Any Experience with the Professional Membership Class?

[prototoast]

So the membership ID card says "Verified: No"? Wonder what that is supposed to mean?

It's been brought up before. The "verified" refers to birth date.

[jfarmer]

It's been brought up before. The "verified" refers to birth date.

Thanks! These multi-week conversations, sometimes my brain loses parts....

[Inquartata]

So the "No" means you were never born?

[MdA]

…….
What exactly is the certificate? That you are indeed a Professional Member? That you passed background check? Or that you are covered by the liability insurance?

Brad has said that Professional membership isn't required of club owners in order for the club to be covered by club liability insurance. My personal opinion is that it eventually will be.

I do have a question that I've sent to find out exactly the relationship between the Coaches liability insurance and the Club liability insurance as to what is covered. We've been told that the Club liability policy does not cover coaches or instructors. So in the case of a club like mine (I'm a sole proprietorship) where the club and coach/owner is indistinguishable, which coverage do I need and why? To my way of thinking, if I'm covered by my "Coaches' Policy" then unless the club policy effectively stacks & doubles the coverage, then why have both?

Based on my phone calls and emails to Melissa Baylor at the NO, the certificate means you paid your $125 and you passed a background check. It is not a certificate of insurance…or proof of your ability as a coach. If you want a certificate of insurance, you must contact Dana Brown (see below) ….but she is on maternity leave so you need to contact Melissa Baylor at the NO.

“Who do I contact for a certificate of Coaches’ Liability Insurance? Please contact Dana Brown at the National Office: dana.brown@usfencing.org."

…as for your question about coach/owner vs. club liability coverage….I think you should contact the following. (from the website)

“Cathy Fonseca, AAI Vice President- Sports, Bollinger Insurance 800-350-8005, ext. 8124, or cathy@bollingerinsurance.com . “

Now that USA Fencing is in the business of certifying “Professionals”…. it’s interesting to see how this is working out.

[KD5MDK]

Is the "Verified: NO" on a USA Fencing membership card? If it is, that means that your birth year has not been verified, and so in theory it is supposed to be verified by a tournament organizer before allowing you to fence in an age restricted competition (like Y14, or Vet 50, etc). Verification generally consists of presenting an official government document like a birth certificate or passport (or drivers license? I never deal with this outside of the SYC) to a Division Officer or other tournament organizer and having them inform the National Office they've verified your birth year.

[MdA]

Is the "Verified: NO" on a USA Fencing membership card? If it is, that means that your birth year has not been verified, and so in theory it is supposed to be verified by a tournament organizer before allowing you to fence in an age restricted competition (like Y14, or Vet 50, etc). Verification generally consists of presenting an official government document like a birth certificate or passport (or drivers license? I never deal with this outside of the SYC) to a Division Officer or other tournament organizer and having them inform the National Office they've verified your birth year.

Yes the words “Verified: NO” are on the waterproof membership card that I received in the mail…the one that you punch out of the card along with the smaller key ring version of the card. After your explanation and Brad’s which he posted earlier in this thread, I realized that this meant my birth date had not been verified.

The timing is what makes this confusing….since I was waiting for the results of my background check. I received the membership card a couple days before I got the letter with the “Professional” member certificate and the credential pouch.

I hope that this thread will help identify some improvements to the Professional membership process in the future. My birth date was submitted as part of the background check with NCSI but it’s obvious that the data is not shared between NCSI and USA Fencing ….only the red light or green light results.

Melissa Baylor told me during one of my phone calls that USA Fencing is still figuring out what they will do if someone gets a red light or “black spot” from NCSI. Under the current process, it appears that even if a coach gets a red light from NCSI….they will still have a membership card from USA Fencing that says “Professional”. …what’s the impact? I don’t know if there is some legal ramification ….

As many people have said earlier in this thread….this is all about the insurance. Coaches are either insured or their not….but I think there is potential for this to be more than an insurance program for fencing coaches.

...in Melissa's email to me from the NO there was a statement about providing "world class programs" .....why do they even put stuff like that in official correspondence?...

What about adding a skills component to the Professional certification? USA fencing has partnered with NCSI to provide the background check. Why don't they partner with the Coaches College or the USFCA, in the future, to provide verification of a coach’s skill level?

Of course, this would require a significant number of resources by USA Fencing.....they need to get the CC operating again. But, isn’t that part of USA Fencing’s responsibility to the membership….if they are certifying professionals?

I realize this is a stretch….right now, it appears they can’t even verify my birth date…unless I take steps to do it myself.

[KD5MDK]

Sorry, I somehow missed the existence of page 3.

[jfarmer]

I have sent an email to both Melissa Baylor at the NO and Cathy Fonseca at Bollinger Insurance,about my questions in respect to club vs. coaches insurance.

I've also queried about the possibility of getting a copy of the policy or the summery sheet that I would expect to get with any insurance policy. (At least it was readily available back when I was shopping for general liability and Errors & Omissions insurance as a consultant.)

It will be interesting to see the answers....

[oiuyt]

Sorry, I somehow missed the existence of page 3.

I view with options set at 50 posts/page. I have no evidence of the existence of page 3.

-B

[Inquartata]

Page three rocks. You are totally missing out!

[Strytllr]

Based on my extensive communications back and forth about the new professional price, insurance, background checks, etc. what I discovered can be consolidated as the following:

1) The old Coaches membership also included the same 1M insurance policy as now, only before it was a "freebie" with coach membership. The cost of an independent background check is relatively cheap, so the majority of the new membership fee is actually the insurance cost, and since I can't believe that the rate has increased so significantly in the last year, it must mean that the USFA is no longer subsidizing any of it's cost.

2) The new card/bag that entitles you to actually be on the floor of major competitions for free is a preemptive of a future requirement to charge spectators to watch those fencing events which has not yet been formerly decided. (and I hope it fails, personally)

Strytllr

[griffindm]

What about adding a skills component to the Professional certification? USA fencing has partnered with NCSI to provide the background check. Why don't they partner with the Coaches College or the USFCA, in the future, to provide verification of a coach’s skill level?

Please.....

If they bump the cost more than 2X for the $25 background check, I can't imagine what they would charge to actually certify teaching ability.

And regarding a "subsidy" on the insurance, see the prior posted about the new "profit line" for insurance in the budget.

[MdA]

Got an email yesterday from Kathleen Lazzaro at Bollinger Insurance Solutions.

My insurance certificate was attached as a pdf file.

So this is the end of the process....58 days from the day I applied online at the USA Fencing Railstation site.

Not exactly a "world-class program" ..... quoting Melissa's email.

My advice for coaches needing this insurance....next year, apply early in July like oso97

FYI

Kathleen Lazzaro
Assistant Underwriter
Bollinger Sports
(973) 921-8262
1-800-350-8005 ext, 8262
(973) 921-2876 (Fax)
Kathleen.Lazzaro@BollingerInsurance.com

[qatet]

Just got mine, too. Only took 89 days for me.

[Jason]

And I, mine. It may be that they did them all at once.