Waterford Little League

Board of Directors

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday,January 20, 2016 7:00pm

  1. Call to order: Meeting was called to order at 7:00 by President Eric Benvenuti.
  1. Roll call: The following members were present or absent as indicated (sign in sheet)

WLL Board members:

President-Eric Benvenuti

Vice President-Jim Turner

Secretary- Jon Peck

Treasurer- Keith Boluch (Absent)

Major League Baseball Commissioner-Mike Rocchetti (Absent)

Major League Softball Commissioner- Becky Hall

Minor Baseball Commissioner- Pat Sheehan

Minor League Softball Commissioner-Paul Goldstein

Baseball Player Agent-Kristina Gordy (Absent)

Softball Player Agent-Sharon Dziecinny (Absent)

Equipment & Purchasing Agent- Chris Gonet

Information Officer- Jaime Sheehan

Concession Stand Manager for North - Kim Rouisse

Safety Officer South complex– Joe San Juan (Absent)

Field & Grounds Chairman North complex- Brian Rouisse

Concession Stand Manager for South- Vacant

Safety Officer North complex- Vacant

Field & Grounds Chairman South complex-Vacant

  1. Others in attendance: Patrick Flanagan, Brian Majeski, Lance Corderre
  1. Review and approval of Meeting Minutes

Minutesfrom the December 16, 2015 meeting not yet finalized for approval. Request was made to forward any wording for December minutes to Jon Peck by January 27, 2016

  1. Communications

There were no communications for consideration.

  1. Treasurer’s report- Keith Boluch was absent, President Benvenuti gave report
  1. The account stands at $28,513.99. We have raised and received $7,000.00 toward our goal of $23,000.00 in fund raising. There is another $4,500.00 commitment but not received. Funds from the town have been received and they account for approximately 12% of our budget for the year. We should review the website situation as it may save us money to move to an alternative site, which will also give us the benefit of scheduling software. The Player Agents, League Commissioners and the Information Officer should review this going forward. Motion to accept the report was made by Becky Hall, seconded by Jim Turner. Motion carried.
  1. President: Eric Benvenuti
  2. See information under Treasurers Repot
  1. Vice President Report: Jim Turner
  2. We have a total of 14 team sponsors committed with 12 paid and 2 paid by trade. 4 new teams with probably 9 teams lost.
  1. Commissioner of Major Softball: Becky Hall

Nothing to report

  1. Commissioner of Minor Softball: Paul Goldstein

Nothing to report

  1. Commissioner of Major Baseball: Mike Rocchetti

Not Present

  1. Commissioner of Minor Baseball: Pat Sheehan

Nothing to report

  1. Safety Officer South Complex: J SanJuan

Not present

  1. Player Agent Softball: Sharon Dziecinny

Not present

  1. Player Agent Baseball: Kristina Gordy

Not present

  1. Equipment & Purchasing Agent: Chris Gonet

Nothing to report

  1. Fields and Grounds: Brian Rouisse

Nothing to report

  1. Concessions Manager North: Kim Rouisse

Nothing to report

  1. Concessions Manager South: Vacant
  1. Information Officer: Jaime Sheehan

All dates for the league have been entered onto the website. Jaime is already working on the opening day book. She requested the names of sponsors that need to be added to the website from Jim.

  1. Reports from Committees
  2. Umpire Committee- M Rocchetti

Mike was not present but Becky has 3 umpires for softball.

  1. Fundraising Committee- J Turner

The fundraising committee has met and the minutes of their meeting are attached. They have several fundraisers that they intend to further investigate including, a Beer and Wine Tasting, a sale of Krispy Kreme Donuts, a CT Tigers Ticket Sale, a Food Truck Rally at the South Fields at the same time as a Home Run Derby, and a Whiffle Ball Tournament. The Pasta Dinner will also take place similar to last year’s event. After registration has concluded the committee is also thinking of a Go Fund Me campaign. Realistically the committee thinks that $15,000.00 is a reasonable target amount that would put us over our goal.

