2016 NDASA Advisory Board Meeting Minutes January 22, 2016 Gladstone Inn & Suites, Jamestown ND

Transcription

1 Meeting called to order at 9:05 a.m. by Commissioner Dick Gulmon 2017 Winter Meetings have been scheduled for January 13-14, season review Passing of Scott Schafer and retirement of Shirley Schafer Appointment of RC Courtright as Director of Operations and will assume control of the State Office Number of state tournament teams down, but still strong numbers nationally Inaugural men s tournament series was successful Fargo hosted the largest national tournament in ASA last year & received an award their excellence Mandan awarded national tournaments in 2016 & / ball approved as only ball used in 2017 National association eliminated the inning-ending out in national tournaments National association approved use of courtesy runner at all classifications except Seniors Women s Slow Pitch Commissioner Mary Hager will retire at the end of 2016; Amy Anderson has been appointed as her replacement in 2017 Mike Peterson has been re-appointed to the Executive Committee for a term expiring in 2019 Reviewed the list of committees Add Tournament Series, Men s Slow Pitch Task Force & Women s Slow Pitch Task Force committees Amy Anderson will pick up some JO SP responsibilities Reviewed national tournament dates & qualifiers Requested Fargo submit whether they will bid for a future national tournament by the Spring Meeting Men s Class C state tournament will be a national qualifier NDASA will pay one entry fee ($400) National rule & code changes discussed Mike Wolf added that JO teams will no longer be required to wear chinstraps Player Classification Committee Chairman Mike Peterson discussed the player appeals process Appeals already being submitted Slow Pitch Task Force addressed handling of appeals Players on teams automatically moved up are strongly encouraged to stay at that classification (or higher) for multiple years

2 Discussion on comparison of classification of Minnesota teams Tournament Coordinator Roger Weigel discussed invitational tournaments Tournament packets & contracts being sent out Hosts are assured the same dates as last year Hosts interested in changing or adding dates would require approval to ensure no nearby conflicts Hope to have forms available online in the future Discussed coordination with the series committee Director of Operations RC Courtright discussed the State Office Contact information will largely remain the same State office has a new address of stateoffice@ndasa.org (old address will forward to new address through 2016 only) Discussed the National Equipment Committee Review ASA announced January 22, 2016 that 18 Easton bats that had been on approved list will be added to the non-approved list effective immediately Reviewed the suspension/probation list Naomi Erdahl will assist Junior Olympic Commissioner Brian Neuhardt during the upcoming season Brian Neuhardt & Pat Johnson will once again hold Girls Fast pitch clinics throughout the state in 2016 Reviewed important dates & deadlines Reviewed insurance options for players, teams and field owners Umpire-In-Chief Mike Wolf provided the Umpires Report Registration fees have increased to $45 Will work closely with State Office to avoid issue similar to 2015 where registration & background checks were submitted late Deputy Umpire-In-Chief Mike Lien has retired; his replacement has not yet been determined Three ND umpires have already been assigned to major national tournaments Jack Jones mentioned that the McQuade tournament will soon be moving to a more online presence as McQuade Distributing updates their web site Discussed the implementation of bat stickers considering recent news regarding the list of recently banned Easton bats

3 Jack Jones insisted that players and managers are ultimately responsible for use of nonapproved bats & their use would result in an ejection and suspension Discussed necessary changes to the Invitational & State Tournament Information document Supply of softballs will be purchased by NDASA and sold to local association with a $1/dozen markup ($36/dozen) that will go towards funding the tournament series Will change to AD Starr Tattoo balls Vice President Scott Brahos stated that online rosters will not be ready for the 2016 season TournamentASA.com will ultimately be used (available at no cost) but cannot yet accommodate Rec classifications ASA/USA Softball will rebrand as USA Softball in 2017 with all state associations required to follow suit ASA/USA Softball has launched a new mobile app Masters Committee Chairman Jack Jones discussed adoption of national run/inning and run ahead rule at Masters 40 & 50 state tournaments Wayne Beyer inquired about use of facemasks Dick Gulmon pointed out that the National Equipment Committee can not mandate the use of facemasks due to a lack of certification of such equipment Local associations can provide facemask, but their use cannot be even be recommended; players encouraged to protect themselves as they see fit Discussion by Dick Gulmon, Jack Jones & Darin Krueger about the national meetings North Dakota well represented and well respected Need help promoting the 2016 Men s Masters 35 National Tournament in Mandan Coed HR rule defined as Div 1 = 4 HR w/excess out, Div 2, 3, & 4 = 2 HR w/excess out

