REGULAR MEETING - BOARD OF DIRECTORS
March 16, 2005

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 Richmond West at 7:30 pm. Board members present were:

Denise Edwards President
Larry Monaco Vice President
Roger Underhill Secretary
Jim Bonfils Treasurer
Brenda Down Registrar
Bob Maynes North Recreational Commissioner
Ron Bedwell Central Recreational Commissioner
Ken Halloway Southeast Recreational Commissioner
John Singleton West Recreational and Travel Commissioner
Ray Greenberg Boys North Travel Commissioner
Tom Halstead Boys Southeast Travel Commissioner

Board members Bill Golden, Tom Gross, Anne Thompson, and Jane Orem were excused.  Also present were Julie Caramanica (VYSA Administrator), Gordon Miller (VYSA Technical Director), and Christie Bernas (SRC Youth Rep).

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS BOARD MEETING MINUTES
A motion was made and seconded to approve the January 26, 2005 Board meeting minutes. On page 4 under Committee Appointments and Award Selections, the last sentence was corrected to read: A letter of complaint was received and the matter was delegated to the Adjudication Committee to make a final decision. The January 26, 2005 minutes were approved as corrected.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the February 23, 2005 Board meeting minutes. Several corrections were noted. On page 5, the State Registrar distributed an attachment that was not included with the minutes. On page 3, under US Youth Soccer Policy Amendment, the effective date is September 1, 2005, not 2006. On that same page under Region I Championships Rule Change, the Region approved 8v8 as well as 11v11 competition for the U12 age group in Regional Competition beginning with the 2005-2006 seasonal year. On page 4, under Kohl’s US Youth Soccer American Cup, Kohl’s will support 35 events across the country the first year of the contract. Also on page 4, under President’s Forum Resource Center, it was suggested the site be password protected for Board members and Club and League Presidents. At the bottom of page 4 the word Association’s was corrected. The last correction was to remove the word ‘on’ in the first sentence of the Good of the Game. The minutes were approved as corrected.

TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer’s Report (Attachment A) was distributed. Treasurer Jim Bonfils reported that in last months financial report, revenue for the mailing list appeared to be low, but since that report, several orders have been placed and revenue is now in line with the budget. Publication sales revenue remains low. ODP fees for European trips have now been collected.

STATE ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
The State Administrator’s Report (Attachment B) was distributed. The report shows a list of clubs that remain in bad standing for failure to submit Fall Registration data and/or KidSafe Compliance Forms.

State Administrator Julie Caramanica reported that several tournaments have been cancelled due to bad weather and revenue is expected to be low for the year due to the cancellations. There are six completed tournaments that have not yet submitted reports and fees.

Julie distributed a report from sessions she attended at the US Youth Soccer Workshop and a report on feedback from the VYSA Workshop.

Julie noted that it is the responsibility of clubs and leagues to give insurance certificates to their members when proof of insurance is needed. The office has received several calls from those needing certificates for field use who have been unable to obtain them from their leagues.

Office renovations are still not complete. A letter will be sent to the management complex requiring renovations be completed by a date certain.

At the last meeting, Julie was asked to look into setting up a forum on the web site for VYSA Board members and Presidents of VYSA clubs and leagues. Julie reported that she has information regarding the forum and will discuss it with the President.

A digital camera and printer were ordered from the American Express rewards points. VYSA was hoping to give them away at the Workshop, but they did not arrive until recently. The Board agreed they should remain at the office.

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Technical Director Gordon Miller reported that the VA-DC Coaching Education Program has many courses scheduled in the upcoming weeks.

VYSA will host a National Youth License scheduled for the end of August in Northern Virginia. Details will be announced soon. USSF will hold one of its Coaching Schools for the National B and C license courses at Virginia Wesleyan College this summer.

ODP has two girls teams going to Denmark and two boys teams to Germany over Spring break.

Gordon reported he attended meetings with Colonial Heights, Roanoke Star, Arlington Travel, and Bill Golden of PWSI. He also had a meeting with Paul Mungra, the State Director of Referee Instruction, to discuss the Coaching Education and Referee programs working together.

Gordon asked the Board for input in finding another method of evaluating course instructors. Currently candidates fill out evaluation forms at the completion of each course. Suggestions were made on different ways to collect evaluation information from candidates. One suggestion was to develop an online form to be e-mailed to candidates that can be filled out on line and returned by e-mail to the Office.

ADJUDICATION COMMITTEE REPORT
The Adjudication Committee Report (Attachment C) was distributed. Adjudication Chair Tom Halstead reported that a hearing was held regarding a coach’s misconduct toward a player. The coach was suspended through August 31, 2005 and must complete the National Youth License Course and an interpersonal relationship/conflict resolution program before being reinstated. The coach will then be placed on probation for one year. Notification will be sent to all registrars of the teams with which this coach is associated and all coach’s passes must be turned back to registrars. Tom was complimented on his conducting of the hearing.

