ALSO Board Meeting Notes
Avon Lake Soccer Organization Board Meeting Minutes March 4, 2014 Meeting called to order at 7:34 pm Board Members Present President: Vice-President: Treasurer: Registrar: Secretary: Tournament Director: Fields Directors: Commissioner: Director of Coaching: Director of Player Development: Boys Travel Director: Girls Travel Director: Boys U6/U7 Director: Boys U8/U9 Director: Girls U6/U7 Director: Girls U8/U9 Director:
Michael Carr - present Shannon Young – present Phil Hock – not present Bill Keller – present Staci Starr - present Matt White – present Open Keith Lopez – present Dan Gourash – not present Chris Gee – present Grey Kennedy – present Steve Crimaldi – present Open Kris Thorpe – not present Spencer Ryan - present Matt Zakel – present
Guest: Stephen Vernon Mr. Vernon had expressed interest in becoming involved with ALSO Board and had spoken with Mr. Carr about the Fields Director position. Mr. Carr nominated him for the position. Mr. Ryan seconded. Vote unanimous for Mr. Vernon to join board as Fields Director. Previous Meeting Minutes Minutes from February Board meeting reviewed. o Motion to accept minutes as presented made by Mr. Lopez. The motion was seconded by Mr. Crimaldi. Minutes accepted unanimously. Treasurer – Phil Hock Mr. Hock was not present.
Secretary – Staci Starr Ms. Starr had no report. Registrar – Bill Keller Mr. Keller reported that there was currently no wait list for spring supplemental registration. There were 25 mini micro boys, and 25 mini micro girls had signed up Vice President - Shannon Young Ms. Young reported that she would be sending flyers to preschools regarding Mini Micro Soccer. Director of Coaching – Dan Gourash Mr. Gourash was not present, but sent the following report: The first coaches/parents clinic was held on 2/27. It was attended by about 12 people. Daegen Duvall made a presentation about expectations for the high school girls program and how ALSO preparation is an integral part of the overall plan and goals. The next clinic will be held at Learwood Room 301 from 7-8:30pm on Monday 3/10. Matt DeCapua, the boy’s high school coach will make the presentation about preparation for the boy’s high school program. The series will wrap-up on Monday 3/17 with a presentation by OYSAN Director of Coaching, Tom Turner. It will again be held in Room 301 at Learwood and run from 7-8:30 pm. Director of Player Development – Chris Gee Mr. Gee reported that there were 3 nights left of training at the Force. Mr. Gee reported that the professional training for this spring will be organized by ALHS Boys Coach, Matt Decapua. The session will run on Wednesdays 4/16-5/21. There will be one group running from 5:45 to 6:45 pm and a second group from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. All teams/age groups will be assigned to one of the two time slots. Coach DeCapua expects to have approximately 10 professional coaches who will be working with each time slot.
Tournament Director – Matt White Mr. White has concerns regarding tournament as the MIST (Medina Invitational Soccer Tournament) has chosen to move to Father’s Day weekend as well. He indicated we may want to look at changing the date of the tournament, but after 32 years he is hesitant. It creates 20% of our revenue. There was discussion changing to another format. Mr. Decapua talked about the 4v4 tournament that he has run at the Force over Thanksgiving for the past few years. He recommended that we consider a 5v5 format as it a fun game for the players. Mr. Carr also expressed interest in a smaller sided tournament having struggled to have enough players at the end of the year to put together older teams (8v8 and 11v11). There were many advantages identified including possibility of being a one day event and less players required for a team. Mr. Ryan also expressed strong commitment to continuing the Avon Lake Father’s Day Tournament as he feels that this is an important part of Avon Lake soccer. Recommendation from Board to Tournament Committee was to continue hosting tournament and that the Board would be supportive of a format change. Mr. White agree to bring this back to tournament committee. Commissioner – Keith Lopez Mr. Lopez is missing the booster bash winner. Mr. Carr asked league directors to contact coaches to be sure that extra equipment is not needed before orders are placed. Questions were asked about travel uniforms. Mr. Lopez said that ordering will be taken at tryouts and will also be available on the website. He indicated that the orders would be expected to be in by the start of the season. Fields – Steve Vernon Mr. Carr reported that field permits have been completed for both Learwood and Troy. Learwood Field Closings: Still awaiting list from school. Troy Field Closings: April 4, 5, & 6 May 2, 21, 22, & 27 June 5 Mr. Vernon reported that he will be ordering porta potties for Troy and Learwood in the next week. Mr. Carr and Mr. Vernon passed out Field Maintenance plans for Learwood, Troy and Walker Road Park with Forevergreen.
