Notice Of 2013 Program Changes - USAWS Drivers Rules

[Horton]

Source http://www.usawaterski.org/default.asp?Display=1565

Posted by: usawsOn: 12/18/2012 21:13:17In: Water Skiing

SANCTIONING CHANGES: Effective 1/1/2013, all boat drivers who tow skiers in USA Water Ski-sanctioned events must be current USA Water Ski Trained Boat Drivers or sport discipline-rated drivers. This includes USA Water Ski-sanctioned practices and exhibitions sanctioned through the club's "Members-Only" section of USA Water Ski's Web site and those sanctioned in conjunction with a tournament.

• How does my club sanction its club practices and exhibitions?

 

To apply for a Practice and/or Exhibition sanction, simply click on the "member login" link and login using your club's membership number and password. Once logged in, click on the "Practice & Exhibition Sanctioning" link from the navigational menu on the left-hand side of the page and follow the on-screen instructions. Contact USA Water Ski at 1-800-533-2972 with questions regarding sanctioning.

 

DRIVER PROGRAM CHANGES

 

• Aspiring Drivers: All aspiring USA Water Ski Trained Boat Drivers and sport-discipline drivers are required to submit and pass a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) Review and successfully complete both written and practical testing to attain a new driver rating.

 

• USA Water Ski Trained Boat Drivers and Sport Discipline-rated Drivers Who Received Their Driver Rating before April 1, 2012: Beginning 1/1/2013, all drivers who received their rating prior to April 1, 2012, must submit to and pass a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) Review before 12/31/2013, and every two (2) years thereafter, as part of their quantitative requirements to renew their driver rating. USA Water Ski will send an e-mail reminder to all affected drivers in 2013. Drivers who wish to complete their MVR Review prior to being notified may follow the instructions provided below.

 

• How to Purchase and Authorize a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) Review:

 

• Click here to log into your "Members-Only" section of USA Water Ski's Web site using your membership number and password

• Click on the "Drivers' Programs" link from the navigational menu on the left-hand side of the page

• Click on the "Purchase and Authorize a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) Review" link and follow the instructions to pay the $12.50 screening fee

• Click on the link provided on your payment receipt to go to USA Water Ski's screening agency's Web site to submit your authorization

 

Typically it takes two to three business days for the results to be returned to USA Water Ski. The screening agency will only notify the applicant if they fail the review.

 

Upon successfully passing the review, USA Water Ski will post the MVR Review dates on the driver’s record which can be viewed by logging into your "Members-Only" section using your membership number and password and clicking on the "My Officials' Ratings" link.

 

• How do I become a USA Water Ski Trained Boat Driver?

 

Please refer to USA Water Ski's Trained Boat Driver Program Description for details. Contact Melanie Hanson at mhanson@usawaterski.org or officials@usawaterski.org, Ext. 115, with questions regarding officials programs.

[east tx skier]

Our members, what's left of them, will be thrilled.

[The_MS]

I will not renew my membership if USA does not cover the 12.50. Increase all members dues to pay for this or I am done.

[ForrestGump]

I'm just not doing it. They lose a Regular driver at the end of 2013. Hope one of you other guys steps up and gets rated to take my place!

[The_MS]

I just sent a note to Bob Crowley. INT here we come.

[The_MS]

Bcrowley@usawaterski.org

[Horton]

@MS I will loan you the $12.50

[The_MS]

Its double because I am also a rated coach. I have the money but if they make me pay, I will just be another member that does nothing but ski. No judging, driving or coaching Junior Dev.

They need to get a clue.

[Jody_Seal]

Horton will ya loan me the $12.50 also?

[Jody_Seal]

Crowley is just another one in line doing the bidding of the Grewites! until AWSA as a whole steps up and say's no to USAWS and gets the HE double chopsticks away from them our sport will continue to decline in membership because of these knee jerk policy's that get handed down from USAWS!

Time for secession of AWSA from USAWS! All the directors and president are in place as are the infrastructure to facilitate!

[Horton]

I am not sure I agree with how we to this point but we are talking about the cost of a cheese burger and a beer. It is 10% of one tank of gas in my truck. It is 20% of the cost of a bottle of scotch.

 

You want change? Work for change but lets not pretend that the $12.50 is a huge deal.

 

Run for office. Write letters. Post thoughtful stuff here. Don't quit.

[Horton]

I just had a terrible idea.... what if the Ballers all voted as a block? As a party? You want change? Vote for change. I am not going to endorse anyone but it would be funny as hell if @MS, @Jody_Seal and @OB were on the board of directors with @Darwin. Or if we want total gridlock draft @eleeski

[jdarwin]

Unfortunately, some of us do not have a choice. Therefore, we'll be hosting a Trained Driver's clinic at my site early March. For those in close proximity, you're welcome to attend. Simply shoot me an e-mail and I will put you on the list jdarwin (at) lakesatcottonwood dot com.

[jdarwin]

Oh, and @MS giving up his driver's rating is not a bad thing - so, there will be some good that comes of this.

[Horton]

@jdarwin as long as Mrs MS still drives!

