Cycling BC AGM - the state of racing in BC

and then there is the even bigger fiasco brewing with richard wooles filing a wrongfull dismissal suit against cbc

https://eservice.ag.gov.bc.ca/cso/esearch/civil/searchPartyResult.do?serviceId=14925382

is the link to the filing. it cost $12 to read the notice of claim (which i have) but if it goes richards way i can not imagine it being cheap for cycling b.c.

in any event the agm sure will be a bit more exciting this year than years gone by anyways

AGM's are boring. They should be boring! Yes, this one has the makings of a lively affair, but I believe it is in all of our interests to just stick to the program. Let the shit fly here and on other forums. They know we're comin for them! The best thing we can do at the AGM is to be focused on getting a slate of board members elected who are for changing the organization.

The last thing I or anyone else wants who is attending is to listen to every possible person talk about how Cycling BC has screwed over pretty much every aspect of the sport.

For the record, I fully support an overhaul of the organization. And to speed up the process will happily shut up at the AGM until voting time!

So let's get it out now people cause I don't want a 12 hour AGM :nono:meeting.

AGM's are boring. They should be boring! Yes, this one has the makings of a lively affair, but I believe it is in all of our interests to just stick to the program. Let the shit fly here and on other forums. They know we're comin for them! The best thing we can do at the AGM is to be focused on getting a slate of board members elected who are for changing the organization.

The last thing I or anyone else wants who is attending is to listen to every possible person talk about how Cycling BC has screwed over pretty much every aspect of the sport.

For the record, I fully support an overhaul of the organization. And to speed up the process will happily shut up at the AGM until voting time!

So let's get it out now people cause I don't want a 12 hour AGM :nono:meeting.

Hello All,

I am looking forward to the AGM meeting on December 2. I have been following this thread and read many viewpoints, some great and some equally bad. I can tell you that I have picked up the phone and I have met with the people that need to be met with.
I sat down with Keith over a year ago to discuss some issues that were not going away.
I offered suggestions that I believe could have helped on the MTB side and nothing was implemented so the problems persisted and have gotten MUCH WORSE. How do I know that my suggestions would have worked? I used them them for races in Squamish and that has proven to me that Cycling BC will only move forward if they value customer experience over regulational (not a word but I'm using it) limitations. The US Pro MTB Race series will mix multi-lap races and marathon races together for a points total (in the series) to appeal to all type of riders. This gets better participation in the series.
The MTB BC Cup has it's own "My Way or The Highway" approach and well, we see how that's been working out for them. That all ended this year with some Provincial Champions being "granted" a championship just by showing up for a parade lap style race. So sad to see this happen to a once healthy series.
I'm going to stress the fact that the system is broken and in much need of repair, but it all can be fixed by removing the leadership that sunk the ship by first changing up the board.
There is a proper way to do things at this upcoming AGM and I agree with the previous post, I DO NOT WANT A 12 HOUR AGM!

Bring your Cycling BC "registered voting" friends that want a positive change for Cycling BC so that we can fix the damage done within the entire system.

I'd also like to add that I find it appalling that some people would post their concern about the "sudden interest" in the AGM. Are you suggesting that we should all go back to sleep and let things be? Look at what that brought us!!!

A healthy organization is one with input and action from its membership and we have not been as active as we needed to be.

See you all on December 2, I will have a name badge on so you know who I am and if you have any questions.

Dwayne Kress
Race Organizer
Just Another Bike Race
--and----
A Full Cycling BC Race holder that wasted another pile of $$$ buying a full license this year!!!!!

The CBC BMX tracks have been well served by CBC. I am sure if a comphrehensive audit was done,BMX would come out ahead in all the development of coachs, getting our Olympic athletes and up and comers to high ranking races and support of them.
link http://bmx.cyclingbc.net/ken-cools-joins-cycling-canada-as-bmx-head-coach/
In the U.S. no such support exist to my knowledge.
Like "Own the Podium" Canada is putting a lot of money into getting CDN atheletes onto the podium.
The aba tracks are again doing what I would call another tatic against us,plain and simple.
No cbc bmx track to my knowledge has ever attacked a aba track, we are all so busy here taking care of our kids ,tracks,running indoor programs. If this arguement is really about coaching the aba could easily pay for some of the best coachs. Any good business invests into it's business.
Licensing is another big asset sent south to Phoneix and a good source of income for the aba.
CBC bmx track licences helps offset the coachs and programs , because mostly are aba tracks here, bmx gets a boost through the commitment of cbc. The massively successful drive for corporate donations and government grants. CBC BMX get a big boost.(Olympic CDN goals)
Should Jeff C ride a wave into the agm as vp bmx exec. I wonder what would he do if the next CEO not want to allow cbc bmx tracks to be assimalated into the aba?
Ask the CBC BMX clubs "we DON'T want to be run by the ABA"
would he continue working on the exec ,going to meetings and dealing with the other issues, like road /track/mtb/Para cycling/cyclo cross.
The aba is not about to leave BC. we know that, and since aba sanctioned tracks are happy,well we should be able to work within the framework. Countless attacks on good bmx people at AGMs like the latest at ActionBMX and now on our sanctioning body..
There is criteria to be chosen as a possible Olympian,go to the qualifying races and win . All tracks have chosen their sanctioning, the lower mainland CBC bmx tracks are happy .
G

