MEETING DATE: 

Wednesday February 13^th, 2008

MEETING TYPE & PLACE:

GENERAL MEETING – Glendora VFW

Motion Brought By:

Frank Plefka

2^nd:

Rich Rinaldi

Yes:

11

No:

0 (Approved-Unanimous)

·        Review Previous Meeting Minutes: Frank reviewed the previous meeting minutes from 1/24 which included Insurance, boundaries, clarification of returning players regarding boundaries & registrations and District 14.

·        Rocco Dipalmo: Frank gave Rocco Dipalmo the floor who explained that he had a team that played on the 7^th Avenue field last year and has 7 or 8 kids from Gloucester Township that he would like to bring into our league and also that he would like to Coach.  After discussion he was advised that he would have to go through the normal process of registering the players and also the regular procedures for picking Managers/Coaches.  He was fine with all this.

·        District 14 Meeting: Frank advised that Rich & he attended the District 14 Meeting.  As previously requested, it would be nice if we had a better showing at these meetings since we pushed so hard to change districts.  Next District 14 meeting is March 2^nd at 7:00 PM in Brooklawn. Some of the topics discussed included:

1.      Scheduling

2.      Dues are twice as high as District 21 – They will now be $400 as opposed to $210.00

3.      GLL was approved for our maps (boundaries) and safety plan.

4.      Our new Constitution needs to be sent to Little League (Rich will do this)

5.      Any Tournament Manager/Coach must attend a “Positive Coach’s Training” clinic.  Jerry Murphy advised that you are not eligible to Manage/Coach if you do not attend the clinic.

6.      There will be an umpire clinic at Gloucester City field March 15^th @ 1:00 PM.  Also, Tony Eller will come to GLL to run a clinic for our people.  Paul Merklein will look into this.

7.      Inner League District 27 – Is run by Magnolia (John D.) – it is approximately $100 entry and can include T-Ball through Majors.  Frank advised this could be a viable option for Minors and Majors.

8.      Senior League – Players that are in a league that does not have enough players to form a team have the option to play anywhere in the District.  It is preferred that they play in the next closest town but it is not mandatory.

·        Henry advised that sponsorship is happening & Jeff Locantore is also helping.

·        General: Rich distributed previous meeting minutes and voting eligibility status.

·        Mail: Only mail was an official letter from Little League stating we are now in District 14 and a refund check from the Fire Hall for $20.00, which was leftover from our deposit from the Beef-N-Beverage.

·        Joe distributed a handout that included financial information & details.  We have since received a statement showing a balance of $19,127.08 – this was through the first week in February.

·        Steve turned in a letter from Little League stating that our 2008 safety plan has been approved.

·        Tractors: Steve advised that both tractors we approved to get repaired have been picked up.

·        No Report

·        Registrations: Mike advised that he would not be attending registrations this Saturday and asked for volunteers.

·        Equipment: We are still waiting for one bag to be returned – we have now received the bag – this is closed.

No Reports from division coordinators

·        Grandfather Rule: Frank explained all the details & rules regarding players that are in our league and want to play elsewhere and also players that have been playing in our league but are not in our boundaries.  Basically if a player has been in our league they may stay in our league and will be eligible for all tournaments and districts.  Any new player must be directed towards the appropriate league within their boundaries.  A player in our league & boundary that wants to play Little League outside our league must get a signed waiver from the President.

·        Registrations: We have 5 registrations left and basically 11 days to get this done.

·        Meeting Date Changes: Due to accommodating tryouts and opening day - meeting dates have been changed for March & April.  The dates will all be detailed on the website.  Meeting dates now through March & April will be; 2/27, 3/5, 3/19, 4/2, 4/16 & 4/30.  The month of May they will return to the normal 2^nd & 4^th Wednesday’s.  All meetings will still be held at the Glendora VFW and start at 8:30 PM.

·        Manager Nominations: We are nominating Managers tonight and the 27^th.  Voting will take place on March 5^th. 

a)      Minors nominated were: Paul Merklein, Jeff Locantore, Rick Boutilier & Vinnie Green

b)     Majors nominated were: Henry Theisen, Tim Gallagher, Bill Schmidt & Bob Hawn

c)      Pony’s nominated were: Harry Reilly, Steve Bentley, Bill Fagan, Joe Snyder & Mike O’Brien

d)     T-Ball nominated were: Bob Hughes, Mike Curly, & Chris Clark

·        T-Ball Coordinator: Frank advised that per our constitution he will appoint a T-Ball Coordinator.

·        Players Moving Up & Down: Several options were discussed regarding players moving up and down due to skill levels and the best interest of the player.  Frank advised that players will tryout in their age bracket so that they can be evaluated against players on their own age level.  At this point either coaches or an appointed committee by the President will determine if they should be moved up or down. 

·        Players Moving Down: It was brought up that players that are moved down should be evaluated during the season in case their skill level improves so much that it puts other players in physical danger.  It was discussed that if this is the case they should then be moved back up to their League Age level.

·        Opening Day: Opening day had been planned for Whitebirch Field because that is our District and best field.  A lot of preparation, work and time have been invested into Whitebirch with this in mind.  Some members were unaware of the cleaning, weeding, digging, cutting out and seeding of the field in addition to the correspondence with the Township regarding field improvements.  A request was made by Joe Snyder & Mike O’Brien on behalf of the Ladies Auxiliary (who submitted a letter asking that their votes be included) that Opening Day be held at Fernwood.  Frank stated the pros & cons for both fields and also advised everyone that the Ladies Auxiliary does not hold a vote in any of our meetings – unless of course they are eligible per our Constitution.  Opinions were expressed by everyone with a mixture favoring each field.  Solutions were came up with and answered regarding the Ladies Auxiliary request.  A vote was passed with 6 YES AND 5 NO to hold opening day at the Fernwood Field.

·        Beef-N-Beverage: Paul Merklein thanked everyone for their help and assistance at the Beef-N-Beverage fundraiser, which was a tremendous success because of all the help received.

·        Junior/Senior Tryouts:  At our next meeting we need to discuss how and when the Junior/Senior division tryouts will take place.

·        T-Ball: It was brought up again that we discuss and consider changing our T-Ball rules to reduce the number of players on a team in order for the players to receive more detailed instruction, at-bats, and fielding opportunities.  This was originally brought up in a past meeting because it was a suggestion on the Little League website, which supported the idea of having 7-8 players on each T-Ball team.

Motion Brought By:

Rich Rinaldi

2^nd:

Frank Plefka

Yes:

11

No:

0 (Unanimous)