representative at OE meetings was also raised.  C. Hodgson volunteered to be our rep and D. Welna agreed to get information to her.

Action:

  1. Communications Committee to develop a proposal on the best system configuration for OEA meeting communications.

  2. Wilson will set up Directors with standard signature blocks using the @ontarioeventing.com email

  3. Determine options for moving forward with printed omnibus

  4. Welna to provide C. Hodgson background information on OE Board meetings.

Athlete Development

Growing the Sport Committee

Ann Neal reported on OEA presence at the 2019 CanAm event.  Shandiss Macdonald and Penny Rowland were excellent clinicians and the riders were admirable ambassadors.  In reflection, suggestions for future similar events were:

  1. Potentially have a video highlighting all three phases of eventing

  2. Possibly having a powerpoint presentation as well

  3. Get business cards for directors to hand out

  4. See if we can’t get an association rate for a booth, rather than a vendor rate

  5. Ann noted that more volunteers are needed to help with dressage and jump schooling events and it was agreed that Young Riders should give back to the program.  It was noted that 1 Director needs to be at each of the upcoming events and for the next meeting we need to focus on volunteers.  It was also suggested that we need a dressage day in Eastern Ontario.  Other ideas including creating an eventing checklist that we could laminate, considering a “road to Ohio” with a known coach and more sessions on preparing for an FEI 3-day event for AA’s.

Action:

  1. Create outline for OEA participation in future clinics/special events such as CanAM/RAWF to optimize participation

YR/U25 Committee

So far, we have 36 riders signed up with 17 Pre-Training, 7 Training, 9 Preliminary and 3 Intermediate with a total of 54 horses.  Communications are starting to go out and clinic information is online.  Clinics are a flat fee of $50 per rider/horse and $10 to audit and the group discussed the need for a policy on discounts for YRs/U25s who volunteer.  C. Niemuller also noted that she needs a more official OEA email to respond to inquiries about this program and K. Wilson agreed to look after a standard signature block for OEA Directors to use. Cheryl also noted that they are doing the draw next week for YR/U25s to receive free entries

A discussion ensued about the Sam Watson clinic and interest from a few sponsors.  V. Low, P. Rowland and C. Niemuller are confirming details of the clinic and investigating whether we could expand the date to offer a dinner with a Q and A session to OEA members.

Action:

  1. Develop a proposal for funding to use Sam Watson clinic to support Coach Development and parent education

Adult Athlete Development

  1. Nelson noted nothing to report at this time.

Sponsorship Committee

  1. Low has been working with additional sponsors and noted that one has provided OEA with a free tent and a major retailer is offering 25 saddle pads and 25 garment bags to our YR/U25 divisions. To date approximately $28,500 has been raised in sponsorships and she is actively working with other companies on additional support and another retailer is interested in sponsoring Adult Amateurs.

Competitions and Champs Committee

  1. Low reported that leaderboards will now fall under the C & C committee. Discussion ensued around the importance of making sure all venues are using accurate systems for scoring and assigning eligible riders to the correct divisions.

EC Rule Change re: Body Protectors

There was considerable discussion of this issue as it occupied much of social media in recent weeks.  P. Frewen-Lord emphasized that this is an EC responsibility and organizers are not responsible for enforcing the rule.  It is a rider responsibility and organizers are only expected to provide a volunteer for tack check.  The enforcement of EC rules is up to the EC and their officials.  It should be considered similar to the implementation of standards for acceptable helmets.  D. Welna noted that ideally tack stores should become familiar with the specific rule (Article D114) of the EC rulebook, and which of their products meets the standard. P. Christen noted that it is up to the ground jury to consider all factors when making a decision about application of rules in a particular situation.  It was noted that future OEA blasts should emphasize rider responsibility of knowing the rules.

Volunteer Incentive Program Committee

No formal report although recognize need to develop ideas to encourage volunteers.  It was noted that some venues give volunteers credits for future use such as schooling.  M. Nelson noted that he invests considerable resources in enticing volunteers and other venues are known for treating them very well.  For several organizers they recognize support and resources for volunteers (e.g. swag) is part of the cost of doing business.

Action:

  1. For next meeting develop ideas to promote and reward volunteers

Banquet, AGM and Awards


  1. Welna noted that she and A. Neal need to meet to move forward on plans. V. Low and C. Hodgson will also be included in the planning.  We need to clarify that awards will be provided to 8th place.  It was confirmed that the Nottawasaga Inn will be the venue and that we have secured the DJ for the date.  The committee is still looking for ideas on seminars.

Action:

  1. Set meeting to clarify plans for AGM and awards

Funding Programs

  1. Frewen-Lord noted nothing to report at this time.

Officials, Safety and Rules

  1. Farrell will be seeking clarification on the possibility of a clinic at Bromont for officials to upgrade/renew qualifications. It was suggested that a communication go out reminding officials of the availability of financial support to upgrade/maintain qualifications.

Action:

  1. Create communications for officials reminding them of financial assistance for upgrading qualifications 

  2. Other Issues

  3. Corbett reminded Directors of the importance of purchasing a membership. Three Directors have yet to do so. It was also suggested we promote associate memberships ($30) to parents so that they can vote and partake in other OEA activities.

We need to be better plugged into the availability of bursaries and grants from EC and OE.  Information is difficult to find and it was noted that we need to connect with the ED from OE and should occur through our OEA liaison with OE.

Next Meeting: May 13th, 2019 – 7 p.m. in person

Meeting Adjournment10:05 p.m. moved by V. Low and seconded by P. Christen

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