Wisconsin Cycling Association

Annual Report to Members

January 10, 2004

Introduction

This annual report is a first for WCA. It's creation is in keeping with the current board's desire for transparency in our thinking and action, and to reflect on what has been asked of the board by WCA member clubs. Did we accomplish our mission of hosting the best possible series? Were riders satisfied? Where do we focus our improvement efforts in 2004? These are questions we hope this report will answer.

We accomplished a lot in 2003, as you'll soon read. We, the board, are grateful to have had this chance to serve Wisconsin bike racers and hope you feel we met the objectives-stated by you, the rider-last fall. There were challenges in 2003, one of which was keeping an eye on the "larger picture" of issues facing each promoter and racing in general. Not a day went by where this board didn't hear from someone with an idea, comment, or concern. We acted in good faith where we could and took feedback along the way as well.

As President, I'd like to thank each of the board members for their hard work and dedication. They all have lives outside of racing but devoted hours of their time at the expense of being with their families to improve something we all love: bike racing.

One note on busy lives. We all have them. Thus, this annual report is to help "fill in the holes" of information that you, the rider, may not have received along the way. If it generates some ideas or issues for you, we want to hear from you. You can find us at board@wicycling.org.

It's at the end of the year that we can look back and see what we've accomplished together, as an organization. We hope you feel that your club got value from belonging to WCA and we look forward to serving you again in 2004.

Sincerely,
WCA Board of Directors

2003 Review

1st Quarter

January was a pivotal month for WCA. The USAC presented WCA with an option of receiving a license rebate from every licensed rider in Wisconsin in exchange for serving as USAC's "Local Association" or, main contact in Wisconsin. Taking on this responsibility brought tasks such as recruiting and training officials, handling rider upgrades, and serving as liaison to all USCF clubs in Wisconsin.

In the fall of 2002, just prior to hearing about the opportunity to partner with USAC on license rebates, WCA had gone about polling its member riders on what could be done to better serve the riders in 2003. The feedback we received from riders was clear. They wanted:

• Better communication between WCA and member clubs
• Events results and series standings posted on line quicker
• Easier method to assign officials
• Clearer process of permitting events
• Clearer and faster process for handling rider upgrades

WCA like many small, non-profit organizations relied on volunteers to manage its operation. Relying on volunteers left WCA susceptible to inconsistent application of its services due to turnover and/or a lack of volunteer skill in any given year. Improvements had been made over time but organizational growth was hampered.

The 2003 WCA board of directors was clear on its goals, mandated by the riders. When the opportunity from USAC materialized the board discussed the concept of investing the funds in a staff person to perform the USAC duties and manage the race series. The Board agreed that paying someone to manage the duties-and be accountable-would be a move toward consistency that had been lacking for years. Luckily, we had a top candidate in Heidi Mingesz and she agreed to become WCA's first Technical Director with responsibilities to handle rider upgrades, recruiting, training and assigning officials, oversee the WCA series, and fulfill the other duties per our contract with USAC. Heidi's appointment was approved at the March open member meeting.

In addition to Heidi, WCA retained a web person to restructure its website and facilitate club-to-board communications. The revamped website has been used as:

• A recruiting tool for officials
• A place to catalogue helpful information for race promoters
• A place to highlight Wisconsin rider accomplishments and build a sense of connection among riders.
• A place to generate revenue for WCA through advertising

The web person is also paid and is accountable for the updates being posted in a timely fashion.

A full budget is included elsewhere in this annual report.

2nd & 3rd Quarter

Positive results of changes made were seen by the time the first races were being staged in April. By then, WCA had:

• Taken on the USCF duties
• Redesigned and rolled out a new look to the website
• Clarified the scoring guidelines for the Wisconsin Cup Series
• Updated Wisconsin Cup Points tally within days of every race
• Added a section for officials to the website
• Adapted the mission statement to reflect the new duties with USAC
• Hosted an August Open Meeting
• Added a Cyclocross section to the website
• Held a series of discussion with Norba representatives on the concept of WCA becoming the Norba "local association" in exchange for a license rebate. After discussions with WCA, Norba officials determined that WORBA was a better option than WCA. WCA board officials agreed.

