GHLL VOLUNTEER BOARD MEETING

Meeting Minutes
11/2/06

Opening:

Bill Glover presided over the monthly meeting of the GHLL Board on November 2, 2006, at 1900, at Ray Nash Firehouse. Bill Glover gave the opening remarks.

Present:

Bill Glover, Curt Morford, Brian Villa, Robert Young, Joe Guinn, Ron Brentin, Rick Nordi, Roy Kaldestad, Tiffany Bestwick, Lou Hassan, Deana Fanning, Debbie Selby, Shawn Hanon, Dave & Terri Koberstein, Kurt Carlson, Steve Sutton, Kelly Busey, Sean Scanlan, David Kilcup.

A.        AGENDA ITEMS.

            Bill directed the focus of the group to the Agenda which had been previously supplied via email, copies were available at the meeting as well.

  1. Hatteberg Clinic: 
    1. General Update: Roy Kaldestad briefed the board on the Hatteburg Hitting Clinic (Clinic) to be held January 27, 2007.  Due to repeated cancellation of our proposed dates by Gig Harbor High School (GHHS), no location has been finalized yet.  However, both Chapel Hill and Peninsula High Schools (PHS) gym were considered options.  There was also talk of the potential for a hangar at the local airport and Bill indicated he would hold one more conversation with the school district about the Gig Harbor High School (GHHS) gym as we have never had anything but good feedback about conduct, clean up, etc. in the past.  Discussions have been held with Chapel Hill and Lighthouse Christian School but both locations are already booked. 
    2. Finalize Flyer: Roy distributed the proposed flyer for the Clinic along with proposed ticket stock, which can double as autograph material for the attendees as they meet Scott.  Bill lead discussion on the idea of involving both PHS and GHHS baseball players in the Clinic at the practice stations.  He also suggested that GHLL Manager Applicants can expect to participate at the Clinic as part of the contribution to the GHLL program.  Much discussion ensued on the topic of the new/higher ticket price for the Clinic of $100.00 each.  The past two years have seen attendance of approximately 110 participants at a price of $65.00 and with the going rate for other notable players in the National Baseball League running upwards of $150.00 it was decided that Scott’s recommendation to GHLL of the $100.00 was appropriate.  There was discussion and general approval of scholarships being available for one-half the cost of the Clinic.  No determination of how many scholarships was decided on.
  2. Meet Your Manager Breakfast: 
    1. Location: Terri Koberstein briefed the board on the current plans for the annual Breakfast.  The Breakfast is tentatively booked at Chapel Hill Church however after discussion about their requirement to provide the proposed donuts & coffee due to licensing by the Health Department there was talk of perhaps moving it to the PHS commons as it is available for the proposed date of March 3, 2007. 
    2. Format: Proposed times for individual leagues are 9:00-10:00AM, 10:00-11:00AM and 11:00-12:00PM with the idea that the actual meeting would last approximately forty-five minutes with a little time set aside to prepare for the next group.  Plan is for this to be a free event this year with just coffee, juice and donuts being served.
  3. Rule Changes: 
    1. National: Robert Young presented the board with new Rule change information.  The pitch count rule that GHLL used in the 2006 season as a trial run has now been adopted by the National Little League Rule Committee and will affect all leagues.  In addition, it was made official that any Manager/Coach ejected from a Little League game by the umpire must now leave the Little League complex entirely.  It was also noted that for the 2007 season the All-Star pitching rules will apply to the GHLL City Tourney. 
    2. Local: Two local rule change ideas were presented by Bill for discussion.  The first is changing the Major’s batting order rule to allow the entire roster to bat, not just the players in the field.  The second would affect the length of the late games played at the field.  Late games would now be subject to the same time limit as the earlier games, no new inning after 1:50 and the game stops at 2:10.
  4. Snack Shack: 
    1. Changes for 2007: Ron Brentin presented the new Snack Shack schedule for the upcoming season as 4:30PM to the end of the last game Mon. thru Fri.; 7:30AM to the end of the last game on Sat.; and 12:00PM until the end of the last game on Sundays.  He is awaiting a reply from Ross Filkins at PHS as to whether they want to run the Shack this year or not.  If not, Ron will be advertising for non-profits to do so and share in the profits as in years past.  Ron also mentioned that there will be an adult present at all times in the Shack this year who is licensed to serve food. 
    2. Storage Shed Clean Up: Terri and Deanna both commented on rodent activity in the food storage area and it was decided that repair to the storage shed would be made at the December 9th work party and an exterminator would be hired as necessary.
  5. T-Ball: 
    1. Finalize Fee, Timing, # of Games: Joe Guinn advised that the T-Ball program will likely consist of four teams of fourteen players in its inaugural season.  Each team to play the others three times each for a total nine games.  The fee of $65.00 will include a T-shirt and hat.  Game times are expected to be 1:15 in length and the draft will consist of drawing names from a hat, Manager and Coaches children are protected and fifteen minutes following the draft for trades as with other GHLL programs. 
