May 2003 Minutes
May 21, 2003 Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
| PLEASE NOTE: This VYSA mailing is being sent to each members' Chief Executive Officer presently on file at the State Office unless another individual has been designated to the State Administrator, Julie Caramanica. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING THIS MAILING TO DISTRIBUTE TO ALL APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OF THEIR CLUB OR LEAGUE. | |
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association, Inc., was called to order by President Denise Edwards at the Sheraton West Richmond at 7:30 pm. Board members present were:
Denise Edwards President
George Sadler Secretary
Jeff Skigen Treasurer
Brenda Down Registrar
Bob Maynes North Recreational Commissioner
Doug Strobel Central Recreational Commissioner
Ken Halloway Southeast Recreational Commissioner
John Singleton West Recreational Commissioner
Jim Bonfils Boys North Travel Commissioner
Tom Halstead Boys Southeast Travel Commissioner
Mark Walsh Boys West Travel Commissioner
Anne Thompson Girls North Travel Commissioner
Board members Roger Ney, John Livengood, and Jane Orem were excused. Also present were Julie Caramanica (State Administrator), Larry Monaco (Adjudication Committee Co-Chair/SYRA), Linda Sadler (Touchline Chair) and Gordon Miller (Technical Director).
APPROVAL OF THE PREVIOUS BOARD MINUTES
Corrections were noted for the April minutes. Linda Sadler was present. John Singleton and Jim Bonfils were elected, not appointed, as new Board members. The April minutes were approved as corrected.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer’s Report (Attachment A) was distributed. Jeff Skigen reported that the accounts receivables are decreasing. Receivables are still due for ODP, KidSafe fees, State Referee Program, Touchline, and Coaching Education courses. Revenue from Tournament Assessment fees will be much lower than budgeted because of the many cancellations due to the sniper shootings, snow, and rain.
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Gordon Miller made a power point presentation on Technical Development which demonstrated that player, coach, and referee development are all linked. He also stressed:
- the importance of parent education, including hiring a good coach, nutrition, and psychological assistance
- mandatory licensing and implementation of small-sided games for Recreation coaches
- the importance of Travel coaches working with Directors of Coaching
- an emphasis on developing Virginia players.
- that the State give direction to Club/League Directors of Coaching and that DOCs be given opportunities to network with each other
- the need for role models from professional soccer
- the need for new facilities, including a State Training Center
- the need to provide lesson plans about soccer to elementary and middle school teachers
Gordon reported that a Referee/Coach Symposium has been planned by US Youth Soccer for September in Dallas. He suggested VYSA bring in a "big name" clinician/speaker and have regular changes in speakers for the VYSA Workshop.
Gordon asked the Board to think about the best ways to implement these plans. Logistics, including scheduling and field availability and the need for a Virginia Premier League were discussed.
Gordon reported that some players that traveled to France over spring break with 1987 Boys ODP pool had disciplinary problems. At the last meeting, the Board voted to turn the matter over to the Adjudication Committee. The Adjudication Committee has turned the matter back to the ODP director to manage.
FIELDS COMMITTEE
Jeff Skigen reported on the progress on obtaining the Laurel Hills land (former Lorton Prison Complex). VYSA and others were asked to submit proposals to the Fairfax County Park Board and the Citizens Committee for Adaptive Reuse of Lorton. Jeff showed the power point presentation for a 32-field multi-use complex that was given to those committees. The presentation emphasized use by recreational clubs, adult leagues, and tournaments, as well as inclusion of pavilions, concession stands, and comfort stations. Funding would come from tournaments, user fees, sponsorships, grants and bank loans. He showed a conservative economic impact of $4 million. In a public-private partnership , they would provide the land and the infrastructure and VYSA would provide the dedicated one million dollars to begin construction immediately. Jeff and the consulting firm representing VYSA have met with County supervisors. The next step is to gather support from the Northern Virginia community. The Fairfax County Park Authority expects to have a master plan approved by the end of the year. Jeff is confident that their plan will include working with VYSA.
RECREATION SUMMIT
Ken Halloway reported that he, Denise Edwards, and Bob Maynes attended the Region I Recreation Summit. The attendees discussed how different states’ Recreation Programs operate and where the programs will go in the future. Ken will get the minutes from the summit and distribute them to the Board members. He has developed a powerpoint presentation that will also be distributed to the Board.
