Hingham Little League Board of Directors Meeting
August 8, 2005
Hingham Recreation Center
8:15 pm

Meeting Minutes


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

Meeting was called to order at 8:21 pm.

Secretary’s Report
• Approval of Meeting Minutes from 6/20/05 and 7/11/05 Meetings
o Minutes for both meetings were approved and will be posted to the website by Tim Driscoll

Treasurer’s Report
• Current Balance - ,629
• Outstanding Expenses – Expect several small miscellaneous bills to settle, including some equipment expenses, balance expected to be +/- ,000. Bob mentioned that we’ll likely need to help next year with continued improvements for Hersey, particularly concerning water for the parking areas, etc.
• User Fee Issue- Hingham School Department Fields
o Status of .00 per player user fee will be imposed by Hingham School Department
 No report

Business Related Issues

• Local Little League Business Filings and Topics
o Public Charity Filings
 Status of 501 (3) c Form
Joe has done a substantial amount of work on the 501(3)c forms, distributed copies for discussion. Needs information for several points; will get some information from Alan Gladstone re: last season financials and he is aware of it, will cover in an upcoming meeting. Joe is also looking for the League Constitution, noted that it is available on the website. Also requested that we have copy of the entire website printed for supporting documentation for the application, Mark Igo has volunteered to print and get to Joe. As part of our review, we reviewed our use of bbi marketing since Mark Igo is president of bbi and also serves on the HLL Board. Whenever issues of the use of bbi arose Mark abstained from voting. The HLL Board has agreed that bbi has produced and continues to perform work for the HLL Board which is of good quality at a fair price.

o Insurance Fees and Options
 Rob noted that due to bookkeeping mixups with the National Little League offices, we have a credit balance of 5, effectively paid this year’s fees twice. This will be applied to next years fees.
• Audit of 2003/2004 HLL Financial Results
o Status of Audit
• Bob will set up a meeting with accountant Alan Gladstone, reports that he has spoken with Alan and he is set to go .

New Business

• Player Registration-Membership Committee Report & Team Schedules
o Rick Linehan and Elliot Sherman are Co-Chairpersons
o Outstanding Issues?
• No report

• 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
• As above, the 501(c) (3) application should be submitted shortly and then we’ll be able to close this item
• Distribution of Sponsorship Plaques
• Several plaques have been distributed in person; Rob went to several last week with positive feedback. Melissa will provide a list of outstanding plaques to be distributed, and is looking for volunteers. Joe Granatino volunteered to hand some out.

League Rules and Local By-Law Issues

• Player Agent Report
o Mike Letorney is Player Agent
• Player Evaluation Forms?
• Discussion on value of attempting to do this year, many merits to doing so for successive years, but too late to organize this year. A MOTION was made and a VOTE taken to not take this up this year and PASSED.
• Outstanding Issues

• Major League Committee Report
o Joe Granatino is Chairperson
• Revised Major’s Rules
• Discussed significant rules adjustments. Rob distributed the updated rules for Majors and Minors. Among other minor items, discussed rule change regarding whether or not to REQUIRE that every player have an opportunity to play in the infield in each game. A vote was taken and the Board ruled not in favor of making this a requirement. Primarily at issue was a concern for safety on behalf of many of the Board members / coaches on hand. It was noted that most will attempt to grant equal opportunity to the players and should be managed on a case by case basis.
• A second item discussed was the rule regarding allowing a pitcher to pitch 6 innings in a game. Concerns included potentially pushing the pitchers too much in one game. Little League rules mandate only 6 innings per week per player. A MOTION was made to honor this rule, and to not extend a local rule to mandate a restriction on how many innings a player can pitch in one game. So PASSED, each player can pitch up to six innings per week, and there are no restrictions that can limit a pitcher to a certain amount of innings per game, in accordance with Little League rules.
• Discussion on review of the rules regarding the use of sunflower seeds. Our current rules restrict use of sunflower seeds, and the issue was discussed at some length. There was input that many didn’t honor this, and that it was not considered to be a dangerous practice. A VOTE was taken and PASSED to eliminate this restriction of sunflower seeds on the playing field.
• Regarding the Player Evaluation Sheets which was part of the rules, a VOTE was taken and PASSED that we eliminate this requirement from the rules, although consensus was that it would be a good practice, it would need more attention and needs to be enforced in subsequent years.
• Discussion followed regarding the placement and selection of the All Star team candidate distribution among the teams. Should those teams with the best records in the season have more representatives for the All Star Game was at issue. A MOTION was made and PASSED to allow the top 2 teams in each division to send 4 players to the game, while all others shall have 3 representatives.