Mr. Carr reported that there have been initial conversations between Bay Soccer Club, Bay Village and the City of Avon Lake continue on how to most effectively maintain Walker Road Park. He stated that he has been pleased with the commitment of the three other parties in working with ALSO on this plan. Boys U6/U7- Open No Report Girls U6/U7 – Spencer Ryan Mr. Ryan had no report. Boys U8/U9 – Kris Thorpe No Report Girls U8/U9 – Matt Zakel Mr. Zakel said one player is not coming back. Mr. Gee mentioned that 3 or 4 U8/U9 girls will be moving to travel. Boys Travel Director – Grey Kennedy Mr. Kennedy reported that preliminary schedules are in and that he is working on reschedules. Girls Travel Director – Steve Crimaldi Mr. Crimaldi reported that preliminary schedules are in and that he is working on reschedules. Mr. Crimaldi reported that two girls at the U9 age were added. Proposed Super Division is a no go for U10’s this spring. President – Michael Carr Mr. Carr reported that Mr. Hock had asked for board to consider moving ALSO’s banking to another bank and unless there were objections he would like us to consider moving to Huntington Bank. Board approved allowing Mr. Hock to move its ALSO’s banking to Huntington. Old Business None
New Business a) Liberty FC requested to use Walker Road Park on Monday and Friday evenings. In appreciation, they have agreed to donate $500 for the spring which ALSO will use to help with field maintenance and improvement at Walker Road Park. Board approved allowing Liberty to use fields on Monday and Fridays this spring. b) Avon Lake Academy: Coach Duvall proposed that ALSO support the development of a program to be referred to as Avon Lake Academy. The purpose of program would be to provide a “higher level” opportunity for ALSO players within ALSO. Coach Duvall and Coach DeCapua would take leadership roles in the academy. Academies would be established for 8 teams (U7/U8 Boys, U7/U8 Girls, U9/U10 Boys, U9/U10 Girls, U11/U12 Boys, U11/U12 Girls, U13/U14 Boys, and U13/U14 Girls) with composition of group from both age groups to be determined through ALSO tryout process. Players would select before tryouts that they would like to be considered for Avon Lake Academy. Approximately 16 players would be selected for each team with a larger number for older age groups. Players would receive one additional night of training from a professional coach each week. U7/U8 would be primarily training based. U9/U10 and up would participate in State League and U11 and up would partipcipate in State Cup as well. All would participate in futsal during winter. Training would be fall, winter and spring and the player commitment would be for entire year. Cost would be fully funded by player/family and is estimated to be around $500 for the year. Discussion held and board voted to support development of Avon Lake Academy for Fall 2014. Coach Duvall agreed to write up more detailed outline of program. c) Tryout Proposal – See appendix A 1) Dates of Tryouts – Info only 2) Weighting of Competencies – Info only 3) Weighting of Evaluators – Change proposed Old: Pro Evaluator 1- 40%; Pro Evaluator 2- 40%; Coaches- 20% Proposed: Pro Evaluator 1- 33%; Pro Evaluator 2- 33%; Coaches-34% Discussion held. Board approved change. 4) U13/U14 Combined – Proposal to combine age groups for travel soccer. There would be a combined U13/U14 “A” team and if there were enough players there would be a combined U13/U14 “B” team. It was felt that as many players leave at older age groups the disparity of skill becomes larger and that this would provide a better opportunity for those players continuing with ALSO Travel soccer. Board approved change. 5) Tryout Format – Info only
6) Goalkeeper at Tryout – Clarification only. 7) Player Selection – Change proposed Old: U13 & U14 teams could select two (discretionary picks) players ranked lower at tryout to fill the bottom two roster spots and U11 & U13 could select one discretionary pick to fill the last roster spot. Proposed: U11 through U14 would allow coaches two discretionary picks to fill last two roster spots with lower ranked players. Discussion held and change approved. d) Spring coaching candidates/GK training – Mr. Gee reported that he would like to approve the coaching candidates that Coach DeCapua is able to secure for the spring. At this time, Coach DeCapua did not have all of them finalized. Mr. Gee requested board approval to trust Coach DeCapua’s selections. Board gave approval for Coach DeCapua to secure coaches. Mr. Gee proposed the hiring of 2 Goalkeeper coaches for the spring, one would be Mike Cracas and the other would be a member of Mr. Cracas’s staff. Board approved hiring of Mr. Cracas and his staff for ALSO spring goalkeeper training. e) Director of Coaching (DOC): Mr. Carr informed board that it was still his recommendation to the board to consider hiring of a professional DOC in order to establish consistency and continuity of ALSO programs.
