November 30, 2004 - RDYSL AGM

RDYSL AGM Meeting Minutes

November 30, 2004

Board Attendance: Gary Levine, Neil Fisher, Lou Boyon, Mike Nelson, Joe Walton, Peppy Ehrlich, Susan Gurak, Dennis Crowe, Karen May, Tom LaSpina, Curt Regruit,

Guests: Roger Best, Bob Sokolinsky, Chris Baer, Dave Weaver, Tony Buiniskis, Larry Everts

Clubs Not In Attendance: Genesee Lancers, Greece Cobras, Hilton-Parma, Honeoye Falls Blaze, Irondequoit, Kendall, North Rose, Webster S.A.

Meeting Called to Order: 7:00pm

1. Roll Call

A. Name those clubs that have not signed in

B. Sign in of additional clubs

2. Introductions

A. Board members

i. President Gary Levine

ii. 1st V.P. Boy's Coordinator Neil Fisher

iii. 2nd V.P. Girl's Coordinator Jacky Van Dellon

iv. 3rd V.P. Referee, Discipline Concerns Joe Walton

v. 4th V.P. Website Matters Mark Van Dellon

vi. Secretary Mike Nelson

vii. Treasurer/Scheduler Lou Boyon

B. Division Coordinator

i. Girls U8‑U10 Gregg Gordon

ii. Girls U11‑U12 Susan Gurak

iii. Girls U13‑U14 Jim LeGrett

iv. Girls U15‑U16 Karen May (New - Pittsford Hawks)

v. Girls U17‑U19 Tom LaSpina

vi. Boys U8‑U10 Dennis Crowe (New - Byron Bergen)

vii. Boys U11‑U12 Peppy Ehrlich

viii. Boys U13‑U14 Kurt Knoblauch

ix. Boys U15‑U16 Joe Walton

x.Boys U17‑U19 Curt Regruit (New - Penfield Rangers)

C. Guests

i. Roger Best, Bob Sokolinsky, Larry Everets – NYSWYSA

ii. Tony Buiniskis - USYSA

iii. Chris Baer - US Club Soccer

iv. Dave Weaver - Referees Unit

3. Election of Officers

A. Proposed slate

B. Any other nominations - None

C. Any Motions

i. Motion of support for proposed slate - Sean Gleeson

ii. Second of support for proposed slate – Peppy Ehrlich

iii. Slate carried as proposed

4. Reports

A. Reminders

i. Team Registrations

(a) Dates-

(I) January 30-February 10

(II) must make sure all your teams are signed within that time

(III) last year there were several teams that did not get registered in time

(IV) we have a very short time to complete our work once registration is closed and therefore cannot extend registration period

Question – can this process start right away, No the website isn’t ready yet

Action for Victor Van Vliet to send info on Section V referee game submission form

(b) Info-

(I) We hear at the coaches meetings that the team registration info we get for a few teams was wrong

(II) Consult with your teams to make sure the info we get is accurate

(III) We are going to make smaller, more competitive divisions

(IV) Therefore you must give us an accurate assessment of the team

ii. Communication with Coaches

(a) Coaches are often telling us they do not hear the info we send out

(b) Our line of communication is thru club presidents

(d) Looking to host Coaching E license course by Glen Buckley on March 11, 12, 13, planned for TSE

iii. Other Dates

(a) Watch website

(b) Spring Mandatory Coaches Meeting - Saturday March 19, 2005 at MCC Boys 12-2, Girls 3-5

iv. Make sure we have your correct email address

B. Referees have

i. Agreed to U10 at $23

ii. Agreed Proposal to pay assignors directly if we agree to it

(a) Benefit to referees

(I) tax problems

(II) timely payment

(b) Benefit to league

(I) easier to administer

(II) eliminates a cost to run the league

(I) $12 per team increase

(II) $12/20=.60 cents per player

(III) $12/14=.85 cents per player

C. Budget

i. We may need to increase fees in for 2006

(a) Budget relies on fines

(b) Losing small amount of money from the reserve

(I) Increased website cost and the possible expense of having to hire out to do some of the work Mark does as a volunteer on behalf of the league

(II) More divisions means more trophy shirts

(III) More younger players means more patches

(IV) Higher assigner costs ($1.85 to $2.00)

(V) More teams means more assignment costs (standard fee plus additional expenses for game changes, etc)

(VI) Additional expenses - coaching education and all-stars

ii. Possible revenue sources

(a) Could make it $1 per player increase

(b) Could have teams pay the assignor directly

Comments and Discussion

- Curt Regruit Penfield Rangers suggests increasing player registration fee

- George Hebert Penfield Strikers comments that the referee assignor change is an administration problem and shouldn’t be done, raise the player registration a couple dollars instead

- Eric Schaaf Fairport suggests another option to have clubs pay the assignors individually

- Dave Weaver representing referees added comments on how it works in RDSL (adult league)

- Lou Boyon explanation of budget, $14,000 is 2004 fine money

- Sean Gleeson Fairport question, if implementing the increased player registration and referee assignor fee direct to clubs, what would the fine money be used for? RDYSL Answer – special projects

- Question - Is it possible to get final fine bill to clubs prior to November? Yes, the club provides month to month during the season, but yes it is intended to be sent out sooner and the RDYSL Board apologizes for not getting it out sooner.

