Hingham Little League Board of Directors Meeting

Minutes of April 29, 2004 r1

Hingham Recreation Center



The twelfth meeting of the Hingham Little League Board of Directors was

called to order by President Rick Linehan at 8:00 pm.



Board of Directors present were: Rob Blomberg, Bruce Corwin, Melissa Flanagan, Mark Igo, Bob Keyes, Mike Letorney, Rick Linehan, Elliot Sherman, Rick West, Rich Magner, Joe Granatino, Owen McConville, Mike Bynarowicz.



Tom Golden was absent.



Secretary’s Report



The Meeting Minutes from the April 22, 2004, meeting were tabled for review until the 5/10/04 meeting.



Treasurer’s Report



The Treasurer’s Report was not reviewed and will be reviewed at the next meeting.



Business Related Issues



Player Registration Update:

Majors-Due to special circumstances requests have been made to add two twelve year olds, John Greco and Ryan Elinoff, to Major’s teams. Neither player participated in tryouts. Following a review of the Little League Rules the Hingham LL BOD voted to allow both players to be added to Major’s roster even though that would take the number of players on two of the Major’s rosters to 13 players.

Tom Golden volunteered to take John Greco and Matt Fallon volunteered to take Ryan Elinoff. Following a poll of the Major Managers by Mike Letorney John Greco was placed on Tom Golden’s W.B. Mason team and Ryan Elinoff was placed on Matt Fallon’s Best Chevrolet team.

Refunds-refunds will be distributed to the Green and Cooley families as one child in each family will not be playing HLL in 2004. Bob Keyes will distribute the funds.



CORI Process:

Rick reported that the CORI approvals have been received. HLL is CORI certified. Rick is approved and we can now submit all applications for approval free of charge.



Sponsorships and Donations:



Since the last meeting Melissa Flanagan reported by email the following information regarding the HLL Sponsors.

Majors-all twelve teams have sponsors

Minors-all sixteen teams have sponsors

Farm-all fourteen teams have sponsors.

TBall-all ten teams have sponsors



The only outstanding issue involves South Shore Savings Bank who donated 0 toward a Tball team but all sponsorships have now been filled. Mike Letorney will follow with them to determine if they want the check retuned, if they want the check to be a contribution to HLL or if they want to reserve a Tball team for 2005.



Equipment



Elliot Sherman reported that all player equipment has been received and the majority of the equipment has been distributed. Uniforms are in the process of having the sponsor names added and will be completed before Opening Day.

The new sets of bases for all fields are in place.

Rich Magner will buy two sets of umpire equipment (mask, chest protector and shin guards) from Beacon

Bases and umpire equipment will be stored in the boxes at the three fields. Combination locks will be purchased with the same combination number near and dear to Red Sox fans. Managers, coaches and umpires will be given the combination.

First Aid Kits and freezer packs will be purchased by all Team Managers. Mark will forward a note to the Managers today to request that be done.

Additional shirts and helmet requests due to large sizes and special requests will be coordinated by Elliot.



Baseball Clinics (not discussed on 4/29 but left in the Meeting Minutes as a followup item)

Boys of Baseball-5/7 & 5/8

A "save the date" notice had previously been distributed. A second notice needs to be placed in the Hingham Journal.

The coaches and parents clinic will occur on 5/7 from 6:00 pm-8:30 pm at Haley.

The player’s clinic will occur on 5/8 from 8:30 pm-4:00 pm at Haley.

Rick Linehan will need to adjust the Saturday schedule.

Catcher’s Clinic

Joe Craven will lead this with a tentative date of 5/15 from 8:30 am-10:00 am at Haley. Mark will follow with Joe to confirm the date and time.

Each Major’s team will nominate two players per team for the clinic.

Pitching Clinic

Joe Craven, Rob Blomberg, Dan Morrison and Mark Igo will lead this with a tentative date of 5/29 from 8:30 am-10:00 am at Haley.

Each Major’s team will nominate three players per team.



Opening Day Ceremonies

An article was placed in the Hingham Journal by Melissa announcing the ceremonies.

All Major players will report to Haley at 10:45 am on Sunday, 5/2.

At 11:00 am all players, Managers and Coaches will be assembled on the field by team.

The Star Spangled Banner will be played only at Haley for all the assembled Major’s teams.

First pitches will be thrown by Senator Hedlund and Representative Bradley.

President Rick Linehan will deliver brief remarks.

