Hingham Little League Board of Directors Meeting
May 16, 2005
Hingham Recreation Center

Meeting Agenda

The thirty second meeting of the Hingham Little League Board of Directors was called to order by President Rob Blomberg at 7:35 pm.

Attendees: Rob Blomberg, Mark Igo, Steve White, Elliot Sherman,
Cliff Boyle, Tim Driscoll, Rich Magner, Paul LeBlanc, Rick Linehan, Bob Keyes, Melissa Flanagan, Tia Mastromatteo Rick West, Joe Granatino, Owen McConville
Absent.: Mike Letorney, Tim Zyrkowski, Bruce Corwin, Joe Craven


Secretary’s Report
· Approval of Meeting Minutes from 4/27/04 Meeting
o Minutes accepted, to be posted by Tim Driscoll

Treasurer’s Report
· Current Balance
o ,005
· Outstanding Expenses
o Beacon Sports bill is outstanding for major expense, expect ,000.
o Little League fees, owe 0

Business Related Issues

· Local Little League Business Filings and Topics
o Articles of Incorporation-Renewal
§ Received
o Public Charity Filings
o Status of 501 (3) c Form
§ Still in progress, Joe Craven working on
o Insurance Fees and Options
§ Status of filing revised version
·
· National Little League Business Filings
o Charter Application
· Received
o Charter Fees
· Preliminary version filed
· Owe 0 for additional team
· Additional waivers, rosters, etc due June 6, 2005
· All 800+ players need to be added to LL database manually – Elliot is taking the lead on this.
· Audit of 2003/2004 HLL Financial Results
o Status of Audit
· In progress; need 501(3) c paperwork, no rush at this team
· HLL Constitution and HLL By-Laws
o Copies to All Board Members (Electronically)
· Version needs to be updated to reflect 2005, not 2004. Also to review number of Board Members (now 19). Mark Igo was assigned to make changes (or forward Word version to Tim D to take care of).
· Additional discussion regarding ability to break out the master schedule into divisions, difficult to read. Tim D will forward request to Mark Igo.
o Posted on HLL Web Site
· As above, need some minor corrections

New Business

· Player Registration-Membership Committee Report & Team Schedules
o Rick Linehan and Elliot Sherman are Co-Chairpersons
o Update/Issues
· Status of Registration Submission to Little League
· Use of HLL website for registration database
o Status of Refunds
· Completed
o Location of Missing 9/10 Year Old Registration Binder
· Rick Linehan may be holding the purloined binder, will follow up
o Schedules
· Outstanding Issues
· Fortunately had left open Saturdays, all Majors games washed out on May 8th were replayed May 14th. Farm League makeup for May 7th games make up date is Sunday, June 12th. A Minors game also rescheduled. Thank you Rick Linehan for handling the scheduling!

· Sponsorships and Donations-Committee Report
o Chairpersons are Melissa Flanagan and Tia Mastromatteo
o Outstanding Issues
· 501 (c) (3) form required for Verizon sponsorship remains outstanding
· All but one Sponsor have paid in full for their commitments. Melissa is in progress with the outstanding sponsor, no issues just the paperwork to be complete
· Tia reported that Talbots is still interesting in sponsorship, and although no openings at this time, we will continue to work with them for other opportunities – potential for All Star uniforms or other arrangement. Tia to follow up.

League Rules and Local By-Law Issues

· Player Agent Report
o Mike Letorney is Player Agent
o Status of Draft
· Additional followup responses to inquiries regarding 11 year olds not playing in Majors
· Rob has communicated with all families who made inquiries of the board regarding the selection process. It was noted that this issue is not new, according to a former Board member of Hingham Youth Baseball as discussed in a conversation with a current Board member.
· Major League Committee Report
o Joe Granatino is Chairperson
o Review and Approval of Revised Major’s Rules
· Joe reviewed the rules changes/updates etc. of the Major’s Rules. Highlights include:
· Number of games will change to ‘number of scheduled games will be decided by the Board of Directors at the start of the season’. Currently reads 16 games.
· Change reference to game times to be ’10 minutes after scheduled game start time’ and ‘1 hour before scheduled game start time’, to replace references to ‘6:10pm’ or ‘6:00pm’.
· Change ‘due to rain’ to add ‘due to rain or poor field conditions’
· All Majors players must play in the field 4 innings, with the exception of the case where the home team is winning the game at the end of 5 ½ innings
· Add ‘only uniformed players, Manager, 2 coaches, and scorekeeper are to on bench / in dugout or in field during the game.’ No exceptions.
· Mercy rule clarified – 15 runs after 3 ½ innings
· Change that ‘Playoff seedings to be determined by the Board of Directors’ . All teams will make the playoffs.
· Reminder – there is no on deck circle, no player shall have a bat other than the batter. This rule applies to all divisions.
· Coaches are not allowed to warm up pitchers. Players warming up pitcher must wear catcher’s mask
· In course of discussion, reminder that NO ALCOHOL is allowed at any of the town fields, no exceptions.
· Reviewed policy that Managers and Coaches are not allowed to wear uniform shirts on the field (Little League rule).
· A motion was made and passed to accept the proposed Majors Rules as outlined by Joe. The final official revisions to the rules will be distributed and posted to the website as soon as possible. (Tim will post significant changes/updates to website)

