Grand Forks Youth Hockey Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 13th
Grand Forks Park District Office
Board Members Present: Jody Hodgson
Marc Neilsen
Jay Panzer
John Spicer
Tarek Howard
Terry Dvorak
Board Members Absent: Jay Kleven
Executive Director Steve Johnson
Quorum Present: Yes
Presiding Officer: Jody Hodgson
Recording Secretary: Jessica Sporbert
Other Members present Jessie Close
Meeting Called to Order: Jody Hodgson called meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Review of Prior Minutes: Approval of minutes from Marc Neilsen seconded by Jay Panzer for March (motion passes with a few minor wording changes).
Committee Reports: Fundraising- Nothing new at this time
Coaching update- Nothing new at this time
Hockey Development- Jody asked about Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday for Mites/Termites instead of Saturday, Monday, Thursday. Marc and other board members were not in favor of this due to having older siblings that may travel. Next year, practice schedules will come out in 2-3 month chunks instead of 2 week. Also look at doing one coop and one alone practice each week. Also could look at four and half hour ice time each Thursday at the Olympic for Bantams to practice. A practice plan will be written down next year. Marc followed up with Mayville about joining the mite/termite levels. At this time it will be determined after number of Grand Forks teams are in and if spot is available.. Mayville offered to pay for a portion.
Tournament Update- Tournament dates for next year have been set.
Safe Sport committee- Terry Halstengard (state SafeSport rep) received a lengthy report from the coach on the incident regarding the Casterno family. He reported to the Casterno family that there was not a viable claim at this time. He made several suggestions. These included having a grievance policy and system in place for parents to voice concerns. A policy may need to be made on how many times a coach can be approached before it moves up to the next level. Also watch text messages between coaches and parents. Documentation of incidents should be recorded and the board should write a letter about the complaints and the responses. Locker room monitoring needs to be happening more and someone needs to be in there at all times. Steve suggested giving time limits to get kids out quicker. Also can set out time guidelines that locker rooms are only open 20 minutes prior and 10 minutes after. Steve will work on developing a locker room policy to communicate to the organization and post it. Also need a policy for grounds from dismissal from the organization. Concerns will occur this way: parent-coach-age level coordinator-hockey director-executive grievance committee (3 members of the board) and then the board.
Team manager committee- Everything went well. Jerseys were a big issue. Parent feedback indicated that the 1 ½ hour practice was not good for B level. The board feels that the ice time is best utilized with the hour and half practices. Steve will educate coaches regarding ice utilization.
Volunteer/Special Events- Jessie has sent out bills to those families that did not meet volunteer requirements.
Grow the Game Committee- A new volunteer coordinator needs to be found for this committee.
Exec Directors Report: Steve is working on scheduling for next year. He is looking at 36 90- minute sessions. Ideally M, T, Th, but may need to include either Sunday evening or Friday nights. Also needs to check with the Park District about number of hours being provided for free for practices. Jerseys will be discussed after the general meeting.
Finance Report: A financial statement from January 31st, 2015 was passed out to the board. A new report will be generated prior to our May 12th meeting. A budget moving forward should be developed.
Old Business: Steve Westereng was consulted on personal trainers at tournaments and he reported to keep with the Altru services for athletic training as it was comparable in price and may be easier to cover for Altru. All checking and state tournaments will have coverage. A call for a motion to use trainers from Altru in tournaments that include checking and state tournaments. Jody motioned and Jay seconded and motion passes. The organization will pass on hosting a state tournament. Jay followed up with Bill about switching free ice from ICON from other rinks. At this time that can not happen for one full year of operation. The park district will take over in house squirts next season. The wall at the Icon office space still needs to be paid to the park district.
New Business: General meeting will be held May 12th. A NDAHA summary will be provided along with financial and board positions. This year, the girl’s and traveling positions will be open. Jody will not renew his term for next year. The board passed a motion to have a proposal to change the positions to at large at the general meeting. Subcommittees in the areas of Girl’s, hockey development/coaching, and fundraising/volunteer. John received an email from Jodie Lee about girls’ hockey. There was also discussion about looking into how other communities are doing refs.
Announcements: None
Member Comments: Nothing new at this time.
Board Comments: None
Next Meeting: The General meeting will be Tuesday, May 12th at 5:00 p.m. at Icon Sport’s Center community room.
Adjournment: Motion by Tarek Howard, second by Terry Dvorak