USA Boxing
October 15, 2009
TO: USA Boxing Membership
FROM: Michael S. Martino, Interim Executive Director
DISTRIBUTED VIA: Web & Email
CONFERENCE CALL SUMMARY
I
want to thank the USA Boxing members who participated in the
two conference calls last week. I believe the communications
were helpful from a National Office position and also
provided valuable feedback to the Board of Directors. These
calls also allowed the membership to voice their
frustrations with USA Boxing, most specifically, how the
organization was mismanaged to the point where USA Boxing
was close to collapsing. For those members who were unable
to participate, I hope this letter provides the answers to
many of the questions that surround our current National
Governing Body status, financial issues, membership – club –
sanction fee increases, insurance coverage, and the
strategies for taking the steps toward the reorganization of
USA Boxing.
As many of you are aware, USA Boxing faces a number of
obstacles in our attempt to operate a fiscally sound
National Governing Body. The National Office is working to
restructure its current debt, create a balanced budget for
2010, and maintain the programs and initiatives that are
necessary to provide services to our grassroots programs and
develop competitive international men’s and women’s teams.
One of the most serious challenges confronting USA Boxing
has been our insurance. The premiums continue to increase,
and the only choice we have is to decrease coverage,
increase deductibles and pay higher premiums. During the
past three months, representatives of the National Office,
USA Boxing Foundation and USA Board of Directors have
conducted numerous conversations with our broker, ESIX
Entertainment & Sports Insurance Experts, relating to our
insurance renewal process/quotes. In the end, we were able
to secure coverage. It is only because of the Foundation’s
commitment to our organization that we were able to meet
this obligation. We are grateful for their trust and will
fulfill all obligations associated with our Foundation
relationship.
Agenda
We used the following agenda items as the outline for the
calls.
·
Foundation Loan
·
Membership Fee, Club Dues and Sanction
increases
·
Governance Changes
·
Insurance Renewals
·
USA
Boxing National Coach
·
Independent Board Membership Nominations
Robert Purdy and Barry Elson
·
USA Boxing’s 2010 High Performance Plan,
submitted to USOC
·
2010 National Tournament
Foundation Loan
History…..The
Board of Directors met with representatives of the USA
Boxing Foundation and United States Olympic Committee on
August 4, 2009. The meeting was scheduled to provide those
entities with an overview of USA Boxing’s current leadership
and financial challenges, insurance renewal updates, and the
membership interest in examining our current governance. USA
Boxing presented a plan for reorganization that would
provide for LBC’s to have the right to vote on USA Boxing
Board of Directors’ membership.
During the meeting, USA Boxing made a request
for a loan to the entities in the amount of $500,000. USA
Boxing representatives Tom Virgets, Michael Martino and Joe
Higgins presented information that stated USA Boxing would
be at risk of failing as the National Governing Body if the
loan was not made. USA Boxing would not be able to pay the
October 1, 2009 and January 1, 2010 insurance premiums,
which would put USA Boxing out of business. The Foundation
and USOC requested additional information and deliverables
(supporting documents) with deadlines. USA accepted the
challenge and the meeting was adjourned.
On September 28, the Foundation conducted a Trustee
conference call. The Foundation agreed to loan USA Boxing
$300,000 with the following conditions:
-
The payments constitute loans to USA
Boxing and shall be repaid to the Foundation in equal
annual installments of $50,000 without interest, the
first payment to be made on or before December 31, 2010,
said payments shall be in addition to the monies to be
paid to the Foundation pursuant to the Settlement
Agreement between the parties dated June 12, 2009.
-
USA Boxing shall execute documents
satisfactory to the Foundation memorializing the loans
from the Foundation to USA Boxing;
Payment of the insurance premiums due after October 1,
2009 and on or before January 1, 2010 are conditioned
upon the following which must first occur:
-
USA Boxing provides for increased
revenue from its membership and other sources such
as the United States Olympic Committee, exclusive of
the Foundation, sufficient to balance its budget and
repay the monies owed to the Foundation in 2010 and
thereafter;
-
USA Boxing considers governance
changes to provide membership with a voice in the
governance of USA Boxing through the selection of
one or more directors or other such measures.