· Minor League Committee Report
o Paul LeBlanc is the Chairperson
o Review and Approval of Revised Minor’s Rules
· Paul reviewed the rules changes/updates etc. of the Minor’s Rules. Rules discussed in detail. Highlights include:
· Clarification of ‘overthrow’ issue. A motion was made and passed that the rule state ‘no player shall not advance on an overthrow at 3rd base’
· Discussion regarding Playoff seedings. It was noted that many Minors managers and players do not agree to ‘blind draw’ system for playoffs as previously discussed. A motion was made to have playoff seedings conducted by a blind draw. This was not passed. A motion was then made and passed to seed teams by record, top to bottom, with byes and draw pairings to be determined by the Board of Directors.
· A motion was made and passed to accept the proposed Minors Rules as outlined by Paul. The final official revisions to the rules will be distributed and posted to the website as soon as possible. (Tim will post significant changes/updates to website)

· Farm League Committee
o Chairperson is Tim Driscoll
o Outstanding Issues?
· Makeup dates for farm
· As above, rainouts of 5/7 rescheduled for 6/12. There is not a lot of room for future makeups if subsequent rainouts occur

· TBall Committee
o Chairperson is Mark Igo
o Outstanding Issues?
· There are 3 kids on waiting list, Mark hopes to place them soon

· Manager’s Committee Report
o Joe Craven is Chairperson
o Outstanding Issues
· Upcoming training for Managers, Coaches and players
· First Aid session == TBD
· Catching clinic === TBD
· Pitching clinic === TBD
· Status of practice manual for HLL
· Status of CORI checks for managers and players
· Rick Linehan reports good progress, must be uploaded to database still. Elliot asked for list of all coaches and managers to review that all are Members and have paid dues for 2005. Rick and/or Joe please follow up.

· Equipment Committee Report
o Rick West is Chairperson
o Outstanding issues involving equipment or other items
· Uniforms-missing sponsor names and patches
· Discussed missing sponsor names – these are from additional shirts ordered for Summer teams last year, only Tarzia and McCusker have extras without names. Rob will talk with Leo Peloquin about getting the sponsor names on all the extra shirts.
· Patches are not on all shirts on Majors. There are some patches in stock, discussed issue without resolution. May want to wait until end of season to have patches sewn on shirts.
o Status of batting cage at Haley/Cronin
· Base to be poured tomorrow, weather permitting. Cage will be available on 1st come 1st served basis, to be located at Cronin behind the police station
o Temporary Pitching Mound at South School
· Joe Craven has ordered the mound
Other
· Additional bill expected from Rockland for baseballs. Beacon bill is in the mail and will need review. Misspelled sponsors shirts have been replaced with corrections.
· Rick displayed helmet with mask. We have 25 new helmets and masks that will be attached and distributed as soon as possible.

· Umpire Committee Report
o Rich Magner is Chairperson
· Outstanding issues
· Receiving very positive comments on the umpiring as a whole, the kids are doing a terrific job. No issues reported. Umpires meet every Wednesday night for assignments etc, Rich will update them on Minors 3rd base overthrow rule and infield fly. All of the umpires should have shirts by now, and Rich will remind them of proper footwear, etc. Rich reports that there are not enough games to go around for all the umpires.

· Outstanding issues Safety Committee
o Owen McConville-Chairperson
o Further discussion of details of ASAP Program (A Safety Awareness Program)
· Papers filed, several items were questioned and require followup (ie dates for First Aid clinic). Owen will continue completion of the necessary paperwork.
· Outstanding issues
· No significant issues

· Challenger Division Report
o Chairpersons are Rob Blomberg, Joe Granatino and Tia Mastromatteo
o Tabled until Fall, 2005 or Spring, 2006
o PAC Meeting on 6/3/05
· A few more have expressed interest. Rob and Joe will attend PAC meeting. Notice was printed in the PAC Newsletter which was recently mailed.

