March 4, 2009

Bob Stall called the meeting to order at 7:35.

Those present included: Bob Stall, Pat Stearns, Mark Hollinger (taking minutes), Mark Rambacher, Tom Carlson, Ian Kersley, Jenna Brownson, Marc O'Meara, Quinn Canfield, Mike Morey, David Besse, Gerry Portante, George Sanderson, Ed Balboni, and Gloria Rios-Monarrez.

The treasurer's report was circulated for review. Bob believes there is a need to review the balance with Park & Rec. The report was accepted.

There were no minutes from the lightly-attended February meeting. The minutes from the January meeting were accepted.

As of today, the registration totals are: PW 48, U6 48, U8 105

BU10 62, BU12 36, BU14 19, BU18 15

GU10 47, GU12 53, GU14 30, GU16 17

Registration has proceeded smoothly, with only a small number of complaints about technical issues or requests for refunds.

Registration is now closed. At the U10 level, the decision to go with 6 teams (rather than 5) leaves the teams a bit small, so Tom Carlson recruited two more emergency-only players. The older teams look good. Tom's roster meeting with the NVYSL registrar is on the 15th. Most of the teams now have updated coach pledge forms (with the blow-out rule highlighted) signed, and Tom is chasing down the stragglers.

Dates for the season, including playoffs and summer events, are posted on the NVYSL website.

Dale has finished the rosters for the Girls teams. There are four U10 teams, four U12, two U14, and a single U16 team

The NVYSL coach and referee meeting is coming up. One coach from each team should attend. Referees are reminded that they will make $3 per game more by attending the meeting.

There are 5 returning coaches (plus a recommended 6th) but only 4 2nd-year U8 teams (of about 10 players each). Jenna Brownson requested and received input from the board on how to handle the coach selection process.

Mike Morey is expecting 6 U6 teams of approximately 8 players each. He's working to level the teams and reduce the number of blowouts. There are enough coaching volunteers.

Marc O'Meara reports that Pee Wee will have 8 teams of 6, and he's looking for 2 more coaches. We have about 10 kids (and at least one coach volunteer) from Boxboro.

World Cup Day will be on June 13th. We'll check to make sure the football field will be clear (following High School graduation on June 12th, which has been pushed back due to snow days). Marc will order approximately the same amount of food as in previous years, perhaps with some vegetarian fare.

Everything has been ordered except for new nets, which will be ordered tomorrow. The T-shirts for in-town teams are on their way (same sizes as last time).

There is a town-wide Park & Rec field meeting on Monday. Bob requested additional board members to attend with him. We are expecting something of a field crunch for this upcoming season. The U16 and U18 teams may need practice time on large fields. The new grassy field next to the Middle School should be available. Baseball and Lacrosse need field space too. The U12 nets at Shaker Lane should be moved elsewhere.

There will be an agreed numbering scheme for the Russell Street fields. Quinn Canfield, as field coordinator, will be the official keeper of the numbering map. The in-town age coordinators agreed to assign younger players to the smaller fields when possible.

Ian Kersley reports that no coach courses will be hosted this season. The online G course is always available, and there are F and E courses offered in nearby towns.

Terry from MLS visited to discuss some options for player development programs. MLS favors an Academy format and can offer a weekly advanced training program for travel-age players as well as a separate program for motivated younger players. Terry suggests a series of week-night clinics targeted toward team-specific topics. With the Academy format, they would need a minimum of 10 players per age group, for a parent-paid 8-week program. With rotational training, the idea would be to work with entire teams, perhaps a different team each week.

There was a lot of discussion about the various options. Scheduling and field availability are challenging, particularly in the spring. An MLS clinic wouldn't need a large space -- not even a whole field. There are two and a half fields at St. Anne's. An MLS clinic could use that extra half-field, meaning it could happen any weeknight.

Tom Carlson suggested that rather than having the club pay for rotating visiting coaches, we bring in the MLS coaches to perform assessments. There was a lot of support from the board. Jenna B. moved to hire the MLS coaches, and the motion passed unanimously. Based on MLS coach availability, the assessment nights may occur the first or second week in June.

The board decided to schedule a travel coach meeting at 7pm on March 18th, with an in-town meeting on the 26th. The shirts are expected to arrive the last week of March. Shirt distribution, equipment distribution, and field assignments will occur at the coach meetings.

The meeting adjourned at 10:06 pm.