The CBC BMX tracks have been well served by CBC. I am sure if a comphrehensive audit was done,BMX would come out ahead in all the development of coachs, getting our Olympic athletes and up and comers to high ranking races and support of them.
link http://bmx.cyclingbc.net/ken-cools-joins-cycling-canada-as-bmx-head-coach/
In the U.S. no such support exist to my knowledge.
Like "Own the Podium" Canada is putting a lot of money into getting CDN atheletes onto the podium.
The aba tracks are again doing what I would call another tatic against us,plain and simple.
No cbc bmx track to my knowledge has ever attacked a aba track, we are all so busy here taking care of our kids ,tracks,running indoor programs. If this arguement is really about coaching the aba could easily pay for some of the best coachs. Any good business invests into it's business.
Licensing is another big asset sent south to Phoneix and a good source of income for the aba.
CBC bmx track licences helps offset the coachs and programs , because mostly are aba tracks here, bmx gets a boost through the commitment of cbc. The massively successful drive for corporate donations and government grants. CBC BMX get a big boost.(Olympic CDN goals)
Should Jeff C ride a wave into the agm as vp bmx exec. I wonder what would he do if the next CEO not want to allow cbc bmx tracks to be assimalated into the aba?
Ask the CBC BMX clubs "we DON'T want to be run by the ABA"
would he continue working on the exec ,going to meetings and dealing with the other issues, like road /track/mtb/Para cycling/cyclo cross.
The aba is not about to leave BC. we know that, and since aba sanctioned tracks are happy,well we should be able to work within the framework. Countless attacks on good bmx people at AGMs like the latest at ActionBMX and now on our sanctioning body..
There is criteria to be chosen as a possible Olympian,go to the qualifying races and win . All tracks have chosen their sanctioning, the lower mainland CBC bmx tracks are happy .
G

Gary,
No doubt that you are a passionate Cycling BC supporter but some of your facts are wrong. some may be right but I cannot confirm them.

I do want to point out the potential loss in the separation of ABA and CBC. I can tell you that the Olympic criteria for MOST SPORTS is an international standard and not one where it is automatically given. I will walk you back to the BC XC MTB Championships where Seth wells at the age of 38 won the Elite Mens Title. I have raced with Seth since the 90's and people our age should not be winning these titles as it is a sign of an unhealthy talent pool, remember that this category is one that Geoff Kabush and Max Plaxton raced to win titles and move on to bigger things.
I point this out because the Olympics can be finicky, one minute your sport is in and the next minute your sport is out. This is a bit of an exaggeration but the Olympic Qualifying criteria is NOT static, it moves with the progress of the sport. The development of any sport's athletes in any given discipline must keep up with the world (think big picture) to be able to represent their country. If you shrink your world, your talent pool deflates and that makes it harder to find your next olympian if it can even be done at all.

Should Jeff C ride a wave into the agm as vp bmx exec. I wonder what would he do if the next CEO not want to allow cbc bmx tracks to be assimalated into the aba?

Comments;

1) The current CEO of Cycling BC is Keith Ryan. There is currently no "next CEO" as suggested in your message above. We know from this thread there is support among the membership both for and against Keith continuing in that role.

2) The CEO may provide input to the board of directors concerning future strategic directions and policy, but the CEO acts according to the policies set by the board. Other than to present additional information for the consideration of the board. The CEO may disagree with policy, but it's CEO's job to carry it out regardless.