5. New Business

A. NYSWYSA

i. Historically

(a) Those around for years know that RDYSL has had a difficult relationship with NYSWYSA

(I) Soccer gate

(II) Increase fees without many tangible services

(III) Mandated rules

ii. During Gary’s Tenure as President

(a) Gary attempted to develop good communication w/ former president Tony Buiniskis

(b) Tony left in September to take a National level position

iii. The headgear issue smacked of the old problems

(a) Without any discussion with the membership NYSWYSA passed a mandatory rule requiring headgear

(b) Upon information and belief the deal involved $150,000 payment to NYSWYSA but Gary has not been able to confirm the financial component

(d) Learned a lot about NYSWYSA

(I) Things Neil warned me about but I did not see w/ Tony Buiniskis as President

(II) Not a very well run organization

(e) Since this meeting

(I) New president Acker resigns

(II) Bob Sokolinsky replaced Acker as an interim President

Bob is moving out of NYS in March 2005

(III) Susan Gurak of Rochester continues as Treasurer

(IV) Mike Radecke of Buffalo joined as 1^st VP and Cup Administrator

(V) Matt Dimas of Jamestown joined as 2^nd VP and Adjudication Chairman, Southern Tier Commissioner

(VI) Kevin Arnold of Homer joined as Binghamton Commissioner

(VII) The mandatory nature of headgear was reversed, statement is on NYSWYSA web-site, may want to reference parents to the site

(VIII) NYSWYSA is in the process of putting together a new executive council to be run by retired member Sandy Ostebo (he was defeated by Acker in an internal election)

Comments and Discussion

- Clarification on head gear made by Tony Buiniskis, US Youth Soccer has not made this decision because it is in conflict with a FIFA Rule and the Federation has told all affiliated members that they do not have the jurisdiction to make this decision.

- Kurt Regruit Penfield Rangers, during the NYSWYSA AGM, recommended a wording change to the position statement being issued by NYSWYSA, that clubs make parents aware of the new NYSWYSA position stated on the website and that they (the parents) investigate and make their own decision.

B. US Club Soccer alternative

i. After the Sunday Corning NYSWYSA meeting Gary was very upset about our parent organization

ii. Gary determined that it was in the best interest of the league to look at possible alternatives to NYSWYSA

iii. Looked at AYSO and determined they were geared towards recreation soccer

iv. Looked at US Club Soccer and determined that they are a realistic alternative

v. Due Diligence

(a) Spoke with the National and regional representatives of US Club Soccer

(b) Neil and I spoke with 2 representatives of organizations that currently are in US Club Soccer-Rhinos and Whitecaps from Cleveland

(d) Neil spoke with an USYSA representative

vi. Here is a summary of what we determined

(a) US Club Soccer is viable alternative to State Associations

(b) Reduces level of infrastructure

(I) FIFA – USSF - US Club Soccer - RDYSL

(II) FIFA – USSF - Region One – NYSWYSA - RDYSL

(I) Passes

(II) Insurance

(III) No permission for travel needed anywhere in US

(IV) Tournament hosting

(d) A similar cost:

(I) Approximately $2,230 league wide savings or about 25 cents per player on average savings

(II) Cost of NYSWYSA player pass = $13

(III) Cost of US Club Soccer pass

$14 per player, for all players U12 and above ($1 increase for 69%)

$10 per player for players younger than U12 ($3 decrease for 31%)

(e) US Club Soccer does not provide any mandates:

(I) Their philosophy is to allow the leagues to run themselves.

(II) Do not tell you to wear headgear

(III) Do not tell you what age to make competitive

(IV) Do not tell you to have small sided games

(f) US Club Soccer does not have:

(I) Glen Buckley

But generally what we get from Glen, we pay for at his coaching courses

(II) League Cup

NYSWYSA run tournament

Can play in it if dual register under NYSWYSA

(III) Local representative Roger Best

(IV) Buffalo voted down US Club Soccer because they didn’t want to lose local representative

(g) You do not lose programs covered under USSF

(I) Ability to play in USYSA sanctioned “open” tournaments is unchanged

(II) ODP unchanged

(III) Attendance at coaching education programs

(h) Chris Baer from US Club Soccer is available for questions

(I) GML question - what does the money paid by the kids go towards?