Mr. Crimaldi makes a motion to adjourn. Ms. Starr seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.
Next regular ALSO Board meeting is scheduled for April 1, 2014 at 7:30 pm, Old Firehouse.
Appendix A Travel Tryout Proposal Spring 2014 1. Dates: Final
5-May 6-May 12May 13May 19May
5:00-6:30 U11B U9B
6:30-8:00 U11G U9G
U12B
U12G
U10B
U10G
U13/14B
U13/14G
3/4/14
2. Weighting of Competencies – No Change U9/U10 U11/U12 U13/U14
Technical Competitive Tactical 50% 30% 20% 50% 20% 30% 50% 15% 35%
3. Weighting of Evaluators – Change a. Proposal:
Current Proposal
Evaluator 1 40% 33%
Evaluator 2 40% 33%
Coaches 20% 34%
b. Reason: Changes to smooth out one low score from pro evaluator in technical area (which accounts for 20% of overall score would now be 16.5%) 4. U13/ U14 - Change a. Currently: We create a team (s) at U13 and U14 separately and do not field a team if there are not enough players. We have done combo U13B with U14 players b. Proposal: All U13/U14 will try out for one team (and a B team if numbers support) c. Reason: To allow for U14 kids to play on a competitive team since they usually do not have enough to field a team 5. Format: 6v6, 8v8 based on age group: No Change 6. Goalkeeper – Clarification a. Currently: We have identified those who want to be tried out as a goal keeper b. Proposal: There will be no one who is evaluated based on goalie skills
c. Reason: This created confusion for the evaluators and we really do not want specialized goal keepers so early. Best scenario is those goal keepers making B or C teams are allowed play up opportunities for extra goal keeping but also get field time for their current team 7. Player selection – Change a. Currently: U11-U12 coach is allowed a discretionary pick for the final roster spot. U13-U14 coach is allowed two discretionary picks from the final four roster spots b. Proposal: U11-U14 coach is allowed two discretionary picks for the final 2 roster spots and can replace any player not ranked in top half of that team, this would apply to second team if a third team is formed 8. Evaluator training – Clarification a. Have guidelines prior to evaluation so we provide consistency in our tryout evaluations across evaluators, age groups and coaches i. ALSO Coaches – The ALSO coach’s experience observing players throughout year adds to the quality of our player evaluation. At the same time, coaches are required to observe and evaluate with an open mind to the performances provided in the actual tryout. ii. Process – Identify players whom all the evaluators have rated high early on in the process and get them off the field. This will allow for more focus on those cut off players (from B to A) and (C to B).
3/4/14
Michael Carr - present Shannon Young – present Phil Hock – not present Bill Keller – present Staci Starr - present Matt White – present Open Keith Lopez – present Dan Gourash – not present Chris Gee – present Grey Kennedy – present Steve Crimaldi – present Open Kris Thorpe – not present Spencer Ryan - present Matt Zakel – present
Guest: Stephen Vernon Mr. Vernon had expressed interest in becoming involved with ALSO Board and had spoken with Mr. Carr about the Fields Director position. Mr. Carr nominated him for the position. Mr. Ryan seconded. Vote unanimous for Mr. Vernon to join board as Fields Director. Previous Meeting Minutes Minutes from February Board meeting reviewed. o Motion to accept minutes as presented made by Mr. Lopez. The motion was seconded by Mr. Crimaldi. Minutes accepted unanimously. Treasurer – Phil Hock Mr. Hock was not present.
Secretary – Staci Starr Ms. Starr had no report. Registrar – Bill Keller Mr. Keller reported that there was currently no wait list for spring supplemental registration. There were 25 mini micro boys, and 25 mini micro girls had signed up Vice President - Shannon Young Ms. Young reported that she would be sending flyers to preschools regarding Mini Micro Soccer. Director of Coaching – Dan Gourash Mr. Gourash was not present, but sent the following report: The first coaches/parents clinic was held on 2/27. It was attended by about 12 people. Daegen Duvall made a presentation about expectations for the high school girls program and how ALSO preparation is an integral part of the overall plan and goals. The next clinic will be held at Learwood Room 301 from 7-8:30pm on Monday 3/10. Matt DeCapua, the boy’s high school coach will make the presentation about preparation for the boy’s high school program. The series will wrap-up on Monday 3/17 with a presentation by OYSAN Director of Coaching, Tom Turner. It will again be held in Room 301 at Learwood and run from 7-8:30 pm. Director of Player Development – Chris Gee Mr. Gee reported that there were 3 nights left of training at the Force. Mr. Gee reported that the professional training for this spring will be organized by ALHS Boys Coach, Matt Decapua. The session will run on Wednesdays 4/16-5/21. There will be one group running from 5:45 to 6:45 pm and a second group from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. All teams/age groups will be assigned to one of the two time slots. Coach DeCapua expects to have approximately 10 professional coaches who will be working with each time slot.
