Nazareth Soccer Club Board of Directors Report October 10, 2018 Bushkill Township Municipal Building 1114 Bushkill Center Drive Nazareth, PA 18064 Call to Order: 7:37pm Adjournment: 9:29pm Board of Directors Present: Rob Guroff, Brian Ransom, Ginny Patton, Jason Bettencourt, Jennifer Bennett, Marcos Pires, George Kline, Karen Janis Board of Directors Absent: Jennie Riccardi, Melissa LaBar Appointed Positions Present: Todd Wismer Bill Fibick Damian Beaman Rob Laubach Others Present: Ronald Xela (RonaldCXela@gmail.com) NOTES Rob Guroff, President: 2018 Fall Season seems to be going well o Jersey transition has worked out o Micro doing well despite rainouts o Only a few injuries No reports of negative parent behavior on our sidelines For injuries EPYSA has supplemental insurance coverage that players/families can access if needed Paul Sklodowsky needing to step down from BMYSL role o Recommended replacement: David Sampson Thanks to Rob Laubach for absorbing U9B Chelsea coaching this season Plans for 25th taking shape: o Connection with founding families made (Kacy Miller / Kugels) o Adjust Micro logo to show 25th Anniversary (Karen Janis) o Consider creation of short video to showcase Club history and plans o Launch NSC Victory Fund to create dedicated pool of funding for hardship waivers (Karen, Jason and Rob G. to meet on this to determine protocol/policy)
o Seek land donations to establish new fields (perhaps with corporate sponsorship) Long-term goal is to keep costs low Review Classic Game Reschedule Procedures LVU/Keystone partnership o Good to have more options for players o Little immediate impact on the Club No change to NSC current approach o Some strong NSC players may consider joining the new Club in Classic, and that would be similar to what has happened in the past Winter indoor at CrossFit Advanced / ENCO discussion o Plan A: Similar to last season ENCO still main lessee o Plan B: Crossfit charges ~$75 per hour Teams coordinate/pay on their own Adidas contract / Spring uniform orders o George should take a look at the suggested changes Rob made o No need to be a marketing arm for Adidas Plaques for sponsors o Jennie working with Rob (see fundraising notes below) Classic team tournament support Fee waiver application 25th Anniversary planning Any way we can streamline clearances process? Site with a centralized form accepting PDF uploads? o Blue Sombrero has a function to manage this. Hopefully we can roll it out in Spring Jennifer Bennett, Vice President: Higher number of complaints in classic group around competition: not enough, too much, etc. o Consider having a post-season survey with coaches o Continue to assess team placement within the various leagues Last task of league registration is EPYSA payments, waiting for forms from different leagues to complete Ideas for clearance collections - difficult to organize due to some coming in as emails and some as paper copies which requires a lot of time o Consider Blue Sombrero as central repository Would like to discuss potential centralized location for common lists I.e. coach contact info by team, job box codes, etc Plans for anniversary celebration planning Tournament fee support from potential sponsors vs club support Ziggy coordinating girls senior night Brian Ransom, Secretary:
September minutes approved: JB/JB August minutes approved: GK/RG Virginia Patton, Treasurer: Started month: $190,863.30 Ended month: $177,166.32 Large items: o Ref fees o Micro: shirts, socks (Need to adjust Micro uniform budget to reflect Adidas sock price) Some deferred maintenance is needed and that expense may be realized soon Started month: $196,670.91 Ended month: $190,863.30 Discussion on how much a non-profit can carry Other clubs/leagues curious about NSC financial success A lot of volunteers contributing blood, sweat and tears have earned NSC s fiscal stability over many years Melissa LaBar, Fields Director (currently managed by Todd W. and Bill F.): Everything is going well even with all the rain Tuskes: o New Goals and Nets have been placed Upper Essroc: o New nets have been placed Lucas upper and Lower: o Have flags are out now o A lot of makeup games on these fields the balance of the season Still looking for land for more fields Looking for volunteers for teardown week Nov 12th to 18th. o If we can do anything earlier we will especially at Bushkill Rec The lights we own will need to be serviced in the 2019 summer before we use them next year o Last service 2013 o Will revisit once service costs are determined Continue to assess maintenance needs: goals, nets, flags Consider some investment in sod for fields that need maintenance o Spring is a better time to seed vs. fall o Some fields showing significant wear Currently managed by Todd Wismer and Bill Fibick All fields open Upper Tuskes need replacement goals
