September 25, 2001 Council Meeting
Attendees: John Veentjer (President); Mike Pattison (Vice President); Shawn O’Brien (At Large); Bob Goldberg (Referee Coordinator); Bob Peterson (Bellevue B & G Club) -- show; Ed Rafferty (Bellevue Bears); Jim Gibbs (for Bellevue Knights); Bill Kusulos (Bothell); B Woods (Eastlake); Representative (5 Star); Neal Ratti (Inglemoor); Jim Trueblood (Issaquah); Bridgett Powers (Kirkland B & G Club); Roger Moore (Kirkland – Juanita); Ty Perkins (Mercer Island) -- show; Matt Campbell (Webmaster & Redmond); Chuck Nichols (Univac); VanHoomison??? (Skyline); Gregg Meyers (Sno-Valley); Craig Leckner (Woodinville)
Absent: Paul Manjarrez (Secretary); Bellevue Wolverines; Kirkland – Lake Washington
Also present were a couple of coaches.
Call to Order at 2000
Minutes: Unfortunately, we are without minutes for the last two
meetings. There has been some difficulty with computers. Will attempt to get
some kind of record on the web site. For simple info regarding the material
covered, look at the respective agendas.
Calendar: At this time just about everything would be overdue, i.e., WSP forms, Code of Conducts, Master rosters, Boys and Girls Club fees, Referee/field use fees, additional admin fee ($125). Most all fees were already paid or paid at this meeting. There are a couple of outstanding payments to be addressed separately. There is no indication that we have any delinquent WSP forms of Code of Conduct forms, but a check will still be made. Penalties for not having these forms on file could be severe. No one indicated a problem with Master Roster review and approval. Subsequent to the meeting, Shawn O’Brien reported that some of the Semi-Pro master rosters are missing or are incomplete; this was addressed by separate email to the respective system representatives.
Shawn provided a handout with the field use fees that are owed between systems where other than the home field was used for a home game. This is provided for information only at this time and is something that will be settled at the end of the season.
Website: The website is looking very good. Our thanks to Matt Campbell for all his hard work on making improvements and keeping the site up-to-date. Also, thanks to Univac for the game field maps. If anyone wants to add driving directions, they need to pass them to Chuck at Univac.
Game schedules: Reported that the programs outside of GEJFA were no longer showing interest in exchange games at this time. Thus, with exception of those exchange games we have already scheduled (Semi-Pro level), it doesn’t look like we will find opponents for those team with byes.
Game scores: Need to be reported to Matt Campbell by Sunday morning. Should be no reason that the scores aren’t reported Saturday night by email; designate someone within your system responsible for collecting the scores from your teams and passing them to Matt. We want everyone to report, not just the home team. This way we are sure to get all the scores and have a cross check as well.
Game reports: Mike went over some of the problems in the game reports. Indicated that he is having a problem getting reports from a couple of systems who are always late. Please get your reports in on time. Had long discussion regarding referee conduct; referees have to avoid inciting trouble. Regardless, game reports need details when a problem is experienced so that Mike can pass along to Bob Goldberg. If you are going to score an official a 4 or 5, there better be comments, justification for that score, or you might as well give a score of 3 or better. Without comments describing the problem, a 4 or 5 is meaningless to Mike or Bob.
Game jersey color: This has been addressed at least at the last two meetings and has been the subject of separate email. The rules will be clarified during the off-season. However, we have already agreed to the following: The home team will wear their primary color as indicated in the chart on the website. The home team does not have an option. The visiting team is responsible for coming in a contrasting colored jersey. Each system should have an alternate colored jersey for this purpose. For several years now, we have been encouraging every system to acquire an alternate set of jerseys. Some systems are still without an alternate set. All this said, it is okay for the visiting team to make arrangements with the home team to wear their alternate color (provided they have an alternate color). Let’s have no problems, otherwise we revert to the rules in a problem.
Coach and player behavior: Had coach ejection at Woodinville; Grievance Committee to discuss after meeting. Also had a problem at Issaquah between coach and announcer; this will also be addressed by Grievance Committee. Subsequent to the Council meeting, the Grievance Committee met to hear these problems. None of the alleged offending coaches were present, however, their system representatives were able to address the reported problem. Woodinville indicated that at least one coach (he who was ejected) and maybe another would be suspended for one week. Regarding the situation at Issaquah, a misunderstanding may have occurred. However, it is apparent that some wrong doing on both sides calls for at least an apology. Provided the apologies are made, these matters need not come before the Grievance Committee. Handouts regarding coaching youth were provided; encouraged each system to reproduce and distribute to all their coaches. We need the coaches to set a good example. ZERO TOLERANCE for poor behavior.
32 point rule: Provided handout, a verbatim excerpt from the rules, regarding the 32 point rule. Discussed that the time to make adjustments is not when the score spread is 32, but when it is apparent that your team is dominating. Make adjustment by giving those who otherwise might not get to carry the ball a chance to run the ball. Modify the defense with players that might not otherwise get that opportunity. Adjust early and stay away from trouble. See the rules for more detail. We will revisit this rule (for improvements/clarification) in the off-season.
Officials: We are doing better on the number of officials but could still use more. If there are alleged problems with officials, the information needs to get to Bob Goldberg so that he can address it. Need to provide timely, complete, and accurate game reports to Mike so that he can pass along to Bob. It is also acceptable to call Bob directly on Sunday to alert him to a problem; this has to be followed up with details in the game report.
First aid: Mike Pattison has arranged for first aid training. If you have coaches who need this training still, please pass their names to Mike so he can get a count and arrange the meeting.
Off season work: We need to work on a number of things during the off-season. We need to address a way to be more selective regarding our coaches, or a better way by which to improve their behavior. We need to go through the rules and update where appropriate, clarify elsewhere where such has already been discussed at Council.
NEXT MEETING: October 16th at 8:00 pm at the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club.
ADJOURNED at 9:20 pm.
Following the Council meeting, Shawn O’Brien met with representatives from the Semi-pro teams.
Also following the Council meeting, the Grievance Committee met to address two situations as mentioned above.