PJI State Meeting
August 24, 2003

Attendees:

Mr. Kyu Ha Kim Kim's Martial Arts & Fitness
Dorothy Nicholas Kim's Martial Arts & Fitness
Lisa Osmundsen Kim's Martial Arts & Fitness
Eugene Kim Kim's Martial Arts: Cranberry
Ronald Johns Johnstown Martial Arts
Samuel Germana Johnstown Martial Arts
Brad Duffan Johnstown Martial Arts
Thomas Vukson Kodokan Judo
Joseph Vukson Kodokan Judo
Dr. Andor P-Jobb Clarion University Hun Judo Dojo
Fred Murty Murty's Judo Center
Donna Spindler Murty's Judo Center
Daniel Van Ness Murty's Judo Center
Jim Dignan Dignan Martial Arts
Anthony Morelli Northern Tier Kodokan Judo

Call to order: President Ron Johns called the meeting to order at 11:58 AM.

Seating of Delegates: Of the 15 Clubs registered for 2003: 9 Clubs were represented at the meeting.

Johnstown Martial Arts
Murty's Judo Center
Kim Martial Arts & Fitness
Northern Tier Kodokan Judo
Kodokan Judo
University of Pittsburgh Judo
Kim's Martial Arts: Cranberry
Dignan Martial Arts
Clarion University Hun Judo Dojo

Absent: Finnegan Judo, Harrisburg Judo Kai, Lancaster Judo, Tri-Valley Judo Club, Liberty Bell Judo, Pottstown Judo Club, and South Hills Judo.

Delegates at Large:

Ronald Johns: Present
Fred Murty: Present

Athlete Delegates:

Thomas Vukson: Present
Anthony Morelli: Present
Samuel Germana: Present
Daniel Van Ness: Present
Brenda Patterson: Absent
Donna Spindler: Present
Padraic Finnegan: Absent
Laura Schemick: Absent
Kazutaka Ara: Absent
Lindsey Keck: Absent
Paul Bova: Absent
Joe Church: Absent
George Nicholas: Absent


Officer Reports:

President: Ron Johns

John Baird will be barred from participating in any activities with the USJI or USJF due to pending sexual misconduct charges. Even if cleared of charges, ban may continue.

Verna Larkins, USJI Secretary
1. State Tournament participation is mandatory to compete in Sr. Nationals, High School Nationals and USJI Jr. Olympics. Contestants who were unable to participate, due to just cause, may apply to the State President for a waiver.
2. USJI dues are $50 / yr. In order to correctly record the membership in PA, paperwork should be forwarded to the PA Registration Chairman, Dee Nicholas, who will forward it to USJI. It is preferred that renewals also be forwarded to the PA Registration Chairman to help PA Judo keep track of its membership. Some individuals are still paying the old
fee of $38 / yr. When this occurs, PA Judo does not receive the State rebate. As such, it was proposed that a request be made to USJI to send all cards back to PA Judo Registration Chairman, in order to keep track of state membership.

There was a change in Promotion Standards. In order to promote within the State organizations must have the following membership requirements:

Shodan ---100 registered USJI members
Nidan ---200 registered USJI members
Sandan ---300 registered USJI members
Yodan ---500 registered USJI members
Godan ---1000 registered USJI members

Girls 10 years and under may now compete against boys in their divisions, if there are
insufficient competitors in the female divisions. If this is to be considered, it requires
notification to the parents of those concerned.

Ron does not think this rule applies to States but he will check.

USJI Senior National venues:
2004 San Diego, CA
2005 Virginia Beach, VA
2006 Houston, T

USJI approved the following promotions:

John Englert: Kodokan Judo: Yondan
Thomas Vukson: Kodokan Judo: Godan
John Vukson: Kodokan Judo: Yondan
Mikail Kozitsky: Liberty Bell Judo: Yondan
Fred Murty: Murty's Judo Center: Rokudan

USJI tabled the following promotion, due to not enough time in grade:

Ronald Pardini Kim's Martial Arts Shichidan


Vice President (West): Jim Dignan

No report

Vice President (East): Vacant

No report

Secretary: Minutes presented by President Ron Johns

President Ron Johns presented the minutes from the previous meeting. Minutes were corrected to reflect the previously approved requirement that requests for financial grants are to be made within 60 days following the event. Dr. Andor P-Jobb made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected. Fred Murty seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously as correctly.

