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Franklin Youth Hockey Association
Monthly Board Meeting
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Present: Maria Cole, Mark Allen, Carolyn Kelley, Dave Moses, Steve Trask, Ellie Cheever, Kristine Carter, Brian Murphy, Carolyn Meisner, Chris Dwyer, Jim Mealey
Absent: Jack Neenan, Rob Norton, Tom Kennedy, Jeff Brown, Leo McGee
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:16 pm.
Topic: February, 2010 Agenda presented.
Motion to Accept February, 2010 Agenda: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept February, 2010 Agenda: Unanimous
Topic: Minutes from the January 2010 2009 Executive Board Meeting Minutes presented. One correction made.
Minutes approved.
Topic-Secretary Report-Maria Cole
Maria reported she is working on scheduling the general membership meeting. Maria presented to the board changing the bylaw when the general membership is held. Our bylaws specifically state the general membership meeting needs to be scheduled the last week in March. When the new board takes over it, it is usually before try-outs results are announced and there is not a smooth transition. Other area youth hockey programs begin their new season in June and also are not as specific when the general membership meeting needs to occur. Maria will put more information together.
Motion to accept: Kristine Carter
Discussion: Ellie to look at the Westboro schedule to determine best date of this year’s membership meeting.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –Chris Dwyer.
Chris is working on try-outs and also the in-house league for next year.
Motion to accept: Carolyn Kelley
Discussion: There are only twenty slots available between 3 mite teams in Westboro. We made need to put another team in Westboro. There are now 40 kids in LTP hockey. More teams are looking for ice time. We may need o keep Mite in-house to cross ice due to ice constraints. There are 29 kids moving up to squirts with 9 kids from in-house. We could eliminate LTP but not every parent wants to pay full tuition or wants to 2 practices and a game every week.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Program Director’s Report-No Report
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-Ellie Cheever
Ellie Cheever reported Westboro playoff schedule will begin March 7th and will end April 11th. Ellie did attend a meeting in Westboro regarding FYHA and other teams committing to placing teams in Westboro next year as New England Sports Center has reached out to other programs to have the teams play in their league. Westboro realizes that the programs would like more games. There was a proposal to have each program donate 1-2 hours of ice and play the games at those sites. This would increase games played.
Motion to accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Brian Murphy asked if Westboro changing the conflict form. Marlboro/NES is adding a sixth rink.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-Jim Mealey
Jim Mealey is awaiting playoff meetings for NVL.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: None
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Ice Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
Dave Moses presented Jeff’s Brown’s report
Checking $49,179
Savings $1,542
This checking figure excludes the last batch you gave me last week which had about $11k in it. So the checking would be at approximately $60k.
For FMC, I have paid the February 2010 bill, but I know I have not paid the January 2010 bill. I did not receive that from Tom Kennedy (or at least I do not believe I did). I emailed him last week and when I opened the file, I had the February bill again. So, I will need him to send me the January bill again. I will email him today to see if he can send it to me.
We have one invoice left for Norfolk and then paid up for the season there.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- Brian Murphy
Brian reported there was a coaching change with Bantam 3. John Tasker is the new head coach. We may need to order more shirts for next year.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: None
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-No Report.
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
Carolyn reported the Face-Off dance will be March 12th. Carolyn is hoping to have a count by 3/1. Email regarding baskets will be sent out. The golf tournament will probably be in September. Carolyn would like to discuss prizes for the membership calendar.
Motion to Accept: Brian Murphy
Seconded
Discussion: After discussion, the board determined that we would offer tuition credit as prizes for the membership raffle. The golf tournament will be September 20th.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-No Report
.
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
Dave reported $8,300 has not been collected. Dave expects to receive 5,300 in the next month. We may not be able to collect the final $3,000. We have 44 LTP players and 40 LTS players. People have been very happy with both programs.
Motion to Accept: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: The board discussed the need to have a firmer stance on tuition. FYHA struggles every year in September to make ice payments. It was determine to require $250 for registration and another $250 payment by April 20th. Surrounding programs require full tuition to be paid by June. It is difficult to set tuition if players leave after teams are set. After much discussion, the Board determined it payment is not received then placement will be with held.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Team Manager’s Report-Carolyn Kelley
Carolyn reported she has contacted bantam team parents to plan the bantam banquet.
Carolyn asked when trophies will be ordered.
Motion to Accept: Jim Mealey
Seconded
Discussion: There was a discussion to not order trophies for the Bantams however there were complaints one year. Carolyn Meisner to check about trophies.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Old Business: None
New Business: None
Meeting adjourned at 8:47
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Cole,
FYHA Secretary
Franklin Youth Hockey Association
Monthly Board Meeting
Monday, January 11, 2010
Present: Mark Allen, Chris Dwyer, Rob Norton, Carolyn Kelley, Leo McGee, Ellie Cheever, Jack Neenan, Brian Murphy, Carolyn Meisner, Steve Trask, Tom Kennedy, Jim Mealey
Absent: Maria Cole, Dave Moses, Jeff Brown, Kristine Carter
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm.
Topic: January 2010 Agenda presented.
Motion to Accept January 2010 Agenda: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept January 2010 Agenda: Unanimous
Topic: Minutes from the December 2009 Executive Board Meeting Minutes presented.
Minutes approved.
Topic-Secretary Report-No Report
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Program Director’s Report-No Report
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-No Report
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-Jim Mealey
Stop it Goal Tending would like to invite the FYHA goalies to a free clinic in Foxboro. Will look at scheduling a time for this.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: Everyone was in favor of putting this clinic together.
Vote to accept report: Unanimous
Topic: Ice Director’s Report-Tom Kennedy
- It looks as though all teams will have approx 80-85 sheets of ice this season. The number of skill sessions has increased due to decreasing ice time. 4 teams have worked out okay on the ice. The problem is the locker room situation. We should pick up a few more hours come the end of January. We still have plenty of hours available on Sunday.
- Westboro continues to change their schedule. Ellie has been comparing our older schedules with the new ones. Members should watch the Westboro website for the up to date game schedule.
- We need to start looking at tryouts and when we would like to start. The sooner we can put this together, the sooner we can notify the membership to help with everyone’s scheduling.
Motion to Accept: Rob Norton
Seconded
Discussion: Rob suggested that Tom look at the ice time we will have in March/April and come up with his recommendations. We need to figure out approx how many players in each level. We would like to start tryouts as soon as Westboro’s regular season ends. There will be a short break between the last game and playoffs. It would be great to get 1 or 2 levels done before the end of March.
Vote to accept report: Unanimous
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
Jeff’s report was read by Mark Allen. We have $71,319 in checking, $1,541.00 in savings.
Motion to Accept: Rob Norton
Seconded
Discussion: We would like to know where we will be at the end of this year financially. We lost the Slapshot hours and gained a few at other rinks. We need to look at additional ways to pick up ice time. Ellie suggested we look into other leagues to add games or skill sessions which are available through other programs.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- No Report
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
- Franklin Youth Hockey Nite is Saturday, January 16th. Encourage your teams to attend. They will be serving pizza and the players will be able to meet the high school players.
- Our Dance is scheduled for March 12th. We have lost the Elks Club due to a scheduling conflict. We have Coles reserved, but looking for a bigger room.
