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CLUB MATTER

June/July 2003

Club Leadership and Business Management Schools Enjoy Successful First Year
Upcoming Seminars

Here is a list of upcoming seminars for those club leaders who are interested in attending a Club Leadership and Business Management School:

July 12–13, San Francisco, Calif.
Aug. 23–24, Philadelphia, Pa.
Sept. 13–14, Minneapolis, Minn.
Sept. 27–28, Buffalo, N.Y.
Nov. 15–16, Orlando, Fla.
TBA, Los Angeles, Calif.
TBA, Detroit, Mich.
TBA, Chicago, Ill.

Parent and test breakout sessions will be conducted at some of the upcoming seminar sites.

For application information visit the Club Education Seminars page on this site orcontact Tanja Slack at tslack@usfsa.org or call Headquarters at 719.635.5200.

As the first year of the USFSA's Club Leadership and Business Management Schools comes to a close, we would like to share some details and highlights. More than 94 clubs and 266 participants attended the five schools offered.

Building a successful program

The club education curriculum provides the tools necessary to build a successful program. The course offers a perfect combination of lecture, small group activities and time for clubs to share ideas. Most club leaders leave feeling that the program was a valuable learning experience — an experience that helped them build a strong foundation or build upon an already strong foundation.

Much like a small business, figure skating clubs need to

be skilled at organization, risk management, financial management, training leaders and planning. All of these areas are emphasized during the day-and-a-half long leadership seminar.

How the seminar is organized

The following agenda gives club leaders an idea of how our time is spent at the seminar.

Saturday
8 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m.Take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator
9 a.m. Interpret Myers Briggs results
10:45 a.m. Strategic Planning
12 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m. Club Administration
3:15 p.m.Working with volunteers/parents
4:15 p.m.Round Tables
5 p.m.Small group reports
5:30 p.m. Social

Sunday
 8:30 a.m. What is USFSA?
9:15 a.m. Club Programming
10:30 a.m. Rink Relations
11:30 a.m. Questions & Answers; Evaluations
12:30 p.m. Conclusion/Graduation Ceremony

What participants are saying

Feedback from those who have attended the seminar indicates that club leaders benefit from every aspect of the curriculum.

Here are some quotes taken from the evaluation sheets turned in at seminars offered this past year:

"This has been the best USFSA sponsored program I have attended." Boston, Mass.

"I enjoyed the interaction with other clubs." Cleveland, Ohio

"It was nice to learn about different personalities and how to work off each other to get a job done." Cleveland, Ohio

"I came here with the hopes of finding out new information. I feel I got that and much more." Boston, Mass.

"Thank you for all the hard work and thought put into this seminar. The information is invaluable." Seattle, Wash.

"This program should be mandatory for all existing board members, future board members and new members." Cleveland, Ohio

"Great time! Great Food! [Thanks] to all those who helped put this on!" Colorado Springs, Colo.

"This has been the most useful seminar I have been to." Boston, Mass.

Best seminar topics

Below is a list of the best topics of the seminar, as voted on by those who attended the school in the past year:

  • Myers Briggs Type Indicator
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Basic Skills/Bridge program
  • Finances
  • Interaction among clubs
  • Board functions
  • Rink relations

Topics discussed during the seminar cover a broad range of areas that affect individual clubs. From looking at the club's mission to exploring fundraising and financial management to learning about working with volunteers, the Club Leadership and Business Management School deals with issues that are relevant to figure skating clubs of all sizes.