2018 WT Convention Meeting - July 15th

Florence, SC

1) Upcoming World Tournaments -- 2019 & 2020

a) 2019 - Wichita Falls, TX

i) July 22 - August 3

ii) Venue is the MPEC Center

iii) Fairfield Inn & Suites is the host hotel

iv) Average hotel costs per day = $115 (some higher, some lower; do your homework)

v) On-site RV cost = $20 per day

(1) 30 AMP hookups with water; daily honey dipper service

(2) Other RV parks nearby; no info on rates at this point

b) 2020 - Monroe, LA

i) July 13 - 25, 2020

ii) Chosen by Executive Council (no bidders, PLEASE keep reading!)

iii) No CVB rep at meeting; more to come...

2) NHPA Officer Elections

a) President

i) Stu Sipma elected by 60/40 vote (vs. Roger Vogel of KS)

b) 5th VP

i) Dalton Rakestraw elected by a 1 vote majority vs. Coyce Allen of Texas

3) Rule Change Proposals: The results are posted on www.horseshoepitching.com so I encourage everyone to go and read the results. I will simply summarize the results of the voting. Note: A two-thirds majority is needed to pass a proposed change.

a) PRC 1: PASSED (by large majority)

i) THANK YOU to everyone who provided feedback on this proposal.

b) PRC 2: Tabled; no decision, (basically same as a fail), but likely to be re-visited.

c) PRC 3: PASSED (unanimous)

d) PRC 4: PASSED (large majority)

e) PRC 5: FAILED (by 7 votes)

f) PRC 6: FAILED (by 3 votes)

g) PRC 7: PASSED, as amended, (majority)

h) PRC 8: FAILED (not close to passing)

i) PRC 9: PASSED (large majority)

4) NHPA Officers' Reports (highlighting a few...)

a) Publicity/Promotion

i) Laurie Lampkin (2nd VP), presented an initiative for all clubs and charters to purchase 4' x 6' banners with club name, NHPA website, etc. These are UV resistant banners an cost $16 per banner, IF we get enough orders to meet the bulk discount rate! These appear to be very nice banners. Casey Sluys is leading this initiative.

ii) Dalton Rakestraw (publicity committee member) presented an initiative to award new NHPA members with a gift tote bag that includes excellent promotional items. To qualify, a new member must pitch 2 sanctioned tournaments.

iii) Please reach out to me for more details on any of these initiatives

b) NATSTATS

i) A new, advanced, version of HS Master is in the works. This new version will integrate with cloud technology to allow for more streamlined and timely updates to tournament results, stats, membership, etc. Expected delivery of new version is 2020. Of course, these improvements will only be effective for those that upgrade.

ii) There are still some TDs/Treasurers that are submitting resutls/reports using HS Master that is several upgrades behind (or not using it at all!).

c) Rules and By Laws

i) In addition to the PRCs mentioned earlier, there were two "emergency" proposals that were passed that, in my opinion, are very positive developments. Note that emergency proposals require a high threshold of 75% of delegate votes to pass. Both of these proposals passed unanimously.

(1) Selection of Future WT Venues

(a) Beginning in 2021, all future WT Venues will now be selected by the NHPA Executive Council.

(b) A 2/3 majority of the EC will be required to award the WT

(2) Proposed Rule Changes (PRCs)

(a) Will now be done on an annual basis, instead of every 3 years

(b) Proposals must now be submitted by Sept. 30th for consideration at the following year's Convention

(i) Rules Committee will have more time to vet and select the proposals to bring to the Convention for vote

1. For context, this year there were 32 proposals submitted, of which 9 were advanced to the Convention for voting

(ii) Proposals will be made public via NHPA website for ALL NHPA members to view and comment

1. Delegates will now have more time gather feedback from charter members instead of waiting to get the packet a few weeks before the Convention

5) Good and Welfare of the NHPA

a) Social Media -- there was a healthy discussion about how our game of horseshoes (and the NHPA) is being portrayed in social media. Specifically, several delegates expressed concern over the negative tone of many posts, with pitchers calling out other pitchers, or the NHPA, etc. And in some cases, without all the facts (WT cameras this year!) We all agreed that social media can be a great benefit to the NHPA and that it's not going to go away, but we can't police everything. We need to encourage a positive reflection of our game.

b) WT Format -- there was some discussion about the format of the WT in regards to the impact it has on the venues that host it for us, and ways we can make it more efficient. The WT currently requires the host site to commit to a 3 week period for the facility: 1 week for set up; 2 weeks for the tournament. However, these venues typically host events that last one week (or less). So, the NHPA is open to suggestions on how we can improve/change our WT to make it more efficient for all.