1 Arlington Little League Meeting Minutes Thursday ... - League Athletics
Arlington Little League Meeting Minutes Thursday, October 17, 2013 Washington-Lee High School, Room 1019 Attendees: Adam Balutis, President, Jeremy Rosen, VP-Operations, John Makara, Challengers Commissioner, Shirley Brothwell, VP-Resources, Robert Hammer, Rookies Commissioner, Todd Reed, Player Agent, Aija Moeller, VP-Administration, Sean Carrig, Managers Committee Chair, John Ralyea, Treasurer, John Anderson, Majors Commissioner, Frank Buono, Legal Counsel Guests: Alexander Krupenchenkov and Ekaterina Varley
Adam Balutis called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. He welcomed the participants and facilitated introductions. Minutes from September 26, 2013 were approved unanimously. Challengers Fall Ball Update John Makara reported two rain-outs of Challengers games George Washington University students come help out Arlington Travel Basketball session with Challengers is scheduled Nov. 17 Other Fall Ball updates and observations included: Rookies has been going well with interleague games, might add more Some miscommunication about set of rules in use for interleague games. While there must be one set of rules, there has been misunderstanding by umpires if they need to follow home team’s rule set or “field owner’s” set. o Mr. Balutis will follow up with Craig Stronberg on this o Jeremy Rosen will ensure that umpires, commissioners, and coaches are aware that there is one set of rules for interleague games. Mr. Balutis proposed to hold Fall Ball games on weeknights and practices on weekends, assuming that it would attract more travel baseball players. Todd Reed noted that this is a common practice at Vienna Little League. Adopt-a-Field Proposal Mr. Balutis opened the Adopt-the-Field discussion. He pointed out: Arlington County has adopted the program after many years Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth League is ahead of the curve ALL needs to do cost analysis. If willing volunteers come forward and there is support from community, ALL can provide point of contact on the board and visibility through newsletters Many fields come to mind as ALL projects with dedicated volunteers: Taylor, Thomas Jefferson Barcroft 1, Westover An opportunity to adopt the field with ALL will be based on first come, first served principle
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Robert Hammer shared Taylor Elementary School parents and coaches’ experience with adoption of a diamond field near Taylor Elementary school: Over the years kids would get injured on rocks; the general state of the field was a concern and drive to explore how the conditions can be improved. The County provided some basic tools and a box to store them. However, it is unclear if the County is committed to sharing tools in every case. Team members and parents take part in beautification, dragging and line drawing. The volunteer group had a sense what needs to be done, but some things like fencing or benches—that were a priority—need to be installed by county due to liability issues. Taylor field is on APS property, school’s PTA is involved. Long term: drainage issues with the field. County has been somewhat uncommitted, cannot tell exactly how much in funds are available, but have given the estimate of $4,600 to install fencing and estimated $500 for sod per field. Other comments, observations and questions from Board members included: This needs to be board approved program, case by case. Approval should be limited to one year period. ALL can afford to support up to four fields per year in FY14. Fiscal support from community needs to be an integral part of adoption. There are great fields for AAA and Majors programs available, but we need to improve fields for lower levels. Concern that some communities will not be able to raise enough money to match funds. This gap might be reduced if funds are raised from nearby businesses. Recommendation to set a minimum and maximum amount to match community-raised funds. Concern about identifying key volunteer(s) who is tied to the field and is committed. On the adopt-the-field background documents so far: the basic framework has been set, but more work needs to be done on the proposal. When the proposal is finalized, publicize it through website and email newsletters. Need to establish proposal evaluation criteria. Who initiates the process: is it coming from community or are we reaching out to community? Community support is crucial. Need to be conscientious about geographic diversity. Need to set the process for collecting donations and distributing funds. Special task force was formed and includes Shirley Brothwell, Robert Hammer, Mike Romano, and Dana Daugherty. Task force members are charged with creating the Adopt-the-Field proposal that will be presented for the Board vote in November meeting. Proposed Budget for FY13-14 John Ralyea presented the proposed FY13-14 budget. Overall, the budget implies a decrease in ALL’s cash balance of about $5,100 for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2014. This is due in part to a lot of late invoices for the just completed budget year (FY12-13). Proposed changes relative to the FY12-13 budget: Assume a 3 percent increase in player registration for spring and a 5 percent increase for fall. Fee structure is bumped up $5 for spring and fall registrations. Even with this increase in fees, both seasons will operate with deficit. 2
Increase of $30/player for all-star fees. The all-star costs exceeded revenues by $3,000 this past summer—lot of extra uniform/hat expense without offsetting revenues. Increase in storage costs of $2,500 for a second unit. More realistic uniform and equipment costs. Provide for two years of background checks. Other revenue/cost proposals based on last year's experience or tied to projected number of players/teams for the upcoming year.
