Meeting Minutes
Board Members In Attendance
Dave Bresnick
Laura King
Steve Augusten
Claire Pozniak
Tamas Erdos
Nathanael Kozinksi
Max Suddendorf
Jai Srivastav
Harrison Corp
Jenn Barr
Luke Morgan
Working Group Updates
2028 WRC Qualification Cycle
Vote for 32+ seats passed so if we do get more than 32 seats for the US amateur circuit, the top QP getters will get automatic seats to WRC 2028. This is still relatively unlikely due to how seats will likely be allocated
We are making the form for the Proposals to host the ARA invitational for Jan 2028, be looking out for it
Tech
Jai implemented a quality of life feature for uploading tournament results, almost ready for release
Communications
All info is up to date
Got accurate info from some GLRO attendees to make sure tournament tracking was correct
Jenn to post blog updates regularly, check them out on the website!
Harrison had minutes out a bit late this month, be expecting them sooner in the future
US Rankings
Kathy built an ELO spreadsheet and website tracker demo, will help with data visualization and input
Education
Etiquette list - everyone’s stuff has been collated in the education channel
If you have anything else, DM Luke!
Short discussion about potentially making a document that players see and agree to before participating in ARA ratified tournaments
Professional Organizations
World Riichi Pros
Working on schedule for 2026
Finished up final Majors for 2025.
WRL Finals info is getting assembled. It’s in February, more info TBA
Next test date is in March, and applications are opening soon for that.
Saikouisen
Here’s our new website! https://www.saikouisen-usa.com/
East Coast Pro Exam coming up
Bay Area, Seattle, LA, and Philly having Pro Amas tournaments
Schedule is out for 2026, give it a look!
ARML
If you sign up, please commit to playing the full season
Next season will have all full divisions
Rules and judging
Been compiling the reports and judge oddities from 2025’s tournaments
We need a lot of data to make this valuable
Will hopefully get caught up on observer reports by January
TO responses to observer reports are optional, you can say thanks or respond to anything in the observer report and will be given a chance to do so before it is published, but you are not required to
Community engagement
Send your content to Laura or the ARA Riichi account for fun holiday events, yakuman, or anything else!
ARA Assembly Clubs - Year in review
Submit some kind of recap for each assembly member
Text dump of activity, slide show of photos, music video, you can make a broadway production if you want
Post in the assembly when finished!
Hopefully project ready by January meeting
Incorporation
No current updates
IORMC
The event happened, we did not place particularly well. A few good individual results.
There was an instance of accused collusion not involving US players, but after an investigation by IORMC they did not find conclusive proof of collusion
Open Discussion
No Open Discussion
Event Announcements/Reminders
Oklahoma Riichi Open with Open Riichi March 14th! Sign up now!
DC Open 2026 is March 28th (87/152 cap) - Early registration ends at the end of January!!!
Kansas City Riichi Mahjong hosting Heart of America Riichi Tournament May 30th! Stay tuned for more info!
Multiple clubs are hosting holiday parties, check in with your local club about them!
Closed Session
Discussed Riichi Rising Tournament for Virginia Beach
[Ratified post meeting, coming up on February 21st]
Some discussion on the etiquette guide list
Revisiting Discussion related to a banned player by Canadian Council
ARA was waiting for more information by the Canadian Council before next steps, now that it has been considerable time we are revisiting the topic
Statement to be released by ARA for assembly and public, be looking out for it soon