Motion to Accept: Jack Neenan
Seconded
Discussion: The Elks booked an Irish Nite for the same night. Rob suggested the Franklin Country Club. Carolyn Kelley suggested Lake Pearl in Wrentham. Carolyn Meisner will look into both of these function halls.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
- Dave’s report was read by Mark Allen. Tuition collection is on going. We still have $9k to $10k to collect and with a collective effort between Mark, Jeff and myself, we are getting the money in… I do plan on opening up 2010-11 registration at the end of February. It would be nice to have an idea of what we think tuition will be, as I will push to have a plan in place this summer that all payments will be due by September or October 1st. As a board, we need to commit to an action plan if tuitions are not paid in full by this time.
- Session 2 of LTS and LTPH will start January 24th. I will be sending out a message to all the families in Session 2 with directions on how to registrar for Session 3.
Motion to Accept: Rob Norton
Seconded
Discussion: Carolyn suggested moving registration to middle of February if we are planning on starting tryouts in the beginning of March. It was suggested that we look at the payment cycle for next year. Everyone was in agreement that we should require a payment at the time of registration and another required payment prior to finding out placement. This will hopefully eliminate players dropping out midsummer. This causes our teams to be uneven. It was discussed that a total of $500 would be needed prior to finding out team placement. We could do $250 at registration and $250 prior to placement or $350 at registration and $150 prior to placement.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report-Steve Trask
Steve notified the Gazette about putting an ad in for the next session of LTS & LTPH. Steve will also send an email to the membership about session 3 starting.
Motion to Accept: Rob Norton
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Team Manager’s Report-No Report
Old Business:
New Business:
Mark welcomed Coach Paul Chambers and the Mite 3 parents who were present. Mark talked about the 3 issues/concerns he thought the parents were here to discuss.
1 – Explanation of the Dominant Player Rule. We will discuss the rule and how and why it was implemented. We hope both groups will come to a mutual understanding and respect the decision. The rule is new to many people. It has only happened once or twice before. The board followed the Dominant Player Rule according to the bylaws. The player was scoring goals and dominating the ice. As the bylaws state, the coach, player’s parents and Program Director must submit verifiable evidence to the Board of Directors for approval to advance. The board voted and agreed to move this player up one team level.
2 – Ice Time. Practice is very important. It is also important that kids have fun and enjoy their practice. Mark has watched this team’s practice and games. He feel the coaches have done a good job. With an additional player, each player has less game time. However, if you do the math, it comes down to a very small amount of time. At practices, working on skills is what is important. Adding an additional player should not affect practices.
3 – Team Makeup. According to the bylaws, the # of players trying out, at a given age level, must be divided as equally as possible between teams at that level. No team may be given more than 1 additional player than any other team at a given age level. This was the case when the teams were divided up.
Rob opened up the meeting to the parents.
Coach Chambers said that Mark did cover their issues. The team is in full support of FYHA, but wanted an understanding of why and how this decision was made.
Rob told the team that the board cannot change the bylaws. It is something that needs to be done by the membership. Rob explained the sequence of events and why our decision was made. This player was dominating his games. He was scoring several goals/game. The situation was brought to the head of the mite in-house league. He felt this player was not being challenged. Rob spoke with the parents and then the situation was brought to the attention of the board. The board discussed the pros and cons of moving a player. The board felt it was in the best for the player to be moved up. This brought the Mite 3 team to16 players.
It was asked about moving players around to even out the Mite teams. However the board is not able to do this due to the by-laws. The board asked the team to think about the situation they in and see if they can come up with a new way to handle this situation. They are welcome to present their ideas to the board and if approved, it can be voted on at the next membership meeting. If the membership agrees with the law, the change would then be added to the bylaws.
Mark thanked the parents for their suggestions and ideas. He reiterated we would welcome their ideas on the best way to handle this situation in the future.
Meeting adjourned at 8:43PM
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Kelley
Team Manager Coordinator
Franklin Youth Hockey Association
Monthly Board Meeting
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Present: Maria Cole, Mark Allen, Rob Norton, Carolyn Kelley, Dave Moses, Leo McGee, Ellie Cheever, Jeff Brown, Kristine Carter, Jack Neenan, Brian Murphy, Carolyn Meisner
Absent: Chris Dwyer, Steve Trask, Jim Mealey
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:12 pm.
Topic: December 2009Agenda presented.
Motion to Accept November 2009 Agenda: Rob Norton
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept December 2009 Agenda: Unanimous
Topic: Minutes from the November 2009 Executive Board Meeting Minutes presented.
Minutes approved.
Topic-Secretary Report-No Report
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Program Director’s Report-No Report
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-Ellie Cheever
Ellie Cheever reported Westboro had their parody meeting last week. Sq3 and B4 are moving down.
There was an issue last week when Bantam 4 missed their game on December 7th. There was an email regarding the changes but it was missed and not put on the website. Scheduling in Westboro continues to be a problem as the schedule can change very quickly.
Motion to accept: Kristine Carter
Seconded
Discussion: Brian Murphy reported that he almost missed a game. The new schedule will be out January 4th. Dave stated he will email the teams with any changes.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-No Report
Topic: Ice Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
We have $75,693 in checking, $1,541.00 in savings.
Motion to Accept: Rob Norton
Seconded
Discussion: Kristine Carter emailed Donna Cordova regarding Poloworks contracts.
FYHA had no formal contract with Poloworks.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- Brian Murphy
Brian reported FYHA had 3 goalie and checking clinics. We had 6-5 goalie coaches the last session.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: KP Walpole pays for goalie clinics. A goalie director was suggested. The problem is we have the same people volunteering. We need new people to volunteer.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-Jack Neenan
Jack reported he ordered additional jerseys and socks.
Motion to Accept: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
Carolyn reported we collected $670 from pictures. Carolyn will speak to him about the back drop. The clothing drive went well. Hockey Dog has been amazing and great to work with.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: FYHA families can order more clothing after Christmas. All the clothing will be delivered by Christmas
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-Kristine Carter
Kristine Carter reported the Ovechkin Jersey Raffle winner was Carmen Iannuzzi. Carmen plays on the Mites In-House Panthers team.
The calendar raffle is underway. The membership sold $2045 in additional raffle tickets. Our top 3 sellers in the program were Anthony Puleo from Mite 3, Dan McCarthy from Peewee 5, Cameron Geer form Squirt 4. Kristine thanked Jeff and Steve for posting daily winner updates on the website and mailing out checks to the winners during a busy month.
FHS Boys Hockey Booster has contacted FYHA inviting out members to FYHA Night at one of their home games. Kristine has emailed Christine Cannon and the date has been set for January 16th, 2010. The game begins at 6:30 pm at the Franklin rink. Pizza will be served in the conference room after the game and the Boys hockey team will sing autographs for our kids. FYHA players are encouraged to wear their team jerseys as a sing of support for the FHS Panthers team. The Boosters have also invited two Mite teams to play a scrimmage between periods.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: The board discussed tuition and being entered into the raffle. It was determined that those who have not paid tuition will not be entered into the raffles.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
Dave reported 95% of tuition has been collected. There is $18,000-$19,000 outstanding due. Emails have been sent and Dave expects to collect ½ by the end of the month. Everyone knows they will not be able to sign up for next year unless tuition is due.
LTS we have 47 kids, last year we had 51. we have 33 kids for LTP and last year we had 43 kids. We did see an uptake in registration after the Gazette flyer.
Motion to Accept: Jack Neenan
Seconded
Discussion: Rob Norton will talk to Chris Dwyer about kids moving up to in-house. The board will need to discuss implementing a payment program next year. We can set an approximate amount due for tuition. We did set registration late last year which may have helped that less kids dropped out because they already knew their plans.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Team Manager’s Report-No Report
Old Business
Neck Guard Policy: The neck policy is not being enforced by coaches and kids. It needs to be enforced and kids should be told to get off the ice if not wearing one.