Comments from Board members included: Concern that all-star families will see $100 registration as excessive compared to perceived value of the all-star program Recommendation to educate all-star player families about costs involved with this program Recommendation to approve all-star fees as proposed and reevaluate if the fee can be lowered when spring comes closer Recommendation for Operations Committee to investigate the pros and cons to closing Spring registration at certain point Need to find a reliable uniform quartermaster Budget needs to accommodate the Adopt-the-Field Fund The budget was approved unanimously with one amendment to include $16,000 for Adopt-the-Field Fund. Arlington-Moscow Youth Baseball Exchange Frank Buono introduced guests Alexander Krupenchenkov and Ekaterina Varley. Mr. and Mrs. Krupenchenkov are Arlington residents and ALL parents, but on this occasion they represented Moscow’s baseball club “Cardinals”. They are striving to establish an ongoing baseball exchange program between Arlington and Moscow: Team from Moscow would include 17 players ages 10-13 Moscow players are highly skilled, “club level”, with international experience Team can play either on 40-60 and/or 50-70 field Envisioning to conduct exhibition-type games with teams from Arlington Travel Baseball, ALL AllStars, neighboring teams, high school freshmen Preferred travel time for Moscow players is their spring break that is always scheduled during last two weeks of March. Unfortunately, this year Moscow and APS spring break periods do not overlap. Potential exchange period would be in June or July. Comments and concerns from Board members included: Finding volunteers and dividing the workload that comes with organizational and host family stay issues Mrs. Krupenchenkov will serve as team general for Moscow Cardinals Lack of clarity how Moscow team members will get around, transportation issues ALL can help with scheduling fields, securing umpires and reaching out to contacts at other leagues The exchange program needs to involve wider baseball community—not just ALL—both locally and on Little League International level. This is an exciting opportunity for guests from Moscow, Arlington youth, and ALL.
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It was resolved that Mr. Buono will reach out to former ALL volunteers and recruit a lead manager from that pool. Mr. Buono will coordinate the effort until this position is filled. John Anderson volunteered to help in the beginning of summer with game scheduling. Spring 2013 Survey Results Aija Moeller asked meeting participants for any reactions to previously distributed Spring 2013 season survey report. Answers included: Room for improvement on communications side. Need to better manage parent expectations when they can anticipate hearing from their coach Comments about coaches are mostly positive with some constructive criticism Operations Committee members will review the survey results and share common themes and suggestions for improvement. Residency Waivers Mr. Buono reminded Board members that according to compliance with charter and league rules, ALL can accept players who are Arlington residents only. Should a player from outside Arlington wish to play with ALL, they need to complete one of four available waivers. It is anticipated that in most cases players are granted to play in the league with the understanding that they cannot play in all-stars season. The League is very much involved in waiver completion, submission, and processing. League Registrar will connect out-of-boundaries registrants with ALL Player Agent who will start the waiver process. New Business: Tee Ball Together Initiative Mr. Balutis presented proposal to conduct more interleague games between ALL and CRBR in Jr. Tee Ball and Tee Ball divisions. CRBR leadership has changed and has opened the opportunity to coordinate the efforts of two Arlington leagues. Mr. Balutis will circulate the proposal document to Board members shortly. Mr. Rosen noted that the idea is welcome, but cautioned that in the past Fall Ball interleague efforts ALL volunteers have done majority of work. Meeting adjourned 9:15 p.m.