• Minor League Committee Report
o Paul LeBlanc is the Chairperson
• Revised Minor’s Rules
• As above, many of the rule changes apply to the Minor Leagues.
• Significant changes pertaining to the Minor League Rules as follows:
• Minors must play out ties in accordance with Little League rules. A situation occurred this past season that the game ended in a tie, and this is not part of the rules. All games must be played to completion in accordance with Little League rules
• A MOTION was made and vote PASSED to require that every Minor League player shall play at least 1 inning in the infield during every game. It was noted that this is a development league, and each player should be given the opportunity to experience all facets of the game.
• A MOTION was made to adapt the rule of tagging up from 3rd Base be INCLUDED. A vote was taken and PASSED that a revision/clarification of the rule ALLOWS PLAYERS TO TAG UP when at Third base.
• A MOTION was made and the vote PASSED to accept the rule changes as discussed and outlined. The updated rules will be posted to the website.

• Manager’s Committee Report
o Joe Craven is Chairperson
o Outstanding Issues?
• Training dates for Managers, Coaches and Players
• Status of practice manual for HLL
• Boys Of Baseball-9/05 Session
• Reimbursements For Managers & Coaches Who Attend the Session
• Discussion ensued regarding the positive value this program brings to our program, and a MOTION was made and PASSED to have the BOARD subsidize the cost of the program for the Managers and Coaches to attend. It was agreed that we should encourage participation at no cost to those responsible for teaching the kids. Please encourage all coaches and managers involved in HLL to attend this valuable training session that benefits us all.
• Training Sessions-External Requests
• Discussion involving a request from a High School player to affiliate with HLL to run clinics for the kids. Although a good idea, a VOTE was taken and PASSED to not sponsor private arrangements as so described on behalf of Hingham Little League. A response to the High School Player will be provided, and we appreciate the offer. There is no reason this outside program can’t continue without our sponsorship and we applaud the initiative.

• Equipment Committee Report
o Rick West is Chairperson
o Status of Equipment Return
• One more time, many outstanding issues with coaches not returning equipment bags as mandated. There will be another return date scheduled by Mark/Rick to ensure we can bring equipment to storage facility, and to prepare Major and Minor shirts for storage with Lapels Dry Cleaning --- DATE OF RETURN TBD
o Outstanding issues involving equipment or other items
• Uniforms-missing sponsor names and patches-will wait until end of the season
o Status of batting cage at Haley/Cronin
• We have not been billed as yet for our share of the funding for the Batting Cage, and need to follow up to ensure it is erected for next season. There was some question whether we committed to paying 1/3 or ½ of the bill, Bob will follow up on the status.

• Umpire Committee Report
o Rich Magner is Chairperson
• Outstanding issues?
• None. Can’t overstate how pleased we were with this program, issues were minimal, and the kids learned a great deal. Thanks to Rich Magner and Mark Igo for sponsoring the development of the umpires at all levels this season in this valuable extension of our program.

• Safety Committee
o Owen McConville-Chairperson
o Approval of ASAP Program (A Safety Awareness Program)
• Other outstanding issues?
• We are accredited, thanks to Owen for your efforts. It was noted that this should be posted to the website.

• Challenger Division Report
o Chairpersons are Rob Blomberg, Joe Granatino and Tia Mastromatteo
o Tabled until Fall, 2005 or Spring, 2006

• Buildings, Property and Grounds Committee Report
o Cliff Boyle and Tim Zyrkowski-Co-Chairs
o Status of order of dirt/clay for all fields
o General maintenance issues and topics
• End of the season thanks to the tireless efforts on Tim’s behalf of ensuring our fields were ready for play all season long.

• Social Committee Report
o Chairpersons are Melissa Flanagan and Tia Mastromatteo
o Identify potential fundraisers
• Golf tournament is 9/21/05
• Mike Letorney provided and update, all is going well. Mailing will go out in August and Mike could use some volunteers to assist the fundraising effort, particularly on game day of the tournament. Funding for the tournament is modest, and all agreed that the expected expenditures for the event are well balanced by the expected profits to the organization. Mike will provide a balance sheet after the event.
• Other suggestions?

• Publicity Committee/Opening Day/Fourth of July Float
o Melissa Flanagan is Chairperson
• Outstanding Issues?

• Calendar of Events
o Post updated Calendar on the website

• Sandlot
o Cliff Boyle is chairperson
• Status of Sandlot
• Status of volunteers, costs, equipment and other details
• There was discussion on the balance sheet for this program, many of our questions regarding where monies were spent and for what purpose. Cliff was not present, Rob to follow up on the financial aspects. Reports were that kids showed up, with supervision, and all had a great time. Will need a report for next Board meeting on financial aspects.

• Summer Travel Baseball
• Update on Travel Teams
• Williamsport team
o A good run for our 12 year olds, thanks to all who contributed
• Suburban teams
o No report
• South River teams
o No report

• Schedule for Upcoming Meetings
o Monday 9/12/05
o Monday 10/3/05
o Monday 10/24/05 (Annual Meeting)

New Business
• Joe Craven is now heading up the Hingham High School Baseball Club and inquired about the potential for using our mailing list to attract interest in that endeavor. Discussion ensued whether this is a potential conflict, and it was noted that Little League rules may prohibit sharing of the mailing list. This question was deferred to further investigation; suggested that use of the Hingham Youth Hockey mailing list wouldn’t be prohibited and likely would reach many of the same families without compromising the Little League rules. Issue to be investigated further.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:15 pm.