Lectures: Dave to put something on the website polling the membership to see if and what they are interested in regards to topics.
Tournament Policy: Will need to discuss further and change wording to prevent teams not having enough players to play in a tournament.
New Business: Rob Norton presented a case of dominant player rule. Will Sheehan who is in the mite in-house league has done extremely well and is a dominating player with 4-5 goals each game. Rob did speak with Will’s in-house coach and he was in an agreement that the player should be moved up. There was a lengthy discussion that this would impact the mite 3 team with an increase to 17 players however it was not fair to have player bypass and go to mite 2. There was
Maria Cole motioned to place Will Sheehan go to the next mite skill sessions and unless anything is glaring, be placed on Mite 3. Seconded, Motion approved unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 8:02
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Cole,
FYHA Secretary
Franklin Youth Hockey Association
Monthly Board Meeting
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Present: Maria Cole, Mark Allen, Jack Neenan, Rob Norton, Tom Kennedy, Carolyn Kelley, Dave Moses, Leo McGee, Ellie Cheever, Steve Trask, Jeff Brown, Brian Murphy, Carolyn Meisner
Absent: Kristine Carter, Jim Mealey, Chris Dwyer
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:13 pm.
Topic: October 2009Agenda presented.
Motion to Accept October 2009 Agenda: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept October 2009 Agenda: Unanimous
Topic: Minutes from the September 09 Executive Board Meeting Minutes presented.
Carolyn Kelley’s name corrected. Minutes approved.
Topic-Secretary Report-No Report
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –Chris Dwyer
In-house league schedule is all set. There are 5 squirt teams and 6 peewee teams entered for the Dusty Lardin Tournament. Chris will need volunteers.
Motion to Accept: Jack Neenan
Seconded
Discussion: None
Topic: Program Director’s Report-Rob Norton
Rob reported the carnival is schedule on Saturday, October 24th from 12:00 to 3:00.
We will need 20-25 volunteers. Kids will be able to go on the ice from 12:30 to 2:30. The Lampasona family has generously donated the hotdogs. There will be free hockey sticks to the first 50 kids. Pure Hockey has donated gift cards. It will have a real carnival feel. We will need the kids/parents to fill out liability form.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Carolyn Kelley will send Rob the liability form she has. Maria Cole will email Rob Norton Eileen Nelson’s address as she is a photographer and is available for hockey events.
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-Ellie Cheever
Ellie Cheever reported 56% of FYHA teams have not won a game in Westboro. There will be a parity meeting on October 19th. Seven of sixteen teams will be moved.
Motion to accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: None
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-
Jim Mealey reported the NVL parity meeting will be held next week. All of the Franklin teams will be moved down. The teams were placed in the A division.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Jim will give Tom Kennedy the NVL schedule when it changes.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Ice Director’s Report- Tom Kennedy
Tom Kennedy reported we picked up 7:30 on Thursdays and an afternoon hour on Saturday. Scheduling for in-house and Midgets are completed for the season. Steve is awaiting parity as this will effect scheduling along with tournaments. The ice in Norfolk is horrible. Tom plans on going to Norfolk and addressing the issue.
Motion to accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: We have 10 hours a week in Norfolk. Tom will contact Medfield and Walpole Organizations to discuss Norfolk ice problems. Tom will need to schedule ice time for the Dusty Lardin Tournament. Tom to talk to Chris. It was suggested to schedule the Dusty Lardin Tournament next year around the Woonsocket October Tournament since so many of our teams enter this tournament. Tom reported he has much more conflicts with NVL schedule. A scrimmage should not be scheduled without telling Tom as he may fill that ice time with another team if he is not aware of this.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
We have $143,864 in checking, $1,541.00 in savings and $3,042 in tuition assistance. Motion to Accept: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: None.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- No Report
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-Jack Neenan
Jack Neenan reported all equipment has been distributed.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Ellie Cheever asked that men’s size socks be ordered as many of the Bantam players are no longer able to use intermediate sizes.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
Carolyn Meisner reported the golf tournament went well. We made between $6,000 to $7,000. We were charged for 100 golfers and only 92 golfers paid. Pictures will be the week of October 26th. Calendars will go out at the end of October. FYHA night at the Worcester Sharks will be February 6th. Carolyn is trying to the clothing drive going but is having difficulty connecting with Breakaway Hockey.
Motion to Accept: Tom Kennedy
Seconded
Discussion: Carolyn to check if Poloworks ever paid FYHA for clothing that was purchased.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
Dave reported that rosters that were sent in late will be in coaches’ boxes over the weekend.
Motion to Accept: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: Everyone who has not paid tuition has contacted Dave Moses and have committed to making payments. There was a question regarding coaches being aware of paying for ice, referees and time keepers when playing in State playdowns. Brian Murphy to email coaches to remind them to collect money for ice, etc from opposing teams when playing in Franklin.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report- Steve Trask
Steve sent passwords to team managers. He has received feedback from a FYHA parent that is very pleased with the Mite in-house league. Steve is updating the bulletin board at the rink and placing info on the carnival in the Gazette. Steve presented information on purchasing advertisement in the Gazette.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: There was a general discussion on purchasing advertisement. There is not enough time to purchase advertisement for the carnival but we could purchase advertisement for the next LTS/LTP registration dates as our numbers are down from last year. Steve will gather more information.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- Leo McGee
Learn to Skate going well. The kids are enjoying themselves. Leo asked the Board to determine date for start of second session.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: It was determined to begin the second session on November 22nd.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Team Manager’s Report-No Report
Old Business
New Business
Lectures: Tabled for next meeting
Goalie and Checking Clinics: We could use the 90 minute practice for the goalie clinic. Both clinics could be combined. There are weekend hours available. Brian Murphy will contact Chris Dwyer to firm up clinics.
Meeting adjourned at 8:47
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Cole,
FYHA Secretary
Franklin Youth Hockey Association
Executive Board Meeting
Monday, August, 21th 2009
Present: Maria Cole, Mark Allen, Kristine Carter, Dave Moses, Jim Mealy, Ellie Cheever, Steve Trask, Jeff Brown, Brian Murphy, Carolyn Kelly, Carolyn Meisner
Absent: Chris Dwyer, Rob Norton, Tom Kennedy, Leo McGee, Jack Neenan
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm.
Topic: September 2009 Agenda presented.
Carolyn Kelly motioned to accept August 2009 Agenda:
Motion seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept September 2009 Agenda: Unanimous
Topic: Minutes from the August 2009Executive Board Meeting Minutes presented.
No corrections required. Minutes approved.
Topic-Secretary Report-No Report
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –Chris Dwyer not present.
Report submitted. Maria Cole presented report:
In House Program going well. Working with Tom to iron out schedules and trying to keep 2 teams per sheet of ice rather than 4 at least up to high school season. Games for in house to start in October.
Dusty Lardin Tourney: finalizing schedule with tom k. Communication has gone out to all local yth groups as well as all appropriate level teams in westboro league. I have verbal confirms from 2-3 teams at each level. This is and will be my focus, soliciting teams, over the next two weeks.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: None
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Program Director’s Report-No report
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-Ellie Cheever
Ellie Cheever reported Westboro will be updating their website every Thursday. We have met all payment schedules and have only one team with an outstanding roster.
Motion to accept: Kristine Carter
Discussion: None
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-Jim Mealey
Jim Mealey reported he has had requests from the NVL teams to be moved down however re-alignment will not be until 5 weeks.
Motion to Accept: Ellie Cheever
Discussion: None
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Ice Director’s Report- Tom Kennedy not present
Tom Kennedy submitted report. Maria Cole presented report.