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Adam Balutis called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. He welcomed the participants and facilitated introductions. Minutes from September 26, 2013 were approved unanimously. Challengers Fall Ball Update John Makara reported two rain-outs of Challengers games George Washington University students come help out Arlington Travel Basketball session with Challengers is scheduled Nov. 17 Other Fall Ball updates and observations included: Rookies has been going well with interleague games, might add more Some miscommunication about set of rules in use for interleague games. While there must be one set of rules, there has been misunderstanding by umpires if they need to follow home team’s rule set or “field owner’s” set. o Mr. Balutis will follow up with Craig Stronberg on this o Jeremy Rosen will ensure that umpires, commissioners, and coaches are aware that there is one set of rules for interleague games. Mr. Balutis proposed to hold Fall Ball games on weeknights and practices on weekends, assuming that it would attract more travel baseball players. Todd Reed noted that this is a common practice at Vienna Little League. Adopt-a-Field Proposal Mr. Balutis opened the Adopt-the-Field discussion. He pointed out: Arlington County has adopted the program after many years Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth League is ahead of the curve ALL needs to do cost analysis. If willing volunteers come forward and there is support from community, ALL can provide point of contact on the board and visibility through newsletters Many fields come to mind as ALL projects with dedicated volunteers: Taylor, Thomas Jefferson Barcroft 1, Westover An opportunity to adopt the field with ALL will be based on first come, first served principle
1
Robert Hammer shared Taylor Elementary School parents and coaches’ experience with adoption of a diamond field near Taylor Elementary school: Over the years kids would get injured on rocks; the general state of the field was a concern and drive to explore how the conditions can be improved. The County provided some basic tools and a box to store them. However, it is unclear if the County is committed to sharing tools in every case. Team members and parents take part in beautification, dragging and line drawing. The volunteer group had a sense what needs to be done, but some things like fencing or benches—that were a priority—need to be installed by county due to liability issues. Taylor field is on APS property, school’s PTA is involved. Long term: drainage issues with the field. County has been somewhat uncommitted, cannot tell exactly how much in funds are available, but have given the estimate of $4,600 to install fencing and estimated $500 for sod per field. Other comments, observations and questions from Board members included: This needs to be board approved program, case by case. Approval should be limited to one year period. ALL can afford to support up to four fields per year in FY14. Fiscal support from community needs to be an integral part of adoption. There are great fields for AAA and Majors programs available, but we need to improve fields for lower levels. Concern that some communities will not be able to raise enough money to match funds. This gap might be reduced if funds are raised from nearby businesses. Recommendation to set a minimum and maximum amount to match community-raised funds. Concern about identifying key volunteer(s) who is tied to the field and is committed. On the adopt-the-field background documents so far: the basic framework has been set, but more work needs to be done on the proposal. When the proposal is finalized, publicize it through website and email newsletters. Need to establish proposal evaluation criteria. Who initiates the process: is it coming from community or are we reaching out to community? Community support is crucial. Need to be conscientious about geographic diversity. Need to set the process for collecting donations and distributing funds. Special task force was formed and includes Shirley Brothwell, Robert Hammer, Mike Romano, and Dana Daugherty. Task force members are charged with creating the Adopt-the-Field proposal that will be presented for the Board vote in November meeting. Proposed Budget for FY13-14 John Ralyea presented the proposed FY13-14 budget. Overall, the budget implies a decrease in ALL’s cash balance of about $5,100 for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2014. This is due in part to a lot of late invoices for the just completed budget year (FY12-13). Proposed changes relative to the FY12-13 budget: Assume a 3 percent increase in player registration for spring and a 5 percent increase for fall. Fee structure is bumped up $5 for spring and fall registrations. Even with this increase in fees, both seasons will operate with deficit. 2
Increase of $30/player for all-star fees. The all-star costs exceeded revenues by $3,000 this past summer—lot of extra uniform/hat expense without offsetting revenues. Increase in storage costs of $2,500 for a second unit. More realistic uniform and equipment costs. Provide for two years of background checks. Other revenue/cost proposals based on last year's experience or tied to projected number of players/teams for the upcoming year.
