WINCHESTER YOUTH HOCKEY PARENTS ASSOCIATION, INC. Minutes of the Board Meeting October 14, 2013

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1 WINCHESTER YOUTH HOCKEY PARENTS ASSOCIATION, INC. Minutes of the Board Meeting October 14, 2013 Attendees: Directors: Steve Mix, Chris Parker, Dana Garmey, Brendan Monahan, Tom Troiano, Kieran Brosnan, Jim Kiley, Carolyn Walsh, Dennis Nigro, Peter Albert, David Hennessey, Brud Houllahan,V.J. Ladd President Chris Parker opened the meeting at 7: 02. By a poll of the members present it was determined that a quorum existed to allow for the transaction of business. Minutes from the September Meeting The minutes from the September meeting were reviewed. Tom Troiano made a motion to accept the minutes. Jim Kiley seconded it. The Board unanimously approved the motion. Treasurer's Report Treasurer Steve Mix handed out cash flow sheet. He said we are coming to the end of our revenue collection, with only one more payment remaining. A few tuition payments remain overdue for the September payment, however 2/3 of those families are making payment plans. Steve reported $197, in checking and $334, in CD's, for a total cash on hand of $531, Our big expenses for October include a payment to the Valley League of $45,000 and ice rental fees. There was also $4,920 for equipment, including practice jerseys for the program. Chris Parker mentioned that if a child sustains a season-ending injury, then the family will get credit back for remaining portion of the season. V.J. Ladd moved to accept the Treasurer s report. Tom seconded it. The Board unanimously approved the motion. Mass Hockey/D9 Jim Kiley attended the D9 meeting. There were a few roster exemptions that were discussed at the meeting. Jim said there was discussion about the Safe Sport curriculum that all coaches may do by November. Tom said it is only recommended for this year, not required. However, this module will be mandatory next year.

2 Jim also reported that the seedings for Bantams were done and our Bantam A team was seeded #1. Chris said we got clarification that there has been discipline handed out of mites playing up for a squirt game. Mites are prohibited from playing full ice prior to January 1, Chris mentioned that there will be Bantam playdowns at Flynn Rink on November 12 th, and he asked Board members to pencil the date in. 60th Anniversary Party Dana Garmey reported that there was a 60 th Anniversary Party Committee Meeting at the library. About 10 WYH members who are interested in helping to plan the party attended. Dana said we have selected a date of Saturday, March 29 th at Town Hall. Beth Locke has agreed to design the invitations and a 60th Anniversary logo. We are still looking for a caterer. We are targeting a ticket price of $75 per person. Tom added that 190 people attended the 50 th anniversary party. Online Store Peter Albert asked if we should put the new 60 th Anniversary logo on items for sale in the online store. He said he will work on that with Denyse. He reported that there was a glitch in August with store being down for a period of time, but it has been rectified now. We will need to get a deadline out to families for ordering hockey bags in time for the holidays. Denyse needs a minimum purchase order of 12 bags to get started. WYH purchased 3 last year and they all were sold. Chris mentioned that we need a goalie equipment bag for the 4th Tri City team. V.J. asked about using the 60 th Anniversary logo for a helmet sticker. Dana had stickers made up last year for her Squirt Team prior to the State Tournament and they cost.25 cents each. She will bring some samples to the next meeting. Banner Raising Ceremony Chris thanked V.J. for making the banner raising ceremony in September a success. One banner replaced due to a type-o at a cost of $300. V.J. reported that we allotted $500 for the event but were able to do it for a cost of $250. Ace Coordinator

3 Brendan Monahan mentioned that there will be a symposium for coaches at the Boston Garden on October 26 th sponsored by Mass Hockey/Bruins. He will send the information along to al WYH coaches. Ice Committee Tom said there is nothing major to report the Committee will start on November practice schedule. Chris asked for a report about the recent closure of Malden rink due to a zamboni fire. Peter thought that most of the canceled games were rescheduled, and Tom said that we would get credit for missed practice ice. Coaches Committee Brud Houllahan said a few incidents have been brought forward to the Coaches Committee and are being investigated. One allegation involved the theft of an Ipod from a locker room as well as smoking and chewing tobacco in locker rooms. Tom added that it is likely that there will be disciplinary hearings. He said a process is laid out by Mass Hockey that must be followed prior to any discipline. There must be a formal meeting before discipline can be handed out. V.J. asked if the players in question are still playing in meantime. Tom said yes, because the only case where you can suspend a player without a hearing first is if a criminal act is alleged. Brud added that the Bantam C2 team has had a few incidents of teammates fighting in the locker room and the Coaches Committee is looking into it. David Hennessey said there was a meeting of the players, parents and coaches on this issue. The meeting was also attended by two members of the Coaches Committee. He said this situation did not appear to be ongoing issue of disrespect between teammates but rather an isolated incident. An was sent to the team stating that, and indicating that the players involved have been placed on probation. The coach also apologized for his strong reaction to the fight. David said that subsequently, another fight occurred between 2 other players on the same team. Tom said there will be a parent meeting where the Coaches Committee will be in attendance to further discuss concerns and help get everyone on the right track. Brud said the Coaches Committee will be keep the Board updated on the

