Monthly Board Meeting Minutes 11/6/2014

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Montgomery Township

Baseball and Softball Association

P.O. Box 732
Montgomeryville, PA 18936

Board Meeting

November 6, 2014

7 PM – Montgomery Township Building

MEETING MINUTES

EXECUTIVE BOARD ATTENDANCE:Brian Ferko, Trevor O’Brien, Mike Simpson, Joe Romanoski, Rick Ray, Eric Pelletier

COMMISSIONER/DIRECTOR ATTENDANCE: Mike Dunlap, Kevin Donovan, Mike Pilewski, Bill Dudeck, Eric Brown, Rob Smilowitz, Rick Shoulberg, Rod Orth, Roman Leshak

MEMBER ATTENDANCE: Silvio Barbosa, Bill Palumbo, Rob Garbaccio, Keith Heilveil, Jim Cashley, Rob Grenda, Meg Pancoast, Jim Ottomano, Tom Kermis, Joe Mezzatesta, Dave Whitman, Louis Cohen, Rick Costello, Cardine Henesey, Derek Oh, John Monaghan, Steve Krumenacker, Joe Ungurean

Meeting Called to Order: 7:00 PM

Call to Order: Eric Pelletier call to order, second Trevor O’Brien

Approval of Minutes from October 2, 2014 Motion to approve by Rick Ray Second by Trevor O’Brien. Unanimous approval.

  1. President Report
  2. Fall Facilities Clean Up
  3. November 8, 2014 (9AM-12PM)
  4. Volunteers – sign up genius went around to specific personnel (commissioners and coaches)
  5. Items to complete – inventory items we have to determine if the league needs to purchase equipment for the upcoming season. Encourage volunteers to help with this process. Currently as of meeting have 7 people signed up.
  6. Comment from Silvio Barbosa (member) – MonU has a soccer tournament scheduled that day which could limit the number of volunteers. Board acknowledges that may limit but most days would be limited for this.
  7. Monthly Meeting Duration and Process
  8. Brian shared with those in attendance that a typical monthly meeting will be set up to be an hour in length. In order to accomplish this he discussed chain of command for discussion – baseball issues go to baseball VP etc. in order to try to resolve issues before these issues being discussed at length at a board meeting.
  9. Attend to issues in some sense of order. Keeping issues discussions brief.
  1. Registration Fees – Board has proposed raising registration fees to cover uniforms cost – first raise in a few years. Trevor O’Brien has checked with other township baseball and softball leagues and their fee schedule is similar to what is being proposed for MTBSA
  1. Boys Baseball
  2. 4-8 year olds$110 per player
  3. 9-12 year olds$120 per player
  4. Connie Mack $165 per player
  5. Girls Softball
  6. 4-8 year olds$110 per player
  7. 9-12 year olds $120 per player

Question raised by Keith Heilveil(member) – What will players see as a result of increased cost per year?

Answer from Board–

New shed at Rose Twig Fields

Upgraded uniforms

New liner machines forthe fields

New templates for the batting boxes

New L screens on fields and in batting cages

New storage bins for each field

Question from Jim Ottomano any $ break for 3rd 4th child in family –

Board response - not decided as yet if we will do this

  1. Equipment/Uniforms
  2. New equipment bags – old bags do not latch – looking at improving these for all teams.
  3. Question from member Meg Pancoast – do we have catchers gear at each field?
  4. Response - we do not know exactly the equipment we have – once we do then we can determine the needs we have.
  5. Thank You Gifts for former Executive Board Members
  6. Thank them for their service time away from families etc.
  7. Rick, Lou, Rob, Jim, and Jeff
  1. Vice President Administration Report
  2. Thank you to all in attendance – largest attendance – thank you for taking time – try to make the meetings shorter and more informative
  3. Registration – begin online Dec1 2014 through Jan 31 2015
  4. Push walk in registration date after the holidays. Try to give families a break financially – Most register online.
  5. Uniforms
  6. General Discussion
  7. Analysis of vendors thus far
  8. Compare current vendor with a second vendor – we will determine cost benefit of different options. Keep the hats – get matching licensed shirts. Looking at changing the style of pants kids like – pro style versus the elastic bottom pants.
  9. Looking to improve uniforms
  10. Question from Roman – consideration of sponsors for the uniforms – board looking for a committee of people to run sponsorship as a whole for the league which would trickle down to uniform sponsorships. Any volunteers to run this? Printing of sponsors on shirts – small cost to print but negligable.

c. Introduction meeting with township officials Tuesday meeting November 11 2014 to meet about permits and head of fields.

