PJI State Meeting
March 2, 2003

Attendees:

Seating of Delegates:

Of the 15 clubs registered for 2003, 11 clubs were represented at the meeting. .

Johnstown Martial Arts
Murty's Judo
Kim's Martial Arts & Fitness
Northern Tier Kodokan Judo
Kodokan Judo
Tri-Valley Judo Club
University of Pittsburgh Judo
Liberty Bell Judo
Kim's Martial Arts - Cranberry
Pottstown Judo Club
South Hills Judo Club

Absent: Dignan Martial Arts, Finnegan Judo, Harrisburg Judo Kai, Lancaster Judo

Delegates:

West --- East

Delegates at Large:

Ronald Johns --- Present
Fred Murty --- Present

Athlete Delegates:

Tom Vukson ---Present
Tony Morelli ---Present
Sam Germana ---Present
Dan Van Ness ---Present
Brenda Patterson ---Absent
Laura Schemick ---Absent
Padraic Finnegan ---Absent
Lindsey Keck ---Absent
Kazutaka Ara ---Absent
Joe Church ---Absent
Paul Bova ---Absent
Kyle Stevens ---Absent
George Nicholas ---Absent J
ohn Baird ---Absent

Fred Murty advised President Johns that Kyle Stevens was no longer able to serve as an Athlete Delegate. As such, Fred asked if Mr. Stevens could be replaced by Donna Spindler. This request was approved.

Officer Reports:

President: Ron Johns

Ron deferred his comments until later in the meeting.

Vice President (West): Jim Dignan

Due to having very recent knee replacement surgery, Jim Dignan was not able to attend the meeting. No report.

Vice President (East): John Baird was absent.

No report.

Secretary: Minutes presented by President Ron Johns

Due to the previous resignation of the PJI Secretary and the failure of a tentative interim secretary to attend this meeting, President Ron Johns presented the minutes from the previous meeting. He noted two typographical errors in the minutes. First, the minutes should have reflected Tom Vukson as an Athlete Delegate, not John Vukson. Second, the grant money for the Junior Competitors should have read $50, not $25. Tony Morelli moved that the minutes be accepted as amended, with a second from Tom Vukson. The minutes were accepted as amended.

Treasurer: Sam Germana

Sam presented everyone with a copy of his report. After review, Tony Morelli made a motion to approve the Treasurer's report, with a second by Joe Vukson. The report was accepted.

Committee Reports:

Registration:

Due to illness, Dorothy Nicholas was absent. President Ron Johns reviewed the clubs who had registered so far this year. An accounting of individual memberships was not available as Dee
has those records. Ron also explained that at the last USJI National Meeting in October, 2002, a National Club Registration had been approved. He explained that this would cost $25.00/year in
addition to the Class B (State) club registration. This is supposedly necessary due to the new insurance regulations. Club registration forms were passed out to all clubs attending, with an explanation of what is required to be a nationally registered club.

Rules & Standards: Joe Vukson

No report.

Referees: Sue Oles

Sue reminded everyone that there are now only two penalty calls: Shido & Hansoku make. Shido and Chui have been combined, as have Keikoku and Hansoku make. To award a Hansoku make still requires a meeting and a decision of three. Sue also noted that the Judges no longer have to get up when there is a medical problem. She again explained Golden Score to everyone present, specifically commenting on osaekomi during Golden Score. She explained that, unless the competitors are fighting in a Round Robin where points are determined by how the winner wins, it is wise for coaches to have their player release the mat hold immediately after scoring a Koka in osaekomi. If not, the player could lose if he continues the mat hold should he be choked or commit some type of penalty. Sue and Ron Johns both commented on the blue gi / white gi situation. The blue gi is optional, while the white gi is mandatory. In the pairings, the second name called must wear a white gi. The longer scorers are permitted to flip-flop the contestants because they don't have a white gi, the longer the problem will continue. Similarly, if the second player called happens to be a junior Nikyu (blue belt), that player must wear a different colored belt during that competition, unless white sashes are being used. Lastly, Sue reminded everyone that bowing at the edge of the competition area is now optional, however, bowing to your opponent in the center of the mat is mandatory.

Development: Joe Vukson

Joe commented on the PA Open, noting that it was a well-run tournament in a good venue and he congratulated Tony Morelli on a job well done. He hopes that the attendance at this tournament will continue to grow and noted that this year's Open will take place in Pittsburgh, being hosted by Kim's Martial Arts.

Women's Development: Brenda Patterson was absent.

No report.

Collegiate Development: Dr. Andor P-Jobb was absent.

No report.

State Championship: Ron Johns

Ron said nothing much had changed regarding the running of the State Championship tournament and commended Fred Eddinger on hosting a good Championship tournament this year. However, he did recommend that in the future, participation in the State Championship tournament only, be considered as the pre-requisite for State Grant funding. Sam Germana supported this idea. Ron then deferred to Fred Eddinger for a report on this year's Championship (see Committee Reports).

