MAAA Annual Meeting 2015 In Attendance: Mark Cavender (Jackson NW) Brain DuFort (Odyssey) Dana Higgins (Albion Prep Academy) Wendy Grzych (Asher) Mike Gregory (Lincoln) Tyler Jones (Highfields) Ed Colburn (Crossroads) 1:00-2:00 Welcome and the President s State of the MAAA Address 2:00-3:00 Regional Director s Report 3:00-4:00 Treasurer s Report 5:00 5:30 New Member s Report 7:00 9:00 Schedule Seasons for the year/new Educational Games 9:00 11:10 Amending Rules, if needed 1:00-3:00 New Information 3:00 5:00 Election of officers for the following year Election of Officers Nomination of President Dana Higgins (nominated by Mark) and Mike Gregory (nominated by Mark) New President Mike Gregory Co-Commissioners (?)Jimmy Collins and Dana Higgins Secretary Wendy Grzych Treasurer Mike Gregory (MAAA business address 14101 Leroy, Southgate, MI 48195), Wendy and Mike will both be signers. Regional Directors South Tyler Jones tjones@highfields.org and Mark Cavender North - Brian DuFord West - Ed Colburn
East - Scott Lemay Member at Large Mark Cavender Regional Directors Reports Suggestions for contacting new schools send a letter (see Mark s example in dropbox), check local ISD, check CEPI (https://cepi.state.mi.us/eem/publicdatasets.aspx) and check ISD school. Wendy send Mark s letter to CEPI schools. Report of North (Brian DuFort) Chip Hills has been trying to play, but has no support. No involvement in 2 years. With Alma out, Midland, Farwell, Odyssey, Fulton and Owosso. Bay City and Saginaw have some, but not lately. Gladwin has an alternative school and wants to get involved. Alt Ed school in Marquette. Brian went last year to a softball tournament. Sounds really neat. There had been another couple schools from the U.P. Report of East () Worried AP will close (moving to the high school). Worried about Downriver no more Marty. New alternative school will not email Wendy back. Garden City bb was good trying to get them to play football. No football teams around anywhere. Report of South Continued trying to reach out. Got Jonesville back in it, but never played them. Hopefully next year. Tim Condon (Western Options) had bb last 2 seasons and did state tournament. Added Owosso to schedule. Got Demetrius from YATA (Lansing). Tyler will work his butt off next year. Report of West Not much going on over there. Schools are folding left and right. Got a couple new contacts near the end of the school year (Allendale and CCA [Wayland district]). Just lighthouse and Ed s (Crossroads) and Portage and Allegan. Can we allow schools to combine to make teams for state tournaments? Will discuss later after time for reflections. We need an updated contacted list for schools. Maybe emails to all should be sent to regional directors to send to their own regions. Allow 2 or more teams/school to be in a tournament. Cross country and bowling, disc golf and chess allow smaller schools to get involved. Mike will snailmail all schools from CEPI and follow up with phone calls in an effort to get us an updated contact list for schools. Treasurer s Report Chris is away. Family emergency Schedule Season for the Year/New Educational Games Football still at Alma. Dana will host, Jeff will hopefully assist. Date: Friday, Nov. 6.
