2022 Ancient Mariners Interim Meeting

Subject: Montgomery Ancient Mariners Board Meeting to Discuss Future of the Coaching Program
Date: 5 June 2022
Participants: Tom Denes, Cathy Gainor, Dave Harmon, Peter Johnson, Todd Moses, Chris McPhaul, Dottie Buchhagen, Kate
Fisken, Sangeeta Bhargava, Kathy Kirmayer, Leon Wells, Joe Redmon

Cathy called the meeting to order at 11:15 a.m. and gave a brief description as to why we were meeting: Clay Britt,
as Premier Swim Inc., is giving up the contract to run the Montgomery County masters swimming program and
Montgomery Ancient Mariners Inc. should take it over.
She then asked Tom Denes to explain the situation. He started with a brief history of the team:

Background on Team History

• Early 1990s – Montgomery County offered masters swimming and paid coaches directly.
• April 1991 – Ancient Mariners formed as USMS team.
• Mar 1993 – Ancient Mariners hold first Albatross Open
• Sept 1993 – Premier Swim Inc. owned by Clay Britt awarded contract to run masters program. All
  swimmers required to be USMS registered as Montgomery Masters. As a compromise we combined to
  form the Montgomery Ancient Mainers.
• Dec 1994 – Montgomery Ancient Mariners, Inc. established as 501(3)c
• 2001 – 2005 – Tom Denes ran program as subcontractor to Premier Swim, Inc.
• May 2022 – Clay (Premier Swim, Inc.) will not renew the three-year contract. Initially Clay proposed that
  Todd Garner of Germantown Masters take over the contract. We asked that Clay recommend Tom Denes
  take over the contract. Subsequently we recommended that Montgomery Ancient Mariners, Inc. take
  over the contract. Thus, the meeting today.
  Tom Denes then explained the terms of the current contract and gave some background:
  Background on Current Contract
• Swimmers register and pay County. County pays Premier 50% of money. Clay uses the money to pay
  coaches and their USMS registrations.
• $35k gross income and $25k gross expenses.
• Coaches get $32/hr and USMS registration.
• Insurance: $1M general liability, $1M professional liability. Cost approx. $1,000/yr
• Current and new contracts require coaches to be first aid and CPR trained and have criminal background
  check.
• Covers KSAC, MLK, Olney, Bethesda and Germantown.
• Germantown run by Coach on Deck, Inc. owned by Todd Garner.
• Point of contact with Montgomery County aquatics is Carrie Headon, who has taken over temporarily for
  Carey Apple, who has retired.
• Carrie will support a separate proposal from Germantown.
  
• Tom then read the motions before opening up discussion about the situation.
  
• Motions:
• Motion 1: Montgomery Ancient Mariners sign contract with County and run masters program for next 3
  years.
• Motion 2: Board creates a Coaching Committee to run the program, initially consisting of Dave Harmon,
  Cathy Gainor, Tom Denes.
• Motion 3: Board creates a position designated as Head Coach as the direct POC with the County and the
  leader of the Coaching Committee.
• Motion 4: Board cover cost of insurance ($1,000), CPR/First Aid training ($50/person = $400), criminal
  background check ($40/person = $320).
  
• Main points of the ensuing discussion:
  Germantown Program
• How many swimmers does Germantown have? Not sure.
• We prefer not to run Germantown; they also don’t want to be run by us or anyone else.
• Registration question posed by several participants: How will the two programs be set up on Active
  Montgomery for signup? Cathy Gainor and Tom said it was a good question. Cathy said she hopes the
  county can make two links: One for Germantown, one for ANCM. Several agreed. Several pointed out the
  Active Montgomery registration is confusing. But we don’t have control of that.
  
• Proposal
• We submitted an unsolicited proposal to the county to run the program. The contract proposal is due in
  June. That is why needed to have meeting so quickly.
  Revenue
• Can we negotiate the percentage? Yes, we can negotiate something different than 50/50.
  IRS
• Treasurer Kate Fisken is concerned about IRS exposure. Coaches are all independent contractors. IRS can
  say we have employees. They would want social security. Kate will give us a form that each coach will
  sign to stipulate that they are independent contractors. They would have to get certified in first aid and
  CPR and have a criminal background check.
  
• Contract
• Need to sign contract by July. No contract means no masters.
  
• Insurance
• We pay $100 team fee to USMS and that gives us insurance. Registered people get covered and also
  people who participate in sanctioned events, such as the Albatross Open.
• $25k accidental medial
• $10k accidental death
• General liability $5M and $1M for each occurrence.
• Insurance broker can tell us what the USMS covers vs what extra insurance covers.
• Kathy Kirmayer said she was concerned about making sure the team’s finances are covered beyond what
  USMS covers, which is why we might want to pay for supplemental (general liability) insurance.
• Kate is on the Senior Olympic board and is working insurance. Details of every event goes into the
  application. She can connect us with the insurance broker for this.
• Tom is working with the insurance broker that covers Swim Labs and kids teams.
  CPR/First Aid Training
• American Heart Assoc & Red Cross & hospitals offer training.
• Some may be free.
• The Coaching Committee would research and make recommendations to coaches.
  
• Practice Times
• Leon Wells asked if there could be morning practices. Tom said that Carrie was open to changes to the
  schedule as long as there was pool availability.
  
• We then voted on the motions:
• Motion 1: Montgomery Ancient Mariners sign contract with County and run masters program for next 3
  years. Seconded by Kathy Kirmayer. All approved.
• Motion 2: Board creates a Coaching Committee to run the program, initially consisting of Dave Harmon,
  Cathy Gainor, Tom Denes. Seconded by Kate Fisken. All approved.
• Motion 3: Board creates a position designated as Head Coach as the direct POC with the County and the
  leader of the Coaching Committee. Seconded by Dottie Buchhagen. All approved.
• Motion 4: Board cover cost of insurance ($1,000), CPR/First Aid training ($50/person = $400), criminal
  background check ($40/person = $320). Seconded by Kathy Kirmayer. All approved.
  
• Adjourned around noon.