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2015-6-27

June 27, 2015
In attendance: Robert Miller, Marylynn Johnson, Alana Duncan, Matt Carling, Regina Jackowiak
The meeting started at 10:05 am at the Cedar City Library.

Equipment Sales
·         World’s Biggest Soccer Club Scarves
     o   Rob showed the new National Scarves that may be used as a fundraiser.  They may be purchased for $5 and sold for $10.
     o   Rob wanted to know if we wanted to purchase some and it was split.
          §  Regina thought they would be a great fundraiser.  Marylynn, Matt and Alana had concerns about families having the money to spend on them.
          §  Discussion continued with the suggestion of putting a flyer in each Coach kit, enough for each parent, to promote sales.
          §  Matt suggested we find out if those that are not sold could be returned.
          §  If they didn’t sell, they could be end of the season gifts for volunteers.

·         Snack Bar sales
      o   We have an abundance of shin guards we could sell at the snack bar as well as extra soccer balls.  Lots of size 3.

ACTION ITEMS:
     ~Rob to check with National about the possibility of returning unsold scarves.  Decision to purchase and quantity to purchase shall be based on this answer.
     ~Rob to check with Julie Berry about any tax issues we may have if we begin to sell off our excess equipment.

Parowan Update
·         It looks like we will only have a few teams coming from Parowan this year.
     o   1 team each in U8B, U8G, U10B, U12 Co-Ed; and 2 teams in U10G.
     o   Alice, with Parowan Parks & Rec, would like for us to continue holding games in Parowan.
          §  Rob advised her in order to do so; she would need to:
                    Keep the fields painted; and
                    Provide Referees who would take our training.
     o   Regina is concerned with having games in Parowan without having experienced Referees out there to manage the games.  Her thoughts are to hold off having games in Parowan until our Referee program is stronger and parents start volunteering.  (Side note Regina forgot to request: If we decide to hold games in Parowan, please don’t schedule any games there in the first two weeks.  This way all Referees are at Bicentennial for observations.)

ACTION ITEM:
     ~A decision still needs to be made regarding hosting games in Parowan.

Team Formations
·         Rob will be creating the teams this weekend/early part of the week.
·         Regina asked if we had an evaluation system in place to balance the teams.  At this time, we do not.  Haven’t been able to get ratings back from Coaches in the past.
·         Teams will be formed based on locations and the Bring-A-Buddy program offered this year.
·         Marylynn to review the Parowan teams prior to distribution.
·         The U12 and U14 divisions will both be Co-Ed this season and will remain in their own divisions.
·         Currently, we only have enough players to create one big U16/19 coed team.
          o   For the most part, they will be playing against each other.
          o   There is a possibility of playing against St. George.
          o   Regina questioned whether or not the players would be interested in playing in Las Vegas.  Rob thought they might be interested, but that would take him off the field for the entire day.  Regina said if approved, we might need to provide some Referees as well…which could take her from the field too.
·         VIP only currently has 4 players registered; 3 of which are from the same family.  Need to contact Helen Johnson to see if she has any suggestions to encourage more players to come out.
·         There are enough U5 Boys and Girls this season to separate them into two groups this year.

ACTION ITEM:
     ~Devise a plan to encourage Coaches to return evaluation forms so that we may balance teams in the future.
     ~Suggestions include: hold awards until Coaches return evaluations at the end of the season; host a dinner by division (some divisions can be put together) to encourage the Coaches to work together in evaluating players.

     ~Regina to contact some of the restaurants to see if they would be willing to host Coach appreciation/ratings dinners.
     ~Regina to contact the Regional Commissioner of Las Vegas/Summerlin, Rizzie Love, to see if they would be interested in interplay for the U19 division and if so, what that would entail.

Regina to contact Helen Johnson about the VIP program.