Basketball venue Wendy and Mark will host. Wendy will try to get Haslett again. Hoping for Mar 12 th. Backup date: March 19. Make sure reg form says more than 1 team/school allowed. Teams must bring 1 person/team to run clock/keep score. Volleyball Mike and Deb will host. State Tournament in Okemos. Trying for Friday, Dec 5 or Dec 12, based upon availability. Bowling Ed and Colburn and Mel Holland. Dana has some contacts near Lansing. Will let Mel know. Thursday, February 18 th or Friday, February 19 th, based upon availability. Chess Either Dana (Albion Prep) or Jones (Highfields Onondaga [near Jackson]). Try for Thursday, April 21. Disc Golf Scott Lemay moving it to the fall. Friday, Oct. 9. Rain date Oct. 16. Let Scott know!!! Spring Swing (not states) Ed. Wed, May 18. Kentwood. Softball- co-ed Brian. Fri, May 20. Mt. Pleasant. Softball open Dana. Thursday, May 12. Location Potterville (near Lansing). Update MAAA Registration Form keep fees the same? Make it always $50 for annual MAAA registration no matter when schools pay. Change bb to $125. Change football to $125. Change disc golf to $75/4 or 5-man team same price, just worded differently. Change reg for conference to $150 change reg form for that, too. Football upped to 125 to cover ref fees. Approved by all. Conference fee changed to $150 to accommodate changes in charges by MacMullan. Continue charging $2 admission for adults (no charge for students) ONLY at State Basketball Tournament. Coaches/drivers/those working in MAAA capacity, free. Trophies for state champions Marty suggested Crown Trophy. Wendy will look into it. Will order all trophies and medals asap. Will make sure engraving on wood part says only State Champions and get the name plates will identify sport and year. Need to order 22 trophies 11 large and 11 medium. Need to order medals: Gold:120 Silver:120 Bronze: 12 Banners for state champions schools order their own (recommend going through Ed Colburn cost around $120 or so, we think ) and are reimbursed up to $50 by MAAA. New Information/Suggestions Mike will look into indemnity form for all players. He will check with his principal s husband (attorney). New Members Reports New members Mike and Tyler Mike happy to be here. Tyler happy to be here
Amending Rules Football. Keeping rules as is. Basketball. Keeping rules as is. Volleyball. Keeping rules as is. Softball. Proposal 1: If a pitch lands on the plate or the mat, it is a strike as long as it is a legal pitch (arch limit). Vote: unanimous Proposal 2: Alternate home plate rule applies. Vote: 6 pro, 1 abstains. A scoring plate will be used. The scoring plate shall be located with its right corner eight feet from the back of home plate. The scoring plate should be situated on the imaginary extension of the first base foul line. If possible, the scoring plate should be anchored to the ground to prevent slippage and change of position during the game. The offensive team must always touch the scoring plate when scoring. NOTE: If a scoring home plate is not available, the first base foul line shall be extended behind home plate and the runner will run past in lieu of touching a scoring plate. If the runner touches home plate, the runner is automatically out. The defensive team must always touch home plate for the out. If there is an attempt to tag the runner, by the defensive team, the runner is automatically safe. A home plate commitment line will be used. The commitment line shall be marked perpendicular to the 3rd base foul line, 20 feet from the home plate. Once a runner steps on or past the commitment line, defensive players can put the runner out by touching home plate while holding the ball. They cannot touch the runner. Proposal 3: Helmets are strongly recommended in the 2015-2016 school year. All batters/base runners must wear helmets in the 2016-2017 school year. Vote: unanimous Bowling. Discussion about awards for teams and individual players. Baker games and individual games count towards total pins for teams. The individual games determines individual winners. State Tournament format change needs to placed on registration form. Two individual games followed by four baker games. Disc golf. Girls would get a 1 stroke advantage on every hole. Ex, if it s a par 3, girls play as if it is a par 4. Vote: unanimous Anything else? Basketball tournament talk. Losing money every year. Paid the refs $50/game. Two/game. Mark knows refs from Jackson area. Dana knows some refs. Between Dana and Mark, they think they could get refs for $40/game. Need to have discussion with officials before the tournament starts. Mike has refs, too. Wendy will get Haslett then let everyone know the date so they can get started on finding refs right away. New: $125 for 1 team, $200 for 2 teams. Placement in brackets will be determined by the
tournament organizing committee. If you have 2 teams, you must have at least 6 players/team on the roster. Shoot for reg forms for state tourneys 6 weeks in advance. Reminder 2 weeks later. To go on every state tournament registration form: If 2 schools need to combine players to make a full team, please contact the tournament director prior to registering for the tournament. *Creates opportunities for more participation. Conference: August 3 and 4. How about the Jeff Bigelow Coach of the Year? Yes! Nominated Ed Colburn. We owe Brian a bag from last year. We need 2 bags everyone look for coaching bags. Current definition of JB Coach of the Year interaction with students, years and amount of involvement with MAAA, # of sports coached, etc. Certificate in frame and MAAA bag with JB Coach of the Year. Mike: Communication is the key to make everything work.