Refreshments will be provided from 11:00 am-1:00 pm. Hingham Rec will supply the grille. Rick Linehan will purchase the hot dogs, hot dog rolls, charcoal, paper plates, napkins, condiments, chips, soda and water.

Bruce Corwin will coordinate the purchase and delivery of the ice. We will use the back of Bruce’s truck for the iced sodas and waters. One adult will distribute the drinks.

Coca Cola has donated 20 cases of their products.

Tables will be secured from Hingham Rec.

All HLL BOD members, spouses, managers, coaches and spouses have been asked to volunteer. HLL BOD members will gather at Haley at 8:30 am on Sunday, 5/2, to either help with the fields or with the refreshments. Bob Keyes will coordinate the schedule.

The PA System for Haley will be supplied by Hingham Rec. The PA system for Hersey will be supplied by Mark Igo. We will not use Bonnard Fage. At Haley the existing electrical outlets will be used. At Hersey Rich Magner will coordinate the electrical outlets through the Holloran family.

Prior to the start of each Major’s game at Haley and Hersey the individual players, managers and coaches will be introduced. Mike Letorney will announce the players’ and coaches’ names at the 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm games at Haley. Rick West will announce the names at the 4:00 pm game at Haley. Rick Linehan will announce the player’s and coaches’ names at all three games at Hersey.



Old Business

Portable Toilets

Bob Keyes reported that the three portable toilets are in place at Haley, Hersey and PAL fields for 5. per toilet per month. Compliments have been received.

Game Articles for the Hingham Journal

Managers will post scores and game highlights on the website. Melissa will consolidate the standings, game results and highlights and will then write the article weekly for the Hingham Journal starting with the second week of the season. The home team is the first team listed.

L-Screen for Haley and Hersey Fields (not discussed but left in the minutes)

We agreed that ordering L screens to protect pitchers during batting practice was a good idea but agreed to table the order for now.

Hingham Little League Directory (not discussed but left in the minutes)

We will order 1,000 copies of the Directories.

All sponsors, players, Managers and Coaches will receive a Directory.

The Directories will be available during the season.

Summer Baseball

The various options available for summer baseball including the Williamsport team, the Cooperstown team, Suburban and South River teams were reviewed at length.

The HLL Board agreed to table much of the discussion including how the teams will be selected until a future meeting. Tryouts will be held at a future date.

However the HLL Board did agree that we would take the lead role in coordinating summer baseball in Hingham including having the HLL Board Manager’s Committee assist in the selection of summer managers, using HLL equipment for the summer teams, etc.

Photo Day

Photographs will be taken on 5/15 and 5/16 at the various fields.

Any Minor’s Teams not scheduled for games on 5/15 or 5/16 will be required to report to Haley at 2:00 pm on 5/15 to have their photos taken.

Update on Fields

Melissa reported that the HLL signs are in place at Haley and Hersey. While expensive at 0 per sign the new signs have been well received.

Haley and PAL fields are in good condition and Hingham DPW has been working on all fields.

Dan Miller has been retained to provide maintenance at Hersey (cutting grass, repairing holes, lining the field twice per week, providing general field care, etc.).

Hingham DPW is expected to provide maintenance for the other fields. Depending on their work product Dan Miller’s role may be expanded.

HLL BOD and Managers will ensure that both Haley and Hersey are in pristine condition for Opening Day. As previously mentioned HLL work parties will rake and line the fields on Sunday morning starting at 8:30 am.

Rich Magner is getting the wood batter’s box frame completed to line the batter’s boxes.

Tim Zyrkowski’s field liner will be used for the base lines.

Major’s Schedules

Rick Linehan has now rebalanced the Major’s schedules to ensure equity for the number of games played at Haley and Hersey for the Major’s teams.

Umpire Update

Mark and Rich reported on the results of their meeting with the umpires on 4/28/04. The umpires will be provided with a letter of support from the HLL BOD.

The specific HLL Rules were reviewed with the umpires.

Mark will forward to all Managers and Coaches will be given copies of the rules and the letter from the HLL Board. The "Code of Conduct" between umpires and managers/Coaches will be strictly enforced.



New Business



Website-Addition of Meeting Schedule and Meeting Minutes

We agreed to post the date, time and place of the upcoming HLL BPD Meetings on the website.

We agreed to post all HLL BOD Meeting Minutes on the website.

We will review the Q&A Document to determine what corrections need to be made.







The next BOD Meeting date will Monday, May 10, 2004, at 7:30 pm at the Hingham Rec Center.



The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 PM



Minutes submitted by Rob Blomberg, Acting Secretary.