Coaches and Coach Trainings
·         We have a few volunteers, but more will need to be recruited.
·         We need to make sure we get our volunteers registered, certified and trained.
·         Coach Trainings are set for July 18 and August 1.
          o   Locations TBD
          o   All trainings offered the entire day.  Everyone arrive in the morning and start with U6 training (book) then field work.  U6ers may leave at that time or stay.  Follow with U8 training (book) then field work.  U8ers may leave at that time or stay.  U10 and U12 trainings will proceed in the same manner.  We will be encouraging Coaches to stay past their immediate training needs so they can be prepared for the upcoming seasons.
          o   U12 Coaches will be offered lunch as their training is all day.
          o   Water will be supplied for all.
          o   Coaches will need to bring their own chairs.
          ·         Safe Haven and Concussion Awareness certifications will continue to be taken online; but the importance and need of these trainings to be discussed at the Coach Trainings.
          ·         Coach bags have been ordered.  Coaches will receive their kits once they have completed their trainings.
          ·         Regina suggested that instead of trying to sell the first aid kits from last year’s fundraiser, to include them in the Coach kits.  Rob already ordered first aid kits for this purpose but will try to cancel the order.
          ·         Zion’s Photography flyers are ready for the Coach kits.

ACTION ITEMS:
     Rob to find location to hold Coach Trainings
          ~First choice is the Pavilion at the Cedar Library Park.

          ~Second choice is the Aquatic Center.
     Rob to try and cancel first aid kit order.

     Jules to complete payment needed for Coach bags.
     Recruit additional Coaches.

     Contact Coaches, Asst. Coaches and potential Coaches to advise them of the upcoming trainings as well as registering online and taking the Safe Haven and Concussion Awareness certifications online before the season begins.
     Help will be needed from everyone to put the Coach kits together.

Game Schedules & Field Usage
·         Marylynn pointed out public school is starting later this year, on August 20
·         Games will still begin on August 15
·         Jon will hopefully be able to provide a game schedule by July 19
·         Regina mentioned needing to work with Jon regarding U5’s and the VIP’s to avoid as much Referee conflict as possible.
·         Regina requested that we create a more vertical game schedule to help with Referee coverage.
·         Games
          o   U6, U8, U19 and VIP divisions will continue to have 10 matches scheduled.
          o   U10, U12 and U14 will have 7-8 matches scheduled in the hopes we will be able to bring playoffs back.
               §  If playoffs are planned, each team will pick up at least the balance of the 10 matches during playoffs.  (See weather conditions below.)
               §  If we are unable to plan for playoffs, then additional matches will be scheduled once that decision has been made during the season to make sure all teams receive 10 matches.  (See weather conditions below.)
          o   U5 will have 6-8 scheduled sessions.  The recommendation is 6 sessions but since they pay the same fee, Regina usually runs 8 sessions.  This year though she may have a conflict in October.  Length of season is still being determined.  If we go to 6 sessions, we may offer balls and/or shin guards (since we have some in storage) to offset the shortened length.
          o   Saturday game times to begin after 9 AM to give us time to have Board Meetings at Bicentennial Park prior to the start of games.

·         Cancellations & Rescheduling
          o   Weather related cancellations are beyond our control.  Matt suggested that we inform the Coaches that these games would not be officially rescheduled but if Coaches wanted to take this upon themselves to do so they could.  They would still need to check with Jon for field availability and with Regina if they wanted Referees.
          o   Regina suggested we make the schedule final and stop allowing Coaches the ability to change once final.  That is one of the reasons we have Assistant Coaches.  Maybe if we help Jon out by looking at potential conflicts to start with (like Coaches with multiple teams) we wouldn’t have as many changes.  No other league allows Coaches to just change the scheduled time.  This makes it tough on scheduling Referees.
          o   Rob didn’t feel it was an issue.  Most cancellations are due to school functions/holidays so it will still be allowed as long as the Coaches agree; and as long as at least one of the Coaches contacts both Jon for field availability and Regina for Referees.
               §  Later discussion was the possibility of getting school schedules for Jon to try and avoid potential conflicts to start with.

·         RCL has contacted Rob about sharing Bicentennial Park and asked our opinion on the matter.  We all agreed that we didn’t feel it was in our best interest to have them using our fields at the same time.

