LSA Executive Committee Meeting Sunday, September 15, 2013 @ 1:00 pm LSA Office, Baton Rouge Meeting called by: Sean Esker, LSA President Call to Order at 1:06 Agenda Present Board Members YES NO Sean Esker, President Kathleen Garey, Secretary Bill Scheffy, Treasurer Part time Chad Vidrine, Vice President-Adult Elizabeth Marschall, Adult Women s Commissioner Jonathan Rednour, Adult Men s Commissioner Charlie Freel, Vice President-Youth Leslie Mullins, Youth Competitive Commissioner Dee Flint, Youth Recreational Commissioner Bill Rushing, Referee Committee Chair Mark Godwin, Director of Coaching Jennifer Davis, Executive Director Bob Abbott, Past President Bill raised a Point of Order Bill objected to the filling of the vacancy of VP of Adult, stating that Sean did not submit his letter of resignation to the State Council. Bill left the meeting. Leslie suggested that we follow up with a legal review of the bylaws on the filling of the position. Will discuss under new business. 1. Approval of Minutes a. July Board meeting Moved by Kathleen, seconded by Chad, accepted with no exceptions b. August 13 special board meeting Moved by Charlie, seconded by Chad, accepted with no exceptions 2. Policy Proposals - ne 3. Reports of Board Members (1) President (a) Introduction of Board Members new to the group Chad, Jonathan, & Elizabeth (b) Region III Leadership Changes (i) new Regional Director, Jesse Howard (ii) Brandon Storey has stepped aside as Region III Tournament Director Sean asked for input on filling the role. Leslie suggested that two people may be needed to fill the role (one detail oriented one for the pre-work, and a real strong tournament director). Charlie agreed. (c) Southern Regionals Agreement with BRSC (i) Agreed that LSA will have responsibility of the fall meeting in October. Will receive 10% of the proceeds up to $10,000 minus any sponsorships. (d) 2015 RIII Presidents Cup bid Lafayette (i) Assisting with bid, waiting on feedback (e) US Youth Soccer Strategic Initiatives Proposal (i) USYS board approved the initiatives 1. Improve relationship with the Federation
2. Organizational roles 3. Standardize rules & eliminate barriers 4. Improve national brand 5. Professional integration of National Programs (f) Outreach to Existing & Potential New Clubs (i) Working with potential new clubs: 1. A NO group affiliated with NORD 2. Washington Parish AYSO 3. Morgan City AYSO 4. More to come in New Business (ii) Existing clubs has many responses to the survey to the Club Presidents, but giving them more time. Planning a DOC survey later. (iii) ACTION - Jennifer to provide everyone a copy of the survey. (2) Secretary no report (3) Treasurer Jennifer covered the financials for Bill (a) Financial Reports (i) As of Friday looks like an $11,000 surplus for the year. Good news compared to the past three years showing a loss. Still working with the CPA to finalize the numbers, expect Mid October (ii) Leslie asked that the report include the possible exposure due to insurance claims over three years. (b) 2013-14 Budget (c) Budget Cycle Next Year (4) Director of Coaching Report (a) Coaching education getting tougher (i) E courses - great success (ii) D course only one this past year. Planning to have two D courses next year. (iii) Mentoring will require adjusting the fees that are charged. Erin Klein & Mark are the only two qualified instructors. Will be able to qualify more as Mark has arranged a (iv) C course in Mandeville last month was a great success. Great facility and hosting by Mandeville. Only 17/36 passed the course. Eight LA coaches were in the course, four passed. Seems that they failed the practical. They can only stop the 10 minute game once to make a coaching point. Will be able to retest (free). (b) Policy proposal Explained the changes and asked for input. Both USYS and NSCAA courses are included. Will vote on it at the next meeting so clubs can ratify in January. (c) ODP (i) Reviewed the list of ODP coaches provided. Many returning staff with six new coaches. (ii) Shared ODP Calendar (iii) Will hold invitational