Draft Minutes

Eclipse Board Meeting 6-16-2006, 6-8 pm

Girl Scout Office on Old Steese

Meeting Started at: 6:05 pm

Members Present: Larry Bright, Kathy Port, Anita Simpson, Hope Swoffer, Pips Veazey, Sara Alden, Gary Bender, Sue Bishop, Howard Maxwell, Fabio Mariutto , Caroline Webster, Bev Luoma, Alan McGinty, Rob Solomon, Kim Stokes, Jennifer Templeton, Kate VanHoomissen, Dave Veazey, Bett Schaffhauser. Guest: Sheri Brechan, Ken Mach

Review of Minutes: Kathy Port made a suggestion to change “IPA Fund Policy” to “Club Dues Transfer” instead in the 4-22-06 meeting minutes. Then Howard Maxwell made a motion to pass the 4-22-06 Meeting Minutes with the suggested change. Kathy Port seconded. All in favor, motion passed. Minutes adopted by Larry Bright. Minutes to be published to the Eclipse Club website.

Financial Update: Activity included Clinic Fees/Expenses, Fundraising Concessions, Membership dues, FYSA Registration fees, Tryout Fees, Uniform Payments, Tournament fees, Coaches travel and equipment fees, building rentals, postage and deliver and reproduction fees. Total assets as of April 23, 2006: $23,066.43. .

Old Business:

Update on FYSA Activities: Dave Veazey reported that a lot of activity is going on at FYSA. The new office trailer is now at the fields and being set up
Club Clinic: Larry Bright commented that he thought the club clinic was a great success, and that the coaches and parents did a great job making it happen. There were a few issues but they were worked out or will be done better next year. Larry added that he really appreciates Jennifer Templeton’s and Howard Maxwell’s time and dedication in coordinating the clinic and ensuring a successful clinic. At the next coaches meeting, the coaches will be discussing what went well at the clinic and what did not go so well and what can be done better next time.
Registration Questions or Issues: Pips Veazey shared that Midnight Sun credentials are next week. State cup registration is next week. There will be credential adjustments times for Fairbanks teams authorized with Kay. Pips will let everyone know when it is confirmed. Also, a heads up on hotel reservations for State Cup for the U11 and U12 teams, that they could be playing as early as Monday and that team’s may need rooms as early as Sunday night of that week. Pips will send out a heads up to everyone on any possible Monday games. She said the job is easier than expected (we know it is a lot of work and the club appreciates it!) Far North entry forms are ready to go. AYSA will require player passes for the Midnight Sun and Far North tournaments. Howard Maxwell mentioned to Pips about player passes being on one sheet. Pips was unclear how the players get numbers, but she will be working with MariAnn and Kay to finalize. Also 4 people helped volunteer to put information into the FYSA database – thank you.
Soccerships: Tabled until the end of the season and will put on September agenda.

New Business:

1. Fall Tryouts – Kathy Port suggested that we pick a date ASAP. It was discussed if tryouts should be before or after September 1^st. Potential conflicts are ODP tryouts, Fall Cup, games after state cup players, Dave Milne street soccer. At the next meeting in July, a date will be identified. It was suggested to do the tryouts on a Tuesday/Thursday rather than a weekend. Tentative Dates discussed were August 30/31, 2006 so that teams can accept players on September 1. Also, Kathy Port will update the tryout cards that get sent out by mail.

2. Ken Mach - Ken Mach was introduced at the meeting by Kathy Port. Ken is a teacher at North Pole High School and loves the game of soccer, has a lot of experiencing playing and coaching and is very much interested in coaching/providing clinics to the teams. It was suggested that Ken run a few training sessions of Eclipse/Phoenix teams at the FYSA fields, and coaches that are available will observe. It was also suggested by Howard Maxwell that perhaps he run a Keeper Training sessions as well. Howard suggested that he do these sessions on Tuesday/Thursdays prior to the 6 pm games where coaches may be more available. Ken plans to get his D license this year. Kathy and Rick Port worked with Ken to set up attending the meeting and will communicate to coaches when the training sessions will be held.

3. Increase in Coaching Fees - Rob Solomon and Larry Bright believe coaching fees need to be increased to express to coaches how important they are to the club. It was suggested to provide a 25% increase to coaches across the board for 2007. A policy change would be required. Also needed, is a defined role of Assistant coaches and what they do. Coaching fee issue to be addressed again at a future meeting in the fall.