Bob Maynes reported that during the summit he had suggested a survey be developed for State Associations to get feedback from recreation clubs.
STATE ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
The State Administrator’s Report (Attachment B) was distributed. Julie Caramanica reported that she hopes to have a date and location for the 2004 VYSA Workshop by the end of the month. She noted that keeping up with Directory changes has been very difficult. Many clubs don’t notify the State Office of changes and therefore, directory information is often out of date. She asked clubs and leagues to notify the State Office when any changes to their directory page are made.
BUDGET PROPOSAL
Denise Edwards reported that the Budget Committee met three times to prepare the next years budget. Jeff Skigen explained that all the Program Chairs presented their budget requests to the Finance Committee at those meetings to help the Committee better understand their programs. Notes concerning the proposed budget:
- Revenue assumptions are conservative
- Interest rates are conservative
- Mailing list revenue rate has been raised
- Publication sales rates were increased slightly to cover cost
- Tournament fees are expected to remain the same
- Coaching Education Course fees were increased
- ODP fees were increased (so that Technical Department is partially funded by ODP players)
- State Cup fees were increased
- Workshop will generate more revenue by advertising earlier to increase registration
- Touchline will no longer be printed on paper - committee will explore options for online distribution
- Board travel has been decreased by reducing the number of individuals attending Regional and National Meetings
- Most committee budgets were decreased only slightly
- Technical Department continuing education courses were reduced
A motion was made and seconded to approve the proposed budget for presentation to the membership for approval. The motion passed.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The Nominating Committee report (Attachment C) was distributed. Brenda Down announced that she will not seek reelection as State Registrar. She strongly recommended Linda Sadler as her replacement. Board members spoke highly of Brenda’s past work and how much she would be missed.
REGISTRAR’S REPORT
Brenda Down announced that RosterPro has been tested and teams should be able to print out passes at the beginning of June. USSF has notified her of changes that are effective immediately; she will meet with the State Office this week to ensure that the new forms are used. She will also notify assistant State Registrars. All new forms are available on the US Soccer website.
Brenda asked how the Board would handle a member club that is in violation of a National rule about small-sided games. It was agreed that the appropriate Recreational or Travel Commissioner and the Technical Staff will advise the club that it is in violation and that they will help them implement the required changes. The club will also be informed that it will be placed in bad standing if it does not comply with National rules.
Brenda reported that she had received feedback from two Board members concerning the proposed updated registration manuals. She recommended two changes to the proposed Travel Registration manual, (1) regarding teams not registered in a VYSA league participating in the Region I Premier League and (2) a correction to the listing of leagues. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Travel Registration Manual as amended. The motion passed.
Concern was expressed over the requirement proposed in the Recreation Registration Manual to require photos on recreational passes for tournaments. A recommendation was made to change the wording as follows: 1) A tournament including both travel and recreational teams requires that the rec team have passes with photos and 2) A VYSA Recreation-only tournament requires passes; photos will be required only if that particular tournament requires photos. A motion was made and seconded to adopt the Recreational Registration Policy with these two changes. The motion passed.
A motion was made and seconded to adopt the other VYSA policies and procedure manuals as presented. The motion passed.
Region I Directors Summer League passes are at the State Office. Procedures for completing the passes will be available for those participating.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
George Sadler reported that the Team America Soccer Club in northern Virginia has applied for membership in VYSA. He recommended they be approved for membership. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Team America Soccer Club for membership in VYSA. The motion passed.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Denise Edwards reported that a Presidents Meeting has been planned for before the USSF/US Youth Soccer AGM in August to again discuss proposed Bylaw changes.
GOOD OF THE GAME
It was asked if a recreation club can decide not to register certain age groups. Denise explained that US Soccer has a 100% registration rule that all players must be registered.
Tom Halstead showed an article from a Spanish newspaper that mentioned the ‘87 and ‘89 ODP Girls teams who attended a professional match while in Spain. The article reported that our ODP teams started a "wave" that went around the stadium several times. This was the first time a wave had ever taken place at that stadium.
The Board went into Executive Session to review and approve the prior month’s executive session minutes.
When the Board returned from Executive Session, there being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:45 pm.
Prepared by
Julie Caramanica
VYSA Administrator
Next meeting is the VYSA Annual General Meeting on
June 14, 2003, at 10:00 am at the Sheraton Richmond West.
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