The USPA Board of Directors held its fifth meeting of the 2019-2021 term in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 29-31. For the second time, the board meeting was broadcast live via Zoom Webinar for USPA members to observe and over 130 USPA members registered to attend the virtual meeting.
Meeting highlights include:
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The 2022 USPA National Skydiving and Parachuting Championships was awarded to Skydive Chicago and Skydive Midwest.
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The 2022 USPA National Collegiate Skydiving Championships was awarded to Skydive Arizona.
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There will be a 4-way FS Beginner class as a test event at 2021 and 2022 USPA National Championships.
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It’s now recommended that PRO rating holders use an AAD and RSL.
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E-License discussion has been tabled until HQ Staff identifies member interest with the upcoming annual membership survey.
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A Sport Promotion sub-committee was established under the umbrella of Membership Services. The purpose “to collaborate on promoting diverse, consistent communications to inspire the general public to experience skydiving, convert them into skydivers, and support them as licensed jumpers with diverse, consistent, relevant communications, promotions, and resources.”
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Incident reports save lives and have helped USPA identify unsafe trends and respond quickly with education to raise awareness. Safety and Training Director Ron Bell continues to request Regional Directors for help in educating their region with filing incident reports.
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Subcommittee lead by Directors Luke Aikins and Melissa Lowe have developed a comprehensive document with assistance from experts in the field. This document will be added to the SIM as section “6-12 Movement Jumps.”
After 13 years of service for USPA, Director of Government Relations Randy Ottinger attended his 26th and final board meeting. Randy was a vital force in fighting for airport access on behalf of drop zone owners and skydivers across the nation and USPA is grateful for Randy’s excellent service.
A full report will appear in the April issue of Parachutist. The board will meet next August 27-29, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio in conjunction with the PIA Symposium.