Sun Prairie Youth Hockey Association Board of Directors Minutes September 19, 2010 President James Trent LTPH Reps. Jen Voge, Paula Walker President Elect Jeff Thornton DC Diamonds Rep. Absent (Chris Herwig) Past President Tony Rehm Mite Rep. Mike Weber Secretary Betsy McCrary Squirt Rep. Dave Batterman Treasurer Absent (Tim Butcher) PeeWee Rep. Jen Kurtz Bantam Rep. Gary Pfann High School 2 Rep. Chris Gehrmann Coaches Rep. Rob Wisniewski Audience: Jeff Rastocan, Kathy Thornton, Dale Ripp, Sandy Brendemuehl, Kimberly Trent, Luanne Kostelic, Tom Waldbillig, Steve Traut, Shawn Lane, Steve Lane, Kevin Weisensel, Tom Siegel, Nate Rosin. President James Trent called the meeting to order at 6:04 pm. 1. Region 4 Courtney Corning Courtney Corning is the vice president for Southwest, and the Region 4 Hockey Council president. He provided contact information and reminded the board that Oct. 17 th is the league scheduling meeting and Oct. 20 th is the regular Region 4 meeting at Vitense. They are still searching for a Bantam ALD this level isn t too bad parents have been involved for a while. The teen league is moving ahead. Courtney confirmed that WAHA is considering eliminating the mite state tournament, and they re looking for feedback. Approval would mean no transfer rules for mites. This would move more toward USA Hockey s ADM model. With respect to rules clarification, DCHOA has offered to have officials come to meetings (team/parent) for no charge. Courtney noted that running time does not happen there is no mercy rule. There are time keeping parameters for ice curfews. DCHOA is looking for officials: they are losing experienced refs due to parents (1 st ), coaches (2 nd ), and players (3 rd ). If you don t want to be an official, consider telling other people from your team to stop hassling referees if they re acting inappropriately. Right now, about 80 games are short referees. Courtney asked what Region 4/WAHA could help local associations with. Tony Rehm asked what help could be offered for building a new rink. Dale Ripp mentioned to Courtney that officials should be reminded to shut doors. James Trent asked Courtney about player release forms. There are current forms on the website. Jeff Thornton received confirmation that the HS league merger will be approved by Region 4 after rules have been presented. 2. Public comments Nate Rosin asked about payments for cards They will be added to dues invoices. He also asked for consideration of volunteer hours for teams hosting Cardinal Cups. This will be added to an upcoming agenda. Nate also mentioned tryout rumor control. He s heard the Squirt A team is picked. (Jeff and James confirmed that no teams are picked.) He s also heard that the Squirt A will have smaller numbers than the other teams, and that the Squirt C team (one or two teams) would have fewer opportunities. With respect to numbers/teams, we have to wait and see based on registrations. Right now, there are 27 Squirts register4ed (2 for LTP). It is the parents responsibility to stop rumors instead of spreading them. Kevin Weisensel asked about the reciprocal sponsor banners for Angell Park. James said we kept it up due to good faith. Kevin offered to set up a meeting with the new promoter. Jeff Rostocan mentioned that Christmas break tournaments could be a great opportunity for high school age teams. Last year Oregon had one.
3. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORTS a. Secretary Betsy McCrary distributed minutes from the Sept. 2 nd special board of directors meeting. Jen Kurtz made a motion to approve the minutes. Paula Walker seconded the motion, all who were present at the Sept. 2 nd meeting approved. Those not present (Jen Voge, Mike Weber, Gary Pfann, and Rob Wisniewski) abstained. Executive Committee minutes from Aug. 23, Aug. 29, and Sept. 13 distributed. (August board minutes previously approved by email). b. Treasurer Tim Butcher was absent no report c. President Elect Jeff Thornton i. Focus on Energy Incentives Jeff met with Tamara Songrath of Sun Prairie Utilities about Focus on Energy grant opportunities. Focus on Engery is a state-wide program that works with building owners, architects, and engineers to improve energy efficiency in buildings. There are state-wide grants available for natural gas savings, where the grant would help pay the additional capital costs incurred to increase the efficiency of the building and systems based upon the amount of savings achieved over a baseline. WPPI has similar incentive programs on the electrical side. Sun Prairie Utilities has also expressed a strong interest in remaining involved in the project and is willing to consider requests for further improvements on the electrical energy side. Jeff is submitting applications to both Focus on Energy and to WPPI. ii. Responsible Sports Update About 40 people have signed up, with about 80 families registered. Jeff asked Steve Traut to include a reminder in the next email. iii. Dues Reduction Update Terri Benisch has information on wreath sales and the Scrip program available in the lobby. They re targeting Oct. 15th for the first Scrip order. These are members only-dues reduction programs. d. Past President Tony Rehm i. Home jerseys and socks have been ordered. Estimated delivery is late October. ii. Organizational flow chart Tony is adding emails and plans to present at the next board meeting. iii. AED training PAC has agreed to AED training with the z-team, with potentially the opportunity to include coaches and perhaps adult team general managers. PAC staff is doing the training, which