Provincials Turnout and OAA Annual General Meeting

[Eric Roussin]

This year's Provincials has the potential to be the biggest yet:

• Great Location
  
• Qualifier for the Canadian Championships in Ottawa (you don't need to place, just compete)
  
• Kids, Masters, and Open classes
  
• Awards down to fifth (including belts for the top 3!)
  
• Annual awards
  
• Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
  
• OAA Annual General Meeting
  
• After Party
  

Here's hoping everyone can make it to what is sure to be a fantastic event!

Does anyone have anything they'd like to discuss at the Annual General Meeting? This is an opportunity for new ideas to be discussed and changes can be implemented. If anything is on your mind, I encourage you to contact me or to post your thoughts on the board ahead of time so that preliminary discussions can take place. Possible topics: weight classes, tournaments (types/frequency/locations), etc... Also, remember this is an election year. The President, Vice President, Referee-in-Chief, and Secretary/Treasurer positions will be filled for the next two years.

I hope to see all of you in Belleville on the 16th!

[Jay Riehle]

I'd like to discuss/hear more about, the "GO" or rather the official phrase to go with it. "Hold that, ready, GO" or "Don't move, GO". Whether or not a change is implemented, I would just like to see ONE official start to each and every match.

[Steve Noonan]

I thought the event was on july 9th thats what you have on the T shirts and what the schedule said months ago.

[Eric Roussin]

Yes, there was a mix-up with the dates for Provincials when the t-shirts were printed last July. However, the correction was announced on several occasions on the board as well as on the OAA site. I am hopeful that this has not caused serious problems for anyone.

[Steve Noonan]

I have not been on the sie much this year due to work and other stuff. I specifically shceduled new job to having the 9th off will not be at provincials and am thinking of not bothering with nationals or anymore oaa events.

[Eric Roussin]

As a province, we need to decide if we support changing the start command from "Ready -- Go" to "Don't move -- Go". There is supposed to be a varying length pause between "ready" and "go", however this isn't always the case. "Don't move" is more of a command, and indicates to the pullers that any movement after these words will result in a warning. There seems to be a fair amount of support for this change internationally. Over the past year, a few provinces have experimented with the new start command at an event or two. These provinces will report back at the CAWF Annual General Meeting and a decision will be made regarding whether Canada is interested in supporting this change. If the majority of countries are in favour at the World Championships, the rule change would take effect and Canada and the provinces would likely follow suit.

So, at Provincials I will be asking the membership to vote on whether they support this rule change, or if they would rather stick with the current start command. This will determine how the OAA President will vote on behalf of the province at the CAWF AGM.

[Jason Manjin]

Yes, this is a great idea. I will win WAY more matches and may even consider myself pretty good at armwrestling, if I stop getting cheated at the start of the match!!!!!!

I think my estrogen level is too high today......I also think that maybe Steve's is too

Hold it right there........READYGO!!!! 1 vote

[silverback]

If I may put my two cents in here for the matter of the ready go. It doesn't matter how it starts simply because those who are fast will continue to be fast and those, like myself, who are constantly catching the hits well we need to work harder on our speed. I would love to see a unified set of rules worldwide so we can finally get serious about even considering this sport at the olympic level. Now I know, unless someone takes the helm and contacts every bodies of armwrestling association out there in order to get the ball rolling, than we will be at a stand still. So every rule, table dimensions, straps etc. has to be the same. I recently came across a new way to set up the current straps we are using. It eliminates the hassle of long set ups with who gets which side of the table or who gets the buckle on their hands etc. therefore making it user friendly for the refs. I tried it with team mates and there is no more chocking of the wrist for either parties, especially for the one who has the buckle on his hand. Sorry, going on and on here. Just my two cents,

Conrad (Silverback) Rousselle

[Eric Roussin]

I think you're right that those with quicker reaction times will continue to be quicker off the go. I think the main intention of this rule change is to make it easier for referees to catch false starts/make it more difficult for pullers to cheat. In this respect, I think it may help.

[G Ronald]

i vote for a stop light placed in the centre of the table red means set it up lads yellow means you move your fucked and green well we all know what green means unless your slow like manjin then someone will have to explain it to him lol ............really if ya wanna make it easier on the refs ask some of the top refs *what would they like* go from there with there answer just my 2 cents .........oh and i want the change haha

[Eric Roussin]

Here’s the tentative agenda for this year’s OAA Annual General Meeting:

2:00pm: Welcome and overview of past year
2:05pm: Description of proposed start command rule change
2:10pm: Brief presentations regarding location of 2012 Provincial Championships
2:15pm: Collection and tabulation of voting ballots
2:20pm: Annual Awards Presentation
2:30pm: Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
2:50pm: OAA Executive Elections
3:00pm: End

Prior to the meeting, each puller will receive a ballot sheet where he/she will vote for the annual award winners, the location of the 2012 Provincials, and their support for (or opposition to) the proposed start command rule change.

[Grippler]

I agree with buffer a visual signal rather than a verbal will stop people from early hitting unless they do it intentionaly. IMO

[Rick Heidebrecht]

When is the last time we discussed any sort of fund-raising? Bumping up the entry fees for circuit tournaments is a start, but it would be nice if the OAA had a little more money to spend. I remember buying raffle tickets for a co-worker's amateur rowing club... Would people be up for this, selling raffle tickets or something similar? At 1 for $5 or 3 for $10, I would think it'd be pretty easy to sell $50 in tickets, which would add up quick if even half of our membership participated.

Any other ideas for bringing in extra revenue?

[Eric Roussin]

This is a worthwhile topic of discussion, but I think first we need to decide what the OAA should do with the extra revenue. Right now OAA funds are primarily used for the following purposes:

Arranging referee clinics
Website fees
Special awards
Major event sponsorship
Puller incentives

What would OAA members like additional funds to be used for? If pullers want the OAA to do more, then we can discuss what would be required in terms of fundraising.

[Jason Manjin]

I agree with Rick, now what to do with the money?? That is easy Eric. Puller incentives. Puller incentives. Puller incentives. Did I mention puller incentives??? Based on activity level and performance. The point system is a good platform to start with. These people are the most active for sure and also need to perform well to get more points! Lets give em some money!! I can come up with some prizes to donate for raffles and also could sell the OAA all kinds of different stuff at 50% off retail that they could raffle off and make some money on at each and every OAA tounament. For a few extra bucks pullers could walk home after a tournament with a decent prize which is more incentive to come to the next tournament to see what else they can win, besides 2nd place to me.