(II) What leagues have converted over

Comments and Discussion

- Tony Buiniskis not speaking on behalf of USYSA, opposed to use of “mandate” and adds that many good things have been done by NYSWYSA in accordance with votes at AGMs, mandate of small sided games was done in AGM which was well publicized and was voted on in the AGM.

- US Club Soccer does provide risk management

- US Club Soccer registration process explanation by Chris Baer, secure, all coaches/ managers/players are tied to risk management and insurance. Passes had previously been printed and mailed (before), now sent through email as a PDF for league or clubs to print (would still require league Registrar involvement)

- Sandy Sherman Brighton questions who is checking for proof, Tony Buiniskis clarifies NYSWYSA doesn’t require proof, it is clubs responsibility, the RDYSL requires registrar proof

- Kurt Regruit Penfield Rangers comments that he is in favor of NYSWYSA because they have already addressed recent issues mentioned above and have brought many resources / positives to the RDYSL (coaching, licensing…)

- Sean Gleeson Fairport comments that NYSWYSA has always been available as a resource and yes maybe a few bumps, we should give them a chance to get over bumps, we should always be looking at options (maybe a Club Presidents sub-committee), RDYSL membership should have influence

- Gary Levine RDYSL states that is not his intention to have a Club Presidents sub-committee as Sean Gleeson suggested

- Bob Sokolinsky summarizes head gear issue, should have been brought to membership and never made public, should have been corrected, has been corrected

- Bob Sokolinsky comments that NYSWYSA provides an appeal process for risk management

- Bill Testa Greece Buccaneers questions if Full 90 agreement made head gear mandatory, answer from NYSWYSA that yes it was in the agreement

- Joe Walton questions what guarantees can NYSWYSA make to the league that these types of situations won’t happen again? Answer from NYSWYSA that representation will be given to the leagues and will be a documented policy on what representation will be given for which types of issues, maybe will be included in the bylaws

- Bill Beach Pittsford Mustangs didn’t like hearing headgear issue in the press first, was there a press release? Answer from Bob Sokolinsky no, Gary comments that AP reporter says yes

- Bill Beach Pittsford Mustangs questions if RDYSL wasn’t reviewing options would the representation from NYSWYSA be as strong at this meeting

- Bill Beach Pittsford Mustangs asks which organization does the membership feel most comfortable dealing with

- Bob Sokolinsky comments that NYSWYSA has a three ring binder on benefits of membership, booklets also being sent to clubs

- Michelle Troup Holley questions how does the regional representation get distributed in US Club Soccer? Chris Baer of US Club Soccer says he is not certain how local representation gets allocated, US Club Soccer will provide resources, members just need to make a request and they will provide

- Certificate of insurance positive example given by Joe Walton, Sandy Sherman example on positive response from NYSWYSA office staff

- How many office staff does US Club Soccer have? Answer is 10 for every 70-80k players (NYSWYSA has 7 for our state)

- George Hebert Penfield Strikers would like to see formal communications on when NYSWYSA meetings are being held and what decisions are being made

- George Hebert Penfield Strikers encourages the NYSWYSA to have more coaching programs and move the office to a more centrally located place (Susan Gurak NYSWYSA comments that they are considering rotating the meeting location)

- Gary Levine RDYSL asks for consensus on whether we should continue investigating or pursuing US Club? A show of hands resulted in an answer of yes from six clubs

- Victor Van Vliet Genesee Valley Bronze Bear points out that RDYSL has it’s own issues and needs to be self reflective and not as accusatory towards the NYSWYSA

- Motion from Kurt Regruit Penfield Rangers to stay with NYSWYSA or start transition to US Club Soccer for 2006, Sean Gleeson seconds the motion, membership disagrees with motion and is in favor of posing Gary’s previous question to the membership for consensus on whether to continue to investigate / pursue US Club Soccer

- Membership consensus is to continue with NYSWYSA and closely monitor the relationship

C. George Hebert Penfield Strikers asks why RDYSL Rule 305 states that the maximum size player roster is 18 players for U11 and U12, while at 22 players for U13 and above, why isn’t this 22 player rosters for U11 and up? Joe Walton provided an explanation that historically it was done to provide the older kids that work and have other commitments a way of assuring a full lineup for each game

D. Club passes

i. Sean Gleeson has proposed club passes for moving up two age groups, but not down

ii. Gary states that the RDYSL Board has already voted this down after discussing it at a previous board meeting (7/27/04)

iii. Glenn Buckley is in favor

iv. Is there interest in club pass – older age groups – consensus is no

Meeting Adjourned: 9:30pm