SPSA General Membership Meeting On 04/12/04
Attendees
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Tom Whitehust John Papinchak Tad Thompson Lisa Augustine Gary Schwartz Mike Sommer |
Dave Shero Brooke Martin Suzanne Papinchak Al Yobbi Mark Augustine |
Walt Kivala Bob Tramontina Ellen Conrad Jim Grote Michele Pecone |
Dave Sottosanti Paul Caracciolo Mark Donoghue Alexa Grote Gary Eggert |
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Secretary
Highlights of the minutes from the previous meeting (3/15/04) were reviewed and approved.
Treasurer
Previous balance: $25,636.42 (3/08/04)
Deposits: $5,431.78 concession stand profits
Expenses: $7,936.75 concessions, maintenance & fence payment
Balance: $23,131.45 (4/12/04)
The procurement officer stated that the shipping charges that were assessed for the field paint ($354.02) should have been waived because of the size of our order. Mark Donoghue will investigate.
It was questioned whether some of the current balance could be used to improve the playing fields. This is not really feasible since much of the balance will be used over the upcoming months (we typically have about a $4000 buffer) and the main problem with the fields is improper drainage, which cannot be easily (or cheaply) improved. We play during the best growing seasons and we don’t have the resources to rotate between field locations. Also, the spectators do a lot of the field damage and there is little we can do about that.
Current Business
The Riverhounds clinic was approved for the Middle School in August.
Elections:
Girl’s Travel Commissioner
Al Yobbi nominated but declined
Dave Sottosanti nominated but declined
Closed with no nominees
Registrar
Tom Whitehurst nominated and accepted
Tom Whitehurst unanimously elected
In-House
U12G will start playing with the larger (24’ x 8’) nets to simplify field changes during the day. Second set of U10 goals to be left by the concession stand at the end of the day.
Need to remind U5/U6 coaches to stay off of the fields during games.
Travel
Only a few away games have been played up to this point due to poor weather and field conditions.
Speak Out
Several U09B parents were interested in the travel team formation guidelines for the U10 division. Currently the SPSA develops U10 teams of equal ability as opposed to an A-team/B-team strategy based upon skill level. This is in line with the PAWest focus on skill development at that age group, using U10 as an introduction to higher levels of play.
For SPSA the equal-team strategy also maintains a larger number of players through to the older age groups when numbers tend to fall off as player interests become more diverse. With an A/B strategy at U10 many of the B players drop out early, and later years teams at that age group may no longer be viable once team rosters need to expand and several other players move on to different interests. Additionally, equal-team construction provides maximum flexibility for obtaining quality coaching for all U10 teams.
The general concern of the U09B parents dealt with over-dilution of the talent pool and the discouragement of the better players. There are ~50 boys currently in that in-house age group and the parents felt that this would stretch the talent too thin across the teams to be competitive in travel. The board pointed out that not all in-house players generally sign up for travel soccer. The commitment is significantly greater. In the past we have never fielded more than two U10 travel teams, even though similar in-house numbers existed. Additionally, cup soccer training opportunities are now available to younger age groups (U09-U11) and can provide a valuable asset to the interested soccer player.
If there is an unprecedented number of U10Bs registering for travel, the board will reconsider the guidelines for team construction at that time.
TOPSoccer
Gary Schwartz requested permission for the Shriners clowns to play the TOPSoccer players on 5/22/04. He also wanted to pursue press coverage of the event. The field assignments for that day include the TOPSoccer time slot and John Papinchak approved their use as Gary requested.
Meeting adjourned 9:08 PM