Gwinnett-Dekalb Seniors Softball, Inc.
General Membership Meeting
December 3, 2005 - Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date, Time and Location
December 3, 2005 - 9:30 a.m. - Gwinnett County Senior Center at Bethesda Park
Call to Order
President Peter Mariolis made the call to order
Opening Prayer
Rick Prigmore led the membership in an opening prayer.
Attendance
The following 2005 Executive Committee members were in attendance:
· President, Peter Mariolis
· Vice-President, Gary Mastrodonato
· Treasurer, Frankie Baldwin
· Secretary, Doris Warpole
· Past President, Walt Clingenpeel
· Under 60 League Commissioner, Ben Wiechman
· 60+ League Commissioner, Norm Lebedin
Association By-Laws state that all members in good standing in the current calendar year are eligible to vote at the Annual Meeting; and 20% of the eligible membership in attendance shall be considered a quorum. Fifty-one (51) members signed in, representing 35% of the current eligible membership of one hundred and forty-six (146).
Old/Unfinished Business
Peter asked if there was any old/unfinished business to discuss. No old/unfinished business was brought up. Peter asked Doris to review the 2004 General Membership Annual Meeting Minutes. Doris provided an overview of the minutes, asked if there were any questions, and stated that copies of the 2004 minutes were at the meeting and could be downloaded from the MASSL web site. There were no questions from the members, and the minutes were accepted by a unanimous vote of the members present.
New Business
2005 Financial Report
Frankie Baldwin, Treasurer, reviewed the 2005 Financial Report and updated the members on the additional checks written the date of the meeting. Frankie pointed out that the league made $1,460 on the Memorial Tournament with the profit ($550) donated to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
The report handed out at the meeting will be revised to reflect the additional expenses, and a copy of the report included in the minutes. Members will be also able to view the “final” 2005 Financial Report online at the MASSL web site.
Frankie mentioned that the $3,130 shown on the financial statement for the Special Use Set Aside Fee was what was collected this year. Frankie stated that the fee is included in the annual membership fee, and the total set aside amount designated for Best Friend is $10.475.
Peter pointed out that the monies will allow GDSS to leverage the Metro Atlanta Senior Softball League's interests in retaining Best Friend as the “home of Gwinnett-Dekalb Senior Softball”. He also mentioned that when Best Friend was ready, the league may want to consider donating more than the amount collected from members.
Peter also mentioned that the Executive Committee made a decision at their November meeting to discontinue collecting the set aside fee in 2006. This would lower the annual membership fee by $20 for a total of $75. Peter stated that this change will be reflected on 2006 Application form sent out to members in January.
There was no further discussion. Curtis Caldwell made a motion to accept the report; Rick Prigmore seconded the motion. The 2005 Financial Report was approved as presented by a unanimous vote of the members present.
2005 Membership Demographics
Doris reviewed the membership demographics and changes over the past three years and recognized the 2005 Octogenarians in attendance - George Bond (86 non-playing), Al DiFiore (84 playing) and Rick Prigmore (82 playing).
· The number of active playing members is up 2% or 3 members over 2004. Membership had gone down in the past - 170 in 2002, 156 in 2003 and 143 in 2004. The recruiting of new members this year accounted for the increase.
· The number of Metro Atlanta counties represented by members has continued to go down – 12 in 2005, 15 in 2004, 16 in 2003, and 22 in 2002. The majority of members (72%) are from Gwinnett and Dekalb.
· The number of members in each age group has continued to go down since 2002. The only age group that had an increase in members from 2002 was 60-64.
Age Group / Members 2005 / Members 2002 / Change48-49 / 4 / 5 / - 1
50-54 / 28 / 33 / - 5
55-59 / 35 / 42 / - 7
60-64 / 32 / 29 / + 3
65-69 / 27 / 31 / - 4
70-74 / 11 / 16 / - 5
75+ / 9 / 14 / - 5
Doris pointed out that with increasing Atlanta traffic, members wanting to play closer to home in other senior softball leagues (Cobb and Smyrna), and active membership getting “older”, there is a need to recruit more players for the Under 60 league.
2005 League Overview
Gary reviewed the results for the Spring and Summer Seasons and recognized the winning teams in each league. Copies of each league’s Spring and Summer results are available at the meeting.
Gary mentioned that when the Red Team dropped out (Under 60 League) for the Summer, players were asked to recruit new players to form a fourth team. He recognized Phil Trapkin and Peter Paulich for doing a great job in recruiting the majority of players on the new White Team.
2005 All Star Game
Gary presented information on the All Star Game held on August 6. This was the first organized inter-league game and was sponsored by the Smyrna league. There were 2 teams from each league participating – Smyrna, Hobgood and MASSL. Players from each of our 4 teams in the Under 60 and 60+ Leagues participated. Ben Wiechman managed the Under 60 Team and Fred Molnar managed the 60+ Team.
In both divisions, the Smyrna teams were undefeated. Our 60+ team came in second and Under 60 team came in third. There were some very close games that were won by only 1 run.
Phil Adams was selected as MVP for the Under 60 team. Ed Davis was selected as MVP for the 60+ team.
Gary stated that the governing committees of all 3 leagues agreed to meet early 2006and discuss having an Annual All Star Game, rotating the sponsorship between the leagues.
MASSL Web Site
Gary stated that the league web site is dedicated to honoring those players and their spouses who have passed away.
· Two players were added to the “In Memoriam” page in 2005 – Les Boswell and Jack Bertram. Doris mentioned that Les was one of the founding members of the GDSS League.