4 MEN S SLOW PITCH COMMITTEE (Minutes taken & presented by Roger Weigel) These are the recommendations from the MSP Group to the Executive Committee Tournament series was successful but needs minor revisions o Will continue in 2016 o Prize package discussion involving changing amounts based upon participation within each classification (specifically, the much larger Rec III) o Request that NDASA again provide up to $1500 to cover prize packages for the series if needed (Motion by Nick Gulmon, second by Craig Good, passed to Executive Council) Masters 35 national in Mandan o Competitive & Rec divisions o Entry fee will be $350 if submitted by August 1, 2016; $450 thereafter o Teams put together explicitly for this tournament will be allowed but all players on the roster must have participated in a 2016 state tournament Open state tournament o Moved to after C & D tournaments after no entries in 2015 when scheduled for week prior o May consider same weekend in the future Mandatory team move ups o For Rec divisions at McQuades the following teams will be moved up the following season (motion by Roger Weigel, second by Brad Eisenbeisz, passed to Executive Council) For 32 team tournament, top finisher For 48 team tournament, top 2 finishers For 64 team tournament, top 3 finishers o Move up top 10% of teams from state tournaments with a maximum of 8 if 8 teams, those teams would be the final four in the championship & consolation brackets (Motion by Nick Gulmon, second by Scott Brahos, passed to Executive Council) Players that solely play on league only teams are ineligible to be added to a tournament only roster (Motion by Nick Gulmon, second by Scott Brahos, passed to Executive Council) Change the State Tournament Pickup Player Form to allow for multiple players listed on same page with a line item allowing state official or league rep to sign for each player (Motion by Darin Kreuger, second by Scott Brahos, passed to Executive Council) Discussion on changing the team classification player guidelines to allow more higher classified players, but no revisions advanced

5 WOMEN S SLOW PITCH COMMITTEE (Minutes taken & presented by Mary Hager) These are the recommendations from the WSP Group to the Executive Committee Welcomed new Women s Slow Pitch Commissioner Amy Anderson of West Fargo New for the State Office (stateoffice@ndasa.org) Discussed general softball info though nothing to change Reviewed roster deadline, team registration deadline, etc Women s Slow Pitch Task Force will start in the Fall of 2016 and meet the same day as the Men s Slow Pitch Task Force After lengthy discussion, WSP recommended to the Executive Council that Class C & D state tournaments be combined change requested for 2016 due to D national nearby in Sioux Falls SD Change women s HR rule to follow the men s HR rule to avoid confusion amongst players & umpires (passed to Executive Council) Women s Slow Pitch will take responsibility for Junior Olympic Girls Slow Pitch Amy will be in charge of promoting both WSP & JO GSP Discussion of league representatives to be more responsible in their job duties and showing up at Spring Meeting (which should be mandatory)

6 ADVISORY MEETING (Resumed) 2016 NDASA Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Committee reports from Men s & Women s Slow Pitch Committees Discussion of tournaments implementing charity HR rule All tournaments that allowed it in 2015 will do so again in 2016 Mike Wolf stated the UTC tournament would like to do so as well Any tournament interested in adding charity HRs would need approval following review of charity involved Jack Jones announced that the Wounded Warriors Amputee Softball Team and the Air Force team will both return to the McQuade tournament in 2016 WWAST expected to have a Friday night exhibition for the opening night crowd, but also considering adding a family night exhibition on Thursday night Dick Gulmon adjourned the meeting at 1:08 p.m.