tryouts for the older age groups (d) ACTION Mark to develop there is a formal review/evaluation process for ODP coaches, both coaching skills and dedication to the program. (Suggested by Jennifer with input from Leslie) (5) Executive Director Report (a) Personnel update (i) Looking to hire one person to replace Josh. Posted on USYS site. Has interviewed two people, and planning more. (ii) Have an LSU intern this fall (LCSL focus), expect to have two this spring. (b) Conflict of Interest forms Everyone needs to return the Conflict of Interest form. Jennifer will contact us when we need to re-do Risk Management (c) New registrations Dynamo Juniors recreational players (approx. 900 players); Gonzales adults; LYSA recreational (could be approx. 1500); Moss Bluff rec league next seasonal year (450)
(d) Coastal Consulting firm BP claims Jennifer has been in conversations about filing a claim, since sports organizations are part of tourism. The firm would get 25% of the claim. Other states are working with them. She will provide us with more information. (e) Sportsource e college counseling close to getting it posted on the website. We will pay $2800 for services plus $75 per account after the 1 st 30 (f) USYS Strategic Planning Jennifer is on the Taskforce for Marketing/Programs. It is a mix of Executive Directors and State Presidents from all four regions. Will be collecting feedback from all regional meetings and then working to identify a new direction for USYS. (g) Fall Meeting October 3-5 at the Renaissance (6) Youth Vice President (a) Update on Kohl s Cup Covington & Monroe - Jamboree for U8, U9-14 Tournament (b) Plans to visit with Club Board of Directors Charlie & Leslie had visited clubs last year to understand how they would like us to improve LSA. Charlie is considering getting small focus groups together where the clubs are smaller. Will work together after the survey results are compiled. (7) Youth Competitive Commissioner report submitted (a) Planned Working Groups to be formed who will present proposals to the Comp Committee in December (i) Competitive Discipline Tracking 1. Many states & RIII league track cards with three yellow cards resulting in a suspension. In RIII league, LA had the most red cards and yellow cards. Some states have a points system, some track teams, some require training. 2. Some states have a policy that requires coaches who are ejected to have a hearing to determine consequences. LA high school association requires a coach to take a course before the next game. 3. The board supported the plan, and suggested that they include input from the Referee Association. (ii) Competitive Code of Conduct 1. Very few clubs have a code of conduct or parent education. t sure if we should work with the clubs to get a parental code of conduct or offer parent education. Believe it should be for all, not just competitive 2. Mark offered that USYS has a parent education test. The E course has a parent code of conduct. 3. Perhaps some code of conduct language can be added to the registration form. (Side note may need to check liability language on registration forms.) 4. Need all coaches, parents, players code of conduct in our policies. 5. Charlie suggested that the target audience should be the clubs and not the parents. 6. ACTION Leslie s plans will broaden to ALL YOUTH (b) Planned Policy Changes (i) 311(A)(1)(b) - Moving from 44 to 70 players required to participate in State Cup, to match the number required for a new affiliate. 1. Charlie has also been reviewing the bylaws and policy and came across the same discrepancy. Had thought that the requirement for numbers in Policy 311 should removed 2. ACTION Leslie to discuss with Charlie (ii) 311(A)(1)(a) Clean up language that makes it look like competitive teams must participate in the state tournament. (iii) 311(D) Clean up a hole that would allow a second place team to default on Regionals. (8) Youth Recreational Commissioner no Report (9) Adult Vice President no Report, now that all three positions are filled, will be prepared for next meeting.
