North Carolina Babe Ruth League Meeting
Burlington, NC
October 28, 2017
Welcome:
Jimmy Sanders called the meeting to order at 9:30 with a welcome. The meeting began with a moment of silence for Tom Steele our State Commissioner who passed this year.
Introduction:
Everyone introduced themselves to the group.
Sports Illustrated Play:
Ian Ruekert from SI presented information about SI Play. Ian asked for concerns from the leagues about SI Play. Websites will be offered for FREE this upcoming year. District Commissioners explained that they have access to each leagues information via the Headquarters site. Ian explained that SIP could allow District Commissioners to access each league’s information.
Webinars are offered for anyone wanting additional training with SIP. Leagues that go with SIP are trained with the use of the program. The training video is on NCBRL website. WebWorks89 needs to rename the video under Resources to reflect it as a training video for SIP.
If a league joins SIP a $500 check will be given to the District Commissioner.
Ian requested names and email address of all group members, so he can email them training information.
SIP does not automatically divide more than 10 teams into divisions and you can also add more than 3 coaches to the roster. This needs to be corrected.
The following are the rates for SIP:
BASE
CC Processing - 2.99% + $1 per transaction (credit card payments, financial tracking, refunding etc) - Online registration ONLY
NO more per player registration fee
SETUP OPTIONS
Kickstart - $250 (registration setup, system walkthrough, templated design)
Varsity Setup - $500 (Registration setup, system walkthrough, custom graphic design and 2 hours of content migration)
The affiliate program would cover the startup cost and pay for the one- time setup fee.
I can provide BRL websites for each of these to you in another email
Website:
Ray Rogers discussed the NCBRL website. He suggested that the leagues use one website. He will email everyone and train each commissioner on developing their website. All email address for commissioners will be @ncbrl.org. Each district will have the counties listed with a map. Eventually it will also have the leagues listed for each county.
*It was asked if each District Commissioner can change their webpage. They will each be trained and then the DC will be responsible for keeping the page updated.
*The website is not mobile friendly. It needs to be adjusted.
*Integration of Google Docs was not adequate. The developer will work on it to make sure it will be easier to access.
*It was noted that there is too much information under each dropdown menu.
*If there is a problem with the website, contact WebWork89. This information will be sent to each NCBRL official.
*It was asked about the cost of the website. Ray stated that $1,500 was paid by NCBRL to develop the website. Any problems will be corrected at no charge.
Ray stated that most of these issues will be addressed right away.
Minutes:
Minutes were projected from the website where they have been for several months.
There was no discussion. Jimmy Davis made the motion to accept the minutes as presented and Jeff Cannon seconded the minutes. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Dennis Baucom pointed out the items from the report generated by Cherrie Sanders. Cherrie explained some differences between the East and West balances.
The West has recently paid some fees that do not reflect on the report.
Cherrie did not have access to the West bank account so when she received monies from the West she deposited into the East and later transferred it to the West account when she received rights to the account.
East balance as of August 31, 2017: 18,255.62
West balance as of August 31, 2017: 11,460.98
Miscellaneous income items were reviewed by Cherrie. Miscellaneous disbursement items were reviewed also.
Motion was made by Skip Reudeman and seconded by Jody Sims to accept the Treasurer’s report. It was approved unanimously.
Headquarters Report:
Henry Sermons, SE Regional Commissioner, was introduced. He discussed the meeting atHamilton Township, NJ, Babe Ruth Headquarters. The bat issue was discussed. The rules will be in the new rule book that will be coming out soon. T-ball bat rule was discussed briefly. More information will be this afternoon.
Pitch count was discussed. Pitch count rule likely will be adjusted for the upcoming season.
It was discussed Babe Ruth is considering allowing 14 and 15 year olds to play with 16-18 year olds. Headquarters will make a ruling on this. There is a possibility that 12 year-old swing players will be illuminated. Discussion was held and several felt that the swing player for 12 year olds should continue because several are playing school ball. Henry stated that he felt it should be a local league option. The Babe Ruth Board will meet and make the decision.
Henry handed out a rate sheet to each commissioner for 2018. Tournament Fees: 9 and 11 year-olds do not have to pay fees. Only age groups with a World Series are charged tournament fees.
One 2018 Regional Tournament will be held in Clemmons, NC. It is for 9 year olds. Henry asked the district commissioners to see if any of their leagues would want to host a regional tournament in 2019.
2018 all Regional Tournaments will be double elimination. There will be no pool play.
Election:
President/State Commissioner
All District Commissioners who turned in their district minute meetings showing they had been elected to their position for the ensuing term and were present plus the elected State Commissioner and the elected Assistant State Commissioner were determined to be eligible to vote.
Henry Sermons opened the floor for nominations:
Ray Rogers nominated Jim Blanton.
Jimmy Davis nominated Jimmy Sanders.
