Suffield Little League



Suffield Little League

Board of Directors Meeting

Monday, March 12, 2007

Attendees:

The following board members were present: H. LaBarre, S. Pallotti, B. Schnepp, D. Beltramello D. Mercik, W. Pare, J. Dion, M. Voisine, S. Looney, K. Wagner, M. Guzzi, R. Mankouski, J. Kulas. Also in attendance: Joanne Stafford, Rob Rocco, Wayne Lancioni and Bill King.

Minutes:

Dave Mercik reviewed the minutes of the meeting held on February 12, 2007. Minutes were accepted and approved.

Finance:

Mike Voisine reviewed the Treasurer’s Report for February, noting that we have $31,427.67 in the account after paying expenses for February. We have taken in $38,362 thus far in registration fees.

Fundraising:

Wayne Lancioni noted that enrollment for the clinics at Sports World are going well. Joanne Stafford reviewed the status of signs (40) and team sponsors (45) as well as the following fundraising activities: T-shirt sale, Parents Dance (5/5), Cooperstown trip, Rock Cats game, Golf Outing at Oak Ridge (8/11), as well as a fall fund raising mailing to town residents. Maureen Guzzi and Karl Wagner discussed the kids dances scheduled for March 30 for grades 3 to 5 at McAllister and April 13 for grades 6 to 8 at the Suffield Middle School. Dave Mercik presented an idea of selling Suffield baseball hats ($20 per) at a cost to the League of $8.50 per. This idea was approved and Dave agreed to order 4 dozen hats from Scott’s Sporting Goods.

Fields and Maintenance:

Scott Looney discussed the status of fields, noting that Babb’s will come on-line for softball this year. He is also working with the Town Highway Department to coordinate the purchase of Fenway mix and possibly clay blocks for Christian Field to help make the batters boxes and pitching mounds more resilient to the amount of use they get during the season. Scott stressed that we should not use sand when trying to get the fields ready after we have received rainfall. Signs will be created to this effect. We had a brief discussion on lighting of fields and the general reaction was that any lights would work best on Town owned and maintained fields. Signage was also discussed with an emphasis on the future, moving toward a more durable material than the plywood sheets we currently have in place. Scott researched the cost and found that each sign would cost $250 for two color graphics and it would cost an additional $100 for a colored (green) background. These decisions do not need to take place immediately and we will consult the Christian family before making any noticeable changes.

Safety:

The safety program was discussed by Holly LaBarre and Roxanne Mankouski. The first aid class will be held on April 24 where each coach will be given a copy of the safety plan. Safety kits and ice packs will also be provided.

Umpires:

Holly LaBarre handled the Umpire coordinator discussion, in the absence of Steve Dallaire. Mike Almeida (from NGCSL) will be coordinating the softball umpire assignments based on the final schedule for Majors and Juniors. Steve Dallaire has identified a number of adult umpires for Majors baseball discussed. The cost for umpires was discussed: $45 to $50 for adult umpires. Teenage umpires will cost $20 for the plate, $15 for the bases or $25 when only one teenage umpire is present and handling both the plate and bases together.

Summer Camp:

Jim Dion discussed the summer camps scheduled for July 9 to 13 and July 23 to 27 at Christian fields. The cost will be $100 per player (including a T-shirt) and will be for boys and girls from 9 to 12 years of age. Wayne Patterson and Brian Bryansette from the Suffield Academy will lead the sessions with the assistance of at least 3 others. The sessions will be limited to 40 players in order to keep a ratio of no more than 8 players per instructor. The League will make some money from these sessions. Jim also noted that the Town of Suffield plans to have a clinic at Bruce Park June 25 to 29.

Pitching Machine and Batting Cage Schedule:

Karl Wagner indicated that he will coordinate the creation of a schedule for the use of the batting cage and pitching machine at the Christian complex.

Executive Session

Fields:

Holly LaBarre spoke about the need for a long-term commitment for the use of the Christian Fields. Holly has been in contact with John Leahy, an attorney in town, to assist with drafting a document to be discussed with the Christian family. The Board voted on and approved the need for a long-term agreement and for Holly to work with Mr. Leahy and the Christian family on this.

Parise Tournament:

Holly LaBarre made a recommendation that we hold the Joey Parise Tournament on opening day. The advantage would be that all teams could play while also freeing up a Saturday. This proposal was voted on and approved by the Board.

League Constitution:

Mike Voisine discussed a draft of the League Constitution. He asked that we all read it and comment on it in the April meeting. Voting will take place during the May meeting.

Player Agent Discussions:

Jim Dion discussed details of the new pitch count program. Wayne Pare agreed to assist with laying out our implementation strategy for the next meeting.

Steve Pallotti reviewed the format for the softball draft process. The Board approved as presented. Steve also discussed the player count in the AAA and Majors program and the fact that we have 37 players in AAA and 23 players in majors. He also noted that he contacted the parents of the 10 year old players and only one was interested in moving into Majors. Maureen Guzzi had requested her daughter (Sabrina) be allowed to play in majors. Since there was and opening and it would help with balancing the rosters, the Board approved the request.

Jim Dion presented the draft process for the baseball program. Several approaches were discussed for the Majors Division. No voting took place.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download