(10) Women s Commissioner - no Report (11) Men s Commissioner - no Report (12) Referee Committee Chairman emailed to the board. Jennifer reported for Bill. (a) Random audits of assigners have started. (b) Will add the referee assigner to the club registration form next year, because some clubs are not familiar with the concept & Jennifer has only gotten about half of the names. (c) Consider adding policy that a Referee Assigner must be used for all games. (d) ACTION Jennifer & Bill are working on it. Jennifer will add a link on the LSA website to the USSF requirements. Old Business (1) Sport Source program sheet (example) B. Scheffy Jennifer explained the format of the Sport Source sheet that could be a standard for any new proposal. Please use the format for anything that may have a budget impact. (2) Establishing an Amount of our Financial Liquidity as Minimum Reserves C. Freel presented the reasons we need to identify an amount. (3) BOD meeting dates 1pm on v 10, March 16, May 10 (Saturday) plus Midyear Mtg (Jan 11 in Lafayette) & AGM (July 18 in New Orleans) C. Freel no problems with dates identified. New Business (1) Approve appointment of Gabi Erny as Competitive Committee Chairperson L. Mullins motioned, Charlie seconded no discussion or opposition (2) Approve appointment of Brian Warwick as RPL Representative for LA L. Mullins motioned, Charlie seconded no discussion or opposition (3) Preliminary Bylaw Changes B. Scheffy since not present, deferred to the next meeting. (4) Wisdom of continuing ROOM Program and if so, how to energize C. Freel suggested that we either re-energize it or get rid of it. Leslie added that the Respect word is very important in the concept that. Will discuss next meeting. (5) Role of LSA in Policing Competitive vs. Recreational Declaration now with Price Differential C. Freel w that there is a difference in the fees, Charlie is worried that clubs are registering teams at the lower fee. He has seen that players that he knew were competitive are rostered to recreational teams. Leslie brought up the detail that we should not be approving rec teams playing in competitive tournaments. Leslie suggests that clubs need to tell us how they form their recreational teams. There are many questions out there especially in the Rec State Cup. With the Rec Plus gone, there are some changes. (6) ACTION Jennifer will add questions about team formation to the questionnaire that we use to determine that all players are registered with LSA. (7) Ideas on how to Target Underrepresented Areas S. Esker a. Reference the list of state parishes and clubs that Sean compiled help us target areas to try to further develop soccer in LA. The three largest parishes (St. Mary, Vernon & Washington) that do not have soccer (besides two that are served by other clubs) have AYSO programs. Also, where there are high school programs, can we encourage nearby clubs to branch out. b. Mark recalled that St Bernard had applied to USSF for funds to build a soccer complex that required them to register teams. c. Jonathan suggested the HS kids would play in a lower cost summer league if it was available, and that may be a good approach to bring in more players. Would need a club to back it. Adult registration is possible for 16 and older players. (8) Bank Accounts Kathleen moved that we approve an update to the signatures on the Bank Accounts. Seconded by Charlie no discussion, no opposition. (9) State Staff Approval - Chad moved that we approve Mark s state staff coach list as presented Seconded by Jonathan, no discussion, no opposition. (10) Fort Polk working to get the 300+ children registered
(11) Academy Program a. Mark shared that feedback from clubs is that they like it the way they run it now. This is not what will improve the skills, as players only practice with the better players and still play rec. b. There is more work to do on this. c. Fire allowed U10 academy players to play U11 competitive to placate the parents that wanted to play games, not just have pools. d. Most clubs offer some type of U10 program with advanced training e. ACTION Mark to share the requirements of an Academy Program with the board. f. ACTION Leslie to share the competitive committee feedback from two years ago what different clubs g. ACTION include questions about how clubs handle the U10 age group/academy on the DOC Survey h. Will consider pulling together a working group to evaluate options for a U10 program that accomplish some of the same objectives as Mark s program. (12) With the movement of the Convention, we will defer to April and change the cycle of awards. We will take nominations near the end of the season (May) and then present our awards in the summer and move those winners to the October Regional recognition. (13) NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia January 16-19 ACTION - Let Mark know this week who is interested in going. Seven people are in the budget. Mark has to release rooms next week. (14) Sean welcoming baby number four in February (14 th ) Motion to adjourn Charlie and all seconded Additional Information