7 2016 NDASA Executive Council Meeting Minutes January 23, 2016 Gladstone Inn & Suites, Jamestown ND Meeting called to order at 1:21 p.m. by Commissioner Dick Gulmon Discussion and voting on rule changes presented by committees Women s Slow Pitch o WSP recommendation to eliminate Class C, move current C teams to Class D, and have one Class D state tournament with a 3 game guarantee/double elimination format (Motion by Sue Lachenmeier, second by Scott Collins, passed by simple majority) o Change women s HR rule to follow the men s HR changes Class D to 3 HR w/excess out (Motion by Mary Hager, second by Mike Wolf, passed by simple majority) Men s Slow Pitch o Request that NDASA again provide up to $1500 to cover prize packages for the series if needed (Motion by Scott Collins, second by Jack Lukes, passed by simple majority) Estimated $1300-$1400 would be raised for this purpose with the sale of softballs by NDASA to local associations o For Rec divisions at McQuades the following teams will be moved up the following season (Motion by Jack Jones, second by Wayne Beyer, passed by simple majority) For 32 team tournament, top finisher For 48 team tournament, top 2 finishers For 64 team tournament, top 3 finishers Jack Jones confirmed this rule would also ensure that returning out-of-state teams moved up at the next year s McQuade tournament if this rule applies to them o Move up top 10% of teams from state tournaments with a maximum of 8 if 8 teams, those teams would be the final four in the championship & consolation bracket Mike Peterson recommended the 8 teams moved up would be the championship final four, the consolation final two and the final two teams from the 1-1 bracket MSP recommendation altered to move up top 10% of teams from state tournaments with a maximum of 8 if 8 teams, those teams would be the final four in the championship, the final two in the consolation bracket and the final two in the 1-1 bracket (Motion by Jack Jones, second by Scott Brahos, passed by simple majority) o Players that solely play on league only teams are ineligible to be added to a tournament only roster MSP recommendation amended such that Players that solely play on league only teams are ineligible to be added to a tournament only roster or as a pickup player in any state or invitational tournament (Motion by Jack Jones, second by Jack Lukes, passed by simple majority) o Change the State Tournament Pickup Player Form to allow for multiple players listed on same page with a line item allowing state official or league rep to sign for each player (Motion by Jack Lukes, second by Wayne Beyer, passed by simple majority) Masters

8 2016 NDASA Executive Council Meeting Minutes January 23, 2016 Gladstone Inn & Suites, Jamestown ND o For the Men s Masters 40 & 50 divisions, allow a maximum 5 runs per inning (with last inning and extra innings being open with no such limit) and the only run ahead rule will be 20 runs after 4 innings (Motion by Jack Lukes, second by Scott Brahos, passed by simple majority) Discussion on placing stickers on approved and/or non-approved bats (in response to recent announcement of previously approved Easton bats now being added to the non-approved list) Scott Collins recommended no change, players and managers need to be held accountable Dick Gulmon reinforced that ignorance of the rules is not an excuse Mike Peterson stressed education through the wide variety of means association has to provide information to teams and that players and managers must be held accountable for using nonapproved bats Motion to make no change to the current bat sticker program bats that have not been stickered would need to be inspected by an approved representative of the state association and approved bats would have the same orange sticker used in 2015 adhered to them (Motion by Mike Wolf, second by Jack Lukes, passed by simple majority) Jack Jones, on behalf of Chris Hutton, began discussion on having better representation for the Coed division to help alleviate concerns over different state tournament rules implemented between rotating hosts Fargo & Grand Forks. Appoint Coed Commissioner? Tabled for future discussion. Jack Jones inquired about use of a proxy at the national meetings when a representative particularly in regards to the Junior Olympics program is unable to attend. Attendance currently limited to voting members (Commissioner, Assistant State Commissioner, & Umpire-In-Chief) due to expense concerns Meeting adjourned by Dick Gulmon at 1:38 p.m.