AYSO Region Meeting Minutes September19, 2016

AYSO Region Meeting Minutes ~~ September19, 2016

Attending: Roger Steele, Ted Shoepe, Tom Norton, Kelly Watson, Pat Stanford, Mike Doherty, VieraEwell, Michelle Wilkinson, Terrence DeKretser, Billy Whalen, Brad Puskas, Dean Dierks, Jerry Fruchtman, David Kramer, Lance Ralls and Geoff Lister.

Meeting brought to order at 7:03pm

Minutes: approval of Minutes for August – moved by Pat Stanford (with modifications as discussed), seconded byMichelle Wilkinson – minutes approved w/corrections

Steve Kahn presentation

Steve Kahn, the parent of an AYSO Region 92 player, asked to present some information to the Board. Previously, Steve had sent an email to the Board as well as the Area 1D director and members of the AYSO national board.

Steve raised concerns about an alleged conflict of interest regarding Region 92’s Regional Commissioner, which included:

Steve does not believe that Roger should coach a team while he is the RC, nor should he have a role in selecting players or coaches for teams against which his son is competing
Steve claimed that Roger “lied” about the “late start of the season”
Steve claimed that some BU14 coaches were not age certified, yet were allowed to coach
Steve also claimed that Roger pushed potential volunteers away
Steve believes that Roger is holding grudges and is not doing the right thing by way of the region

Steve also distributed a copy of an email that had been written to Roger who had coached his son in little league baseball in the spring of 2016. A board member suggested that the baseball issue should be communicated to and handled by the little league board, not the AYSO regional board.

Kelly Watson, Coach Administrator, thanked Steve for bringing his concerns to the Board. She did dispute several of the items Steve raised as concerns, including stating that all coaches will be age certified in order to coach this fall. She was also consulted on conditions that Roger had set in order for Steve to coach a team in the fall of 2016, and she stated that she agreed with the conditions placed upon him. These conditions were developed in part based upon information shared with Roger by prior regional commissioners and communication from AYSO parents to the RCs.

Steve was thanked for bringing the issues to the Board’s attention. He departed the meeting at this time.

Additional discussion ensued among Board members regarding the conditions placed on Steve, due process, and how to address the alleged concerns. Roger shared that the Area Director, who was copied on Steve’s original email to the regional board, was handling the concerns at the area level.

Regional Commissioner Report/Open Board Positions (Roger)

Roger: filled most of board positions; still open – desperately need Awards Coordinator (Jerry might have a lead – “Taylor”, a U7 parent); snack bar is traditionally operated by Freshman/Sophomore classes at ESHS as fundraiser (AYSO funds inventory for 20% of profits) – Soph class is looking for “snack bar liaison” from AYSO – we will evaluate potential candidates (Alex Kaiser) and will consider just having the Freshman class handle

Volunteer league will potentially be kicking off in the next couple of weeks

Porta-potty for Richmond field approved by city (Ted to finalize with school)

AYSO National Board is evaluating all USA Soccer recommendations (e.g. build-out line, smaller goals for U10/U12, age groupings by calendar year [Jan. 1] vs. July 31 cutoff, etc.)

BOARD REPORTS:

Registrar: (Ted Shoepe)

Wait list process is working well to rate new players; divisions are largely full (BU8, 5 spots; BU12, 3 spots; BU19, 2 new additions possibly coming) Got about 60% of the waitlist of ~50 kids placed.

Coach Administrator: (Kelly Watson)

Majority of coaches have badges and those without will be completed this week; coach badges will be enforced starting this weekend (Sept 24-25); one coach and one assistant coach in U14 will not be certified and will be replaced

Arcadia meeting in January 7-8 for voting Board members

U5 program off to a great start; formed teams and had one parent per team each week to step up as coach

Friday clinic: up to U10 had 60 kids show up and could use some coaches to help; U12 and up plus goalkeeping attracted about 15 kids

Coach clinic on first weekend was well attended; utilized it as U10 certification opportunity for some in attendance; will try to schedule one additional during the season

Ask every coach to sign up for the Challenger reps to attend at least one practice (will show up at a practice if the coach doesn’t schedule it); feedback on the two Challenger reps has been strong

Will distribute additional coach shirts as well

Kelly will email coaches regarding how to divide and share the fields for practice and to stick with their assigned times/days only

Girls/Boys program commissioners should have mid-season coaches’ meeting

Girls Program: (Mike Doherty)

U8 and U12 have one opening each

All coaches are registered volunteers, all have Safe Haven, some are still in process on certification and concussion awareness training

Boys Program: (Terrence for Ricky Labayen)

U6, 13 teams; U7, 8 teams; U8, 8 teams; U10, 12 teams; U12, 8 teams; U14, 5 teams

Ricky continues in “due process” role; Terrence will handle day-to-day operations other than U12

Area Program: (VieraEwell)

Open spots: 2 BU16; 2BU19 (have spots open until Oct 1); 1 GU16

We need to identify player reps for each team for Area

All coaches are fully certified with badges

Referee Administrator: (Pat Stanford)

Games have been filled by-and-large for both weeks

National refs have come out to ref a number of games

Noticed better behavior (parents, referee/coaches) this year than last year

CVPA: (Ryan Wantz)

Will discuss player ratings at October meeting (how to improve it, etc.)

Safety:(Dean Dierks)

Sandbags in place at Campus; warning stickers on all goals at Campus and Brett “do not climb”

Need to send out email to all active families regarding accident insurance

Email to Board regarding accident reporting process has been distributed to division commissioners and from them to coaches

5 injuries in week 1; none in week 2

Did some field maintenance on Brett prior to week 1 games; Roger talking to Parks/Rec regarding watering at Brett

New nets on goals at Campus

Jerry to look at Brett goals to evaluate whether they can be repaired

Treasurer’s Report: (Michelle Wilkinson)

Balance of $246,000 prior to checks today