Franklin
We remain tight on weekday hours. Skills sessions should start in October as our FMC hours will go through the first round of time drop off due to FMC fall programs.
Next significant drop in hours will occur at start of HS season (end Nov.)
Picked up Saturday 12:00 – 12:50 in Franklin for the remainder of the season. FMC was going to use it to run their own program but they did not have enough people sign up to fill that time slot. This will get us off of the off hour starts (10 minutes after the hour). Will receive revised schedule from Patrick F at FMC this week.
Norfolk
Ice conditions in Norfolk are terrible. Will be contacting someone (now that KC is no longer there) in the front office this week to discuss
General
General feedback from membership regarding the web site scheduling that I have received has been positive.
I have received some negative e-mails from members regarding scheduling.
o One asking why I had not posted NVL hours on our site. I replied and directed the person to the Foxboro website. This person responded and thanked me for sending the link. I will try to post the NVL games onto the site when I get the chance but we should also pout a link n the site directly to that page on the Foxboro site.
o A couple of e-mails complaining that not enough hours posted on the site and that practice days were not consistent. I replied that I am attempting to get more hours out there but the process still generally take a couple of dedicated hours to evenly distribute hours across all 24 teams while trying to accommodate for league games, supplemental league conflicts, coaches personal conflicts, etc. Hoping to continue to get more comfortable with the scheduling section of the website to cut down the amount of time spent and post additional hours. In response to the request for consistent hours, I also replied that it was unfortunately also difficult to accomplish given the same conflicts and wanting to be as fair as possible to all of the teams and coaches. I received no follow up responses from these people.
Motion to Accept: Steve Trask
Discussion: Mark to check with Tom about the 90 minutes practice and find out how long we have it and can it is split if we need the ice.
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
Checking - $154,238
Savings - $1,541
Tuition Assistance - $3,042
The auditors had to file for an extension but will have it done by 12/15/09.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelly
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- Brian Murphy
Brian has distributed all information to coaches. Have not had any problems.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: There was a general discussion on use of personal water bottles since there is so much concerned about the flue this season. Brain Murphy will email coaches to let them know they can give the players an optioned to bring water bottles.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
Carolyn reported we have 94 players for the golf tournament. We are down hole sponsors but there are great raffle ticket items including Red Sox tickets.
Motion to Accept: Ellie Cheever
Seconded
Discussion: There will be a photographer at the golf tournament. An Ovechkin shirt will be available for raffle but we will also raffle it at the Dusty Lardin. Carolyn will have Steve post the sponsors of the golf tournament on the website
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-Kristine Carter
Kristine had to cancel the Harvest Festival due to inability to man the booth for all the hours.
Motion to Accept: Steve Trask
Discussion: Itwas suggested that a committee be formed to assist with these events.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
Dave reported that we billed 355,000 for tuition and has collected 312,000. We have $43,000 outstanding. There are 43 players on payment plans which accounts for 24,000. There are 24 players we have not heard from which accounts for $19,000.
The numbers are done from LTS and LTP. We have 22 kids for LTS, last year we had 31 kids. LTP has 11 kids, compared to 27 kids from last year. Dave feels some of the numbers are down because the LTP kids maybe playing in-house.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Discussion: There was a discussion on moving LTS/LTP back to Franklin and combine them as the group is small. Brian Murphy will discuss with Tom and Chris. There was a question regarding the date of the carnival. Mark to check with Rob Norton.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report- Steve Trask
Steve investigated prices of ads in the Gazette. Small ad on one Sunday $180, $265 for 3 days and $391 for one week. Asked the board if this was something we might want to consider. Steve asked for lead time on dates for LTP/LTS so he can publicize it. Franklin Public Schools will not allow you to send any paper advertisement home with the kids.
Motion to Accept: Jim Mealey
Discussion: It was suggested that Steve leave flyers at pre-school and day care facilities. Several people offered to drop off flyers. Session 2 will begin November 22nd.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- No Report.
Topic: Team Manager’s Report-Carolyn Kelly
Team Managers meeting was held last week. They will be receiving their passwords so they can post info on the website.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Discussion: B4 is playing a game at the Providence Bruins. They do not have enough players. As long as it is just a scrimmage they can call other bantam teams.
Voted to Accept Report-Unanimous
Old Business: None
New Business: Ellie asked that the board consider topics for the lecture series. Suggestions include concussions, nutrition, Jamie Rice form Babson and Bob Grillo. Maria and Ellie to contact several people. Jeff Brown asked about goalie and checking clinics. None have been schedule. Several ice times were discussed for these clinics. Will ask Rob and Chris Dwyer.
Meeting adjourned at 8:24
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Cole,
FYHA Secretary
Franklin Youth Hockey Association
Monthly Board Meeting
Monday, June 8th, 2009
Present: Maria Cole, Carolyn Kelley, Dave Moses, Mark Allen, Tom Kennedy, Carolyn Meisner, Steve Trask, Jeff Brown, Leo McGee, Brian Murphy, Ellie Cheever, Jim Mealey
Absent: Chris Dwyer, Kristine Carter, Jack Neenan
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:11 pm.
June 2009 Agenda presented.
Ellie Cheever motioned to approve the agenda.
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept 2009 June Agenda: Unanimous
Minutes of May, 2009 Meeting presented. No corrections required. Minutes approved.
New Business:
Mark Allen stated that as is always the case, and impossible to avoid, there have been some concerns as to where kids were placed this year. Overall I would estimate that we received about half of the complaints that we did last year. So I assume listening to feedback is certainly helping the overall process.
We have a guest here who asked to be put on the agenda and would like to be heard. Her son was placed on the Bantam 4 team. We are giving her the floor to listen to her comments and concerns. I hope this can be productive for the organization where we can take some of her criticisms and keep them in mind when we are reviewing and constructing the tryout policy for next season.
Statement by Cheryl Harrington
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Cheryl Harrington and I am a proud parent-member of FYHA and the proud mom of Conor Harrington. My husband has coached many teams, my children have grown up with other children in the program and we consider FYHA an extension of our family.
I would like to begin by thanking you for giving your time to volunteer for Franklin
Youth Hockey and also thank you for taking your time to listen to what I have to say to you today. I hope that what I have to say will be the catalyst to begin a frank and earnest discussion about how and why we should improve the FYHA tryout process for all children in the program.
This is especially important given the attention paid to our program by the Massachusetts Youth Hockey Association recently. It appears that we have a tremendous opportunity to become the gold standard for other youth hockey associations in the state and as such, we should swiftly address any inconsistencies in our tryout process. While I fully respect the time and effort that folks put into the tryout process this year, I believe there were some fundamental flaws in the process that significantly and negatively affected a great many children. I would like to bring to your attention what I believe to be unfair and inconsistent practices in our tryout process:
Article I, Section 1 of the Franklin Youth Hockey 2009-2010 Tryout Policy clearly states that the process is: To fairly and equitably evaluate each player’s present skating ability and hockey skills.
Article II, Section 2, subsection 3 clearly states: Evaluators will be chosen on their hockey knowledge and impartiality to the age level that they are evaluating.
And, it should be noted that, on March 26, 2008, at the FYHA General Membership Meeting, an amendment to introduce a weighted & numerically-based current-year coach’s evaluation as part of the tryout process was NOT approved for fear of partiality in determining team placements.
• However, this year, a Peewee Head Coach and a Peewee Assistant Coach were used as evaluators during Bantam tryouts and a Peewee Head Coach and several Assistant Coaches were used as evaluators during Peewee tryouts.
