St. Albert Ringette Association Executive Meeting November 19, 2013 (SARA Office) Attendance: James Findlay Frank Tosto Trish Hogan Len Samletski Al Henderson Steve Knoppers Todd Stahn Cristin De La Mare Dwayne Girard Keri McEachern Leon Palmer Martin Gauthier Sandra Fenton Glen Dennis Travis Sawchuk Eric Lavoy 1.0 Call to Order Meeting commenced at 7:05 p.m. and called to order at 7:15 once quorum was reached. 2.0 Agenda distributed and adopted. 3.0 Additions to the Agenda Turkey Ring Update U16B Team Request for players Provincial Host Application 4.0 Approval of October Minutes Minutes available and distributed Motion: To adopt the minutes from the September meeting. Motion: Trish Hogan Second: Al Henderson All in Favour: Carried 5.0 Outstanding Items Sale of Jerseys: To date there have been some sales however it has not been advertised on the website. There was discussion regarding holding back 5 sets of the old jerseys for our evaluation process. This was agreed upon and the jerseys will be retained by the Association for the upcoming seasons. A communication will be sent to the members via the website outlining the availability of jerseys.
Policy Review and Recommendations: Nothing new to report U10 Phasing Committee Update The information regarding the process on Phasing has been received from Sherwood Park. The Committee report is not due until January 31 therefore there is still time to review the document and process then report back to the Board with recommendations. An e-mail was received today from Ringette Alberta requesting information regarding the number of team in the U10 Division that declared Phase 4 and Phase 5 for the season within the Blackgold League. The information was provided however at this point there was no reason provided as to the purpose of the request. If any additional information is received from RAB it will be forwarded to the committee to be considered in the decision making process for the SARA U10 Division. SARA Raffle The application for the licence has been submitted. All gifts have been purchased and tickets will be available soon. The same process will apply for this season for the pick up and drop off for the of the tickets by each team. Information will be advanced to the coaches as soon as the tickets are available. Ringette 50 th Anniversary Helmet Stickers Helmet Stickers were received for the 50 th anniversary of Ringette. James will provide a list of the teams and number of athletes on each for the distribution of the stickers. The Division Coordinators will provide the stickers to each of the teams in their respective divisions. Turkey Ring Update The tournament was a success once again this season and the Association will realize some profit as a result. All the invoices have yet to be reconciled and a financial report will be available for the December meeting. 6.0 Standing Items Budget There will be an update provided at the December meeting which will include the Turkey Ring and the fundraiser from WEM. One note is the TV that was approved at the August meeting has been purchased and is now available in the office. A team wishing to use the TV for video review of a game with a team can do so by booking the office
through Carolyn. The booking will go on the website calendar to avoid conflicts with other teams and the RAMS Lacrosse Club. Ice Allocation The storm over the weekend has caused 15 games to be postponed and a requirement for re-scheduling. As a result some of the practice ice may have to be used for the games. There were 9 home games and 6 away games impacted by the storm. The available ice will be advanced to coaches for one week periods until the games are rescheduled. All teams will still receive their allocation however it may not be regular. There is an opportunity to host Provincials this season on the March 14-14 weekend. SAMHA has made a request for ice and the swap opened up the weekend. A request was advanced to determine interest and the SARA U14A Division has requested the opportunity to host. MOTION: SARA submit an application to Ringette Alberta to host the U14A Provincials March 14-16, 2014 for this playing season. Moved: Eric Lavoy Second: Keri McEachern Carried SARA will be submitting ice for the Provincial Play Downs in the U14A, U16A and U19A Divisions for the first round. SARA will not receive the Play Downs for all three Divisions and will update when the Divisions have been selected. There will also be ice submitted for the second round of playdowns as well however those Divisions have not yet been determined. There have not been dates selected for the U10 Play Offs however we will be expected to host at least one of those Divisions this season. Updates will be provided as the information becomes available. The spring ice requests have been submitted and we are awaiting a response to the submissions. The Standards of Play have not changed and we will receive ice similar to what has been the past practice. A request was submitted to review the possibility of hosting a AA Tournament for next season. During this season s Turkey Ring the AA Division was included but it was determined that not all Clubs or Associations have their teams formed and ready as the Turkey Ring is very early in the season. There is a possibility for ice however more review is required to ensure the slots are sufficient to host. The proposed dates will be October 17 weekend, 2014. LTAD