will take about 2 hours. Kathy Thornton mentioned perhaps we should poll membership to see who is already certified. e. President i. USA Hockey camp thank you s James needs to get addresses from Rob. He also extended thank you to Rob for all his work coordinating. ii. Pictures Tues., Nov. 2 nd for Mite through PeeWee teams. Thurs., Dec. 2 nd for LTP, Bantam, Midget/HS2 teams. Pictures will be off-ice with an ice-looking background. iii. Hockey Weekend Across America Feb. 19 th. Information is starting to come in. There is a practice plan, and minimum of helmets, gloves (warmth or hockey) and skates would be needed. Chuck has set aside about an hour for this. It could be a great spring/summer LTP lead-in. USA Hockey is giving 40 free jerseys and also has promotional materials iv. Volunteers Need people to step up. The 8/9 skate was very short on people. There are still 123 spots for the Face-off Festival (FOF) and 3x3 tournament. Mike Sanders was planning to release the 3x3 schedule tonight, which may help. LTP families are doing well registering. There will be a board booth at the FOF. There will also be a capital campaign booth. James sent around signup sheets for FOF booth duty, equipment room help, and
Region 4 meetings. James thought it would be neat to find some sort of lockbox for people to drop change in for the new rink. 4. LEVEL REP REPORTS a. LTPH Paula Walker reported answering a few questions by email. Jen noted that the wrong number was listed for her in the newsletter, but it has since been corrected on the website. b. DC Diamonds Chris Herwig was absent. Tom Siegel volunteered an update and mentioned a recent situation where a girl who had previously obtained a release was again signed off; however, co-ops cannot accept releases due to a recent WAHA rule change. We will have to work with the DC Diamonds board to keep communication open about these things. Right now, the Diamonds have 39 registered skaters for three teams 11 U10, 15 U12, and 14 U14 (with two full time goalies). Of the skaters, 22 are Sun Prairie based. There won t be tryouts. The first ice is Oct. 7 th in Sun Prairie. They will have to find 17 sessions from Dace County. Jeff asked about the status of rate negotiations and mentioned he and James are willing to attend a DC Diamonds board meeting to talk about it. c. Mite Mike Weber had nothing to report. d. Squirt - Dave Batterman had nothing to report. e. PeeWee Jen Kurtz asked for an update on registration. James reported that we are about ½ of last year at this point, with 112 registered: 5 HS, 17 bantam, 19 peewee, 27 squirt (2 LTP), 11 mite 02, 12 mite 03, 8 04, 4 05, and 3 06. She mentioned that people were concerned about invoicing. f. Bantam Gary Pfann received some feedback that the Drop the Puck meetings were not too relevant for this level. Jen Kurtz pointed out that they could pick up cards if registered. g. High School To be discussed as new business h. Coaches Rob Wisniewski Rob mentioned that there is a situation where a PeeWee-aged player will start with LTPH4 to game more experience before perhaps being placed on a travel team. Tony asked about the SPYHA stance on getting rid of the Mite state tournament. Rob said some associations have already stopped mite travel teams. WI is one of the last holdouts to ADM. Right now, SPYHA hasn t really discussed it. Kevin Weisensel has about half a dozen racing tires cleaned and ready for use during practices. The Degree jerseys have arrived. The SPHL will use the red, yellow, white, and black jerseys. Badger Graphics could print them for a $25 setup feel and a few dollars/jersey. There could be an opportunity for advertising. Betsy expressed concern that soliciting donations could dilute the donor base, given the requests for the FOF and the capital campaign. Betsy moved that the Degree jerseys do not have numbers or the Cardinal added to it. Motion was simultaneously seconded by both Gary and Chris Gehrmann. After discussion, the vote was 9-2 (Tony and Rob voted nay) to NOT have additional printing done on the Degree jerseys. 5. OLD BUSINESS a. Annual Fundraising James reported that Scott Halbleib will be available at various times for people to pick up their cards. He would also come to team meetings. Jen will contact him. The equipment room will be open on Monday nights for equipment handout. i. Face off Festival FOF is in six days. Besides the volunteer situation, things are going well. The insurance rider is done. The liquor liability add-on was declined. Betsy to check to see if there is any applicability to future liquor use. The committee will arrive at 6:30 am on Saturday for setup. Posters/flayers to the schools last week. There is a PSA for the radio, and the event is on the band website. Kathy and Michelle and the servers will meet with the police department before the event. The parking lot will be closed Friday through Sunday. The association needs records for amounts spent, even if it is donated. Expenses are up, as were costs for insurance as the band. Special thanks to Steve Traut for setting up the connections with the band. ii. CornFest $1,034.34 was earned at our CornFest booth (including $43 in donations). Spent $362, 10% of the profit went back to the Chamber ($64). $607 profit. It does get us in front of the community. Sandy candy was way down. We had paid $2,075 for the stock, so we re still out about $1189, although there isn t information available for what was sold