3) I have an expectation of myself, JeffC, and any other candidate nominees for board positions to carry out the expected responsibilities of the board in terms using due diligence and sound decision-making practices in strategic planning and setting policy. That should hold true regardless of the makeup of the board and staff in the future. No one knows how this is going to turn out at the AGM, and elected nominees have to be ready to put in an honest two year term on the board on behalf of the members under any circumstances regardless of AGM election results by board position.

No cbc bmx track to my knowledge has ever attacked a aba track, we are all so busy here taking care of our kids ,tracks,running indoor programs.

I was not around when Abbotsford switched sanctions, could you tell how that came about?

Should Jeff C ride a wave into the agm as vp bmx exec. I wonder what would he do if the next CEO not want to allow cbc bmx tracks to be assimalated into the aba?

I will support CBC for the length of my term and maybe longer if Im lucky. You are assuming that my sole intentions are to influence CBC to switch sanctions. I spoke with you last year for over an hour and we both agreed that switching tracks would hurt the sport in the short term. You may have forgotten that conversation, but i have not.

The aba is not about to leave BC. we know that, and since aba sanctioned tracks are happy,well we should be able to work within the framework. Countless attacks on good bmx people at AGMs like the latest at ActionBMX and now on our sanctioning body..

I think your memory might be a little cloudy on the events in Surrey. I dont recall any attacks happening that night, but you can give me your version of the story as your memory seems so precise.

There is criteria to be chosen as a possible Olympian,go to the qualifying races and win . All tracks have chosen their sanctioning, the lower mainland CBC bmx tracks are happy .
G

CBC should represent more than just the lower mainland, they should represent all of British Colombia.

I have noticed that it was over a month ago that our President, Wayne P, was asked about the possibility of a mail-in ballot for the upcoming AGM. There has been no response. This was a fairly serious request from a Cycling BC member and our President has not gone on record to answer. I am pretty sure that this is not possible but no official response from Wayne.
Keep in mind that Wayne took time out of his busy schedule to answer to rumors of controversy at Cycling BC over a staff members dismissal. Wayne issued his statement in the Cycling BC newsletter and through cycling media outlets.

I believe the statement was something like "all fine here, now go back to sleep".

Is this how a Cycling Organizational Body works? Better yet, is this what you expect from YOUR Cycling Organizational Body?

I have noticed that it was over a month ago that our President, Wayne P, was asked about the possibility of a mail-in ballot for the upcoming AGM. There has been no response. This was a fairly serious request from a Cycling BC member and our President has not gone on record to answer. I am pretty sure that this is not possible but no official response from Wayne.

I can't help you with trying to get an official answer from the current board of directors, but I can tell you what I know. The current bylaws do allow for a mail-in ballot, but this method can't be used for elections since the bylaws only have a process that calls for and accepts nominations from the floor at the AGM - not in advance. If nominations can't be done in advance, obviously the concept of a mail in ballot for this purpose becomes moot.

In case you missed it, I did post up some other ideas for governance reform previously in this thread (see here http://bb.nsmb.com/showpost.php?p=2700976[HTML_REMOVED]postcount=115 ) that are relevant to your question.

These are almost all involving bylaw changes though, which requires a somewhat lengthy and circuitous path to adopt, given that a opportunity must first be found to propose the motion, then have members vote on it, and all members much have proper advance notice of that meeting in which the vote is taking place. The soonest that would normally occur is at the Fall 2013 AGM, unless events occur in the meanwhile such that a special general meeting can be held mid-year prior to the next AGM, so that we can have bylaw changes completed and new methods in place for 2013.

Worst thing to ever happen to BMX racing in BC was losing the CBA. I Grew up racing from about age 8 - 18 so I was 2nd year junior when I stopped racing. I can remember there being a huge provincial series and an even bigger national series between here and Alberta. There was always a heap of pro's and superclass riders. Hell one year the grand prize for first overall in the Nationals was a car! Quite a few tracks went ABA when the CBA was taken over by CBC. Grand Forks, Vernon, Prince George and Penticton to name a few. The fact of the matter is theres a lot less people racing BMX now a days around here. My home track was Ridge, and they would have 30 moto's easy every Tuesday night. Heck I think when my dad was President of the track they were probably getting close to 40. Now from what i hear they are getting pretty grimm turn outs for races. When BMX became an olympic sport I think thats when things went down the drain. Everything got a lot more serious, especially at a local level, and for myself and a few good friends the fun was sucked out of the sport for us and I think turnouts for locals have steadily gotten worse.
I could go on forever about this stuff!