4 ongoing matters. Zero Tolerance Policy Chris said he recently sent a note to the entire program about appropriate conduct, including language, fighting and tobacco use, and supporting coaches ability to handle matters that arise by sitting kids as appropriate. Chris said he thinks that we as a program should consider a code of conduct and he handed out a proposed code for players and parents. He asked if we want to institute this in a paper form this year, and electronically next year? Tom suggested some edits to the document, including getting both on one page. V.J. thought there was a code of conduct that is signed by parents on the USA hockey website. Steve Mix and Tom offered to look into what is agreed to by parents on the USA Hockey site. Chris said this will be included in the October Newsletter to parents and he will ask parents to review it with their children. He will also state that the Code of Conduct will be included in our registration process for next year. Carolyn suggested that Chris also include an explanation of the role of the Coaches Committee. Carolyn will work with Tom on a message to include in Chris . Tom said we cannot have pre-set penalties for offenses because it violates the spirit of Mass Hockey rules. Matters have to go to a disciplinary hearing and the Coaches Committee determines the discipline. David reiterated that sitting a player for anything less than a game falls within a coach s prerogative. However, he asked what could be done immediately by a coach for an older kid who misbehaves? Tom said because we are an affiliate of Mass Hockey we have to follow the rules, and a coach cannot hand out full game suspensions without a disciplinary hearing. V.J. recommended that this message be sent independent of the President s Newsletter. Learn To Play Hockey Kieran reported that to make the teams equal in ability, the coaches ranked all of the LTPH kids and came up with a point system. Each of the 4 LTPH teams got 25 points. Right now there are 4 teams of 12 players and 17-18

5 players on the Bruins team. Dana Garmey mentioned that she s seen some young skaters at Bruins practice using crates to skate. She said she thinks there should be some minimum skating requirement to play in LTPH. Chris asked Kieran if he can speak to the Bruins coach and he may send certain families a note that they might consider a Learn to Skate program instead and offering them a credit if they withdraw. Dana reiterated that we should have a skating requirement for next year. Intro to Hockey Nothing to report. Right now we have registered. Steve Mix said when he first ran the program there were 40 participants. Boys Open Travel/Valley League Dennis Nigro said he sent a message to the Valley League regarding our Squirt A team which is playing in the elite bracket of the league but not finding competitive games. Brendan added that he looked at the standings and it does not appear that there will be better competition after parity is completed. Dennis said he suggested that the team be placed in the NEHL. Steve Mix stated that this problem is not entirely unique and may get worse in the future. V.J. said that WYH is fortunate that we are able to keep so many players in town hockey. Tom said he's concerned that putting the team in a different league will not necessarily address the competition issue and will involve more travel for families. He said the other option is to drop the team down to a 30 game schedule and the coach can find more competitive tournaments/games to add. We will see what the reply is to Dennis and take it from there. Chris asked how the Mite cross-ice games are going. Dennis said next year the League should come up with a better structure. He mentioned some of the problems he is seeing with the referees and score keeping to the Valley League. Tom said there is a USA hockey mid-winter meeting and he ll know more about the future plans for Mites after that meeting. Dennis said there are numerous logistics that still need to be worked out and

6 there are about 5 kids on the A s who will be Mites again next season. He noted that other towns do have 6 year olds playing in Mites. Jim Kiley said that it was made clear at the D9 meeting that there is no exemption for U6 to play full ice. Chris mentioned that the Mite Belmont Tournament will be full ice and has been changed to January 1 st. We have committed to participating. Girls Only /MYCGL Nothing to report. Tom made a comment that there have been some conflicts with the ice schedule and the MYCGL schedule. This has to do with the timing of when the games are announced. New Business Tom said our usual banquet date falls on Holy Thursday this year so we will need to go somewhere else for the Banquet. Chris asked about doing it at the High School like Pop Warner does. Peter Albert said he will get information and look into a new location. Chris asked if we are going to offer the baseline concussion testing again this year. Carolyn said she needs to secure a location preferably a computer lab and then we can pick a date. Chris mentioned we will need help with playdowns on November 18, Adjournment V.J. Ladd moved to adjourn the meeting. Tom Troiano seconded it. The Board voted unanimously to approve the motion. Next Meeting Date: Monday, November 18, 2013.