at the FOF last year. Some has also been sold individually. Some pre-made bottles may be sold at the 4/5 skate. There is no chair for New Year s Eve from the Annual Fundraising Committee. One person who hasn t chaired an event will be out of town. James suggested that hours be tracked. Kimberly Trent is concerned about volunteers, especially for FOF. Maybe a co-chair situation would work for New Year s Eve. James will try to sit down with both groups (Annual Fundraising and Volunteer Committee). b. Communications About 70 families came to the Drop the Puck meetings. The LTP/1 st travel session was poorly attended, and the experienced travel session was best attended. The newsletter went out for the first tie in years. Using the new email system, only 10 emails bounced. Poll on the website yielded 91 votes: 53% found it helpful, 27% didn t, 10% didn t go, and 10% didn t know about it. A few people gave feedback on volunteering. The bulk of people like the program as is. Steve would like funding to get google analytics turned on at puck systems. Jen would like to see a flyer for 4K through 1 st grade for the LTP program. The bulletin board is in place with preliminary board pictures. c. New Rink / Building Committee Dave handed out renderings. The Star is coming out to the FOF to see the kickoff. Dave called Scott Kugler to share the information on the renderings and confirm that they are subject to city review. The backside of the rink would have a driveup for kids or buses. Lobby is at the highest point, the rink is sunken somewhat. These are informational renderings, subject to cost. Dave will have three boards with multiple images for Friday night s meeting. The renderings should allow for some rough figures. Things are getting to the point of weekly conference calls. d. Capital Furndraising Mike Weber reported that we will kick off a $3.5 million campaign this weekend. There is an event Friday night for potential donors, city and community officials. Dress is business casual. Jessie Vetter has agreed to be our spokesperson. The tri-fold brochure is almost finished, with progress being made on pledge forms and a brick campaign. Mike asked for approval of a budget. After discussion, Tony made a motion to set a budget of $18,000, broken down as followed: $5,000 for marketing materials, $5,000 for the kickoff and ground breaking events, $2,500 for cultivating solicitations, $600 for database, and $4,900 for miscellaneous expenses. Jeff seconded the motion. There was no additional board discussion. James offered, but there were no additional public comments. All approved. James pointed out that the annual fundraising does not have a budget. Committee chairs are compiling information into binders to help establish the budget in the future. Jeff concurred. 6. New Business a. Region 4 Meeting Betsy handed out a meeting minute summary from Wednesday s meeting and reviewed the high points, including screening and the scheduling meeting, which board reps from mite to mantam should attend. Officials information already discussed. b. Equipment Room help James had previously distributed the signup. c. Tryout/playdown policy and procedures & Non-parent coaching policy Rob presented a draft fo the policy. Several changes were discussed. Gary made a motion to approve the policy as review and amended during the meeting. Jen Kurtz seconded the motion. There was no additional discussion. Motion passed 9-1, with Jen Voge dissenting, and Tony Rehm absent for this vote. d. HS2/Midget - Jeff and James reported that the plans now are for a HS2 team and a Midget U16 team, which will play the JV schedule. There still is a decision to make regarding which team is the tryout team. A few players have automatic placement to HS2 by age. The HS2 team would play in the new WI Club hockey league is comprised of the Dane County and Fox Valley asosociations. Each team would play each other once, but not necessarily in a reciprocal situation. There would be stricter rules for fighting, more similiar to WIAA. There will be a scheduling
meeting next Sun. at 3 pm in Fond du Lac (Chris and Rob will attend). Most of the travel will be on weekends. There is a league championship. There still will be a coaches meeting, and maybe a parent meeting to get everything set. e. Equipment Donation Gary suggested we encourage donations of outgrown equipment to the association. Jeff will look into drop boxes for the FOF. f. WKOW 27 on Thursday, Sept 23 Gary Pfann and Jim Geisking set up an interview with channel 27 with Elishah Oesch on Thursday morning. It will be a live interview on the ice, expected to air about 6:24. There will be a 3 on 3 demo with 3 boys, 3 girls, and a goalie. James will be the spokesperson. Plan is to plug the new rink and promote hockey to a new audience. James is looking fo the schedule, particularly when the sled hockey team will be on the ice. Steve will tape the event. SPYHA will get Elishah a jersey. g. Concessions No one has come forward to manage the concession stand at this time. h. Tournaments Given the late time, Betsy proposed that the reps forward suggestions to the executive committee, and they ll finalize/get information to start registering for the tournaments. Chris Gehrmann suggested that they be spread out. The executive committee will pick one tournament for teams with a Cardinal Cup, two if the team does not have a Cardinal Cup. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 17 th at 6 pm; however, with the scheduling meeting that day, the time will be pushed back to 7 pm, and perhaps shortened. Jeff made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Paula, all approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:40 pm.