From the State Office

A couple of Reminders:
1. Please double check your spreadsheets! Make sure all spelling is correct and all information is listed. After the fact is difficult for you and for me.

2. BEFORE you put a coach on your spreadsheet make sure he/she has passed the background check.

Thanks and good luck as we get started!
Kathy

Bump

Another reminder. Please do not submit a request for a coaches card without confirmation of a current background check. I currently have 29 coaches that have requested a card without a background check. If you have any questions do not hesitate to email me at kathyjuby@usawks.com

Kathy,

Have those individuals or clubs been notified that the background check has not been completed? Or could you just list the clubs that this applies to without naming the individuals.

Thanks,

Sean

I would like to know the names of the clubs as well!

Two Reminders
1. Background checks go by seasons, not calendar years. (If you have a coach that has not completed the background check you will be notified.)

2. Because of the new format this year for spreadsheets you need to email me and request it. It will not be automatically sent.

smokeycabin & sportsfan02,

Besides contacting the club that submitted an ineligible coach, Kathy is also notifying the district directors of any clubs in their respective districts that are affected. If these steps don't resolve the problem, they might decide to publish some or all of this information, but at this time they are trying to get this fixed without naming names.

No big deal - I know clubs as well as our club have some new coaches going through the process for the first time and it can be a struggle getting all the necessary steps done in the correct order and in a timely manner.

Mike and I have completed our weekly export to USA Wrestling. I have an additional 17 coaches that were submitted without a current background check. These clubs have been notified, along with their district directors and our Kids Director.

Please remember!! It is the club's responsibility to confirm background checks before submitting a card request. I would suggest you require your coaches to show you the confirmation email from TCLogiq. Background checks are good for two seasons (not two calendar years), so if the last background check was completed prior to September 1, 2010, it has expired.

There is a $20 penalty for submitting a request without a background check.

I would like to avoid the embarrassment for clubs and coaches of posting names. However, I may need to start doing so if this situation is not resolved.

Where does it state that a $20 penalty can be given for submitting a request without a BGC.
Also, where does that money go?

Where does it state in the constitution that the state can fine clubs for infractions. This whole thing can be fixed by letting coaches get their cards online through USA Wrestling like every other state in the country does. Why do we continue to go through a club and the state in order to receive a card. Everyone should be able to get online pay their dues and receive their card. this would take the state out of the equation. We wouldn't be paying Kathy to do something that is not needed. It seems like the Juby's and the powers that be in Kansas wrestling have a pretty good deal here. Kathy is already getting paid to process memberships, this is money that could be spent on the kids, now they want to make another 2o bucks by fining clubs that make mistakes. this seems like an abuse of power to me. I think its really stupid that the state body pays the directors wife to process memberships when she can be bypassed altogether and the clubs and participants can get online and order the cards themselves.

"I would like to avoid the embarrassment for clubs and coaches of posting names. However, I may need to start doing so if this situation is not resolved."

I'm trying to figure out why this would be embarrassing to post the clubs names?? Big deal they screwed up and submitted someone whom they thought had a current background check?? Simply don't issue a card....end of story.

Because each club carries the responsibility of controlling whom is getting a coaches card. It makes you wonder what oversight there is if this simple rule is not being followed.

The penalty was approved by the corporate board last season. The amounts received go into our general fund where they are ultimately utilized to support Kansas wrestling. However, I should emphasize that the purpose of the fine is to avoid violating USA Wrestling's rule requiring background checks for all coaches before submitting a membership request, not to be a fundraiser.

This is not in our state constitution, any more than our speed limit is in the state or national constitution. Our team leaders place rules on athletes competing on our regional and national teams, but those rules are not in our constitution. My point is that not every rule requires a change to our constitution. The fine is clearly stated in the registration instructions that are provided to every club.

The decision to handle registrations through our state association rather than via online was fully discussed at the state body meeting two years ago and the vote wasn't even close. As far as saving money, I will remind you (if you were at the meeting, that is) that USAW imposes an additional $5 per card on online registration, so the cost per card would go up to $40.

Concerning the payment that Kathy receives, I would point out that we checked with four other states on how they handle their state offices. All four stated that this position went well beyond what could reasonably be expected from a volunteer position, and all four paid this person. Three of these states did online registration, but they still felt the other duties of the state office required a part-time paid position to insure that the responsibilities were fulfilled. Including Kansas, the states we looked at were the five largest states by membership in USAW (Kansas is the third largest state). Of those other states, one (Missouri) pays a little more than what our board approved for Kathy, one (Wisconsin) pays slightly less and the others (California and Illinois) pay more than double. Because I am the state chairman, I did not vote on either the compensation package or on the selection of Kathy to fill this role, but I did make sure that the decision was fully disclosed to all of our club leaders at the state body meeting prior to implementing the new pay. Finally, on Kathy's behalf I would also point out that she did this job for years as a volunteer before ever seeing any pay.

I understand it and support it, but does it make to much sense to change the rule to state before a card is approved for release to the applicant, instead of before submitting the request?

Take the request for card, check and make sure the applicant is current and send it if that person is, if not deny them without a refund therefore encouraging them to ensure their status.

It seems like this issues shouldn't take this much effort to get right, but it also seems like the process is a little backwards also.

Is there a way to review our staus as coaches for BR check?

Used to be easy now after a couple of times I forgot if I did it from year to year...lol

Tracy,

In an effort to make it easier this year, we added a column on each club's spreadsheet that indicates whether or not each returning coach's background check status is current or not. So far this information has been uniformly accurate, but if the field erroneously says "Current," we would obviously not penalize a club for assuming that information is accurate (although the coach's membership would still not be valid until after they had completed a background check).

Here's an easy, three part process to ensure that your club is in compliance:

• Is this a returning coach? Does the spreadsheet say "Current" in the Background column? If so, you can safely ignore checking on their background check status.
  
• Did the coach come from another club? They need to log onto their USAW membership to check their status, and print out a copy for you.
  
• All others (new coach or returning coach without "Current" in the Background column) need to complete the background check process first.

I serve up the meat ball and Mike knocks it out of the park!

You are right with that added this year it was easy.

I only have 4-5 coaches to worry about, I could see where it was tough before the adition of the "current" column for large clubs with 20+ coaches!