Hingham Little League Board of Director’s Meeting
June 7, 2005
Hingham Recreation Center

Minutes

Meeting was called to order by President Blomberg at 7:35 p.m. with a quorum including Sherman, Craven, McConville, Flanagan, Letorney, Corwin, Magner, Igo, Linehan, and West. White and Boyle joined at 8:10 p.m. after the conclusion of their game.

Minutes of the meeting of May 16, 2005 were unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report: As Bob Keyes was attending the Recreation Commission meeting, the Treasurer’s report was deferred until next meeting. There was discussion concerning the Beacon and Rockland’s final invoices for equipment.

Business Related Issues:
¨ Local Little League Business Filings and Topics:
¨ Public Charity Filings: Craven noted that he has restarted the process and committed to completion by September 1, 2005. President Blomberg noted that it is critical that it be completed before the next Board assumes responsibility in October.
¨ Insurance Fees and Options: President Blomberg noted that 0 was returned by LL corporate as a rebate or overpayment of insurance premiums. He said that he believes it was an error on their part which will be looked into.
¨ Audit of 2003/2004 HLL Financial Results
¨ Bob Keyes has met with Alan Gladstone (CPA) and the audit is moving forward.

New Business

Player Registration-Membership Committee Report & Team Schedules
¨ Status of registration submission to LL – players and coaches. Sherman submitted over 1,000 players and volunteers to LL corporate on behalf of HLL. Out of the 1,000 submissions, only 9 errors were found (less than 1%). The corporate LL professionals were helpful in reconciling the data to eliminate the errors. It was noted that this process is insurance based – if the player or coach is not included in data submitted, they would not be covered by LL insurance.
¨ Use of HLL website for registration database. A brief discussion was held concerning next year’s registration and the possibility of doing on-line registration to eliminate or reduce the amount of manual input of data. It was noted that LL corporate sells software for this purpose – and that Hingham Youth Hockey is the only youth sports organization in Hingham that offers on-line registration. It was also noted that the use of credit cards for on-line registration will cost HLL a fee of 1% of total revenue – a price that we may not be willing to pay for the convenience. The discussion was ended with the note that it needs to be examined further.
¨ Status of Refunds. All refunds to players have been made. Igo reported that he has successfully cleared the T Ball waiting list – submitting two more registration forms.
¨ Sponsorships and Donations – Committee Report. The only outstanding issue remains Verizon, which is waiting for official submission. A discussion of single year sponsor fees was initiated by West as the fee simply covers the cost of shirts if they are replaced each year. There was discussion about changing vendors to lower the cost of the shirts, reusing the shirts with a different sponsor name, or potentially looking to increase the cost of one year sponsorship for next year.

League Rules and Local By-Law Issues

Player Agent Report – Playoff Format
¨ Majors: It was stated that last year’s playoff format worked very well and it was suggested to simply repeat the process for this year. On a motion by Craven, seconded by Letorney, the Board voted unanimously to adopt last year’s playoff format for Major Leagues.
¨ Minors (This discussion was deferred until later in the meeting to allow White and Boyle to arrive from their game). A lengthy discussion was held concerning the differing views of the minor league playoff format. At the April 27th meeting, the Board voted to move to a “blind-draw” process for determining playoff pairings in order to diminish the value of winning any single game during the season – and emphasizing the developmental mission of the minor leagues. On May 16th, the Board reversed that decision, voting to use the won-loss records of the teams as seeding for the playoffs. The basis for that decision was that the teams with the best won-loss records should be rewarded for the hard work of the players, and that the minor league managers, parents and players were opposed to the blind draw format. This issue was revisited for the final time with many views expressed, including the fact that once the Board adopts a rule for a league and communicates it to managers, it should not change that rule except under extraordinary circumstances. Many of the same discussions were held including the fact that there was a split among the minor managers – many of whom favored the blind draw system and some who favored the seeding system; the historic structural challenges of the minors leagues given the large disparity in talent between some ten year olds – and some nine year olds; the challenges in the drafting process; the large number of teams creating a diffusion of talent; and the fact that the mission of HLL, and minors in particular, is developmental, not competitive. At the end, upon motion by White, seconded by Boyle, the Board unanimously adopted a minor league playoff plan that provided first round byes to the teams with the best records from each division; with other pairings being selected by blind draw. It was also agreed that a more structural review of the minor leagues in necessary for next year, including a bottom-up review of the draft process.

Major, Minor, Farm and TBall Committee Reports

It was reported that all levels are having positive experiences with very few complaints regarding coaching, umpiring, parents or players. White noted that it is difficult with so many farm team players on a team (17) and that should be examined.