Tournament Director – Matt White Mr. White has concerns regarding tournament as the MIST (Medina Invitational Soccer Tournament) has chosen to move to Father’s Day weekend as well. He indicated we may want to look at changing the date of the tournament, but after 32 years he is hesitant. It creates 20% of our revenue. There was discussion changing to another format. Mr. Decapua talked about the 4v4 tournament that he has run at the Force over Thanksgiving for the past few years. He recommended that we consider a 5v5 format as it a fun game for the players. Mr. Carr also expressed interest in a smaller sided tournament having struggled to have enough players at the end of the year to put together older teams (8v8 and 11v11). There were many advantages identified including possibility of being a one day event and less players required for a team. Mr. Ryan also expressed strong commitment to continuing the Avon Lake Father’s Day Tournament as he feels that this is an important part of Avon Lake soccer. Recommendation from Board to Tournament Committee was to continue hosting tournament and that the Board would be supportive of a format change. Mr. White agree to bring this back to tournament committee. Commissioner – Keith Lopez Mr. Lopez is missing the booster bash winner. Mr. Carr asked league directors to contact coaches to be sure that extra equipment is not needed before orders are placed. Questions were asked about travel uniforms. Mr. Lopez said that ordering will be taken at tryouts and will also be available on the website. He indicated that the orders would be expected to be in by the start of the season. Fields – Steve Vernon Mr. Carr reported that field permits have been completed for both Learwood and Troy. Learwood Field Closings: Still awaiting list from school. Troy Field Closings: April 4, 5, & 6 May 2, 21, 22, & 27 June 5 Mr. Vernon reported that he will be ordering porta potties for Troy and Learwood in the next week. Mr. Carr and Mr. Vernon passed out Field Maintenance plans for Learwood, Troy and Walker Road Park with Forevergreen.
Mr. Carr reported that there have been initial conversations between Bay Soccer Club, Bay Village and the City of Avon Lake continue on how to most effectively maintain Walker Road Park. He stated that he has been pleased with the commitment of the three other parties in working with ALSO on this plan. Boys U6/U7- Open No Report Girls U6/U7 – Spencer Ryan Mr. Ryan had no report. Boys U8/U9 – Kris Thorpe No Report Girls U8/U9 – Matt Zakel Mr. Zakel said one player is not coming back. Mr. Gee mentioned that 3 or 4 U8/U9 girls will be moving to travel. Boys Travel Director – Grey Kennedy Mr. Kennedy reported that preliminary schedules are in and that he is working on reschedules. Girls Travel Director – Steve Crimaldi Mr. Crimaldi reported that preliminary schedules are in and that he is working on reschedules. Mr. Crimaldi reported that two girls at the U9 age were added. Proposed Super Division is a no go for U10’s this spring. President – Michael Carr Mr. Carr reported that Mr. Hock had asked for board to consider moving ALSO’s banking to another bank and unless there were objections he would like us to consider moving to Huntington Bank. Board approved allowing Mr. Hock to move its ALSO’s banking to Huntington. Old Business None
New Business a) Liberty FC requested to use Walker Road Park on Monday and Friday evenings. In appreciation, they have agreed to donate $500 for the spring which ALSO will use to help with field maintenance and improvement at Walker Road Park. Board approved allowing Liberty to use fields on Monday and Fridays this spring. b) Avon Lake Academy: Coach Duvall proposed that ALSO support the development of a program to be referred to as Avon Lake Academy. The purpose of program would be to provide a “higher level” opportunity for ALSO players within ALSO. Coach Duvall and Coach DeCapua would take leadership roles in the academy. Academies would be established for 8 teams (U7/U8 Boys, U7/U8 Girls, U9/U10 Boys, U9/U10 Girls, U11/U12 Boys, U11/U12 Girls, U13/U14 Boys, and U13/U14 Girls) with composition of group from both age groups to be determined through ALSO tryout process. Players would select before tryouts that they would like to be considered for Avon Lake Academy. Approximately 16 players would be selected for each team with a larger number for older age groups. Players would receive one additional night of training from a professional coach each week. U7/U8 would be primarily training based. U9/U10 and up would participate in State League and U11 and up would partipcipate in State Cup as well. All would participate in futsal during winter. Training would be fall, winter and spring and the player commitment would be for entire year. Cost would be fully funded by player/family and is estimated to be around $500 for the year. Discussion held and board voted to support development of Avon Lake Academy for Fall 2014. Coach Duvall agreed to write up more detailed outline of program. c) Tryout Proposal – See appendix A 1) Dates of Tryouts – Info only 2) Weighting of Competencies – Info only 3) Weighting of Evaluators – Change proposed Old: Pro Evaluator 1- 40%; Pro Evaluator 2- 40%; Coaches- 20% Proposed: Pro Evaluator 1- 33%; Pro Evaluator 2- 33%; Coaches-34% Discussion held. Board approved change. 