PJI Website: Brad Duffan was absent. President Ron Johns made comments.

At the request of Brad Duffan, Ron Johns explained that if the website is to look professional and hopefully help PA Judo to grow, it would be very helpful if more "content" could be provided by the clubs. This would include more information about the clubs, such as location, practice days and times, fees, etc. It would also be helpful to include some biographical information about the club and the instructors. This information can be e-mailed to bduffan@charter.net or to dduffan@charter.net. It can be sent via regular mail to either Brad or Dave Duffan , 725 Barclay St., Johnstown, PA 15901.

A suggestion was made that, although the changes in competition rules / refereeing rules are posted on the USJI website, it would be helpful if they were also be posted on the PJI website. Ron Johns said that this should be possible and agreed to look into having it done.

Promotional Boards:

Regional - East: Tony Morelli

Tony Morelli reported that at Murty's Fall/Winter 2002 Promotional Shiai there were two promotions to Shodan: Viorel Onea (Tri-Valley Y) and Rodney Rappe (Liberty Bell).

Other Senior promotions included: Ikkyu - James Connolly (Golden Dragon) - Batsugan,
Nikyu - Kyle Stevens (Murty's), Sankyu - Bob Mazeika (Murty's), Dave Posluszny (Murty's), Todd Campbell (Golden Dragon), Yonkyu - Bob Stevens (Murty's), Miguel Caraballo (Murty's), Tony Blundi (Boyertown Y), Thomas Aston (Boyertown Y), Gokyu - Robert Mies (Murty's), Dane Britton (Murty's), Melissa Krenitsky (Murty's), Bill Skotleski (Murty's), Brock Canfield (Murty's) Joseph Kulp (Boyertown Y).

Junior promotions included: Shonen: Gokyu - Matt Errigo (Murty's), Yonen: Nikyu - Catherine Morelli (Northern Tier), Sankyu - Kyle Garan (Murty's), Emily Phinney (Northern Tier), Yonkyu - Aaron Howard (Northern Tier), Kaitlyn Howard (Northern Tier), Gokyu - Mason Kulp (Boyertown Y), Max Kulp (Boyertown Y), Robert Mies III (Murty's), Butch Krisanda (Murty's), Brian Errigo (Murty's), Robert Mies Jr. (Murty's) and Tommy Laboranti (Murty's).

Regional - West: Tom Vukson

Tom Vukson reported that the following individuals were promoted: Nidan - Mark Shondel (Kodokan), Shodan - John Vukson Jr. (Kodokan), Angela Bronson (Kodokan), Jeff Hallet (Dignan Martial Arts), Eric Stevens (Dignan Martial Arts), Margaret Goppelt (Kim's), Ryan Minister (Kim's), Ron Kozarian (Kim's).

Junior Promotions included the following students from Dignan Martial Arts: Shonen: Gokyu - Caleb Snowberger, Christian Snowberger, Yonen - Ikkyu - Josh Vaughn, Nikyu - Crystal Bowser, Michaela Brallier, Blair Fornwalt, Elisha Hallet, Justin Hess, Kendal Moses, Sankyu - Kale Burket, Andy Kurtz, Briana Mattern, Yonkyu - Derik Seiberling, Gokyu - Katie Brumbaugh, Sonja Seiberling, Samantha Wilt.
State: Joe Vukson

Joe Vukson reported that the following individuals were promoted to the rank of Sandan:
John Antol Tri-Valley YMCA Judo
John Hajner Kodokan Judo of Pittsburgh

He said the following recommendations will be made to USJI for action at the upcoming meeting in Oct.:
Ronald Pardini ---Kim's Martial Arts ---Shichidan
Fred Murty ---Murty's Judo--- Rokudan
Tom Vukson ---Kodokan Judo ---Godan
Mikail Kozitsky ---Liberty Bell Judo ---Yondan
John Englert ---Kodokan Judo ---Yondan
John Vukson ---Kodokan Judo ---Yondan

Consideration for promotion of Tony Morelli to Sandan was tabled until the August PJI meeting.

Old Business:

2003 Clinic: Mr. Kim

Mr. Kim advised that the clinic will be held at the University of Pittsburgh on April 5. This was originally to be held in Feb. or Mar., however, due to a scheduling conflict with the University, the date had to be changed. Mr. Kim also noted that considering the amount of bad weather we have had recently, it is better that the clinic is scheduled for April. He said the clinic will be oriented around various competition techniques, including matwork. Specific information will be shortly forthcoming.

2003 State Championships: Fred Eddinger

Fred stated that he felt the State Championships went fairly well, except that senior participation was down. He noted only three problems: 1) two injuries - a broken wrist (Pgh) and a knee injury (Hsbg), 2) a slight time delay due to a large walk-on registration and 3) a lack of referees.