4. Uniform Socks – Kim Stokes was approached by Larry Foster on having the option to wear white socks. Some thought it was a good option to be able to wear the white socks with the white uniform and to have another option. Kathy Port made the point that policy is to have purple socks and that uniform issues need to be addressed after the current season ends and be addressed for the next season. Kim Stokes made a motion to allow teams to wear purple or white socks. The motion was seconded by Dave Veazey. 8 were in favor; 4 opposed, 3 abstained. The motion passed.

5. NewsMiner Articles – Larry Bright asked how do we handle the Newsminer articles following tournaments and how do we give attention to our 13 teams? In general, individual teams/coaches e-mail to the Newsminer their own team’s successes after a tournament, usually to Bob Ely or to the Sports center website. A general club article by Larry giving an overview of how the club did overall is also acceptable. It was also suggested that Larry could possibly put a lot of this information into a newsletter or on the website for general club information. Larry added that we should work on building the image of community of the Eclipse club and that it would be great public relations. Gary Bender added that Anchorage coaches are frustrated with how to get the story out there. The Eclipse Club needs to consider having a designated PR person. The Board needs to think about adding such a position to the election of Board members in October. Agenda item tabled to next meeting.

6. Eclipse ‘95 Coach – Kate VanHoomison, Eclipse ’95 coach, will be leaving in August and would like to begin the process of finding a new coach, preferably another young female coach who has played the game either at the local level or elsewhere. Dave Veazey added that we need to look at the bigger picture for the future. Perhaps having age-group coaches is the ultimate approach. We need a director of coaching – one who coordinates and focuses on the coaching staff of the club.

7. Phoenix ’97 Coach – No one specifically in mind at the time. Howard Maxwell was approached by a father of a player about potential coaching. We need to find out his interests. An e-mail needs to be circulated to the club that we are looking for a ’97 Phoenix coach and ’95 Eclipse Coach. Kathy Port also suggested that it may be appropriate that we advertise these positions in the Newsminer, although it has been a long time since we have to use this source. It was suggested that we need to do this in a systematic way with deadlines. Good topic for next coaches meeting. A special board meeting will be scheduled in July to address filling these coaching positions.

8. Richard and Deborah Greene: Richard and Deborah Greene are leaving Fairbanks after many years running the Salvation Army and being heavily involved in the Fairbanks soccer community. Sara Alden suggested that as a club we give them a thank you gift and card for their instrumental contributions to our club, specifically, thanking for the use of their building and their contributions in time to the soccer community and the referee association. It was also suggested to write a short article for the Newsminer showing our appreciation to the Greene’s and our donation for that matter. Good public relations for the club. Kathy Port made a motion to give each Richard and Deborah Greene an Eclipse Polo Shirt, a donation from the club to the church for $250.00 (for use in service programs) and an Eclipse Club picture (Hope Swoffer to provide). Hope Swoffer seconded. All in favor. The motion passed. Sara Alden to confirm if the Greene’s are still in town.

9. Eclipse ’97 Developmental Team - Propose to Board a desire to implement a ’97 team and a developmental ’97 team. Will Urban is willing to coach the developmental team. The idea is to have more players develop and have the opportunity to play at a higher level. It is also to make the entry point easier for people starting at the competitive level. Dave suggested that the club provide uniforms for developmental team, could possibly be hand me down older uniforms from other teams. These players could try the developmental team and then tryout out the following year and make the commitment to the team. This is a concept that the board would need to put a lot of thought in and approve. Dave Veazey to write up a proposal for consideration by the board on this developmental team at a future meeting. Also, Dave gave a heads up that Will Urban is getting his paperwork together to coach a developmental team and the ’98 Eclipse team.

10. Eclipse Website – Gary Bender informed the board that he is looking to pass the Eclipse Website duties to another interested member. Anyone interested can contact Gary directly. Gary said that it is a relatively to upkeep the website and he is willing to train!

11. Financial Committee- Kathy Port brought up the idea of having a financial committee that would decide matters regarding financial matters, which would not require the whole board to approve. It was suggested that the Executive Committee be empowered to make these decisions. Larry Bright agreed that this is the process that should take place. More to be discussed on this issue at a future meeting due to meeting time constraints.

Larry Bright made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Howard Maxwell seconded.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 pm!

There will be an important July meeting scheduled to address filling upcoming coaching positions!