Treasurer: Sam Germana

Sam presented the financial statement. Joe Vukson made a motion to accept t Financial Report, with a second by Tony Morelli. The Financial Report was accepted unanimously.

Committee Reports:

Registration: Dee Nicholas

Registrations at last count were at 279. Several more registrations were expected soon to bring this number up. Clubs need to try to increase registrations. A few clubs moving some of their membership to the USJF, was one of the reasons given for the current count.

The USJI has instituted a mandatory National Club Registration fee of $25/yr. If a Club doesn't register, they will not have liability insurance coverage or be able to receive sanctions from the USJI. The Club registration fees would now be $25/yr USJI and $50/yr PJI. Information regarding USJI club registration applications is available at: www.USJUDO.org.

Joe Vukson made a motion to have the PA Membership Secretary write a letter to all clubs before the beginning of the year. Both USJI and PJI Club registration forms would be included with a letter requesting both forms be completed and submitted to Dorothy Nicholas with 2 checks for the appropriate fees. Clubs must be registered with both organizations. Mrs. Nicholas will forward the USJI National Registration forms to the National Body. This will enable PA Judo to know if a club has registered, so they may be issued sanctions, have voting privileges and so that registered USJI members of those clubs may be eligible for grants from PJI. Tony Morelli seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.

Fred Murty made a motion to lower the state registration fee to $40/yr. He felt it could be a hardship on some clubs to pay a total of $75/yr. Joe Vukson seconded motion. Vote split: 7 in favor, 6 opposed. Motion passed.
Rules & Standards: Joe Vukson

Rules
Joe will put current information on PJI website.

Promotions and Fees
Joe provided information on promotion, fees and procedures. The new fees have been in effect since April, 2003. Write one check to PJI to cover both the state fees and USJI fee. Joe Vukson will write one check to the USJI to cover their fee.

Referees:

No report

Development: Joe Vukson

Tentative date for the PA Open. October 4, University of Pittsburgh main campus. Mr. Kim will confirm. Should have enough medals for tournament.

Kim's Martial Arts plans to host a clinic in either September or November. The clinic will include: Kata, Referee and Competition.

Women's Development: Vacant

No report

Collegiate Development: Dr. Andor P-Jobb

Rock and Roll Tournament, Cleveland, September 27
Mike Mooney, tournament director

Steel City Open, Pittsburgh, October 18
USJF tournament, site for referees
Not sanctioned PJI

The following Universities and Colleges will have Judo Clubs and classes:
Slippery Rock Clarion University
Allegheny College Penn State
Mansfield College University of Pittsburgh
York College

Eastern Collegiate Tournaments
Fall Miami, FL October 25 and 26
Spring date and venue not announced

Dr. Andor P-Jobb placed third in the World Master held at the Kodokan in Tokyo, Japan. The article in the Oil City newspaper should go on the PJI website. Dr. P-Jobb is one of the founders of the World Masters. Next year's competition will be held in Vienna.

State Championship: Ron Johns

Kim's Martial Arts will host State Championships in March, 2004.


PJI Website: Brad Duffan

Charter Communications hosts the PJI website. There are many domains under one IP address integrating to a different host. The IP address was down for 2 weeks. PJI will be given 1 month at no charge to compensate for the website being down for 2 weeks. As soon as the contract comes up the Brad will switch to a new host.

Email information for the website to: bduffan@charter.net

Joe Vukson suggested it would be helpful to add a map showing the various club sites. This will make it easier for people come to PA from out of state to find the club closest to them. Brad committed to adding a map.

Sam Germana maintains a list of registered Clubs. At the end of the year the list will be checked and any unregistered clubs will be removed from the website.