Coordinating linings 1 box damaged at Lucas Lower Nazareth expanding may lose that field Need new flags at select fields Lucas Fields are getting beat up quick A lot of deferred maintenance o Create an all-inclusive list of needs o Rob, Jen and Ginny to review and approve Fields closure process doc created to help simplify the closure and game reschedule process Biggest challenge with ESSROC parking o Continues to be an issue Lights will be placed next week o Locations: Lower Essroc 2 Upper Essroc 1 Upper /Lower Lucas 4 Bushkill Rec (3 We own) George Kline, Team Equipment: Received goalie jerseys just need to distribute Pink socks possible delivery this week o Previous season socks available (50-60 pair) o Available for pick-up upon delivery Some extra jerseys available o See George for specifics Old inventory moving to the storage shed o Including out of date numbered jerseys Uniforms all distributed o Only 38 outside the normal process Continue to revise the uniform process for the Spring season Uniform link still open for ordering jackets, warm-ups, and bags o Karen will inform families For consideration: option for fall classic teams to wear pink socks o George/Rob to discuss further with Marcos Continue to explore more options for corporate/business sponsorship Consider classic coaches having 1 spare uniform in the event of a referee not allowing a player to participate due to blood on a jersey Some uniform refunds being processed Jennie Riccardi Fund Raising and Special Events: Not present; NSC picture night Halloween parade
o Volunteers will be helping and also have some but not all sponsors responding on banners o Sign-up on Oct. 6 at Vigilance o Parade is Oct. 20 at 1pm o Sunday email to coaches wear uniform, no cleats Picture day o October 10 and 11 at the intermediate school is all set with Pixel and the school district o Sunday email to coaches Coordinate communication to coaches with what times worked Coaches to coordinate times directly with Jennie o Need volunteers to help assist o Need volunteer list from Blue Sombrero Sponsor plaques o Have quotes from Wilson, need quality and to be ordered o Jennie and Rob coordinating on this o Consider picture collage (Leon to send example) Spirit Gear o Sales were a fail at Saturday s game but I will keep trying o I will also sell at Picture day Jason Bettencourt, Registrar: Updated on fees paid to different leagues? o BMYSL paid o NVYSL paid o EPYS TBD All teams entered into EPYSA and approved by leagues Official Rosters distributed to coaches o 9/10 last day for roster changes in Blue Mountain but nothing has been requested so we should be set Still outstanding: o Have to send in roster fees based on EPYSA calculations to LVYSL/BMYSL/NVYSL. Waiting for official spreadsheet from leagues to fill these out and provide totals that we owe for each league. Also need to send in fees based on number of micro players. I would like to discuss having a central location for not only coaching clearance info but also easily accessible shared docs for things like a master coaching list, team names and divisions assignments, rosters with jersey numbers so that anyone at any time can get the info they need and possibly find and catch mistakes during our registration process earlier. I may have missed it if we already have this but it seems like its mostly done by just emailing documents back and forth that can get out of date quickly. o All the clearances can be uploaded and tracked in Blue Sombrero. As for sharing docs, we can create a Google for Non-profits account which would give us that ability o If Blue Sombrero can store/manage clearances, then this will be the approach o Continue to discuss offline Karen Janis, Communications Director:
Present, no notes Prepared to launch Winter registration process I'd like to put together a "save the date" email with things like picture day, Halloween parade, maybe sign up for winter soccer, and anything else happening now through end of season o Consider: Blast email through NSC, then also through Sunday email to coaches We need to come up with a plan for getting field closing info to parents if we're not going to send emails anymore o Do we want to try sending a survey to parents to see what they want? o Consider sending text messages to notify parents; could be easiest approach Clearances o Karen has figured out a way to store documents and verifications, expirations, etc all in Blue Sombrero Marcos Pires, Classic League Director: Season appears to be going well overall Some issues have come up like Blue Mountain ref and uneven team strength Some teams have taken advantage of the HS half time for both boys and girls Will have to figure out Blue Mountain rep Waiting for final word from George on pink socks and goalie jersey New USA soccer license series available Getting some questions about winter to spring transition Garcia Cup o Marcos to follow-up with Henchy o Email to Blue-Mountain parents asking for volunteers and help coordinating Winter Training o Crossfit advance raising rates for this coming winter o Enco reluctant to pay the full expense; they are going with $85/hr to offset the cost o Set up registration online o Determine dates and times consider reserving blocks of time Discussions for What s App: o Garcia Cup Rob G. to work with John Henchy to start the process o Winter Training Rob G. will send CrossFit preferred time slots for Micro; Classic needs remain TBD High number of Sunday cancellations o Jen can assist Paul with rescheduling Procedures for cancellation was codified Chelsea U9 o Marcos coordinating with Rob B. to arrange a trainer to cover when needed o 1 parent now has coaches card and is a team manager o Next season parents will need to cover trainer cost if no parent steps forward Continue having same ages and U-levels practice together o Reinforce for Spring season HS half time games o How do we get more traction?
