Hingham Little League-Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes
Rec Center June 12, 2006 8:00 PM


Meeting was called to order at 8:15 p.m.

Attendees:
Rob Blomberg; Steve White, Elliot Sherman, Bruce Corwin, Bob Madden, Owen McConville, Melissa Flanagan, Joe Craven, Rick Linehan, Rich Magner, Tim Driscoll

Secretary’s Report

· Approve 5/22/06 Meeting Minutes
o Approved; Tim to post to the Website

Treasurer’s Report
· Current Balance 46,135
· Outstanding Expenses
o Rockland (~ 6000)
o Hingham Lumber (~ 2800) – Speedy Dri, dugouts, etc.
o Port a Potties (~ 2500).
o Umpires (~ 1200/week, more expected for 3 umpires in playoffs)
· Status of User Fee to Hingham Rec
o 5.00 per player owed or ( 4,325) based on final player headcount
· Audit of 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 HLL Financial Results
o Status of Audits

Business Related Issues

· National Little League Business Filings
o No report

New Business

· Player/Manager Registration-Membership Committee Report & Team Schedules
o Database Status
· Submission filed for the 865 Little League-Players plus Managers/Coaches
· List of players submitted to Rec
· All went into Little League as well as scheduled June 2nd. Over 1000 players, Managers, Volunteers
o CORI status for managers
· Rick is formatting for final delivery to LL.

· Sponsorships and Donations-Committee Report
o Outstanding Issues
· Status of Verizon sponsorship (2004-2006)
· Second check came in for 0. This season outstanding still, but in process, we’ll submit paperwork and continue to track.

League Rules and Local By-Law Issues

· Player Agent Report
· Outstanding Issues?

· Major League & Minor League Committee Report
o Playoff Update
· Minor’s Trophy?
· To be ordered by Ed with Rockland

· Farm League and TBall Committee Report
· Extension of Season
· Extended season by 1 game. 16 games rescheduled for this week, many eager Managers and players
· No reschedule for T-Ball – lost games due to weather

· Manager’s Committee Report
· Meeting-5/30-Feedback
· Outstanding Issues
· Playoff schedules and good review of procedures was held. Recommendation that we should have meetings with managers again before the season or as it gets underway. Would be beneficial after all Mgrs/Coaches are selected

· All Star Game-Saturday-6/17
o Schedule
· Minor’s All Star Game, Minor’s Championship Trophies, Minor’s Roadrunner, Major’s Road Runner, Home Run Contest, Majors Championship Trophy and Major’s All Star Game
· Minors won’t be crowned due to scheduling, Majors may not be crowned either pending outcome of 6/15 game
· Minors start at 10:30 am
· Roadrunner race at 12:00 pm
· Majors at about 2:00 pm
· Innings count for pitchers are still intact. Players in playoffs still have to follow regular season rules, i.e. innings pitched, number of days rest, etc. if they pitch in All Star game.
· Minors – Question raised as to who gets to Coach? Teams will be determined tomorrow, i.e., managers of Finals teams will coach the All Stars.
o Logistics
· Food, drinks, grille, PA system, etc.
· Applebee’s will provide hotdogs (10:30am!)
· Dunkin Donuts on board
· Water from Monadnock
· PA all set, thanks Bonnard Fage
· PowerAde from Coca-Cola. Share with Babe Ruth for their Sunday Tournament-approved
o Need Grill from Rec to be set up
o Police detail to be ordered
o Balloon lady on order
o Bunting, signs etc. Good to have them up on the series
o Announcement in the paper
o Rain date is Sunday June 18.
o Shirts , hats, trophies, on order and expected Thurs or Friday


· Equipment Committee Report
o Base tarps in place
· Really helpful, good call on this Ed and Bob.
o Inventory of Returning Equipment & Uniforms
· Starting to come in. Pick up day is Saturday at All Star Game.
o Status of order of Williamsport Uniforms
· Ready at end of the week
o Storage Space
· Ed inquire if we can upgrade the storage space in Weymouth? Consensus was yes, knowing that the program and equipment storage requirements are growing. Ed ill pursue extra space.
o Requests for Boathouse Jackets are coming in. Should we sponsor this? Question was posed to Board, does someone want to take this on?
· Ed Anderson will look into this possibility. Also, will work with Elliot to see if we could electronically thru Active website.


· Umpire Committee Report
· Manager Issues
· Additional Topics?
· Additional money needed for the kids, 3 umps in the rest of the games (playoffs and All Star Games). Funding approved. Rick Linehan will work with Rich Magner as agreed this week.

· Safety Committee Report
o ASAP Program (A Safety Awareness Program) Approved
· Accident Reports
· Approved by the Little League
· Couple of injuries should have reports (4 kids) filed. Owen will follow up.

· Buildings, Property and Grounds Committee Report
o Status of Rec Fields-Haley, Hersey, PAL, Kress and Powers/Central Fields
· Outstanding Issue
· Rec Commission meeting tomorrow, neighbor complaints about Hersey Field continue. Noted that some discussion about possibly shutting down access by the Commission due to dust which turned into mud with the mulch that was laid down by DPW.
· Any other Board members please attend for ‘on behalf of HLL, etc.
· Some solutions are being investigated
· Question of when Kress backstop was received from Rec? We are not in position to do anything more on this item, as decided at last meeting.