Comments from Board members included: Concern that all-star families will see $100 registration as excessive compared to perceived value of the all-star program Recommendation to educate all-star player families about costs involved with this program Recommendation to approve all-star fees as proposed and reevaluate if the fee can be lowered when spring comes closer Recommendation for Operations Committee to investigate the pros and cons to closing Spring registration at certain point Need to find a reliable uniform quartermaster Budget needs to accommodate the Adopt-the-Field Fund The budget was approved unanimously with one amendment to include $16,000 for Adopt-the-Field Fund. Arlington-Moscow Youth Baseball Exchange Frank Buono introduced guests Alexander Krupenchenkov and Ekaterina Varley. Mr. and Mrs. Krupenchenkov are Arlington residents and ALL parents, but on this occasion they represented Moscow’s baseball club “Cardinals”. They are striving to establish an ongoing baseball exchange program between Arlington and Moscow: Team from Moscow would include 17 players ages 10-13 Moscow players are highly skilled, “club level”, with international experience Team can play either on 40-60 and/or 50-70 field Envisioning to conduct exhibition-type games with teams from Arlington Travel Baseball, ALL AllStars, neighboring teams, high school freshmen Preferred travel time for Moscow players is their spring break that is always scheduled during last two weeks of March. Unfortunately, this year Moscow and APS spring break periods do not overlap. Potential exchange period would be in June or July. Comments and concerns from Board members included: Finding volunteers and dividing the workload that comes with organizational and host family stay issues Mrs. Krupenchenkov will serve as team general for Moscow Cardinals Lack of clarity how Moscow team members will get around, transportation issues ALL can help with scheduling fields, securing umpires and reaching out to contacts at other leagues The exchange program needs to involve wider baseball community—not just ALL—both locally and on Little League International level. This is an exciting opportunity for guests from Moscow, Arlington youth, and ALL.
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It was resolved that Mr. Buono will reach out to former ALL volunteers and recruit a lead manager from that pool. Mr. Buono will coordinate the effort until this position is filled. John Anderson volunteered to help in the beginning of summer with game scheduling. Spring 2013 Survey Results Aija Moeller asked meeting participants for any reactions to previously distributed Spring 2013 season survey report. Answers included: Room for improvement on communications side. Need to better manage parent expectations when they can anticipate hearing from their coach Comments about coaches are mostly positive with some constructive criticism Operations Committee members will review the survey results and share common themes and suggestions for improvement. Residency Waivers Mr. Buono reminded Board members that according to compliance with charter and league rules, ALL can accept players who are Arlington residents only. Should a player from outside Arlington wish to play with ALL, they need to complete one of four available waivers. It is anticipated that in most cases players are granted to play in the league with the understanding that they cannot play in all-stars season. The League is very much involved in waiver completion, submission, and processing. League Registrar will connect out-of-boundaries registrants with ALL Player Agent who will start the waiver process. New Business: Tee Ball Together Initiative Mr. Balutis presented proposal to conduct more interleague games between ALL and CRBR in Jr. Tee Ball and Tee Ball divisions. CRBR leadership has changed and has opened the opportunity to coordinate the efforts of two Arlington leagues. Mr. Balutis will circulate the proposal document to Board members shortly. Mr. Rosen noted that the idea is welcome, but cautioned that in the past Fall Ball interleague efforts ALL volunteers have done majority of work. Meeting adjourned 9:15 p.m.
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