Hingham Little League
Board Meeting Agenda
Monday, December 18, 2006
7:00 PM
Attendees:

Ed Anderson ,Tim Driscoll, Melissa Flanagan, Bill Ford,
Joe Higgins, Skip Jenkins, Rick Linehan, Bob Madden, Owen McConville, Patrick McCullom, Elliot Sherman, Tony Viola, Andy Wheeler
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m.
Approval of minutes from last meeting –Tim Driscoll
· Minutes of 11/28 meeting approved
League Business Update – Ed Anderson
· Inquiry re: possibility for exception for fielding 1 Williamsport team for HLL was made by Ed with the Eastern Regional LL. Request was denied based on the numbers of players registered
· Charter application is in process
· League administration clinic for Eastern Region is scheduled for January 28 and 29th in Bristol. Ed is planning on attending. Invitations open to board members as well, including Player Agent and Safety Officer sessions
· League is also doing roadshows in RI and NH, dates to be announced
Treasurer’s Report – Rick Linehan
· Balance is 25,000, minus 5,000 that is earmarked for the scholarship fund
· Rick met with Alan Gladstone and has provided the Annual Report for 2006. Annual filings for 2007 are complete as well waiting for signatures. We will post the Annual Report on the website (complete, posted under Board of Directors link.)
Haley Field Update
· Looking into the issue of potentially replacing the infield dirt/clay, estimates approximately 7,000k for red clay / infield replacement. Thanks to Steve Salerno from Cohasset who has provided valuable information for us based on experiences with their fileds. Matt sent a detailed email to Ed regarding his opinions and ideas, including the program to add mix into some of their fields.
· Rec Commission has approached us regarding outstanding tab for monies owed to Diamond Turf company. This outfit was hired on as contractor for the fields in 2006. The funds were supposed to be available from the user fees we paid last year (4,000k) for that purpose, but there is another shortfall.
· Reviewed and discussed the outstanding invoices from Diamond. Their bid for new repairs is 5200k, not including the materials.
· Herzog Landscaping bid was also discussed – 3100k for mix, labor and irrigation repair is 3900 = 7000k bid total. This outfit has a more attractive bid.
· Comment made that we will likely have to work also on any new fields we need – there will likely be expenditures.
· Discussed option of just having maintenance done on Haley and Hersey, expecting to pay 2000 – 3000 dollars for biweekly work.
· Suggestions also to have field tilled, and possibly just crowning the bases would work as well.
· Will need a written proposal either way to give to the Recreation Committee
· Agreed that we need to something with Haley, but probably short of full replacement of the infield due to costs. The maintenance program will need to be discussed in whole with Recreation department. Suggest we have a meeting with them in the beginning of January first to discuss planning for preseason. Ed will invite their representatives to our next Board meeting on January 8th

Playing Fields for 2007
Recreation Dept Fields
· Haley and Hersey – all week. Might make sense to schedule earlier games on Saturdays at 8 – 10 – 12 – 2 – 4 – 6 . This idea was met with general agreement that we could fit in more games utilizing these hours, as we can’t start play on Sunday’s until 12:00pm. We could then use Sundays as rainout dates and schedule in some minors games as well.
· Kress – Sat, Sun, Mon, Fri last season. Would like to expand if possible; take up with Rec.
· Central/Powers – Sat, Sun, Fri. Suitable for T-Ball? Farm?
· Bradley Woods – Practice only. Owned by the neighborhood association; no parking is a definite issue.
· Hull Street – Practice only?
School Fields
· South – Sat, Sun, Tuesday
· Plymouth River? May need fencing for dugouts, but is next best option for Minors
· Foster School? – could do for T-Ball, Farm. Issues with permits?
· High School? – there are 2 or 3 fields there, worth looking into? Maybe weekends are available also?
Committee will meet and report back on these ideas, and establish communication with the School department on the permitting process.
Training Update
· Boys of Baseball – we have conflicts with open dates available, just wouldn’t work scheduling-wise. Elliot will take care of communication with Steve Cosgrove.
· Al and Al sessions – Ed highlighted March 3 (Bristol) and 4th (Woburn). Program cost may only be 100.00. This is a good option for extra training for managers and coaches. .
· Training materials – Movie nights in the Rec! Ed has provided some cost information on manuals and dvd’s from Al & Al and LL. Skip will take the reins on this one and report back next meeting as we progress. It is generally agreed that we need to take as many measures as possible to provide training opportunities for our coaches.
· Motion Made to have video sessions for Managers at the Rec; league to purchase manuals for Managers and some videos for distribution.
Managers/Coaches Recruitment - Skip Jenkins
· Email will be going out soon for interest gathering. Notice has also been posted to the website for signups. It is not too early to suggest to interested parties to fill out the Membership and Volunteer forms available on the website. Spread the word.
Registration
· Active.com link and form is available on the website, thanks to Elliot. Some additional points of communication will be thru the paper, email, and regular mail. Packet should include President’s Letter Registration form (maybe not, just tell them to signup online or print online), Member App, Volunteer forms, President’s Letter, other opportunities in January, and Bricks flyer. Melissa will coordinate the mailing.
· Online form has been tested by a few Board Members and is working fine, additional corrections being made by Elliot. Item re: multiple kid signup issue to be looked into. Corrected the issue with ‘teams’ as a non-mandatory field
Try-Outs – Kevin McNally
· Kevin was not present but had forwarded information to Ed. Looking to secure dates at SSSC. Weekend of March 10/11 would be ideal. Kevin to follow up on the planning.
Sponsorship – Melissa Flanagan
· Include information about sponsorships in mail packet. Also, post to the information to the website, instructing interested parties to email Melissa so she can put on file for followup.
CORI Process for 2007 – Rick Linehan
· New rule from LL that National Registry database be used.
· Rick asked for assistance with the Cori Process, Skip has volunteered to do so as Coaching Coordinator.
ASAP for 2007 – Owen McConville
· Little League is promoting the program, only 60% of the teams are involved. We are complete with all the legwork/paperwork having been certified for the last 2 years. Most of our materials just require small updates.
· Owen passed around a pamphlet that is very good and should be distributed – “Youth Baseball and Softball Injuries” from The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. There is a link on the site but should make it more accessible.
Volunteer Opportunities
Ed outlined some ideas for possible help from volunteers, such as:
· Tryouts – High School players, other assistance as needed.
· Equipment – Uniforms inventory (February), distribution, update equipment, etc.
· Fields – Day for helping out; lining of fields, etc, regular maintenance, cleanup. Nice to have a list of on calls.
· Opening Day stuff
· Photographs. Weekly Newspaper update liaison, All Star games, Fundraising, ice and a pickup truck!
Team Photos for Next Season – Melissa Flanagan
· Tony gave an update; contacts being made. Couple of good leads, is asking for proposals and will report back next meeting
Topics for Next Meetings
· Playing Rules Review
· Fundraising Ideas
Adjournment – 9:50 pm
Next Meeting is scheduled for January 8th, 7:00 pm Recreation Center