[Wish]

how about a pole to do what @Jody_Seal suggests. With perhaps a good explanation as to why or why not. See what the masses say.

[Horton]

@wish I an not going to touch it but you can start a poll. (small drop down to right of "New Discussion")

[Horton]

@wish please update your profile or signature with your real name before you do that.

[Nando]

Don't forget the $29.95 fee for the USAWS boat driver's training. I can't think of another activity where it costs to volunteer as an official. My sister is a figure skating judge and they pay her expenses, plus a stipend. Back when I was a hockey ref, I did it for the fun, but did get paid. As a tournament official, I think I got a couple of free entries. I want to get back into tournaments, but will volunteer in other ways. I used to be a regular judge and driver and a technical coordinator, but those have lapsed...

[Wolfeie]

Good luck for any site wanting to host nationals. The practice rides are the profit for any site hosting. If you can't get enough rated and approved drivers makes hosting not an option

[Kelvin]

$12.50 is not a big deal. I've been a USAWS state safety director for a number of years and come out of pocket for first aid/CPR courses to maintain my rating so I can volunteer for this sport.

 

Unfortunately, all the discussion on this board isn't going to change things, but active participation in the mid-winter meetings is a step in the direction of change. For the SCR, the meeting is:

 

SCR Midwinter Meeting, Saturday, 12 January 13

 

a. WHERE: Country Inns and Suites Round Rock, 1560 North IH-35, Round Rock, Texas. Phone: 512-828-3800.

 

b. TIME: 8:30 am until 4-4:30 pm

 

There are several clubs with active participants on this board that haven't been represented at the past few meetings.

[gregy]

What drove this action? I remember some talk here of it a few months ago. Insurance, lawyers, some incident? Wonder what usaws's cost to absorb this would be? Seems like it would discourage volunteering. What if they just required a current drivers license? Could a person have a driver's license if they can't pass a dmv review? Who reviews the dmv report at usaws, seems kinda subjective anyway?

[Kelvin]

@scotchipman What will you do for insurance coverage in 2013?

[Jody_Seal]

Please keep in mind that the Insurance that USAWS provides is supplementary at best, another words it picks up where your insurance if any drops off!

If one goes back to the thread on this subject earlier this year you will find the answers as to why this new policy, Bottom line it was caused by horrific accidents in the other than AWSA sport groups and the insurance company with USAWS had to pay out a substantial amounts of money. So AWSA being lumped in with the other sport groups was told by USAWS that this was the best they could come up with and all was going to have to comply! Well all except speed ski sport group who has their own insurance programs! HMMM!

 

I did say it earlier in the year (and have been approach by others and have been called out on it) "I Quit and they can have my rating ! " But I also realize that is not a good approach to the problem. Horton is right and to quit is to admit defeat! and that means the Grewites win!

 

[east tx skier]

See you in March, Joe.

 

At some point, I am going to leave this sport (in its organized fashion) behind. My portable course is in the attic and is just dying for some use. Our club has to have the secondary policy with its general liability coverage to be in compliance with our lease with the City, who owns the bodies of water on which we ski (these are leased premises with exclusive rights of access for the club (sort of)). But for that, we would have no affiliation with USAWS because, apart from insurance, it provides our practice only club zero benefit. If they make it prohibitive to maintain this insurance policy, our club that has been in existence for over 40 years will cease to exist.

 

If I weren't in charge of the club, I wouldn't bother being a rated driver, that's for sure.

[Horton]

Funny. Just last week I was thinking that I wished USAWS used BallOfSpray for it's own marketing. Stuff like this makes it hard for me to convince them that they should grow the organization here. Whatever....

[east tx skier]

@Horton Sorry. Don't mean to make your job harder. But it's just the reality of how we use our club. We need USAWS for insurance, but little else as far as I can tell.

 

I just got off the line with a somewhat nearby ski club president. He calculated that the amount their membership (52 or more drivers with some having individual and others having family memberships) would spend in dues and driver courses to USAWS this year as approximately $9,000.00. He's investigating private insurance arrangements in response to this driver training requirement. I investigated it last year when we first got wind of this, but a club our size unfortunately doesn't have the weight to absorb private insurance costs for general liability on public and semi public waters.

[Horton]

I started it. If this is the only place were USAWS members can voice their opinion then that is how is has to be.

[east tx skier]

I voiced my opinion to USAWS last April in an email to Melanie Hanson. For what it's worth, I may be the reason why a higher rated driver doesn't have to sign off on hours for a rated driver to keep his rating at the end of the year (unless that is still the case and I missed it). We don't anyone like that within 100 miles of our fair city.

 

Life was a lot simpler when I was just a duffer running up and down the river. I always have that to return to when our club can't practice unless the insurance adjuster is on site, which may be the case by 2014.

[Horton]

You will always be a Baller

[Jody_Seal]

I don't consider my self a USAWS member but a AWSA member I am!

"Secession in 13!"

[east tx skier]

@Horton Naturally.

 

@Jody_Seal had to break myself of saying AWSA in meetings and newsletters. It was the way I had always thought of it. The question that I have about a break is does AWSA have the clout/muscle to get all of us reasonable deals on club insurance. In reading past posts, I think the answer is that AWSA brought a lot to the table when it was absorbed into USAWS, but if that's the case, it gives me a happy to hear it again.