2)Unfinished Business

  1. South Batting cages

The cages are complete with the netting in storage

  1. Field and Grounds Update

South: New sign was installed after old one was vandalized. The new sign is significantly stronger and just indicates the complex as Waterford Little League. Improvements continue at south.

North: Someone appears to have tried to break in to the stand.

  1. Registration
  2. January 30th coverage and General Update: So far we have 80 kids registered. Signs have been placed indicating the January 30, 2016 in person registration. Several members of the board have volunteered to help as we will need at least 4 people there at all times.
  1. Clinics
  2. Coaching Clinic
  3. Big Al Coaching Clinic

Set for March 20. Time and place is not yet set. Will be mandatory for TBall coaches. Also should encourage Coach Pitch coaches who are new to this. All volunteers should be made aware of this at registration.

  1. Internal Training

We also need to create a good interaction and internal training situation. Becky is trying to book location for 3/24 or 3/31 for a 2 hours period for the clinic. Coaching overview where people are told what to expect. Then maybe break out into groups to discuss different age groups. There was significant discussion about whether this should be mandatory for all coaches. Motion to require all managers and allow other coaches to attend internal training with any punishment to be considered by the board was made and discussed. No motion relating to mandatory training went to a board vote. There was also discussion as to what to call the training session. Some thought was to call it a ”Coaches Forum”.

  1. Athlete focused clinics
  2. Organizer and Age groups with dates & times

Eric suggested that there should be an organizer from the board to make sure the clinics get set up and organized. Jaime agreed to be point person. We have 8-12 on the 3/20, 4/4 and 4/10

3)New Business

  1. Review of Parent Information Meeting

The event was poorly attended. Eric covered all aspects of league operations. One suggestion is that an open letter to the public as to what is the league about. Next one is on February 2.

  1. Equipment Purchase update
  2. Uniforms

In talks with Dicks and Sportees regarding providing uniforms. Becky suggested that she had experience with other vendors and it was not good. Encouraged us to consider that they are local and sponsors. Eric suggested that we should definitely compare prices but should do business with local company if possible.

  1. General Equipment

Chris believes that all we willneed are catchers masks.

  1. Balls

Ballastrini will be supplying balls. For tournament softball we need Dudley. Chris will look into getting all balls early in the season

  1. Nets for the cages

There were many holes in the old netting. Although we have a big project cost this year we should probably get pricing on getting new netting for old cages. Chris will. We will try patching holes in the old nets. Once we have determined if that is effective we willdecide which ones require replacement.

  1. Tryouts

There was a fairly long discussion about format of tryouts. Part focused on the difference between pitching to 9, 10 rather than soft toss. A decision was reached to try pitching to them. It will be necessary to get a screen. Also discussed and agreed to do older kids first. Pat Flanagan will try to get some kids from Waterford High School to help with tryouts.

  1. Opening Day

Same format as last year. First Selectman will be contacted by President. Need to figure out who will throw out the first pitch. Games starting at noonish.

  1. Pictures: Not discussed
  2. General Format: See above

4)Open Forum

Meetings will be every 2 weeks.

Rule books came to Eric. Will be distributed with equipment.

Pins are in.

Dick’s Sporting Goods WLL Appreciation Day: March 19. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. They want us to put our banners up. Set up table. Jim will look into stocking Waterford stuff in the store. Bluesumprero.com is the website for their online store. They will stock our stuff, online, and league gets 7 or 10 percent. Selling this way will avoid any tax consequence for the league.

Rapid locksmith typically does maintenance. If it 15 minutes or less it is free, otherwise it is quoted. We need to come up with system for acquiring keys and tracking them.

Texas Roadhouse wanted to have a day where they would sell peanuts and give us the proceeds. Not well received by the board. Best Buy was going to work the stand in lieu of a donation.

Eric has contacted the Coast Guard Academy to help with spring cleanup and the stand.

Becky asked about whether the district meetings have addressed moving the field fences. That issue has not been addressed and given the cost of compliance by every league it is more likely that the infield dimensions be adjusted with outfield remaining the same.

Motion to Adjourn by Chris Gonet, Seconded by Becky Hall, Motion Carried. Meeting Adjourned at 8:51.