· Social Committee Report
o Recap of HLL Garden Party, June 10th
· Very well received, thanks all for the help from Melissa and volunteers
· Near the 00 mark for proceeds
· Thank you’s are in order for our hosts and the helpers
· Agreed to designate fundraising proceeds in a separate account for purpose of scholarship funding; needs followup

· Cross-Hingham Baseball Liasion Committee
· Scholarship selection process
· Committee-Rick, Rich and Rob
· 0 will be awarded
· We didn’t get in on time for the graduation, but we will give out on Monday at 3:00pm for HHS Baseball cookout party

· Williamsport Teams (Two teams-one from each Division)
§ Selection Process-Players
· Ten players per team voted have been voted in
o Completed at last Manager meeting
§ There were 6 voted in, 5 way tie for last slots in American League. Needed a revote (4 of 5), there was still one tie. Subcommittee determined the 11 due to tie and possibility of some players opting out.
§ Once manager is named in each league, must contact each of the 11 to let them know of election, and to note that if player accepts they won’t be able to play in any other game in any other league
§ National League – 9 voted in 1st ballot. One tie, 4 players. Sent to managers who broke the tie on second vote
· Some players are known to not being able to play. But manager needs to offer the slots before filling.

o Managers will notify the ten selected players to determine if they will play
o Managers will then select 2-4 additional players
· Team cannot be announced until 6/15/06
· Team cannot begin practice until 6/15/06
§ Selection Process-Managers
· Options – to add to list of potential for Managers, there was discussion on merits/drawbacks of having a Manager nominated from a pool of non-elected players to fulfill this role. Agreed that it was not a requirement that selection come from an eligible manager with a player previously elected onto the team.
· Coaching Committee Recommendations for Managers
o Manager recommendations for American League proposed Colin Pomroy and Ron Minassian
o Vote was taken narrow review – Ron Minassian was approved as Manager.
o No other candidates offered for American League
o National League – no formal recommendation was made
§ Bob Madden and Tim Driscoll interested in role and thus nominated
· Others expressed interest in assisting
· Vote taken and Tim Driscoll was approved as Manager.

§ Upcoming District Meetings
· In Abington 6/15 to provide tournament details.
· To be attended by Rob (President), Elliot (VP), Ron Minassian, Tim Driscoll, Bob Madden

· Summer Baseball
§ Selection Process
· Additional discussion on communication of various programs and options
o Coaches are selected for Suburban and South River Leagues.


· Other New Business
o Luke McDermott Scholarship Fund
§ Does HLL want to take a role in this?
· Is this a request for donation? Joe Craven will look into the details for the next meeting 6/26. South School has a scholarship set up. General consensus of the board was to contribute funds to the program.
o Sandlot Baseball-Summer 2006
§ Will HLL coordinate Sandlot again in 2006?
· Mark Gillespie and Ivan Bermejo were guests at the meeting. They have run the program over the past years. Last season was the first the HLL sponsored the program
o Proposal discussed for support again of HLL
o Expected fee .00 per kid - there were some losses last summer due to expenses vs. revenue brought in (in the 00 range)
o Question posed - Can HLL Insurance cover the players? The Summer program can’t afford themselves
o Considered that Rec user fee ( per player) that were paid by the kids already.
o Concern was voiced over allowing non-Hingham residents, and how we ensure coverage.
§ Expenses include
§ 4 kids that work for / day
§ Uniform, baseballs, shirts, pizza party
o Have made 00 in the past
o Rec had previously run this program but asked HLL to step in last year
§ Can we help out with Insurance for the program?
§ If open to only Hingham Little Leaguers only? This might work
o Will need a form, with release signed and to be turned in to HLL. Form will be posted on the website
o Monies will go thru Hingham Little League – agreed to work with the program on this item
o Motion to support Sandlot was made – With the provision for Hingham Little League kids eligible only – to ensure we have adequate coverage. We can provide out database list to the program for cross reference
§ Motion passed

· Discussion of Zero Tolerance Policy and Violations
o Two suspensions were issued during the week of 6/5 for violations regarding the Zero Tolerance Policy.
o One of the concerned parties was present at the meeting as to discuss the incident in question
o Incidents involved inappropriate discussions with umpires during games causing comments to follow from the coaches
o One game suspension was handed down by the President according to Little League Rules. Involved parties were notified about tonight’s meeting and to give them the ability to attend the Board Meeting. The circumstances surrounding the one game suspension was discussed in some detail and debated, summarized below:
§ Zero Tolerance Policy item – no one is to speak directly to the umpires except Managers of the team, and that was clearly violated in this instance based on accounts
§ President has the role/authority to hand down action of one game suspensions for any violation.
§ Motion to extend suspensions was made but not seconded
§ Subsequent to discussion, a motion was made and passed to approve the suspension as handed out within the terms and conditions of the Zero Tolerance Policy and the authority of the President of the league to issues such suspension. Motion passed.

· Opportunity for 8 year Old Travel Team in the Friendship League

o We have been contacted regarding interest in fielding an eight year old team in the ‘Friendship’ League in Braintree. Maybe 1 or 2 slots open, 8 game schedule, is this a good idea? Most agreed that it would be great.
o If we want to do it would need a leader. Joe Craven volunteered to look into the opportunity further.
§ Season Review-Manager’s Posting of Website and Rule Enforcement
· Need to make sure all Managers post their pitching after each game. It was obvious results were not posted for one reason or another, but in all fairness this should be 100% compliance as a few issues arose during the playoffs – this could have been avoided with more diligence to posting Pitcher’s innings after each game.
· Suggestion to the next Board be more strict on compliance next season, with a warning and possible suspension for Managers not posting pitching results in a reasonable timeframe on web site to avoid similar incidents.

· Meeting Adjourned-10:25 pm-

· Schedule for Upcoming Meetings
o 6/26/06 @ 8:00 pm
o 7/10/06
o 8/7/06
o 9/11/06
o 10/2/06
o 10/23/06 (Annual Meeting)