December 2 Meeting Minutes
Members present: Pat Stearns, Gary Austin, Mark Hollinger, Brenda Riordan, Tom Carlson, Mark Rambacher, Marc O'Meara, Ian Kersley, Josh Roffman, Bob Stall, Jenna Koerper Brownson
Pat Stearns called the meeting to order at 7:37.
November Minutes
The previous meeting's minutes were approved unanimously.
Treasurers Report
Bob stall distributed an updated balance sheet, showing only $148 difference from last month. There is a new “Reimbursement Account” for referee payments and other small expenses. Referee checks will be submitted to the bank electronically, which will send paper checks to the referees, saving the club money on postage.
Travel Report
Mark and Josh indicated that registrations and planning are underway. There was discussion about placement of the BU14 teams, if we get a sufficient number to field two teams. Registration numbers are light for the younger programs. The board decided to cap the GU12 and BU12 programs each at 30 temporarily, until and unless they reach 36 (with 6 on the wait-list)
NVYSL Report
Nothing to report this month.
Registrar
Registration is well underway. Currently, the numbers are: 18 PW, 16 U6, 28 U8, 13 BU10, 10 BU12, 21 BU14 (3 on wait-list), 19 BU18 (1 on wait-list), 15 GU10, 23 GU12, 22 GU14, and 14 GU18, for a total of 199 registrations for Spring 2010. The numbers are a bit low, especially for the in-town programs, but it's still early. The board decided to initiate a registration reminder blast e-mail soon. Mark Rambacher suggested a “soccer registration is open” notice in the Littleton Independent (keeping up with Baseball and Lacrosse).
Referees
The season was off to a slightly rocky start as referees got used to using TheArbiter, with its online scheduling system. We had 8 new refs in the Fall, and all but 1 have said they plan to return. Similarly, of the experienced refs, only one has announced an attention to step down. We “loaned out” a lot of referees to neighboring Harvard this season because Littleton had plenty.
Equipment
Gary Austin reported that Kate Hodges from Park & Rec had offered to get T-shirts for the in-town program, as she does for basketball, at prices around $2 per shirt less than we have been paying. Most of the nets have been taken down for the season. There was a discussion of handicapped accessibility of the fields, stairs, and snack shack.
Booster
Gary ordered 18 more umbrellas, blue & gold this time. He is looking for volunteers to help at the Bazaar on Saturday. A few minutes of recruiting produced several board members willing to serve in that way. Jenna reminded those who had been selling magnets to return the money and/or the unsold ones.
Coaches
There was nothing to report.
New Business
Player Development
Brenda has been thinking about a new Player Development section on the website and collecting information about various area programs and facilities in the region. The board was pleased to note that Mass Youth Soccer has listed a Friday night skills program during January in Littleton, though a bit puzzled about how it got set up. Brenda will check with Park & Rec to confirm the location. Mark Rambacher asked whether anyone could think of a way to help players find coaches of indoor teams (which are not sponsored by LYSC).
CORI’s
Park & Rec would like to begin doing CORI checks again on all the soccer coaches. There was a long discussion about how to manage the duplicate CORI requirements from Park & Rec and Mass Youth Soccer. Gary has agreed to become an official CORI coordinator to assist with the process.
Tryout Planning
Last month, the board decided to use the term “tryouts” rather than “assessments”. Pat suggested that each age group should have two nights of tryouts. While not unanimous, the general sense of the board was to mix teams within age groups (rather than having, for example, first-year U10 and second-year U10 teams that are principally separate).
Many proposals were made for specific activities and strategies for the tryouts. The planning process will continue at future meetings. There may be a special BU14 tryout soon to determine placements for the Spring season.
Other Business
Two committees will be formed: one to review the constitution, one to review the website. The meetings will be announced to comply with the open-meeting law.