Tom Vukson and several other commented on the exceptionally good venue and congratulated Fred on his efforts.

Update - 2003 PA State Open Championships: Mr. Kyu Ha Kim

Mr. Kim advised that the 2003 Open Championships are scheduled to be held at the University of Pittsburgh on Oct. 3, 2003. Once everything is finalized, information will be sent out and posted on the PJI website.

Sexual Harassment Polices: Tony Morelli

Tony stated that he is still working on the Sexual Harassment Policy and once it is finalized he will forward it to Ron Johns for dissemination to the members of PA Judo for review and final action at the next Board of Directors meeting.

New Business:

USJI-USJF-USJA Insurance Fiasco:

Ron Johns quickly briefed everyone on the recent problem regarding the supposed problem with USJA insurance which had temporarily stopped the honoring of members from any of the three national bodies at USJI & USJF sanctioned tournaments. However, he indicated that he had received confirmation on 2-27-03, that Open Tournaments between USJI-USJF and USJA have re-established. The agreement reads as follows: "Open Events will be sanctioned by only one of the three member organizations in response to the hosting organization's member affiliation which will provide the sole source of general liability insurance. Sanctions provided by any of the three above identified national Judo member organizations will be recognized by the other member organizations and will be the sole vehicle which will permit each individual participant's Sports Accident Insurance to be in force for all such sanctioned activity. Under the terms of this agreement there will be no "co-sanctioned" events and the sanctioning authority will be obligated to provide the other two member organizations with evidence of "certificates of insurance" for all activities for which they sanction. Additionally, the sanctioning organization will provide the other members organizations with copies of all post action reports the contents of which t be negotiated between the three member organizations."

National Club Registration: Ron Johns

Ron explained that at the USJI National Meeting in Oct., 2002, it was approved that in addition to registering your club with your Class B organization (PA Judo), it is now mandatory that these clubs also register nationally with USJI.

Grants - 2003:

Joe Vukson made the following grant proposal for 2003:

1) Grant eligibility - participation in the PA State Championships.

2) A total of $2,000 be set aside for grants, to be divided in equal $500 increments to Seniors,
Master / Kata, Juniors and PA Elite players.

3) Grant disbursement as follows:

Seniors Masters / Kata Juniors PA Elite Players
1st - $100 1st - $100 1st - $50 (see below)
2nd - $75 2nd - $75
3rd - $50 3rd - $50

a) An individual placing 1st at the PA State Championships who then competed in any of the
qualifying tournaments, but didn't place, is eligible to receive a $35 grant.

4) The PA Elite player(s) is to be determined by an ad hoc committee consisting of: Debbie
Eddinger (Chair), Lou Moyerman, Jim Igims, Marisa Pedulla and Ron Johns (contingent
upon their acceptance to serve on this committee).

a) The Committee will select one or more PA elite players. The elite player(s) may be
senior(s), junior(s), master(s), kata, and may be any gender.
b) Although the PA elite player(s) may be outstanding competitors, they do not have to be.
If the committee so determines, it could even be a fairly new student who puts his heart
soul into studying and learning judo, even if they have not yet begun to accumulate an
exceptional win record.

c) The purpose of this grant is to encourage all judo students to continue in judo and to help
PA judo grow.

5) The following tournaments will be considered for grant funding in 2003: Senior Nationals,
Liberty Bell Classic, USA Judo Jr. Olympics, and the USJF & USJA Jr. Nationals .

6) The deadline for submitting grant requests will be 60 days following the specific tournament.

Joe Vukson put his proposal in the form of a motion, with the motion being seconded by Fred
Murty. Following discussion, primarily regarding the PA Elite Player category, the motion
passed.

Delegates for USJI National Meeting:

Ron Johns advised that the USJI Board of Director's meeting will be held in Las Vegas, Nv, on Apr. 17, 2003, beginning at 9:00 AM. Delegate registration will occur on Apr. 16, 2003. Due to recent changes at work, Ron had to cancel his plans to attend and asked for volunteers to serve as delegates. Fred Murty agreed to serve as a delegate and Ron will contact Dr. Andor P-Jobb regarding the second delegate spot, since Dr. P-Jobb has agreed to represent PA Judo in the past.

Bids for 2004 PA State Championships:

Ron Johns explained that the State Championships should be held in western PA, if possible. Mr. Kyu Ha Kim said that Kim's Martial Arts would be willing to host the Championships in 2004.

Bid for 2004 PA Open Championships;

Ron Johns explained that the Open Championship should be held in eastern PA, if possible.
Fred Eddinger agreed to consider holding the Open Championships.

Adjournment:

Joe Vukson made a motion for adjournment and Tony Morelli seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 2:12 PM.

These minutes were approved at Board of Directors meeting on Aug. 24, 2003