· Buildings, Property and Grounds Committee Report
o Cliff Boyle and Tim Zyrkowski-Co-Chairs
· Rob noted that Tim Z is doing yeoman’s work on the lining and raking of the fields, they look in great shape – thank you Tim!
o Status of Existing Playing Fields-Haley, Hersey and PAL Fields
· Hingham Rec Permit Requirements
· Await confirmation on request for Haley, Hersey and PAL fields
· Status of .00 charged per player per team
o Update on use of Hingham School Department Fields
· Permit filed for use of Hingham School Department Fields
· Permits received for Hingham High School and South School fields
· Status of .00 per player user fee will be imposed by Hingham School Department
o Status of order of dirt/clay for all fields
· Delivered
o Status of rebuilding mounds at PAL
· Mounds look good, but not built up. Dirt is at PAL. We can go ahead and build up the mounds according to Rec. Cliff will follow up on this item and coordinate.

· Social Committee Report
o Chairpersons are Melissa Flanagan and Tia Mastromatteo
o Identify potential fundraisers
· Golf tournament is 9/21/05
· Other suggestions
· Tia discussed some opportunities she is looking into in addition to golf, such as fashion show, cocktail party, dinner dance perhaps, something to appeal to a broader audience. Tia will continue to work on these ideas.


· Publicity Committee/Opening Day
o Melissa Flanagan is Chairperson
o Recap of Opening Day
· Thank you letters to the non-Board members
· A few noted – Bob Madden, Lou Alvarado, Mike L.’s neighbor. Melissa to follow up.

· Concession Committee
o Elliot Sherman is chairperson
o Status of concession stand at PAL Field
o Status of volunteers and start date
· Only 3 volunteers stepped forward, so it was decided to table this great idea until next season. Thanks Elliot for the legwork done on this project, they all don’t move forward.

· Calendar of Events
o Review HLL Calendar of Events for potential changes to the Calendar
o Updated Calendar posted on the website
· Some additions have been posted by Tim D.
· Discussion re: dedication at Hersey. An idea was brought up to possibly select 4 Minors All Stars Teams due to the number of players, and was generally agreed that this is a great idea! Will put on agenda for further discussion at subsequent meeting.

· Hingham Little League Website
o Status of additional content for the HLL Website
o Use of scheduling software
o Use of web banners
· No report

· PAL Field Conversion/Tom Hastings land swap
o Followup to Town Meeting vote
· Article passed Town Meeting
· Elliot reports that this process will take some time before we see any movement, will keep on the radar screen

· Other New Business
o Sandlot
· Request by Hingham Rec for Hingham Little League to run this program
· Discussion on whether HLL as the stewards of youth baseball in Hingham could take this on. Need to get some traction on this item as Rec is looking for help. 2 games per week, Tues and Thurs from 9 – 12 for six weeks, ending in August, for 9-12 yr olds. Needs significant coordination and volunteerism from some adults to make this work. Need to have position by first week of June for the next Rec meeting. Cliff agreed to investigate further, and Bob offered to assist, will follow up with Ted Carroll of Rec. Need volunteers, maybe should post to website?
o Summer Travel Baseball
· Williamsport team
o Much discussion on the makeup of the Williamsport team. Last year HLL restricted to 12 year olds only. This decision was brought to further discussion, and a Motion was made and passed to have the selection committee use all Little League regulations to be able to pick the most competitive team, which can include any Major League player of age 11 or 12 who is a resident of Hingham. Discussed makeup of the Selection committee, and agreed to appoint the HLL non-coach Board Members to do the judging, as long as they have no kids in the tryout. Dates – Friday June 17, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm at Haley Field, then Saturday June 18, 9:00 am – 10:30am.
· Suburban teams
· South River teams
o Tryouts for both leagues as follows:
§ TBD – 12 year olds (after June 18th)
§ TBD – 11 year olds (after June 18th)
§ Sat June 11th – 8:30 – 10:00 – 10 year olds
§ Sat June 11th – 10:00 – 12:00 – 9 year olds
o Coaching Committee with select the managers.

· Schedule for Upcoming Meetings
o Monday 6/6/05
o Monday 6/20/05
o Monday 7/11/05
o Monday 8/8/05
o Monday 9/12/05
o Monday 10/3/05
o Monday 10/24/05 (Annual Meeting)

Meeting was adjourned at 10:05 pm.

Note: Tim Driscoll will be out of town June 6th, need someone to fill in with the minutes.