• The players that had played for those coaches had the opportunity and advantage over other players in the form of a pre-tryout skate of nearly 100 hours.
• It is pure human nature for an evaluator to look at players he has coached, be
aware of what they can do for a team during individual plays or an entire game,
and judge that player differently. It is pure human nature for that evaluator to
NOT be 100% impartial; in fact it would be impossible to be impartial.
• And when the difference between the bottom of one team and the top of another team is as small as a ½ point, the advantage for the coach-evaluated players is enormous, it is not fair, and it is not equitable.
When the amendment was voted down by the General Membership in 2008, rejecting a coach’s evaluation, the Membership determined that a player’s previous year’s skill level, stats or contribution to his previous team’s success should not be taken into consideration. The previous season’s coach does not have (with the exception of coaches pick) input into the following season’s placement.
And yet, that is exactly what happened for some of the players in this year’s tryouts,
giving them an advantage over players who did not benefit from a coaches
evaluation, and in turn jeopardizing the integrity of the results for the entire tryout process for 2009.
In addition:
• Our current tryout process allows for score sheets to be completed in pencil
without erasures being co-signed or justified.
• Our current process also allows those score sheets to be transported and stored insecurely, so that anything could be done with those sheets prior to the board’s triple check on calculations.
• I am also aware of instances, in the past, when a discrepancy has occurred
between tryout scores and a player’s known ability, that consideration was given
and a more consistent placement was made.
When we received and questioned Conor’s placement this year, we received an email response saying, if we believed our son was placed incorrectly, “there is a process in place to accommodate players that were not placed appropriately” and were told to check the by-laws.
Bylaw Article XIX, Section 3.B. (b) states:
(a) If, after five games, the Team Coach feels that it is justified to advance a
player as a “dominant player”, the Team Coach, the player’s parents, and the
Program Director, must submit verifiable evidence to the Board of Directors,
for approval to be advanced. (A prime example of “verifiable evidence”
would be copies of game reports.)
This is a subjective process, relying on – once again – a coach’s evaluation, with no clear criteria for determining what evidence is needed. Does the player have to score a certain number of goals or assists each game? And would a head coach be willing to give up the best player on his team?
And why are we putting kids through this anyway?
I would like to close with a few words about my son, Conor. Because he deserves that you know more about him than the scores the Board triple checked last month. Conor is a smart hockey player. What he lacks for in size, he makes up for with his mind.
He plays with his brain! He anticipates plays, knows where he is supposed to be on the ice and where everyone else is supposed to be…and if they’re not, he will be there to help them. He is a coach’s dream: if his coach tells him what he needs him to do during a game, he does it – willingly and to the best of his ability – play by play and shift by shift.
In fact some of you here tonight have personally coached his to some of his greatest successes on the ice.
Conor has had a tough few weeks with many sleepless nights. The nightmares about his legs being cut off aren’t mentioned anymore, but he’s had lots of questions…here are a few – think about how you would respond:
“What could I have done better?”
“How could I have made the last team when I never fell, never missed a pass and completed all the drills correctly?”
“What did I do wrong? Am I really that bad?”
“Am I really one of the bottom 15 players in the league?”
“Could the evaluators just not like me?”
“Should I give it up?”
“Why didn’t my coaches last year tell me I was this bad, so I could have gotten better before tryouts?”
I want you to know that I told him that I believe he is one of the hardest working hockey players I have ever known – and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth. I told him that he is one of the best team players I have ever seen play the game and am proud of his contribution to last season when he & his team won the Massachusetts State Championship – and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth. I told him that he is one of the most generous hockey players any coach could ever have the honor of coaching – and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth. I told him that the tryout evaluators do not and cannot know how well he plays his game
– and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth.
Other parents and Conor’s teammates are perplexed at his placement as well. But interestingly enough, I was warned by some parents not to speak to you today, for fear of further retribution. Some parents even asked that I not let anyone know they were supportive of us, for fear of retribution for their child.
And, I almost didn’t come tonight.
But last week on a chilly day, something happened that made me believe that I had to champion some changes in the tryout process.
I was driving Conor to Fletcher Field for a baseball game and he was wearing his prized “Mass State Champions” jacket that he and his team proudly wore to the NE Regional tourney in New Hampshire. When I parked in the field parking lot, Conor saw some former teammates from the car window, looked down at his jacket, then at me, and said “I better not wear this anymore.” When he removed his jacket, I knew that I would speak to you tonight.
For our family, being part of FYHA was, and is always about love of the game,
developing skills, and team building. We don’t believe Conor is a “One”, but we KNOW he is not a “Four”.
The tryout process is flawed. And the integrity of the process is in question because not every player was allowed an evaluation by his or her own coach. You cannot offer that advantage to a few players only.
And I believe that if more parents knew about the partiality shown to some players, you would have more parents here tonight.
The FYHA website has a statement that reads “Bottom line is that we stand confident that this year’s process is fair and consistent.”
I believe that it was neither. No one should.
We all have a responsibility to every child in this organization to discuss this year’s results and to make sure this does not happen again.
Conor this was for you.
Thank you again for your time.
Mark Allen stated that this is not a perfect process and if we did the try-outs all over again, the teams would be totally different again. No matter what you do, make a policy or plan, it is not perfect and will not please everyone. Mark stated that he or anyone on this board will claim that the system is perfect because it can’t be. It is impossible. Everyone here has to realize there is no such thing as a perfect tryout system. We could have had tryouts again a week later and all the teams would be different. Then we could have done it again and all the teams would be different again. And again
Cheryl stated this was not an impartial process and FYHA broke their own policy.
Mark stated that we have a policy in place. We followed the policy and we fully expect to hear feedback and will constantly tweak the process on a yearly basis. But it still wont be perfect. Me- you mention the scoresheets done in pencil and the transport of sheets. If you want to question Chris Spillane’s integrity you can but you will probably be alone. If you want to question my integrity that is fine. But if you question Carolyn, Maria, Dave M and all of us as a group that is wrong. We were all involved in the process.
Cheryl stated she was not questioning the integrity of the board but the process.
Tony Rogers stated that his son moved down two levels from B2-B4. He did prepare his son that he might be a B3 but this is unacceptable going from B2 to B4. Tony asked why there is nothing in the bylaws that protect these kids. What went wrong.
Bryan Harrington asked why he offered his services and did not receive a reply.
Tom Manzella stated that he offered his services and he did not receive a reply. Tom asked that this should be a statistical process and there should be a way to sanitize the results. How can the Board validate the process? Should there be a post evaluation on the ice, have a quick scrimmage, take a mid tier group, have them scrimmage and look at them again.
Mike Glynn stated he came in support of the Harringtons and felt that Conor was misplaced. Mike asked if we can look at the process and if there is something absolutely glaring, have a discussion. If there is a blatant, glaring mistake, there should be some process in place.
Rob Norton stated that anyone can submit a bylaw that the membership can vote, for example, a player moving down.
Tom Manzella asked the board to comment on the impartiality of the evaluators.
Jim Mealey stated getting evaluators is tough because they have to commit to all the sessions to keep it consistent.
Mark Allen stated we can talk about outside evaluators but would have to pass on the cost. If an outside evaluator simply does not show up which does happen, you end up grabbing someone from the stands.
Mark also noted that there have been many complaints in the past that people evaluating the older kids have to be more familiar with that level of play. We got complaints for having mite coaches evaluating bantams. People who evaluate know kids at every level because they are so involved.
Steve Trask stated that he evaluated the younger kids. The Bylaws state that you can not have a parent evaluate a level that your player is trying out for, none of the evaluators evaluated a level that their kid was in.