Trisha Freeman nominated Jody Sims. Jody declined the nomination.
Lon Nigro moved to close the nominations and seconded by John Bunting. Motion carried.
Henry and David Doughtie(NCBRL East UIC) counted the votes. Jimmy Sanders was declared the winner.
Vice-President/Assistant State Commissioner
Jimmy Davis nominated Dennis Baucom.
Keith Pack nominated Wayne Harwell.
Jimmy Davis made the motion to close the nominations and John Bunting seconded. Motion carried.
Henry and David counted the votes. Dennis Baucom was declared the winner.
Henry shared the information that Babe Ruth Umpire Certification has gone up to $80. Each umpire will receive a Babe Ruth shirt with patch. Discussion was held about what to do if umpires choose not to become certified.
Each member was given $12 for lunch on their own. Meeting was stopped for lunch until 1:30.
Bats and T-Ball:
Jimmy reminded everyone to remind their leagues about the new bat rule. Approved bats are listed on BR website and USA Ball site. The list will be added to NCBRL.org.
T-Ball bats that are currently being used will be allowed for the 2018 season if there is a decal on the bat. The decal can be purchased from BR. Jimmy Davis made a motion to purchase 4,000 decals or as needed and give to the District Commissioner to distribute to the leagues. Trish seconded this. Motion carried.
Balls must be T-Ball approved. This is a new rule.
Review of Tournament Expenses:
Dennis reviewed the tournament expenses from the spreadsheet. Approximately $28,000 was spend for tournaments. Discussion was held about where to cut back expenses. Baseballs will be purchased in larger quantity, so the price should be reduced. Participation pins will not have dates on them any longer. Motion was made by Jody Sims and seconded Trish to not provide participation pins. Motion carried.
Volunteer shirts and umpire shirts were discussed. It was suggested that Tournament Lanyards be purchased for the host volunteers. Steve Osbourne made a motion and Jeff Cannon seconded to stop providing volunteer and umpire shirts.
The motion carried.
Trish made a motion to purchase lanyards in lieu of shirts and seconded by Mickey Davis. Trish amended the motion to read an appropriate identification will be purchased for tournament officials. Mickey agreed to the amendment. The motion carried.
Medallions were discussed. It was suggested to have a specific medallion for runner-up and winner, not a generic medallion.
Banners are needed for State Champs.
NCBRL patches will be provided to winners.
NC Flag is needed for winner of State Tournament for the Regional Tournament.
Approximately $9,500.00 will be saved from these cuts in tournament expenses.
Going Forward:
Approval of Appointed State Commissioners
Jimmy Davis made the motion and Ray Rogers seconded to appoint Cherrie Sanders as Treasurer and Pam Holder as Secretary. Motion carried.
Creation of Rules/Tournament Committee
Jimmy asked for volunteers to comprise a committee to discuss rules and tournaments. The results will be shared in the January meeting. If you are interested, please send Jimmy an email.
Area & State Tournament Hosts/Contacts
Contract needs to be developed for host teams for Area and State tournaments.
This will be done and shared in the February meeting.
Member Issues:
Motion was made by John Bunting and seconded by Trish to move the West bank account to a bank closer to Cherrie, the treasurer. Motion carried.
Jim Blanton asked about team fees for tournaments. His district asked to be reimbursed for these fees. A lengthy discussion was held about the fee structure.
Motion was made by Jimmy Davis and seconded by Mickey Davis to do away with the $75 State tournament participation fee. Question was called for the motion. Motion was defeated.
Dennis asked that we create a committee to come up with a recommendation, but the membership asked for a resolution today.
Motion was made by Jim Blanton and seconded by Cherrie Sanders to eliminate the participation fee for tournaments in NC in 2018. Motion carried.
The NC Team charter fee will be reduced by $5 in the west for Cal Ripken (excluding T-Ball), Softball and Babe Ruth Baseball. This motion was made by Jody Sims and seconded by Cherrie Sanders. Motion carried.
Motion was made by Jim Blanton and seconded by Cherrie Sanders to refund the money to teams that paid the Tournament Team Entry Fee. Motion carried.
Clarification was asked for the rule on catcher’s mask. Wayne Harwell said a throat protector is required. Two-piece mask is legal.
Cherrie provided a list of leagues that have paid their fees. Commissioners were asked to look at the list to determine which leagues have not paid their fees.
Jim Blanton made the motion that no letter of eligibility will be issued unless state fees have been paid. This was seconded by Skip Reudeman. Motion carried.
Next Meeting Date:
The next meeting will be held for the West on January 20 and East on January 6 in Wilson. Location will be sent out at a later time.
Adjourn for Dinner
Motion was made by Lon Nigro to adjourn and seconded by Jeff Cannon at 4:24. Motion carried.
Meet in Lobby at 5:45 PM for dinner at Grill 584.