Standing item and nothing new to report. RAB Updates SARA has been requested to submit the information and data collected as the result of conducting the RAB standard evaluation process this season for the U10 and U12 Divisions. Al will be providing the information to Ringette Alberta. BGL Updates The re-pooling meeting took place on November 5, 2013. The U10 Division took more than an hour to pool due to the fact that only Sherwood Park, Edmonton and Spruce Grove Phased their teams. The remaining Associations had their teams created with even distribution of players. Upon review of the results fo the first session there were a total of nine teams placed in the Black Division to play with the teams that were declared as Phase 5. A SARA U9 Team had a forfeit registered against it on the weekend in Spruce Grove. The team travelled and attended Spruce Grove with a total of 7 players. Upon arrival the team staff was informed they needed to have at least 8 players and would have to forfeit the game. The referees were present and a game was played with two of the Spruce Grove athletes playing on the SARA team. The score sheet was recorded as a 1-0 win for Spruce Grove and a forfeit to SARA. This is subject to a $500 fine and SARA has appealed the forfeit as under the operating procedures a tema can play with 7 players. We have yet to hear the result. There was discussion regarding the re-scheduling of games due to the strom on the weekend. According to the BGL Operating Procedures the roads have to be closed and teams have to wait until one hour before they would have to travel to have a game postponed. There was a request to have this procedure reviewed as the roads were no closed on the weekend but there were in excess of fifty vehicles off the road between Leduc and Red Deer. Information will be forwarded to the SARA Board for review prior to advancing It to the BGL. Come Try Ringette SARA numbers in the U6 (introductory) program are down this season. There was a request to have Sandra review the possibility for ice in early January prior to the start of the second session for the U6 program. This will be used to host a Come Try Ringette event and as well a Bring a Friend. SARA needs to promote these events and aggressively pursue schools and our current members to attract new players to the sport. Once we have the possibility for ice Ringette Alberta will be contacted to prepare for the Come Try Ringette event.
Registration/Releases All releases have been processed for our athletes participating outside SARA and as well for those playing here form other Associations. New Business: U14AA athlete participation in Club Sports There was a concern brought forward regarding athletes on the U14AA team wishing to participate in other Club sports. There was direction provided by the coach that indicated athletes could not participate with two club teams due to the commitment and that Ringette was to be the priority. SARA had provided information prior to the try outs and as well posted information on the website relative to the high level of commitment required to participate in the AA program at every level. The information was specific that the priority was to Ringette should an athlete wish to participate in the program. There was discussion and the direction from the Association stands and the primary commitment is to Ringette due to the information provided and the timing of the tryouts and team selection. Athletes may choose to participate in other activities or sports however the coach has the ability to manage the team and the situations. SARA can not and will not direct what a member or athlete can participate in outside of Ringette however during sanctioned and team events the Coach has the ability to manage the team and situations within the guidelines and policies. Next Steps: The AA Coordinator will call a meeting with all three of the AA Coaches and discuss the process of managing the teams for consistency. In addition the Coaches will meet with the parent group to resolve any conflict and set reasonable expectations for the athletes participating. U16B-2 Team request for additional players The U16B-2 Team has experienced the loss of players this season. Once the teams were formed two players left the sport; there was an injury to an athlete which placed the team at one goalie and 8 skaters. There was an additional player registered and placed on the team bringing the roster to a total of 10 players. Affiliates were assigned to the team however are not always available to play. At this point there are two players (second year U14) seeking to return to the sport. A request has been made to have them assigned to the team and placed on the Team Registration Form. There was discussion regarding the U14 Division and the team rosters are at 14-15 athletes for each team. Policy permits these new registrants to be placed on the U16B roster to make a viable team. MOTION:
Move that two U14 aged prior SARA Ringette players be permitted to complete a late registration at 60% of the full registration fee for the remainder of the 2013-2014 playing season and be assigned to the U16B-2 team roster. Moved: Frank Tosto Second: Eric Lavoy Carried Executive Round Table Information was discussed to ensure that if a player is injured the Insurance forms are completed. There is difficulty locating the forms as the link on the RAB website does not work. A copy will be scanned and placed on our Website directing the coaches and Managers to the location for easy access. The AA Teams will be working with the younger division teams and assisting with practice. This was one of the mandates of the AA program and will begin within the next week. A concern was brought forward with respect to the U16A Provincial Format for this season. There are 4 teams north and 2 positions awarded and there are 8 teams south with 5 positions awarded. The host will be provided the 8 th position for the tournament. The U16 A Provincials were hoisted in the North last season and may not be awarded north this season. That will provided the south end of the province with 75% of their teams represented and only 50% of the northern teams represented. There is agreement that the new format is much better as it provides the opportunity for teams to win their way to the tournament however this particular division is not fairly represented. There was information presented that Sherwood Park and Red Deer would be filing this information with Ringette Alberta. SARA has asked that any additional information be advanced to the Board for review to determine if SARA will submit information to RAB. The Frozen Ring will be hosted once again and this year will be February 7-9. This initiation meeting will be held on November 20 in the SARA Office. Meeting adjourned: 9:20 Moved: Trish Hogan Second: Todd Stahn All In Favour: Carried