    2. Registration: Registration will coincide with the November 16th registration.  There will be no tryouts for T-Ball. 
    3. Fields: Games will be played at outlying fields in the Gig Harbor area.  Kelly Busey has joined the volunteer board to assist Sean Scanlan with fields.  He is going to be beefing up GHLL’s lock box supplies at the outlying fields this season.
  6. Registration: 
    1. Schedule, Help and Anything Else: Debbie Selby, Deana Fanning and Lou Hassan presented an update on Registration.  Debbie indicated that one hundred twelve players had already signed up via the on-line registration on the GHLL website.  Registration is scheduled for Thursday, November 16th from 6:00-8:00PM.  Bill asked if they had enough help for the evening.  Several members offered to show up and help including Sean Scanlan and Curt Morford.  Some discussion ensued about the sale of GHLL merchandise at Registration.  Curt indicated he would contact Kohl Larson and see if he will be there with samples only as two weeks lead-time was unrealistic to have much in the way of stock on hand.  Late Registration will be held at the Hatteburg Clinic in late January 2007.
  7. Green/White Book Orders:  Debbie Selby will be ordering approximately 150 green books and twenty to twenty-five white books.  They do not ship until January 2007.
  8. Membership Cards:  Bill reminded all present that, as board members Little League Membership and Membership Cards are required.  This rule will take affect within thirty days following the last Registration.  Cost of membership is $10.00 per person per year.  There was also discussion about the Photo Badges for Managers and Coaches this year similar to the ones used by Peninsula Youth Football (PYF).  Access to the fields during games will not be allowed without your badge.
  9. Local Rules Update:  Bill pointed out that Dave Koberstein has undertaken the painstaking task of reviewing all of our local rules to ensure compliance with the National Little League Rules.  Dave said he was at a point were very soon a copy of the local rules could be printed and distributed to Managers/Coaches for the upcoming season.  Several members of the board indicated that would be helpful, as they had never seen the local rules.  Hat’s off to Dave for taking this thankless job on!
  10. Sponsors/Brick Update:  Shawn Hanon said he has twenty-five additional sponsorship bricks to install in the courtyard area behind the main field dugout.  He is going to be purchasing the necessary fill bricks to complete filling in the entire space so all the young-en’s will lose their mud puddle this year but it’ll look a heckuva lot better than ever.  Shawn also mentioned that he was successful in retaining Multi-Care as a sponsor for GHLL.
  11. Manager Applications:  Bill updated the board on manager applications received.  Currently there are ten applicants for Majors (one returning), three for AAA, two for AA and one for A.  Decision on Managers will not be made until after the late Registration in January 2007.
  12. Equipment Turn in:  Kurt Carlson advised that there are still thirteen Managers who have not returned their equipment or team jerseys.  Rick Nordi quickly fessed up for the AA Foxes and Deana Fanning mentioned that she had received jerseys from the AAA Red Birds.  Bill will be emailing the group and reminding them to bring the gear to Registration or the work party on December 9th.  Kurt also mentioned he has the list of equipment necessary for the 2007 season prepared and he distributed copies to the Executive Board.
  13.   KPLL Offers:  Bill brought forward the following items presented to him from the Key Peninsula Little League program:
    1. Big League: KPLL has floated the idea of playing crossover games with their league in the 17-18 year old league.  After much discussion about the lengthy drives, no shows by opposing teams and not so desirable playing conditions the idea was set aside.

b.      Fast Pitch: Bill asked if anyone had any ideas about a girls fast-pitch program.  His primary concern is whether or not we are missing an opportunity to provide a program for girls who are scarce in the GHLL programs.  Terri Koberstein offered her opinion that as a former player she feels it would be an excellent idea.  It was decided that perhaps trying to add this and the T-Ball program in the same year would be too much.  No further discussion occurred.

14.  Miscellaneous:  Brian Villa described forthcoming improvements to the GHLL grounds.  He will be meeting with Viking Fence to put together a list of fencing related repairs/upgrades at the fields including new overhead netting, possible higher backstops and yellow caps on the outfield fencing.  A larger dumpster is in the works as well.  The best news….the raccoons are leaving the fields alone now.

B.        AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING.

Bill Glover will email out.

Adjournment:

Bill Glover adjourned meeting at 2035. The next general meeting will be at 1900 on 12/7/06 in Ray Nash Fire Station.

Minutes submitted by:                              Dave Kilcup