[jdarwin]

I would be curious to see how this group would underwrite AWSA as a separate organization:

 

http://www.amerspec.com/amsportsassoc.html

 

I believe the risk management activities of AWSA are quite extensive and would be looked upon favorably in an underwriting environment.

[east tx skier]

All of this has me looking back at videos we took skiing on the river. I didn't worry about visible buoys, insurance, whether my wife's driving was meeting certain fundamental procedures (other than the ones I was implementing on the fly), etc. I just kept looking at the water and thinking, it might be too smooth. Yeah, my form is crap, but look at the persistent smile on my face. And this may be the only Lionel Richie song worth listening to, ever. At this point, I was in a club, I had access to a course at home and had my own course back by the lake house. But my birthday wish was always to make an end of season river run. I know we, as clubs and participants, need to be insured. But this sport is so much more fun when it's less complicated.

 

Have a nice day!

 

[gregy]

I was following this thread from the beginning and I was thinking $12.50 wasn't that big of deal when considering the money we spend on this sport, but the effect on the clubs like @scottchipman and east tx skier is huge.

 

Lot of questons?

Would AWSA run into the same issue if it separated. Can the INT provide the insurance for events and clubs practice? Could the clubs get insurance as organizations from outside sources.

 

USAWS seems has made a mistake here. Was this not thought through or were they really back into a corner and force by insurance to do this? USAWS stands to loose on this one.

 

INT supports wakeboarding and other water sports. Have they had issues with this?

[The_MS]

It is not the 12.50, its who pays for it. The cost should come out of the membership as a whole not the volunteers that keep the sport moving.

The club insurance that you get is BS. It has nothing to do with someone running into a dock or island and getting hurt really bad. Your club is not protected, it is only a supplemental medical insurance policy for that person hurt. It would be great if signed waivers would actually hold up in a court of law.

[east tx skier]

For me, it's not the cost. It's the busywork.

 

As for signed waivers, they can and do work if worded properly, at least from what I have seen. Everyone in our club has to execute waivers in addition to the USAWS waivers. They don't keep you out of court, however. And lawyers can be expensive if you aren't one or aren't married to one.

[Horton]

Use search box. Top right.

[gregy]

Would the background checks have stopped these accidents that spurred this?

 

Anybody know.

 

[jdarwin]

@gregy - in theory, yes....and no. One of the incidents involved a boat driver w/ a previous DUI arrest. Using today's monitoring, he would not have been allowed to operate the boat. He was not impaired at the time of the accident so one could theorize that ANY driver (regardless of driving record) could have made the same errors in judgement that resulted in the accident. The background checks are simply window dressing in the event of another incident.

[gregy]

@jdarwin one of my good friends is an avid bowler. He's required to have background checks by their governing body because he involved with coaching children. I'll have to ask him who pays for the background checks but he does do it strickly on a voluntary basis.

[Wish]

Makes sense to have background checks for coaches that are involved with children. There is not a job in the public school system that is not subject to this. And I would welcome it. In most public schools, the individual is responsible to for payment. Even the volunteers.

[RichardDoane]

@ms - I agree about the stupid waivers everybody has to sign, just for fun look in any city's yellow pages under "A for Ambulance Chaser", amazing the number of attorneys out there

[Razorskier1]

My understanding of waivers is that you can make people sign them all you want, but under the law you can't sign away your own liability. Challenged in court, you lose.

[skibug]

This is all such a crock it isn't even funny...

[east tx skier]

@Razorskier1, waiver and release is a state law issue. So the effectiveness will vary from state to state. There are plenty of waivers based on valid consideration that have defeated negligence claims in Texas and plenty more that have not. It just depends on the language of the document and the circumstances. Our club members sign waivers as consideration for membership and the right to participate in club events. I hope that these waivers will never be tested in court.

 

/not an ambulance chaser

//not married to an ambulance chaser

[The_MS]

@OB what kind of pay out? Medical coverage for the person injured or coverage against your club for liability reasons? I read the coverage as if I hit a ball, blow my Achilles or ACL, they will cover whatever my own insurance does not cover. Or, if I have no coverage (sorry Obama) they will pay for the whole deal.

[The_MS]

I will get the scoop from you this summer. I guess my point is about people thinking that they have some sort of lake liability insurance with the Sanction coverage. Lets say a kid falls off the dock while fishing and hits head and drowns, not covered correct?

[The_MS]

I hate ambulance chasers. Why cant those nut jobs that shoot up schools set their sites on those guys.

[east tx skier]

Just to get the two policies separated, there is the policy you get with your $100 membership fee or whatever, which supposedly covers participants in sanctioned _s. Then, there is the second policy, which costs an amount dependent on the number of courses, sites, jumps, ramps, etc. that your club has. That is more in the nature of a general liability policy, wherein if little Suzy, who is not a club member, swims out in the lake, gets tangled up in the buoy lines and drowns, the insurance coverage would be applicable.

 

That is, at least, how I read it. Not tested in the field, fortunately.

 

Thoughts?