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VICTORIAN COMMITTEE

President Carol Johnsen		Carol ensures that everything is working smoothly, and is a member of the national Council, liaising with the Vic Committee and members re issues arising at all levels. Carol is adept at using our projector to beam the results of games as they occur to the tea room, and is planning to record and display complete games during refreshment breaks. Carol also organises the Melbourne Online Scrabble League on Facebook.
Vice-president Norma Fisher		Norma is well equipped for the role of Vice-president, and also handles all the sales for the Association, so if you need to purchase reference books, tiles, bookmarks etc please click this link to Sales and Norma will assist you with your requirements. Norma is also responsible for the care of our resources, a time-consuming task, and is tireless in her assistance with the running of our regular tournaments.
Secretary Cheryle Jerram		Cheryle assists in various ways in the smooth running of Scrabble in Victoria. Cheryle is also the current convenor of the Nunawading Scrabble Club which meets on Tuesday evenings at 5 Brunswick Road, Mitcham, and is a keen competitor in tournaments. Cheryle brings many skills to the secretarial position in the form of extensive organisational and computer skills gained in her previous position as the Principal's Secretary at P.L.C.
Treasurer Andrew Fisher		Andrew keeps tabs on the finances, producing a balance sheet prior to most committee meetings, as well as preparing annual financial statements as required under the Constitution. Andrew, an accountant by trade, is a very classy and highly ranked scrabble player, both in Australian and international circles. Recently he appeared on the SBS show "Letters and Numbers", becoming the Series One Champion.
Membership Officer Gwen Lampre		Gwen registers new members and also accepts renewals from existing members. The annual fee of $15 per year is excellent value, entitling players to a privileged entry fee at regular tournaments, discounts on reference books and access to the nationally produced quarterly news magazine "Across the Board". Gwen is an enthusiastic and talented Scrabble player who has competed regularly in tournaments over many years.
Ratings Officer/ Enquiry Centre Marj Miller		Marj is responsible for ensuring that tournament files are forwarded promptly to the National Ratings Officer following each tournament, and assisting Carol with sending results and tournament reminders to the large Victorian email group to keep them up to date with happenings. As the contact person for the Enquiry Centre Marj handles any enquiries regarding Scrabble, and is also responsible for maintaining the Scrabble Victoria website.
Rules Officer Trevor Halsall		Tournament play in Australia is governed by a set of national rules. The ongoing revision and refinement of these rules is done on a national basis, and Trevor is able to represent all Victorian players in a two-way communication with the national organisation (CASPA). Trevor is one of our top Scrabble players, and a very keen competitor at tournaments.
Publicity Officer Sandra Masel		Sandra has recently taken on this position and will attempt to attract interest in scrabble in various forms of the media, particularly at the time of our Victorian Championship in June. Sandra is a keen competitor at both club and tournament level, and has an extensive interest in and understanding of everything to do with words.
Committee Jenny Brysha		Jenny's cheerful and enthusiastic approach to everything she undertakes is an asset to the Committee in many ways, such as helping with the organisation of tournaments and contributing to decision making at meetings. Jenny has a great love of Scrabble, and her work has provided her with many skills which are of great value to the committee.
Committee Dianne Gibson		Dianne first played tournament scrabble in 2002 and brings wonderful enthusiam to the game, both at tournaments which she plays on a regular basis, and at the Greensborough Club where she is a regular attendee. Dianne will assist the committee in many ways, particularly at the many tournaments run during the year.

• Most improved player to be based on the period from 31st May to 31st May the following year. Presentation to be made at the Victorian Championships if the winner is present. Must be in the Ratings System from 1st June in any year to May 31 the following year to be eligible.

• The prize to be awarded to CORRECT word only. TD to check. (Feb 2006)

• Abusive behaviour, disparaging remarks or personal attacks on members in any forum where members of ASPA (Vic) Inc meets or communicates, be it a club, tournament, meeting or email list, are not acceptable in this organisation, and if deemed necessary action will be taken according to the ASPA (Vic) Inc Constitution. (July 2005 at AGM)

• Requirement for inclusion of Club details on the Victorian website - an email address is optional, but each club convenor must provide a contact phone number for their club. This does not apply to Online Scrabble Clubs/Leagues/Groups which communicate and play exclusively online. (Nov 2009 by email)

• Changes can only be made at an A.G.M.

• That profits made at Committee-run Tournaments may be allocated to International Representative teams, postdated to Aug., 2008. (Aug 2009)

• Fundraising competitions to continue at $5 per tournament. Individuals welcome to supplement their own fundraising. Important to continue support, especially for young players. Suggestion that $1 per person per tournament be paid - not popular and hard to get agreement of all tournament players. (Nov 2009)

• Renewal of membership is due on the 1st of July each year. Members will remain financial until September 30th of the following year, and will receive the September issue of the ATB accompanied by a final reminder stating that payment of the annual membership fee is overdue. After September 30th, if payment has not been received, the member shall be considered to be unfinancial and all membership privileges will cease.

• Unfinancial members who rejoin at any time during the year will pay full membership (currently $20, as of August 14, 2011) at the time of rejoining, and pay full membership again at the 1st of July.

• Junior members will pay a Junior Membership Fee of $10 per annum, if aged 17 years and under at 1st July when memberships become due.

• New members will be given a lanyard with their name badge. Name badges will also be printed on both sides. Current members can also have a lanyard if they wish. The membership fee of $15 will not be increased as expenses are covered. (May 2010)

• Recruiting ASPA memberships: first tournament (free) also entitles ASPA membership for the current year (Nov 2010)

• Play-up in tournaments. Only one play-up certificate at a time should be allowed. (Nov 2002)

• Where the player has a Play-up Certificate they must present their certificate when arriving at the tournament. (Nov 2002)

• Boardsheet: Advertising in one edition of the Victorian Boardsheet for business purposes would be a flat fee of $20 for a 12cm x 7cm block. (Aug 2002)

• That reimbursement for petrol for travel to/from Promotional events and Country tournaments be paid at the rate of 50 cents per kilometre. (Aug 2008)

• Use of clocks: At the 2004 AGM the motion for non-compulsory use of clocks by players rated under 1000 where only one player requested same was defeated. (AGM 2004)

• The following rules are those which apply for all Victorian tournaments except the Victorian Championships, where National Rules will apply. The rules may be varied for particular tournaments, but any variations must be announced in advance so that they may be known by players before registering for the tournament, except in the case of an emergency. All decisions of the Tournament Director (TD) on disputes or clarification of rules are final. Where these rules vary from those published from time to time in Scrabble sets by copyright holders, the ASPA(Vic) Rules of Tournament Play will apply.

• When the number of entrants in a tournament is more than 40, it is recommended that the Tournament Director should be a non-playing person. (Nov 2002)

• In order to avoid byes for tournaments with less than 40 players, the Tournament Director can only play to avoid a bye. (Aug 2010)

• Standby player payments - rate set at $30 per tournament (Nov 2005)

• All tournaments will be run on Margins rather than Aggregates to facilitate easier configuration of tournament software. (Feb 2006 by email).

• To use the following on fliers for tournaments (and trialled for Decathon and Aestival) "The organisation of our Tournaments relies on players arriving ON TIME. Players who have not rung and who arrive after the check-in time will not be guaranteed entry to the Tournament. Phone on the day……………………." (Nov 2006)