Major League All Star Game. It was noted that the Major League All Star Game will be held on Saturday, July 2nd. A discussion was held on the purpose of this game and last year’s rule that it be restricted to twelve year olds. Members of the Board noted that it is really not a league all star game – it’s more of a reward to those twelve year olds who performed at a high level are ending their HLL careers. After a motion by Craven and second by Letorney, the Board voted to again limit the Major League All Star Game to twelve year olds, with three being nominated by each of the 12 teams.

Minor League All Star Game. It was noted that the Minor League All Star Game will also be held on Saturday, July 2nd. There was discussion about the logistical difficulties of this game with the large number of teams and players. There was discussion about having two games – but the logistical difficulties of having two games over a holiday weekend were also discussed. In addition, there was discussion about limiting the game to only ten and eleven year olds, but it was pointed out by Boyle that many teams have predominantly nine year olds and the sentiment was expressed that it would be unfair to limit the nomination process to tens and elevens. Upon motion and second, the Board voted to have one Minor League All Star Game, with all age players eligible; to limit the number of player to two per team; to extend the game to seven innings; and to have a different pitcher each inning.

Craven was asked to make sure Manager’s submitted All Star names to Letorney as player agent prior to last game of season.

Manager’s Committee Report

Craven discussed that the First Aid training still needs to be scheduled; difficulties in getting a qualified instructor have delayed the session. McConville (safety officer) will arrange for South Shore Hospital personnel to hold session before end of year. Catching a pitching clinics were victims of rainout rescheduling and summer tryouts. We will attempt to reschedule catching clinics – focused on older players.

It was noted by Sherman that list of coaches for all teams have not been formally approved by the Board – however, it was also noted that all names have been submitted as part of data submitted to LL corporate, as well as for CORI checks. On a motion by Boyle, seconded by Letorney, Board voted to approve coaches list, with two exceptions (both of which were resolved within the week following the meeting).

Equipment Committee Report

West asked that the coaches do an inventory of equipment in their bags as some umpires equipment was inadvertently picked up this week, and some reports of missing equipment have surfaced. Craven was asked to email managers. Discussion that all equipment/umpire boxes have been tampered with and some equipment/bases are missing. Upon motion and second, the Board voted to approve locks for all equipment/umpire boxes.


Umpire Committee Report

Magner reported that other than a little griping about minors, umpire issues have been benign. The umpires have been enthusiastic, the feedback has been positive – including written communication from Boyle regarding positive performance of one umpire. The only issue for umpires is that there are not enough games for them.

Safety

McConville reported that the safety plan is complete except for the manager/coach meeting which will be scheduled promptly.

Challenger Division Report

President Blomberg reported progress in the Challenger Division. He held a meeting with interested parties, including Dr. Loud, where the LL video was shown. There is optimism that a program can be started in Hingham, modeling successful programs in Braintree and Norwood. It was noted by Flanagan that Fox News recently showed a very positive TV piece on Norwood’s program.

Social Committee Report.

Letorney reported that the Golf Tournament is on for September 21st. He noted that hole sponsors are wanted.

Sandlot.

Boyle reported that adult volunteers are needed to oversee Hingham Rec’s sandlot program to be held at Hersey Field Tuesday and Friday mornings, July 11 through early August, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. He said Hingham Rec is uncomfortable with only a high school student attending when 9 to 12 year olds are playing. Board members volunteered and Boyle would seek others out to cover the time periods in question.

Summer Travel Baseball

Discussion regarding summer travel tryouts including Williamsport Team, Cooperstown Team, Suburban Teams and South River Teams. Schedule was shown (9’s and 10’s on Saturday, June 11th; 12’s and 11’s on Friday and Saturday, June 17th and 18th, respectively). Board member who don’t have player eligible for that level will be eligible to judge. Coaches Committee, along with summer coordinator, Elliot Sherman will be responsible for the review of all coaches interested in coaching in the summer.




New Business

District 8 Meeting: It was discussed that we should have the Williamsport Manager selected prior to June 15th District 8 Meeting, as scheduling, rules for the tournament would be discussed. It was determined that Rich Magner should attend that meeting, as he will either be manager or a coach of that team.

Schedule for Upcoming Meetings.

It will be determined in next few weeks whether a June 20th meeting will be necessary. Only topic at time would seem to be July 4th parade. President Blomberg to notify Board Members.

Upon motion and second, the meeting of June 7th was adjourned.