Promotional Boards

Regional: East: Tony Morelli

No promotions, no recommendations

Regional: West: Tom Vukson

The following promotions are pending, need written test:
Shodan --- Jonathon Prisby ---Kim's Martial Arts
Shodan --- Wendie Garbett --- Kim's Martial Arts
Nidan --- Christopher Moore --- Kim's Martial Arts
Nidan --- Emmanuel Oakes, Jr. --- Kim's Martial Arts
Nidan --- Alison Walters Stevens --- Kim's Martial Arts
Nidan --- Robert Russell --- Kim's Martial Arts
Nidan --- Lisa Osmundsen --- Kim's Martial Arts
Nidan --- Robert Skelly --- Johnstown Martial Arts

State: Joe Vukson

Promotion:

Sandan --- Tony Morelli --- Northern Tier Kodokan Judo

Recommendation
:

Yondan --- Bob Casey, Sr. --- Kim's Martial Arts


Due to difficulty in obtaining enough members to complete the contingent for East and West promotion committees, Tom Vukson made a motion to have one Regional promotion committee. Promotions may still be conducted in the East and West under the conditions approved by the Board of Directors (Shodan - three Black belts with a total of 5 points, Nidan - promotional tournament or pre-testing by two non-associated clubs with at least 5 points). The promotions are to be submitted to Tom Vukson and Tony Morelli, for finalization at the PJI meeting. Dee Nicholas seconded motion. Motion passed unanimously.

The Regional Promotion Committee will now consist of the following: Tom Vukson and Tony Morelli (Co-chairs), Sam Germana, Jim Dignan and Eugene Kim. Donna Spindler was added as an alternate.


Old Business:

2003 Clinic: Mr. Kim

Possibly September 27 or 28. Mr. Kim is waiting for verification of the availability of the gym, at the University of Pittsburgh.

Sexual Harassment Policies: Tony Morelli

Tony will forward a sexual harassment policy.


New Business:

2004 State Championships: Mr. Kim

Doesn't have exact date for State Tournament, sometime in March 2004 in Pittsburgh.

2004 State Open: Fred Eddinger

Fred Eddinger has agreed to host the 2004 State Open.

Delegates for USJI Meeting, Las Vegas: Ron Johns

Ron Johns will try to attend the National meeting in Las Vegas on October 9 and 10. If anyone is interested in representing PA Judo at this meeting, please contact Ron Johns so he can notify the USJI Secretary.


Grants 2003: Joe Vukson

Ron Johns received an email from Lou Moyerman requesting grants for several athletes. Joe Vukson explained the way to request grants is to forward requests to the committee.

Elite Grant committee members:
Debbie Eddinger (Chair) Marisa Pedulla
Lou Moyerman Joe Vukson
Ron Johns

Lou Moyer submitted to requests for grant monies.
1. Elite grants (2003)
$100 -- Anatoly Kenis $100 -- Stephanie Moyerman
$100 -- Christina Pro $50 -- Bobby Lee
$100 -- Dino DelMastro $50 -- Adam Moyerman

Joe explained that although he and Ron have no objection to the distribution and amounts requested, so long as the individuals are currently registered with PA Judo, the recommendation should come from the committee as a whole, not one individual. PJI has yet to hear from Deb Eddinger and Marisa Pedula. It was agreed that if Deb and Marisa advise President Johns that they also concur, he will instruct the Treasurer to issue the necessary checks.
Lou Moyerman also asked for grant money for athletes for the 2004 Olympics. Joe Vukson advised that nothing was allotted for the Olympic contenders in the grants for 2003. Grants requests for the Olympics must come from the 2004 budget.

Election of Officers:

Fred Murty made a motion that everyone currently in office stay in office. Dr. P-Jobb seconded motion. Motion passed unanimously.

President --- Ron Johns
Vice President (West) --- James Dignan
Vice President (East) --- Vacant
Secretary --- Vacant
Treasurer --- Samuel Germana

Ron Johns made a motion to elect Dan Van Ness, Vice President (East) and Lisa Osmundsen, Secretary. Joe Vukson seconded motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Athlete Delegates:

Joe Vukson stated there is a formula for determining the number Athlete Delegates; one delegate for every 25 registered members. Ron Johns will keep the active delegates and will determine whom to replace. He will contact the registered clubs to determine if they have anyone who would be interested in filling the vacancies.

Adjournment:

Sam Germana made a motion for adjournment at 1:58 PM. Dr. P-Jobb seconded motion. Motion passed unanimously.