Bryan Harrington stated that although their kid was not in that level, the coaches had advantages of seeing these kids skate all year and can’t help to be impartial.
Jim Mealey said that he evaluated the Bantams and he knew many of the kids. Bryan Harrington asked how but felt he could be impartial.
Mike Glynn stated as an evaluator, it is very quick and could not see that anything could be rigged. Mike stated that he would never question the integrity of the Board and feels the Board would never do anything underhanded.
Steve Trask stated that it is much harder to evaluate the Bantams because all of the players can skate. At the mite level the bottom 15 that can’t skate go to Mite 6.
Tom Manzella asked if there was mental fatigue when evaluating the first player versus the 20th player. Mike Glynn stated that although he knew some of the PW, he takes the evaluation process seriously and evaluated each person equally. During scrimmages, he would add up his scores and then keep looking at each player to make sure he got it right
Mike Glynn said that he just looked at the last team at the kids who can’t skate and can’t handle the puck.
Tony Rogers asked where did the process go wrong and what asked the Board what would they change of the process if they could.
Mark Allen stated that the biggest problem which we saw coming was going from 3 bantam teams to 4 we new kids would be dropped down.
Maria Cole stated she has been on the Board for 3 years, the first year, many kids came back to the program and kids moved down from B3-B4 and there were many parents upset. The only thing that maybe we could change is we knew there were going from 3 teams to 4 teams and make changes earlier.
Mark stated If misplacements are noticed I would want no part in changing scores and shuffling kids around. We need to continue to work on ways to get more accurate scores.
Cheryl Harrington stated that we need to take off the table impartiality.
Tom Manzella stated again that any new process needs validation that is glaringly incorrect and change it.
Mike Glynn stated that he knows both Bryan and Mark and does not question the integrity of the process but maybe look at the process if something is glaring.
Cheryl Harrington stated that she does not question the integrity of the Board and hopes there is some healing in the process,
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Program Director’s Report-No Report
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-Ellie Cheever
Ellie reported that Westboro has approved all of the teams FYHA requested. We will have three mite teams, 4 squirt teams, 5 peewee teams and 4 bantam teams. All the deposits have been sent in.
Motion to accept: Maria Cole.
Seconded
Discussion: Mark Allen asked if there have been any teams dropping out of Westboro due to financial reasons. Ellie will check with Westboro.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-No Report
Topic: Ice Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
Jeff reported that we have $34,000 in the bank. We need to set tuition to build up savings. Jeff is waiting for contracts from Tom Kennedy.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- Brian Murphy
All coaches have been notified and have their rosters. There issues at the Bantam level. Next step is the Midgets. Brian would like to run some coaches clinics and have Chris Dwyer and Chris Spillane assist. Hope to do this at the end of August.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Steve Trask said that each team can have their own web page and asked Brian to send him the list of coaches and rosters
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
The golf tournament is scheduled for September 22nd. The price is the same and we now need golfers and sponsors. The Face-Off dance will be March 12th with Jim Plunkett. Carolyn is also doing another fundraiser, “You have been flocked”.
Carolyn has the FYHA hats and is selling them for $15.00. FYHA will alos have a partnership with the Worcester Sharks, we will have a FYHA night at one of their games and they will also provide a skill session for our players. We will need to determine ticket prices.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: Carolyn will look into Lake Pearl of Medway VFW for the Jim Plunkett venue. The Bruins want to partner with the carnival that is planned from the Mike Cheever Grant. Mark Allen also would like us to do a hockey equipment swap. Could this be done in the Fall. Jack Neenan could possibly run it. Steve will put the information on the web when finalized.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
Dave is sending out emails regarding MIRs. Chris Dywer and Dave discussed in-house numbers. As of now, there will be 3 teams with 12 players, one team with 11 players. Will just add one more player.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Chris Dwyer plans to progress the in-house from cross ice to full ice. Rob Norton recommended keeping the roster at 12 for each team.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report- Steve Trask
Steve is planning on adding more to the website and is adding more links today. Asked if we should be adding the players name to the roster lists and put it on the webs. Steve is hesitant to take any information off the website. Steve also noted that Wayne Green’s name is on the town’s website. Tom also would like to know LTP and LTS session dates.
Motion to Accept: Tom Kennedy
Seconded
Discussion: Registration for LTS and LTP will be on-line this year. Dave Moses will also send out an email regarding NVL. Dave will send out the email to those who expressed interest first and then send out an email to the general membership. Carolyn Meisner will check about sponsors being properly placed on the website. Ellie will check with Chris Spillane regarding FYHA posting signs in visible areas. Mark asked Steve if we have a hidden event calendar for FYHA Executive Board. Steve to set is up with a password.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- No report
Topic: Team Manager’s Report- Carolyn Kelley
The second equipment drop off was at the end of May. Some of the goalie equipment did not get back. One team did not drop off shirts or name plates. There are old FYHA shirts that will be sold this year as practice shirts.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded.
Discussion: We will have two sets of old hockey shirts as back-up for teams to use.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Old Business
Budget: Jeff Brown presented the 2009-2010 FYHA budget. There was a discussion regarding tuition. Costs of ice continue to rise and we ran into a deficit last year. There was also a discussion on setting tuition for goalies.
Dave Moses motioned to set goalie tuition to $750, seconded. Vote to accept motion: Six for the motion, three against. Motion passed.
Rob Norton motioned to set the tuition at $600 for Midget, $1125 for Mites thru Bantams, $750 for Goalies from Squirts to Bantams and $400 for Midget goalies, $125 for LTS and $175 for LTP.
Maria Cole motioned to accept.
Seconded.
Vote to Accept Motion: Unanimous
Motion to Adjourn: Dave Moses
Seconded
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Meeting adjourned at 9:44
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Cole, FYHA Secretary
Present: Maria Cole, Carolyn Kelley, Dave Moses, Mark Allen, Tom Kennedy, Carolyn Meisner, Steve Trask, Jeff Brown, Leo McGee, Brian Murphy, Ellie Cheever, Jim Mealey
Absent: Chris Dwyer, Kristine Carter, Jack Neenan
President Mark Allen called the meeting to order at 7:11 pm.
June 2009 Agenda presented.
Ellie Cheever motioned to approve the agenda.
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to Accept 2009 June Agenda: Unanimous
Minutes of May, 2009 Meeting presented. No corrections required. Minutes approved.
New Business:
Mark Allen stated that as is always the case, and impossible to avoid, there have been some concerns as to where kids were placed this year. Overall I would estimate that we received about half of the complaints that we did last year. So I assume listening to feedback is certainly helping the overall process.
We have a guest here who asked to be put on the agenda and would like to be heard. Her son was placed on the Bantam 4 team. We are giving her the floor to listen to her comments and concerns. I hope this can be productive for the organization where we can take some of her criticisms and keep them in mind when we are reviewing and constructing the tryout policy for next season.
Statement by Cheryl Harrington
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Cheryl Harrington and I am a proud parent-member of FYHA and the proud mom of Conor Harrington. My husband has coached many teams, my children have grown up with other children in the program and we consider FYHA an extension of our family.
I would like to begin by thanking you for giving your time to volunteer for Franklin
Youth Hockey and also thank you for taking your time to listen to what I have to say to you today. I hope that what I have to say will be the catalyst to begin a frank and earnest discussion about how and why we should improve the FYHA tryout process for all children in the program.