4th Quarter

• Provided champion jerseys for the Road and Cross series
• Raised funds to bring Jamie Paolinetti to the Annual Dinner
• Discussed including track articles in the WCA website with track officials
• Raised funds to cover extra things the board wanted to provide like special sprint trophies
• Started a discussion about whether WCA could provide services to track racers

Services provided to WCA clubs in 2003:

• Marketing of club events via the WCA website
  Inclusion in the WCA Cup Series where riders compete for overall points and year end awards
• Race permitting and assignment of officials
• Professional finish line services at your event (camera, stage, operator). Note: WCA contracts with a professional photo finish service provider and because of the quantity of events, WCA receives a lower cost than the race organizers could obtain on their own.
• Club listing on the WCA web site
• Jerseys and trophies for series and overall winners
• Opportunity to place team stories on the website

Where WCA Annual Dues and Racing Surcharges Go

• Funds collected from WCA dues and surcharges are applied to the Wisconsin Cup jerseys, State Championship jerseys, finish line services, website updates, member meetings, race forms. See budget.

Changes to Fee Schedule for 2004

1. An increase in dues to $125 for 2004 were approved by the members at the WCA open meeting in August of 2003. Dues had been $100 since 1996.

Note: Most WCA clubs had been paying $125 for years as they sent their payment in late and incurred a late fee. WCA must make a deposit on the state champion jerseys in late winter thus, it needs member dues to make the deposit. Shortfalls are made up out of board members pockets until club dues are paid, thus the late fee to encourage more timely payment.

How Changes are Made to Wisconsin Cup Schedule, Racing Guidelines, and Fees
The board raises question about items related to running the Wisconsin Cup Series at its open meetings. A vote is taken and the decision posted on the WCA website.

Every effort is made to prepare the membership for discussion ahead of the meeting by way of articles on the website that describe the items of interest and feedback is invited and encouraged. Clubs who do not attend the meetings forfeit their vote.

Things to do in 2004

• Consider an "entry level" membership for clubs that do not host a race but wish to be part of the racing scene.
• Add a "How to Join WCA" section to the website
• Implement race results on the WCA website
• Consider a "Best All Round Rider" series (total points from State Championship events in lieu of a Sprint series)
• Reach out to track riders to see if there are services WCA can provide to make their lives easier and expose road racers to track

Conclusion

As always, we welcome comments because that's how we improve and our goal is to always improve the race series.

How can you, the rider help? Can you help us generate ads for the website? Can you make a donation towards the champion jerseys in exchange for advertising on the jersey? As you will see, we run on a tight budget. The object is not to make money, but use all the funding we have to improve racing in Wisconsin. Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated.

2003 Income Statement

Income

Expense

THANKS TO THESE WCA Donors in 2003:

• Ed Hickey
• Larry Kilduff
• Jeff Littman
• Rebecca & Pat Loney
• Mike Martens
• Amy & Todd Miller
• Colin O'Brien
• Randy Roth
• John Van Susteran

WCA Technical Director
Report to the Board of Directors
Submitted by Heidi Mingesz

It's been an exciting year in Wisconsin Cycling. I want to thank the Board for taking the bold step of signing on as USA Cycling's local association, and hiring me to meet the obligations imposed by that agreement. Here is a summary of the work I did in 2003:

Communication

I fielded 2154 emails:

• 1642 general inquiries
• 53 regarding the 2004 calendar
• 166 regarding rider upgrades/downgrades/club changes
• 27 regarding the masters age survey
• 266 regarding the training and assignment of officials

Upgrades

• I processed 76 riders for upgrades, downgrades, or club changes

Officials

• Officials were assigned to 62 positions at 21 events. Only one event was staffed at less than optimum.
• Developed recruitment and training methods for officials
• Recruited 3 new officials in 2003

Wisconsin Cup Series

• Rewrote race guidelines for 2003
• Equitably and consistently followed race guidelines in 2003
• Points were posted for 471 competitors in the Wisconsin Cup, 178 entrants in the Sprint Competition, and 252 Cyclocross riders, and team points were tracked for all riders
• A new application form was created for clubs interested in hosting state championship races
• Developed Promoters Packet
• Consulted with promoters on how to improve their event operations