KIDSAFE BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR LEAGUES
There has been some confusion regarding what responsibility leagues have in conducting background checks. It was clarified that leagues must get confirmation from each of their clubs that they have completed background checks before submitting the KidSafe Compliance form to VYSA. SEVYSA President, Tom Halstead, reported that his league requires that each club notify the league that background checks are completed before their teams can participate in league play.

TEKK ATHLETICS SPONSORSHIP
John Singleton presented a revised proposal from Tekk Athletics. The Board reviewed the contract and discussed changes to be made. The Board agreed that the offer of free small- sided goals for each VYSA member was a nice member benefit, but Board members were concerned about some of the VYSA requirements. A motion was made and seconded that VYSA sign the agreement subject to John working out arrangements on several matters discussed. The motion was approved.

BOARD MEETING TIME CHANGE
The Board discussed beginning monthly Board meetings earlier. Some expected difficulty arriving too much earlier. The Board agreed to try holding the April meeting one half hour earlier at 7:00 pm to see if the earlier time works for Board members.

REGISTRATION
President Denise Edwards asked the Board to consider several issues together regarding registration: registration administration, multiple rostering, and the 22-player roster. She explained that the State Registrar and League Registrar positions are difficult to fill because of the enormous workload. Much of State registration is being done in the State Office and although some leagues pay their registrars, it is still difficult to get people to agree to take on the responsibility.

State Cup rules require a maximum of 5-player transfers, involuntary release rules, and continuity of 9 players between the league roster and the State Cup roster as well as playing on only one Cup team each seasonal year. Denise explained that because VYSA requires leagues to abide by State Cup rules, the detail of registering a player considering all the rules required for National and State Cup Competition is difficult for new or inexperienced team managers. If VYSA did not require league rules to follow State Cup rules, the detailed rules would only apply to those teams participating in State Cup, league rules could have fewer requirements. It was noted that VYSA only has about 400 plus teams participating in State Cup each year as opposed to a far greater number (over 1,500) in just league play.

Multiple rostering was then discussed. Denise explained the purpose of multiple rostering is to allow premier league play without negatively affecting leagues. VYSA already allows provisional rosters and guest players for league teams. The purpose of registration administration is intended for the best interest of the players. When asked, Technical Director Gordon Miller suggested using club passes rather than multiple rostering. The club the pass allows a Club or League Technical Director to oversee movement of players within club in the interest of player development. Movement would then be monitored by a technical expert in the interest of individual player development, not by coaches looking to win games. It was noted that a club pass would solve many problems, but there was concern whether skilled Technical Directors were in place in all clubs and leagues. It was noted that more and more Technical Directors are in place with VYSA clubs and leagues.

There was concern about a few items should some or all of these changes be adopted. The Board discussed the mechanics of league registration and what needs to be submitted to the State. The Board agreed to keep player ID numbers. It was suggested that there be uniformity of rosters across the state. Virginia and DC teams traveling to other states should have uniform rosters.

A motion was made to recommend that the VYSA bylaws be amended to eliminate the office of State Registrar and to give policy making responsibility to the State Secretary. The motion was seconded and approved. This will need approval by the membership at the AGM. The recommended bylaws will need to be proposed by a VYSA member and approved at the next membership meeting. A bylaw amendment will be prepared and submitted by SEVYSA to send to the membership for approval at the June AGM.

A motion was made and seconded that Cup rules only apply to State Cup teams; Travel Leagues will be free to adopt and enforce their own registration rules, procedures, rosters and registrations as long as they are consistent with VYSA rules. The motion was approved.

A motion was made to adopt multiple rostering according to the second draft distributed by Brenda Down. This would allow a player to be registered on two or more different teams. Some asked whether there should be a limit on the number of secondary teams a player can be rostered to. Technical Director Gordon Miller recommended limiting the movement of players within clubs, not from club to club. He noted movement from club to club would be detrimental to the development of players. The motion failed.

A motion was made and seconded to adopt the club pass. Players may only move from team to team within the club. The motion was approved.

Denise thanked Board members for all their hard work in completing these changes.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Denise Edwards reported that at the Federation AGM, amendments to bylaws 212 and 213 passed with some revisions. Those two bylaws now apply to all members.

The Federation Board of Directors reached general agreement on the meaning of interplay. A policy statement on the meaning of interplay and the 100% rule will be completed sometime in June.

GOOD OF THE GAME
Ken Halloway thanked the VYSA State Staff for their assistance with the F course held by his club.

The SRC held a meeting attended by the two newly-appointed members, Paul Mungra and Don Torrenti. The meeting went well and both Paul and Don are great additions to the committee.

NCSL has trained almost 300 grade 12 referees with their new STAR program. All but one team in their league now has three referees available as linesmen.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:09 pm.

Prepared by
Julie Caramanica
VYSA Administrator