This is especially important given the attention paid to our program by the Massachusetts Youth Hockey Association recently. It appears that we have a tremendous opportunity to become the gold standard for other youth hockey associations in the state and as such, we should swiftly address any inconsistencies in our tryout process. While I fully respect the time and effort that folks put into the tryout process this year, I believe there were some fundamental flaws in the process that significantly and negatively affected a great many children. I would like to bring to your attention what I believe to be unfair and inconsistent practices in our tryout process:
Article I, Section 1 of the Franklin Youth Hockey 2009-2010 Tryout Policy clearly states that the process is: To fairly and equitably evaluate each player’s present skating ability and hockey skills.
Article II, Section 2, subsection 3 clearly states: Evaluators will be chosen on their hockey knowledge and impartiality to the age level that they are evaluating.
And, it should be noted that, on March 26, 2008, at the FYHA General Membership Meeting, an amendment to introduce a weighted & numerically-based current-year coach’s evaluation as part of the tryout process was NOT approved for fear of partiality in determining team placements.
• However, this year, a Peewee Head Coach and a Peewee Assistant Coach were used as evaluators during Bantam tryouts and a Peewee Head Coach and several Assistant Coaches were used as evaluators during Peewee tryouts.
• The players that had played for those coaches had the opportunity and advantage over other players in the form of a pre-tryout skate of nearly 100 hours.
• It is pure human nature for an evaluator to look at players he has coached, be
aware of what they can do for a team during individual plays or an entire game,
and judge that player differently. It is pure human nature for that evaluator to
NOT be 100% impartial; in fact it would be impossible to be impartial.
• And when the difference between the bottom of one team and the top of another team is as small as a ½ point, the advantage for the coach-evaluated players is enormous, it is not fair, and it is not equitable.
When the amendment was voted down by the General Membership in 2008, rejecting a coach’s evaluation, the Membership determined that a player’s previous year’s skill level, stats or contribution to his previous team’s success should not be taken into consideration. The previous season’s coach does not have (with the exception of coaches pick) input into the following season’s placement.
And yet, that is exactly what happened for some of the players in this year’s tryouts,
giving them an advantage over players who did not benefit from a coaches
evaluation, and in turn jeopardizing the integrity of the results for the entire tryout process for 2009.
In addition:
• Our current tryout process allows for score sheets to be completed in pencil
without erasures being co-signed or justified.
• Our current process also allows those score sheets to be transported and stored insecurely, so that anything could be done with those sheets prior to the board’s triple check on calculations.
• I am also aware of instances, in the past, when a discrepancy has occurred
between tryout scores and a player’s known ability, that consideration was given
and a more consistent placement was made.
When we received and questioned Conor’s placement this year, we received an email response saying, if we believed our son was placed incorrectly, “there is a process in place to accommodate players that were not placed appropriately” and were told to check the by-laws.
Bylaw Article XIX, Section 3.B. (b) states:
(a) If, after five games, the Team Coach feels that it is justified to advance a
player as a “dominant player”, the Team Coach, the player’s parents, and the
Program Director, must submit verifiable evidence to the Board of Directors,
for approval to be advanced. (A prime example of “verifiable evidence”
would be copies of game reports.)
This is a subjective process, relying on – once again – a coach’s evaluation, with no clear criteria for determining what evidence is needed. Does the player have to score a certain number of goals or assists each game? And would a head coach be willing to give up the best player on his team?
And why are we putting kids through this anyway?
I would like to close with a few words about my son, Conor. Because he deserves that you know more about him than the scores the Board triple checked last month. Conor is a smart hockey player. What he lacks for in size, he makes up for with his mind.
He plays with his brain! He anticipates plays, knows where he is supposed to be on the ice and where everyone else is supposed to be…and if they’re not, he will be there to help them. He is a coach’s dream: if his coach tells him what he needs him to do during a game, he does it – willingly and to the best of his ability – play by play and shift by shift.
In fact some of you here tonight have personally coached his to some of his greatest successes on the ice.
Conor has had a tough few weeks with many sleepless nights. The nightmares about his legs being cut off aren’t mentioned anymore, but he’s had lots of questions…here are a few – think about how you would respond:
“What could I have done better?”
“How could I have made the last team when I never fell, never missed a pass and completed all the drills correctly?”
“What did I do wrong? Am I really that bad?”
“Am I really one of the bottom 15 players in the league?”
“Could the evaluators just not like me?”
“Should I give it up?”
“Why didn’t my coaches last year tell me I was this bad, so I could have gotten better before tryouts?”
I want you to know that I told him that I believe he is one of the hardest working hockey players I have ever known – and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth. I told him that he is one of the best team players I have ever seen play the game and am proud of his contribution to last season when he & his team won the Massachusetts State Championship – and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth. I told him that he is one of the most generous hockey players any coach could ever have the honor of coaching – and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth. I told him that the tryout evaluators do not and cannot know how well he plays his game
– and I will continue to tell him that, because it’s the truth.
Other parents and Conor’s teammates are perplexed at his placement as well. But interestingly enough, I was warned by some parents not to speak to you today, for fear of further retribution. Some parents even asked that I not let anyone know they were supportive of us, for fear of retribution for their child.
And, I almost didn’t come tonight.
But last week on a chilly day, something happened that made me believe that I had to champion some changes in the tryout process.
I was driving Conor to Fletcher Field for a baseball game and he was wearing his prized “Mass State Champions” jacket that he and his team proudly wore to the NE Regional tourney in New Hampshire. When I parked in the field parking lot, Conor saw some former teammates from the car window, looked down at his jacket, then at me, and said “I better not wear this anymore.” When he removed his jacket, I knew that I would speak to you tonight.
For our family, being part of FYHA was, and is always about love of the game,
developing skills, and team building. We don’t believe Conor is a “One”, but we KNOW he is not a “Four”.
The tryout process is flawed. And the integrity of the process is in question because not every player was allowed an evaluation by his or her own coach. You cannot offer that advantage to a few players only.
And I believe that if more parents knew about the partiality shown to some players, you would have more parents here tonight.
The FYHA website has a statement that reads “Bottom line is that we stand confident that this year’s process is fair and consistent.”
I believe that it was neither. No one should.
We all have a responsibility to every child in this organization to discuss this year’s results and to make sure this does not happen again.
Conor this was for you.
Thank you again for your time.
Mark Allen stated that this is not a perfect process and if we did the try-outs all over again, the teams would be totally different again. No matter what you do, make a policy or plan, it is not perfect and will not please everyone. Mark stated that he or anyone on this board will claim that the system is perfect because it can’t be. It is impossible. Everyone here has to realize there is no such thing as a perfect tryout system. We could have had tryouts again a week later and all the teams would be different. Then we could have done it again and all the teams would be different again. And again
Cheryl stated this was not an impartial process and FYHA broke their own policy.
Mark stated that we have a policy in place. We followed the policy and we fully expect to hear feedback and will constantly tweak the process on a yearly basis. But it still wont be perfect. Me- you mention the scoresheets done in pencil and the transport of sheets. If you want to question Chris Spillane’s integrity you can but you will probably be alone. If you want to question my integrity that is fine. But if you question Carolyn, Maria, Dave M and all of us as a group that is wrong. We were all involved in the process.
Cheryl stated she was not questioning the integrity of the board but the process.
Tony Rogers stated that his son moved down two levels from B2-B4. He did prepare his son that he might be a B3 but this is unacceptable going from B2 to B4. Tony asked why there is nothing in the bylaws that protect these kids. What went wrong.
Bryan Harrington asked why he offered his services and did not receive a reply.
Tom Manzella stated that he offered his services and he did not receive a reply. Tom asked that this should be a statistical process and there should be a way to sanitize the results. How can the Board validate the process? Should there be a post evaluation on the ice, have a quick scrimmage, take a mid tier group, have them scrimmage and look at them again.