· Two spouses were added in 2005 – Vivian Stevens, wife of Joe Stevens, and Barbara Dembo, wife of Floyd Dembo.
This year there are more pictures of players batting and playing, and news links to web sites of interest have been added. The web site gets more “hits” on Fridays during the playing seasons because members like to check out the league standings for the week.
Gary recommended that members use the web site as a marketing tool for prospective players to get more information on the league and download an Application and Waiver.
Availability of Playing Fields in 2006
Gwinnett County
Peter pointed out that Gwinnett County does not charge the league for using the fields. The County provides the lights, chalk, etc., and does the maintenance on the field free of charge. Peter gave an overview of the meeting with Gwinnett County officials regarding what fields would be available for the league in 2006. Peter, Gary and Ed represented the league.
· Best Friend will not be ready for 2006.
o When the renovation is completed, the park will have two fields - one 300’ foot softball field and one baseball field that will also be used by high school baseball and football teams.
o Gwinnett County officials are aware that the league intends to make a donation (the special assessment fee collected the last 3 years) in order to have Best Friend designated as the Senior Softball Park in Gwinnett County.
o Mack Roper asked if both leagues will go to Best Friend. Peter stated that the Association would like to move both leagues to Best Friend. During the meeting, it was mentioned that we would like both fields on 2 nights. There was also discussion about using the one softball field on 2 nights during the week. Gwinnett County could not commit at this time, but they left the item open for discussion at a future date.
· Lucky Shoals renovation into soccer fields will not begin until 2007.
o Gwinnett County offered 2 fields at Lucky Shoals on Wednesday or 1 field on Tuesday and Thursday for league play.
o For 2006, the league representatives opted to play on Wednesday nights for the Under 60 League.
· Contract for Practices
o This year it was “first come, first serve”, and there was a problem in getting a field at Lucky Shoals on a couple of Saturdays.
o Peter asked Gwinnett County about getting a contract for Saturday mornings allowing the league to practice.
o Gwinnett County agreed to provide a contract for a Lucky Shoals field.
o Peter will follow up with Gwinnett County to get the contract and give a copy to Norm and Doris to have available at practices.
Peter will contact Gwinnett County about finalizing the contract for 2 fields at Lucky Shoals on Wednesday night and getting the contract for practices on Saturday.
Harmony Grove:
Peter mentioned that the league has an established relationship with Harmony Grove. A meeting will be held with Harmony Grove officials and the league expects to get 2 fields on Wednesday nights in 2006.
Peter will contact Harmony Grove officials about finalizing a contract for 2 fields on Wednesday night.
Mike Griffin stated he lived in Hall County and asked if fields in other counties had been considered. Peter stated that the league had looked at other fields in Dekalb, but the location of the fields is the main consideration for members. If the drive is too long, members will not play. Because of the drive to Hall County and traffic, fields in Hall County have not been considered.
Umpires in 2005
Peter asked what the members felt about the job the umpires did this year.
In the 60+ league, overall consensus was that the umpires did a great job in calling plays, balls and strikes and in controlling the players.
In the Under 60 league, overall consensus was that the umpires did an excellent job with the exception of one issue – the strike zone was not consistent between Bruce and Jose. Members complained that the strike zone called by Bruce is too high; there was no problem with Jose. Members asked if this issue could be addressed with Bruce for the 2006 season. Peter stated that the League Commissioner will meet with Bruce about this issue.
Ideas for Improving the League/Increasing Membership
Peter asked members for their ideas on how to improve the league. There were no recommendations on how to improve or change the league.
Following a discussion on how to increase membership, Peter encouraged members to pick up copies of the league business cards, flyers and bumper stickers available at the meeting and use them as marketing tools to recruit new players.
Doris mentioned that she has talked to some umpires about giving out league business cards to “older” individuals playing in other leagues. The umpires could just give out the business cards, and prospective new members can go to the web site or call for more information.
Clayton Webster asked if the league advertised in local newspapers. He brought a copy of the Dekalb paper with announcements of other sports. Peter stated that the league has advertisements in the local Gwinnett paper, Gwinnett Life Parks/Recreation Newsletter, Score Atlanta Newsletter and Atlanta Sports & Fitness Magazine. Peter asked Doris to see about getting an ad placed in the local Dekalb paper for 2006.
Recruiting Incentive
The Executive Committee approved a recruiting incentive for 2006 to help in recruiting new members. Members will receive $10 off the following season’s fee for every new player they recruited that signs up to play.
Peter stated that a separate line will be added to the application form “Recruited by (name of member)” and Doris will keep track of the recruiting incentive in the league data base.
There was consensus among the members that the recruiting incentive and lower membership fee in 2006 should help in recruiting new players.
2006 Practice Schedule
Weekly practices will be at Lucky Shoals Park on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Starting time of practices will depend on the weather – the colder the weather (i.e., December), a later start time and the warmer the weather (i.e., July), an earlier start time. Depending on the number of players, who show up, practices generally last 2-3 hours.
· October through March - practices generally start at 10:00 a.m. in October and November and 11:00 a.m. in December through March.
· April through September - practices generally start at 10:00 a.m. in April through May and 9:00 a.m. in June through September.
Mike Monsen asked if practices were still being held on Thursday if practice is rained out or weather does not permit on Tuesday. Norm stated that generally the league has not practiced on Thursdays. Mike suggested that the information regarding practices on Thursdays be removed from the MASSL web site. Peter asked Doris to update the web site.
When the practice time changes, Doris stated that the MASSL web site is updated and a blast email is sent to members with email addresses announcing the change.
Norm said that members can call him if they have a question about practices and gave out his home phone number.