4) U13/U14 Combined – Proposal to combine age groups for travel soccer. There would be a combined U13/U14 “A” team and if there were enough players there would be a combined U13/U14 “B” team. It was felt that as many players leave at older age groups the disparity of skill becomes larger and that this would provide a better opportunity for those players continuing with ALSO Travel soccer. Board approved change. 5) Tryout Format – Info only
6) Goalkeeper at Tryout – Clarification only. 7) Player Selection – Change proposed Old: U13 & U14 teams could select two (discretionary picks) players ranked lower at tryout to fill the bottom two roster spots and U11 & U13 could select one discretionary pick to fill the last roster spot. Proposed: U11 through U14 would allow coaches two discretionary picks to fill last two roster spots with lower ranked players. Discussion held and change approved. d) Spring coaching candidates/GK training – Mr. Gee reported that he would like to approve the coaching candidates that Coach DeCapua is able to secure for the spring. At this time, Coach DeCapua did not have all of them finalized. Mr. Gee requested board approval to trust Coach DeCapua’s selections. Board gave approval for Coach DeCapua to secure coaches. Mr. Gee proposed the hiring of 2 Goalkeeper coaches for the spring, one would be Mike Cracas and the other would be a member of Mr. Cracas’s staff. Board approved hiring of Mr. Cracas and his staff for ALSO spring goalkeeper training. e) Director of Coaching (DOC): Mr. Carr informed board that it was still his recommendation to the board to consider hiring of a professional DOC in order to establish consistency and continuity of ALSO programs.
Mr. Crimaldi makes a motion to adjourn. Ms. Starr seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.
Next regular ALSO Board meeting is scheduled for April 1, 2014 at 7:30 pm, Old Firehouse.
Appendix A Travel Tryout Proposal Spring 2014 1. Dates: Final
5-May 6-May 12May 13May 19May
5:00-6:30 U11B U9B
6:30-8:00 U11G U9G
U12B
U12G
U10B
U10G
U13/14B
U13/14G
3/4/14
2. Weighting of Competencies – No Change U9/U10 U11/U12 U13/U14
Technical Competitive Tactical 50% 30% 20% 50% 20% 30% 50% 15% 35%
3. Weighting of Evaluators – Change a. Proposal:
Current Proposal
Evaluator 1 40% 33%
Evaluator 2 40% 33%
Coaches 20% 34%
b. Reason: Changes to smooth out one low score from pro evaluator in technical area (which accounts for 20% of overall score would now be 16.5%) 4. U13/ U14 - Change a. Currently: We create a team (s) at U13 and U14 separately and do not field a team if there are not enough players. We have done combo U13B with U14 players b. Proposal: All U13/U14 will try out for one team (and a B team if numbers support) c. Reason: To allow for U14 kids to play on a competitive team since they usually do not have enough to field a team 5. Format: 6v6, 8v8 based on age group: No Change 6. Goalkeeper – Clarification a. Currently: We have identified those who want to be tried out as a goal keeper b. Proposal: There will be no one who is evaluated based on goalie skills
c. Reason: This created confusion for the evaluators and we really do not want specialized goal keepers so early. Best scenario is those goal keepers making B or C teams are allowed play up opportunities for extra goal keeping but also get field time for their current team 7. Player selection – Change a. Currently: U11-U12 coach is allowed a discretionary pick for the final roster spot. U13-U14 coach is allowed two discretionary picks from the final four roster spots b. Proposal: U11-U14 coach is allowed two discretionary picks for the final 2 roster spots and can replace any player not ranked in top half of that team, this would apply to second team if a third team is formed 8. Evaluator training – Clarification a. Have guidelines prior to evaluation so we provide consistency in our tryout evaluations across evaluators, age groups and coaches i. ALSO Coaches – The ALSO coach’s experience observing players throughout year adds to the quality of our player evaluation. At the same time, coaches are required to observe and evaluate with an open mind to the performances provided in the actual tryout. ii. Process – Identify players whom all the evaluators have rated high early on in the process and get them off the field. This will allow for more focus on those cut off players (from B to A) and (C to B).
3/4/14