Mike Glynn stated he came in support of the Harringtons and felt that Conor was misplaced. Mike asked if we can look at the process and if there is something absolutely glaring, have a discussion. If there is a blatant, glaring mistake, there should be some process in place.
Rob Norton stated that anyone can submit a bylaw that the membership can vote, for example, a player moving down.
Tom Manzella asked the board to comment on the impartiality of the evaluators.
Jim Mealey stated getting evaluators is tough because they have to commit to all the sessions to keep it consistent.
Mark Allen stated we can talk about outside evaluators but would have to pass on the cost. If an outside evaluator simply does not show up which does happen, you end up grabbing someone from the stands.
Mark also noted that there have been many complaints in the past that people evaluating the older kids have to be more familiar with that level of play. We got complaints for having mite coaches evaluating bantams. People who evaluate know kids at every level because they are so involved.
Steve Trask stated that he evaluated the younger kids. The Bylaws state that you can not have a parent evaluate a level that your player is trying out for, none of the evaluators evaluated a level that their kid was in.
Bryan Harrington stated that although their kid was not in that level, the coaches had advantages of seeing these kids skate all year and can’t help to be impartial.
Jim Mealey said that he evaluated the Bantams and he knew many of the kids. Bryan Harrington asked how but felt he could be impartial.
Mike Glynn stated as an evaluator, it is very quick and could not see that anything could be rigged. Mike stated that he would never question the integrity of the Board and feels the Board would never do anything underhanded.
Steve Trask stated that it is much harder to evaluate the Bantams because all of the players can skate. At the mite level the bottom 15 that can’t skate go to Mite 6.
Tom Manzella asked if there was mental fatigue when evaluating the first player versus the 20th player. Mike Glynn stated that although he knew some of the PW, he takes the evaluation process seriously and evaluated each person equally. During scrimmages, he would add up his scores and then keep looking at each player to make sure he got it right
Mike Glynn said that he just looked at the last team at the kids who can’t skate and can’t handle the puck.
Tony Rogers asked where did the process go wrong and what asked the Board what would they change of the process if they could.
Mark Allen stated that the biggest problem which we saw coming was going from 3 bantam teams to 4 we new kids would be dropped down.
Maria Cole stated she has been on the Board for 3 years, the first year, many kids came back to the program and kids moved down from B3-B4 and there were many parents upset. The only thing that maybe we could change is we knew there were going from 3 teams to 4 teams and make changes earlier.
Mark stated If misplacements are noticed I would want no part in changing scores and shuffling kids around. We need to continue to work on ways to get more accurate scores.
Cheryl Harrington stated that we need to take off the table impartiality.
Tom Manzella stated again that any new process needs validation that is glaringly incorrect and change it.
Mike Glynn stated that he knows both Bryan and Mark and does not question the integrity of the process but maybe look at the process if something is glaring.
Cheryl Harrington stated that she does not question the integrity of the Board and hopes there is some healing in the process,
Topic- President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Vice President’s Report –No Report
Topic: Program Director’s Report-No Report
Topic-Assistant Program Director Report-Westboro-Ellie Cheever
Ellie reported that Westboro has approved all of the teams FYHA requested. We will have three mite teams, 4 squirt teams, 5 peewee teams and 4 bantam teams. All the deposits have been sent in.
Motion to accept: Maria Cole.
Seconded
Discussion: Mark Allen asked if there have been any teams dropping out of Westboro due to financial reasons. Ellie will check with Westboro.
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Assistant Program Director-Marlboro/Foxboro-No Report
Topic: Ice Director’s Report- No Report
Topic: Treasurer’s Report –Jeff Brown
Jeff reported that we have $34,000 in the bank. We need to set tuition to build up savings. Jeff is waiting for contracts from Tom Kennedy.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded
Discussion: None
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Head Coach’s Report- Brian Murphy
All coaches have been notified and have their rosters. There issues at the Bantam level. Next step is the Midgets. Brian would like to run some coaches clinics and have Chris Dwyer and Chris Spillane assist. Hope to do this at the end of August.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Steve Trask said that each team can have their own web page and asked Brian to send him the list of coaches and rosters
Vote to accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Equipment Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Fundraising Director-Carolyn Meisner
The golf tournament is scheduled for September 22nd. The price is the same and we now need golfers and sponsors. The Face-Off dance will be March 12th with Jim Plunkett. Carolyn is also doing another fundraiser, “You have been flocked”.
Carolyn has the FYHA hats and is selling them for $15.00. FYHA will alos have a partnership with the Worcester Sharks, we will have a FYHA night at one of their games and they will also provide a skill session for our players. We will need to determine ticket prices.
Motion to Accept: Carolyn Kelley
Seconded
Discussion: Carolyn will look into Lake Pearl of Medway VFW for the Jim Plunkett venue. The Bruins want to partner with the carnival that is planned from the Mike Cheever Grant. Mark Allen also would like us to do a hockey equipment swap. Could this be done in the Fall. Jack Neenan could possibly run it. Steve will put the information on the web when finalized.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic-Assistant Fundraising Director’s Report-No Report
Topic: Registrar’s Report-Dave Moses
Dave is sending out emails regarding MIRs. Chris Dywer and Dave discussed in-house numbers. As of now, there will be 3 teams with 12 players, one team with 11 players. Will just add one more player.
Motion to Accept: Maria Cole
Seconded
Discussion: Chris Dwyer plans to progress the in-house from cross ice to full ice. Rob Norton recommended keeping the roster at 12 for each team.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Publicity Director’s Report- Steve Trask
Steve is planning on adding more to the website and is adding more links today. Asked if we should be adding the players name to the roster lists and put it on the webs. Steve is hesitant to take any information off the website. Steve also noted that Wayne Green’s name is on the town’s website. Tom also would like to know LTP and LTS session dates.
Motion to Accept: Tom Kennedy
Seconded
Discussion: Registration for LTS and LTP will be on-line this year. Dave Moses will also send out an email regarding NVL. Dave will send out the email to those who expressed interest first and then send out an email to the general membership. Carolyn Meisner will check about sponsors being properly placed on the website. Ellie will check with Chris Spillane regarding FYHA posting signs in visible areas. Mark asked Steve if we have a hidden event calendar for FYHA Executive Board. Steve to set is up with a password.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Topic: Learn to Skate Director’s Report- No report
Topic: Team Manager’s Report- Carolyn Kelley
The second equipment drop off was at the end of May. Some of the goalie equipment did not get back. One team did not drop off shirts or name plates. There are old FYHA shirts that will be sold this year as practice shirts.
Motion to Accept: Dave Moses
Seconded.
Discussion: We will have two sets of old hockey shirts as back-up for teams to use.
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Old Business
Budget: Jeff Brown presented the 2009-2010 FYHA budget. There was a discussion regarding tuition. Costs of ice continue to rise and we ran into a deficit last year. There was also a discussion on setting tuition for goalies.
Dave Moses motioned to set goalie tuition to $750, seconded. Vote to accept motion: Six for the motion, three against. Motion passed.
Rob Norton motioned to set the tuition at $600 for Midget, $1125 for Mites thru Bantams, $750 for Goalies from Squirts to Bantams and $400 for Midget goalies, $125 for LTS and $175 for LTP.
Maria Cole motioned to accept.
Seconded.
Vote to Accept Motion: Unanimous
Motion to Adjourn: Dave Moses
Seconded
Vote to Accept Report: Unanimous
Meeting adjourned at 9:44
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Cole, FYHA Secretary
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