  1. Vice President Baseball Report
  2. Commissioners Update
  3. TBall – Paul Lupinacci
  4. Rookie – Rob Smilowitz
  5. A – Eric Brown
  6. AA – Bill Dudeck
  7. AAA – Mike Pilewski
  8. Majors – Mike Kuczborski
  9. Connie Mack – Kevin Donovan
  10. Travel – Mike Dunlap
  11. Etc. see list and add here.
  12. Thomas Kermis head of umpires.
  13. Looking to appoint director of the drafts – looking for volunteers for this role.
  14. Travel Teams spirit wear – will go up on website (not only for travel teams) be on the lookout for this
  15. Any left over equipment? – please bring back to shed on Saturday November 8.
  16. Fall Ball 2014 – competitive andvery well run. Connie Mack Fall Ball had 22 players – worked well (thanks to Keith Heilveil)
  17. Good positive feedback all around.
  18. Question from Keith Heilveil – any potential change to Connie Mack structure for the spring?
  19. Mike Simpson has reached out to Kevin Donovan and Louis Cohen for leadership and advice regarding the operation of Connie Mack divisions.
  20. Kevin Donovan discussion with Keith Heilveil – some teams have had issues filling out the rosters throughout the season – had to call up players frequently. Skill level was quite diverse compared with other leagues.
  21. Kevin Donovan explained Connie Mack structure: A is older level; B is second tier; C and B are recreational divisions; some divisions have equipment restrictions (bat size); C is introductory league. Any player can tryout for the C1 team. After that the players are drafted for the C level teams. Typically 14 players on each team. Would like to cap the teams at 14 players. MTBSA has been able to put 9 teams in the Connie Mack league. Kids are coming out and paying to play – we do not cut players if they want to play. Not enough coaching for the Connie Mack division. Looking for volunteers for this division.
  22. Keith Heilveil voiced concerns – are we not putting the most competitive product out there at all levels. Kevin Donovan – committed to providing a good experience.
  23. Other baseball leagues may not be putting teams together in the same way.
  24. Rod Orth reported that the 2014 C1 team took most of the available pitching and the other C level teams took a hit. Teams were 0-16, 2-14, and 2-14. Are we competitive enough with this structure? – we have more teams than other townships –
  25. KD – catching and pitching are thin at the CM level
  26. At younger levels – teach the coaches how to help the kids to play the game and get better at it. Many more distractions for the kids these days including video games – much easier to play Nintendo baseball versus going out on the field
  27. Jim Cashley – encourage the parents to be involved in their kids play and practice. Keep encouraging that.

Brian Ferko – how do we do this? Design a coaching program design a coaches playbook.

Rob Grenda – not a great experience at games at younger levels – is there enough activity happening at the 9 and 10 year old levels. Marginal kids may not be getting enough out of the experience, How can we creatively improve the game experience for all players.

Need all the evaluations back from all divisions

  1. Vice President Softball Report
  2. New VP of softball Joe Romanoski introduced himself at meeting
  3. Commissioners
  4. Travel – Rick Shoulberg
  5. Majors – Leroy Meyers
  6. Minors – Rod Orth
  7. Pony – Roman Leshak
  8. T-Ball – Bob Cain
  9. Fall ball Report
  10. Good experience –
  11. Request for more clinics for the players.
  12. Look to initiate committees on the softball side – get more involvement
  13. Umpires needed – especially at the minors and majors levels – reach out for volunteers for this.
  14. Initiate evening games – at Whistlestop complex -1 night game for Pony – 1 or 2 for minors
  15. Registration numbers will determine if all games are in house or if we play with other townships.
  16. Other townships have parents behind the plate – coaches not MTBSA “style” coaches – made for an interesting experience – recruit recruit recruit players
  17. Check with schools (MMR and NPSD) – can we send registration information to NPSD to hand to students.
  1. Vice President Finance Report (given by Brian Ferko in Tony’s absence)
  2. Fulton Bank Merchant Card Services
  3. ADD Tony’s information from the email here.
  1. Vice President Fields Report
  2. Saturday Nov 8 Field Day – condition of snack stand shed and fields themselves (including all containers)
  3. Meeting with Montgomery Township – new director of recreation and fields maintenance
  4. Developing wish list – fixing mounds at W1 W3 W4
  5. Home plates need to be replaced – reduce the risk of injury with these.
  6. Spring Valley – have lime etc consistently stocked at these fields.
  7. L screens, pitching rubbers, net on 1st base side of W1 (JO clapped at this)
  8. W1 – looking to transition this multipurpose field – altering base paths for extending to 50-70.
  9. Last off season Jeff Adams and his crew did a significant amount of work to reduce the water on the field.
  10. Continue the work the previous board has done for the league
  11. Sponsorships would help defray some of these costs and allow us to do even more in the future
  12. Bill Palumbo – asked Board to look at a plan to have water available at each of the fields. Portable tanks? Park Board has turned down the request due to excessive cost ($8000 each it was estimated).
  13. Can we bring dirt to SV fields? Will assess conditions at each field – see what is needed at each field complex.
  14. Brian had brief conversation with Greg from the township – they are working on turning over the fields during the off season.
  1. Old Business

NONE

  1. New Business
  2. Jim Ottomano – on behalf of Lansdale Catholic baseball program thanks Louis Cohen for use of Connie Mack field when lost their home field
  3. Joe Romanowski – anyone know of indoor gym to access for indoor workouts.
  4. Joe Ungurean suggested Dock High school. Brian Detweiler runs rentals. $65 on hour.
  5. Trevor O’Brien suugested Ambler Y. Highpoint - $65 per hour.
  6. Coaches Training/Clinics
  7. Eric Brown suggested running pitching camps once per week through the off season etc. added benefit to teach the parents how to teach the kids how to pitch – not necessarily a drop off situation.
  8. Program to teach the coaches – having seen different coaches – consistency among coaches would be beneficial
  9. Mike Simpson is working on this for the future.
  10. John Monaghan suggested the North Penn coaches clinic and the severino clinic held at township building
  11. Kevin Donovan reported he has cds of a coaches clinic – put the information on the website.
  12. Trevor O’Brien suggested to look to other townships for what they do for teaching coaches.
  13. Stocking Ice Packs in the snack stand – boxes at each field. Replenishing has been issue
  14. Concussion Training – should we implement?

Mandatory Training in Cal Ripken

Silvio Barbaosa – concern that all these mandatory training may push coaches away.

We want to get more people involved. Spread the wealth and spread the pain.

Meeting adjourned at 8:13 PM

Move to adjourn: Brian Ferko

Second: Trevor O’Brien