USA Board of Directors action on Foundation and Fee Increase
On September 26, 2009, the Directors conducted a Board
Meeting conference call. The Board approved a motion to
accept the Foundation loan in the amount of $300,000,
recognizing that if the Board did not accept the Foundation
loan, USA Boxing would not be able to pay the October 1,
2009 insurance premium. The Board agreed to accept the
conditions attached to the loan. Interim Executive Director
Michael Martino presented the plan for membership, club and
sanction fee increases. The Board approved the following
motion:
For the year 2010 the following increases will be approved:
|
·
Athlete Membership
·
Non-Athlete
·
Club Dues
·
Sanctions |
$40.00
$60.00 + $8.00 for background check
$175.00
One-Day Sanction Remains at $250.00, each additional
day will be assessed $50.00, Certificate of
Liability documents will be $25.00 each with a
$10.00 change fee after original has been issued. |
The Membership Services Department will be preparing a
detailed letter outlining these increases. The letter will
also discuss the new insurance limits and deductibles. We
hope to have this letter sent to LBC leadership by next
week, to allow adequate time to notify its membership about
2010 fees.
The Board of Directors discussed re-establishing the policy
that Membership Fees must pay for Membership Services. This
discussion focused on the Board examining the fee structure
each September to determine the increase or decrease of fees
based on the projected budget.
The Board then passed a motion that provided for a change of
governance for USA Boxing. This document was reviewed and
approved by Board members, with the understanding that it
would need to be approved by both AIBA and the USOC before
USA Boxing could take action. The new governance will give
LBCs the right to conduct elections to select a specific
number of Directors. The number of Directors will be
determined at a later date, once the change of governance
proposal has been returned with approval from AIBA and the
USOC. Initial plans have LBCs retaining one vote each. The
LBC’s would have the right to select two grassroots
directors, one coach director, one official director and one
women’s boxing director. Affiliate organizations would be
represented by one director. The board would have two or
three athlete directors (voted on by athletes) based on the
20% representation. The board would continue to seat two or
three independent board members. The selection process would
include a credentials committee that would have objective
criteria to determine qualifications prior to the board
voting on accepting the candidate.
Insurance Renewal
USA Boxing renewed their insurance policies on October 1. As
discussed above, the Foundation’s loan will provide the
funds to pay the October 1, 2009 and January 1, 2010
quarterly premiums. During the renewal process it became
evident that USA Boxing would not be able to carry the same
coverage as the previous year. Increases in premiums and the
limited number of Insurance Companies interested in our high
risk business created a challenging task of finding
appropriate coverage. As a result, USA Boxing had to make
some very difficult decisions regarding coverage and
deductibles.
We recognize that many of our athletes utilize the
insurance as their primary coverage for boxing injuries.
However, USA Boxing’s insurance has always been a secondary
policy. Our sport accident insurance remains at $25,000 per
accident claim. The change is associated with the
deductible, which has increased to $1,000 per incident, if
the athlete carries a primary policy, and $2,500 deductible
per incident if USA Boxing’s policy is primary. The National
Office and our insurance broker have researched other
National Governing Bodies to determine their coverage limits
and deductibles and we have found that we are consistent
with their insurance programs.
USA
Boxing National Coach
The Board of Directors passed a motion to
name Ed Weichers, Volunteer National Coach. By passing this
motion, the Board wanted to bring closure to the search and
interview process that named Ed and Joe Zanders finalists
for the position. Ed and Joe participated in oral interviews
with a selection committee during the week of the 2009
National Championships. Supporting documents were
distributed to the Board after the interview process, but no
action had been taken to complete the process.
This is a volunteer position and no funds
from the 2009 High Performance Plan will be dedicated to
this position. We welcome Ed to the National Staff. His
first assignment - - take over as Chair of the Coaches
International Task Force.
Independent Board Membership
Recruitment of Independent Board members has
remained a challenge for our organization. Recently, under
the recommendation of Foundation Trustee Bill Deeter, two
independent candidates, Robert Purdy and Barry Elson, were
interviewed by Chair Tom Virgets and Interim Executive
Director Michael Martino. The Board passed a motion to send
their names to the current USA Boxing Board of Director’s
Nominating Committee for review. The National Office will
keep membership posted on any action.
2010 National Tournament
The National Office is looking at several
options for hosting the 2010 USA Boxing Championships. As
many of you know, the Daniels Fund contributed $100,000 to
our tournament last year. These funds were provided through
a two-year grant. We are in discussion with the Daniels
Foundation to modify the original grant which mandates that
the tournament be conducted in Denver. One scenario would be
to conduct the preliminary bouts through the semi-final
round at the Olympic Training Center, and move the
Championship Finals to Denver. This plan is in the early
stages, but does create some interesting marketing
opportunities.
