From: Myers, Jack
<jack.myers@stantec.com>
Sent: Monday, November 12,
2012 8:42 AM
To: Kurt Haigis
Subject: RE: Vermont Soccer
League Annual General Meeting Minutes Draft
Thanks Kurt
From: Kurt Haigis [mailto:khaigis@together.net]
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2012 7:48 AM
To: 'Vermont Soccer League'
Cc: 'Emmet Manning'; Dave Lachtrupp 2 - Stowe; 'Jim Goudie'; 'Bret D.
Weekes'; 'John Dunn'; 'John Stokes'; 'Tom Stames'; Myers, Jack; 'Meg Munson';
'Hill, Bard'; 'Keefe, Tim'
Subject: Vermont Soccer League Annual General Meeting Minutes Draft
Here are the minutes and observations from Saturday’s meeting.
President Myers opened the meeting at 9:03am welcoming all
attendees and reviewing the agenda. The Main points of discussion were then
reviewed as presented in the powerpoint.
Highlights from 2012 were reviewed and comments on match
cancellation were that it was effective as there were few cancellations and
fines levied in the over 1000 games scheduled. Very few teams participated in
the Jamboree and it was thought that the reason was it was optional. The late
season mid-week games were also not effective since few teams could muster a
full roster to complete the games. Referee coverage left us with a desire to
change the system so that there are more regional pools of young referees being
led by mentors and to have the referee clinics later in the Spring when it
would be easier to generate candidates. No analysis has been done regarding
referees and coverage and refunds are given by treasurer based upon clubs
number of teams and amount collected vs amount paid for referees. (I think) I
will send an email to Dave Barra and Ken Torino asking if there something the
League can do to stimulate better coverage from the referee population.
The Treasurer’s report was distributed and discussed. There is
an ending balance of $51,689.14. There was a question about the cyclical nature
of the year ending balances in the Income (Loss) totals; with the answer being
that without further analysis it would be hard to answer the question, but a
general statement was made about the refunds to clubs were used to return cash
to the clubs. The lack of our ability to track actual referee coverage is
hindering out ability to be accurate in this area.
There was much debate around the use of the Tree Farm for the
Memorial Day Weekend and including the Jamboree in the regular schedule. Much
of the opposition came from D-1 clubs; who tend to travel on the weekend,
and much of the support came from clubs with a majority of D-2,3 teams.
Since fees were being discussed, a statement was made by
President Myers that if fees are not paid, then schedules will not be built for
offending teams. He re-emphasized that fees should be paid when registration is
sent in for the League.
After discussing the schedules and rules for different
divisions, a hand vote was taken to approve the schedule as presented.
Some support for the merger was expressed and the idea of
keeping the emphasis on development and competition in the D2-3 level was again
brought up and discussed. VSA President Ed Demulder spoke about VSA
representation and the separation of programs administered by the VSA. When Ed
and the VSA administration met with member clubs, there was little awareness
about the differences between VSA and VSL. Other opinions expressed during this
meeting, were that the merger would be transparent and largely uneventful if
the fees remained the same. The question came up about the process for adding ,
removing and suspending teams. This would need to be part of the merged League
rules when the By-Laws from both organizations are reviewed and amendments presented.
The ballot for elections of President and 6 directors (at-large)
was distributed and discussed. Since there were only five directors returning
for 6 positions, nominations were requested from the floor. Mike Hepp of Onion
River Soccer Club was nominated and seconded. Mike Hepp was added to the ballot
by a show of hands.
VSA Administrators were asked to present and discuss the club
registration packet that was distributed at the meeting. One change for the
coming year is that roster change fees have been eliminated. As part of the
recruitment policy, a new process has been put together to verify when parental
permission was sought and retained for new players. A registration form was
distributed as part of the package as an example of what a permission form
could look like if paper forms are used. The form available electronically with
the GOTSOCCER registration program is also evidence that a player has parental
permission for registering with a team.
Stowe Soccer Club mentioned that they were going to purchase Directors and
Officers liability insurance and asked the VSA to describe what is provided to
member clubs through registration with the VSA and USSF. A comparison of what
is available and what is provided was asked for so that individual clubs could
add coverage if they saw fit.
Northeast Kingdom Soccer Club headquartered in Cabot has been
through the probationary process of being added to the member clubs. 2011 was a
year when they played mostly friendly matches; 2012, a year when their two
teams played as members of Morrisville. With the projection of presenting 4 teams
in the 2013 season, the club was voted on as a new member. The approval was
given by hand vote.
President Myers adjourned the meeting at 10:30am. The Annual
General Meeting of the VSL presentation and draft meeting minutes will be
posted on the VSL website.
Results of the ballot voting were that 20 clubs voted for the
ballot as presented and elected Emmet Manning as President for a 3 year term.
Jack Myers, Tom Stames, Kurt Haigis, Bard Hill, Bret Weekes and Mike Hepp were
elected as Members at Large. Stowe, SVM Fusion, Morrisville, NEK Warriors,
Queen City and Iroquois Soccer Clubs attended the meeting but did not vote.
There were two ballots submitted but were not counted since there was no
identification on the forms.
Best
Kurt Haigis
Director At-Large
Vermont Soccer League