o Paul to contact Jackie Henchy with those teams/players interested Jersey numbers o What lessons did we learn so we can tweak for next time? HS game in Blue Mountain was excessively rough as reported by coach Robinson Micro Development League Director (VACANT Rob Guroff filling role) Damian has taken a larger role, which has been a huge help Academy recruitment took time eventually succeeded o NSC has taken over scheduling for Academy festivals o Meagan DeWan has been a great addition Polled parents of female players for U8 being split by gender o 8-9 respondents all in favor so far o Will discuss further for upcoming Spring season Borough Council still saying parking lot will be expanded soon (donated labor and gravel have been secured) Medals ordered this week Need to roll out NOV3 Tournament schedule this weekend Coaches asking about Halloween plans o Email blast to be sent next week o No trailer available o Bring your own candy to distribute Damian has been a big help o Lining fields, working with coaches New curriculum feedback so far has been limited; one report it's too advanced and too much for each session Academy festival dates need to be shared with coaches (LVU and Keystone will be hosting this season) Rita s went well this past weekend Parking still a challenge o Continue to explore options for switching fields for Spring o Tuskes may be a better arrangement due to ample parking o Could then convert Essroc Lower to a 9v9 or 11v11 field New/Other Business: Review and approval of 2018-2019 By-Laws o All proposed changes approved 2018 Election of Board members o The offices of Club Registrar, Treasure, Communications Director, Team Equipment Director, Fields Director, and Vice President shall be elected during even number calendar years o Also including the unfilled Micro position o Elected Board Members: Vice President: Jennifer Bennett (new; was previously filling the role vacated by Rob Guroff becoming President following John Henchy s departure) Treasurer: Ron Xela (new) Club Registrar: Jason Bettencourt (re-elected)
Fields Director: Todd Wismer (new) Team Equipment Director: George Kline (re-elected) Communications Director: Karen Janis (re-elected) Micro Director: Damian Beaman (new) Re-lining Upper ESSROC fields to 2 fields o U9 coaches supportive o Set-up fields and nets this weekend League Reps: Paul Sklodowsky BMYSL o Not present o Paul will be stepping down as the BMYSL league rep following the Fall 2018 season o Notes from BMYSL provided: BMYSL_Meeting_Age nda_oct 18 NSC Not o Garcia Cup Nov. 2,3,4 Todd Wismer NVYSL o Present, no notes Rob Laubach LVYSL o Next quarterly meeting is in November Paul Sklodowsky BMYSL o See notes from September meeting: BMYSL_Meeting_Age nda_sept 18.docx [Dave's Notes;] for BMYSL_Meeting_Agen o 67% of NSC players are in this league o 105 teams this year (5 years ago 140 teams) o Game changes BMYSL confused on NSC procedures with closing fields Process for making changes to games requires many steps and everything must go through the league rep Jen is able to support and assist o I was unable to attend the BMYSL Meeting but David Sampson (U11 Boys A Assistant Coach) attended the meeting for NSC his notes are attached and below: Nothing tragic was discussed Late entry fees was a hot topic and shouldn't have been allowed based on league rules
Wind Gap commissioner complained about late entries approved and about Keystone adding U13 team without penalties Slate Belt commissioner wanted U11 Girls team vs. N. Lehigh to change schedule since (2) SB home games vs. NL which as missed during schedueling to give each team 5 home and 5 away games. SB felt it should be changed, but it was voted to not change (4) teams schedules to make this change. Wilson commissioner was questioned allowing U15 boy B team to allow older boy who's mother is dying to play down in age. (other commissioners made comments that he is a taller boy who is noticed by their teams during Palmer tournament) Latin commissioner was arguing with Forks commissioner regarding co-ed high school teams and whether an all boys team is a problem. (it wasn't really anything) Todd Wismer NVYSL o Last meeting: 15min at Wegman s with 6 people o NSC only has 1 team in this league for Fall 2018 Due to age break down; will likely be better in the Spring o Originally scheduled NSC s single Fall 2018 NVYSL team for all away games Rob Laubach LVYSL o Present, no notes