·         Enoch fields
     o   Regina has requested that we keep all upper division games at Bicentennial Park for Refereeing issues.
     o   We had previously discussed moving U8’s to Enoch; however, if we are going to try and have U8 Officials on their games, we should keep them at Bicentennial as well.
           §  DECISION: We will not be using Enoch this year.

ACTION ITEMS:

     Rob to provide Team counts and Team numbers to Jon for game schedules.
     Jon:

          to attempt to have the game schedule around July 19
                   
Schedule 10 games for divisions U6, U8, U19 and VIP         
                    Schedule 7-8 games for divisions U10, U12 and U14 and leave space for a possible tournament
          to number games to easily identify any rescheduling that may need to occur and to help with Referee scheduling.
     Regina:
          to determine the length of the U5 season asap;

          to provide Jon requested game times for U5’s and VIP’s asap;
          to request from Jon special time blocks in order to observe Referees more easily.

FROM 1/24 MINUTES:

1)      Start times need to be adjusted to allow Referees the time to change fields, etc.
2)     
May need to push games to an earlier time on weeknights and might be going longer on Saturdays.
3)     
No upper level games at the same time as VIP to accommodate the need for Buddies.
FUTURE ACTION ITEMS: Determine if we are having playoffs and create schedule or add the balance of games for U10, U12 and U14.
     ~In an attempt to be willing to work with RCL, Rob will offer them the use Enoch fields, this year only.

Referees
·         At this time, we will be encouraging every volunteer to complete the Basic Referee online course.  Regina will be taking the online course this week to make sure this is the way we want to go.
·         The Companion course will be scheduled soon.
·         The U8 Officials course may be offered multiple times.  Regina has found it easier to offer this at the time of U8 practices.  If we can find out when/where these practices are and let Regina know she will set up some trainings.  Parents are usually around and the training is about the same length of time as practices.  Additional training is required, but it is more observation and discussion.  After a few weeks of observation, a written test will be administered.  U8 Officials are also encouraged to complete the Basic Referee online.
·         Referees will also need to complete Safe Haven and Concussion Awareness online.
·         The first few weeks of games, Regina will be concentrating on observations and trainings and might not be available to actually Referee games.  If we could really look at the game schedule closely to have as little overlap as possible that would be great.
·         Alana mentioned she has some youth prospects for Referees and possibly the snack bar.
·         Matt suggested the possibility of the Boy Scouts becoming Referees as they work on Merit Badges.
·         We are not paying/gift carding Referees this season but working on an awards program.
·         We also want to make sure we are feeding/hydrating our Referees who are out there for multiple games.

ACTION ITEMS:

     Regina to:
          contact prospects from the registrations to try and get them to commit to Refereeing this season;

          schedule the companion course(s);
          finish coming up with an incentive plan for the Referees for Rob and the Boards approval.    
          contact Jimmy John’s to see if they would be willing to donate/discount sandwiches for the Referees on Saturday’s.
     Regina and Alana to work out a time to meet and discuss the possibility of “her” youth becoming Referees.
     Whoever is working with the U8 teams to advise Regina when/where they are practicing to possibly set up a U8 Official training (or two).

     Matt to contact someone in BSA about working on Merit Badges.


Board Positions

·         The following positions have been accepted:
     o   CVPA – Kristen Miller
     o   Safety Director – Matt Carling
     o   Auditor – Jon Karpel
     o   Secretary – Kaer Neumann
·         We need to fill the following positions: Webmaster, RCA, assorted division coordinators, fundraising coordinator, PR person.
     o   There is a possibility that we have an RCA and a Secretary.
          §  Update: We have a volunteer for Webmaster – Genevieve “Genna” Jackowiak

ACTION ITEMS:
     Rob to confirm with possible RCA.
     Jeff Smith and Rob to forward website information to Genna.

     Recruit for needed positions.

Meeting adjourned at 11:40 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Regina Jackowiak
6/29/15

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