Dan:  I believe you have given an overly broad interpretation to the quoted portion of the Bylaws, Article VI, Section 2 of the FSRA Bylaws set forth below:

Regatta Committee shall be responsible for the administration and operation of the Annual State Championship Regattas.  

"Administration" should not be interpreted in such a way as to result in disfranchising the membership from having a strong voice in what events should be included in the championship slate.  Rather, a tighter definition, and one that I urge the Committee to adopt, is that "administration" only refers to how those events will be run. 

But that aside, just for a moment let's color outside the box.  There is already an eights championship in place, the FSL.  So, if  that were treated as the state championships for all the eights, then the FSRA regatta could confine itself to all the other events to include sculling and fours and even include pairs, V through Fr.  Doubling could be permitted resulting in the best possible boats being on the line in all events and the championships would take on a greater meaning.  Additionally, the clubs that do not participate in eights racing would not have to wait endless hours while the eights did their thing, which by my reckoning would include about 24 races more or less for M and W Var, JVar, 3rd, Fr in heats, semis, reps and finals.  That is somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 to 5 hours, give or take, depending upon the number of entries. 

Just a thought.

---

From: "Dan Newman" <dsnewman99@...>
To: FSRA@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FSRA] FSRA Regatta Committee
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:42:31 -0500
>TO: FSRA Coaches
>RE: FSRA State Championships
>
>In the last week, there have been some long, thoughtful posts to the FSRA
>regarding the Regatta Committee’s race packet for the 2007 FSRA State
>Championship. Some of the posts, however, suggest that the Regatta Committee
>had suspect or illegitimate motives, or that in its work, had an agenda to
>undermine programs of certain sizes.
>
>This could not be farther from the truth.
>
>At the annual meeting, the FSRA General Membership voted on policies that
>imposed certain limitations by having, for the first time ever, a two-day
>regatta with a more sophisticated and fair progression system.
>
>This move doubles the labor by the LOC, Officials, and regatta volunteers.
>It will also be met with an increase in entry fees to pay for two days of
>all required expenses. Additionally, because of the change, each team will
>bear significantly greater transportation and lodging costs. To casually
>suggest that an effort to limit the length or costs of the regatta stems
>from malice and not from a good-faith attempt to produce the best possible
>regatta is, frankly, offensive.
>
>The FSRA General Membership, in a 4-hour annual meeting, is ill-equipped to
>comprehensively analyze all aspects of a regatta, deliberate over intended
>and unintended consequences of potential policies, and account for expected
>revenues and costs. The very reason for a Regatta Committee is to tackle
>these issues.
>
>The Regatta Committee is not a new creation, but a permanent committee
>created in Article VI, Section 2 of the FSRA Bylaws:
>
>"The Executive Committee shall solicit volunteers and appoint a Regatta
>Committee, as provided for in Article III, Section 1.d, of the Constitution,
>at the Annual Meeting. The Regatta Committee shall be responsible for the
>administration and operation of the Annual State Championship Regattas of
>the Association, including judicious use of funds to produce a quality
>event."
>
>In creating the Regatta Committee, the Executive Committee, consisting of
>the five officers, added four more members to the Committee to have a
>geographically and program-size diverse group. The committee represented
>small, medium, and large schools and clubs from all corners of the Florida
>rowing community. In addition, Tom Lineberry and Brice Crossley do not
>currently affiliate with any program and provide an institutional
>perspective dating back to the early days of Florida rowing.
>
>We produced a work product that is sound. While it may be a
>work-in-progress, it represents our best effort to produce a regatta under
>the constraints imposed by the FSRA’s decisions at this year’s annual
>meeting. The trade-off, for instance, of adopting a progression with reps
>and semis was the necessity of reducing the number of events. The two
>policies should not be viewed separately.
>
>We cannot now revisit individual decisions or changes without revisiting all
>decisions comprehensively. Adding events into the schedule adds hours of
>regatta time and volunteer hours. This requires work and costs, in most
>cases, not born by the individuals suggesting the changes.
>
>Rowing in Florida is growing at an extraordinary pace. The FSRA State
>Championship, however, cannot continue to be all things to all people. I
>hope that we can move forward with the regatta preparations, have an
>outstanding event this year, and prepare to make 2008 even better.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Dan Newman
>FSRA President
>
>Leon Crew
>Varsity Coach
>850.321.0738
>
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>
>Check the FSRA website at: http://www.FloridaRowing.org
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