I can't help you with trying to get an official answer from the current board of directors, but I can tell you what I know. The current bylaws do allow for a mail-in ballot, but this method can't be used for elections since the bylaws only have a process that calls for and accepts nominations from the floor at the AGM - not in advance. If nominations can't be done in advance, obviously the concept of a mail in ballot for this purpose becomes moot.

In case you missed it, I did post up some other ideas for governance reform previously in this thread (see here http://bb.nsmb.com/showpost.php?p=2700976[HTML_REMOVED]postcount=115 ) that are relevant to your question.

These are almost all involving bylaw changes though, which requires a somewhat lengthy and circuitous path to adopt, given that a opportunity must first be found to propose the motion, then have members vote on it, and all members much have proper advance notice of that meeting in which the vote is taking place. The soonest that would normally occur is at the Fall 2013 AGM, unless events occur in the meanwhile such that a special general meeting can be held mid-year prior to the next AGM, so that we can have bylaw changes completed and new methods in place for 2013.

Matt,

Thanks for your response. I did mention that I was pretty sure that the mail-in option was not a possibility. I just find it odd that Wayne takes time out of his schedule to address issues within Cycling BC but not issues directly affecting the membership and its voting structure. You can argue that the firing of Richard Wooles did directly affect the members of Cycling BC and I would agree but we need to focus on who to vote on and I'd say that for the most part. the current members up for election at Cycling BC will have more free time on their hands.

If the house cleaning cannot be done at this AGM, I can pretty much guarantee a special meeting to pick up the remaining pieces in 2013. I'm pretty sure that Cycling BC cannot move forward with its current board as it looks like it will be a smaller membership again next year.

DK

Undertaker = Tyler Gorz??
BMX didn’t just drop off here, it dropped off everywhere.
Demographic changes, economic changes and just generally declining participation in youth sports is what that is about. No sanction was immune to this, BMX is a fraction of the size that it once was. The decline in numbers was happening while you were still racing at Ridge and a few years prior to the Olympics. My son started while you were still fairly regular. It is pretty hard to reverse that sort of trend, it took me about 1.5 years as president to see my efforts start to pay off.
We had a great year this year and were back to 100 plus riders at some of our Tuesday races, that is back to where we were in about 2007.
Our numbers are concentrated in the really young ages, mains for the 5 and 6 year olds, full racks of 8 [HTML_REMOVED] 9 year olds but not a lot of older guys, so we were combining all the old guys and are racing mains and sometimes semi’s every week. A lot of the guys you would know from racing are parents themselves now and are showing up again and we have a pretty regular group of pros out at practice. You should hit the track next season and see for yourself.

Pemberton is starting off great with lots of big plans for the bmx track. Wondering who the will go through though. Thinking of getting me a cruiser to do some racing with the little one.

Pemberton is starting off great with lots of big plans for the bmx track. Wondering who the will go through though. Thinking of getting me a cruiser to do some racing with the little one.

I'm told it will be BMXC (ABA). Second hand info, though. Either way, looking forward to it, and doing some racing out there when I'm up in Whistler for the summer.

For once in this thread I agree with Andy!

We got into it probably around the same time Andy and his son did maybe a year later. We were at that time racing both Action and Langley, because we (I) had time to hit two tracks a week, Not so much anymore, just enough time to hit one, unfortunately- so I go to the closest to my house: Langley. I’ve done my time on the board, started a development team, and now just a happy dad / racer.

When I first started, moto counts at both tracks were pretty low. Over the past 4-5 years, we’ve seen a steady increase, and now get pretty good numbers on a district night- ironically, the same night Ridge races across the water. I don’t think the inclusion into the Olympics has hurt moto counts at all, if anything, it helps give more legitimacy to the discipline. I think more than anything it was a generational gap. Kids grew out of it, and there wasn’t much in the pipeline to replace them for a number of years. But, those kids, as Andy pointed out, are now dads, and we’re seeing them back racing, and their kids. Then there are people like me- riders from other disciplines, like MBT or Road- who recognize BMX as the best way to get your kid into racing.

My son is now Expert, a pretty good rider, not the top dog (makes about ½ his main at National events), but he loves the sport, and his skills are now transitioning nicely over to DH. Mopst important, we have a blast riding together- either at the track, or on the mountain. We’re at the point now where we are transitioning him, slowly but surely, out of BMX and into DH. But, right now, it seems there are four riders to replace every two or three that get out of racing every year. Seeing good, consistent growth in Langley area right now. Hell, I had something like 15 new kids sign up for Top Guns last year, all new