March

March 26, 2002
NCSL Board of Directors Meeting


Clubs not in attendance: BETH, CHAN, FPYC, SAC, STAF, TAPK

The minutes from the November 12, 2001, BOD meeting were approved by the membership. President Jeff Skigen recognized the club reps who are new to NCSL and briefly discussed the club reps' responsibilities to the league and their teams. Jeff also gave an overview on the policy for presenting motions to the membership.

V.P. report, Jim Yacobi - Jim welcomed all club reps back for another season of NCSL play.

R&D Chairman - Ray Greenberg reminded the membership that the Spring 2002 information is currently posted on the website. Ray announced that he now is using a new email address, raygreenberg@comcast.net.

Registrars - Mike Basileo discussed the Maryland state cup rules and noted that MSYSA has a new website. Gloria Gallager noted that additional player passes had been mailed to all Virginia and DC club reps. She stressed the importance of downloading the VA Registration from the VYSA website for distribution to all teams. Gloria reviewed the registrars' "Wednesday rule" which requires all roster actions to be submitted to the registrars no later than Wednesday of each week. The registrars cannot accept any paperwork after Wednesday for the following weekend. Gloria also discussed Rosterpro and announced that the 2002 Rosterpro test will soon be conducted. To participate in this test program, individuals should log on to the VYSA website. When teams submit their final Rosterpro information to the state office, the office will confirm receipt with an email notice.

Administrator - Kathleen Sessions reviewed the Spring 2002 information posted on the club rep webpages. She announced that the Spring 2002 division schedules would be posted on the home page following the meeting. Kathleen discussed the scheduling requests and noted that all requests could not be accommodated for all teams.

President - At the USYSA convention, the consensus of opinion was that small sided play would be implemented for U11 and younger at some point in the future. Jeff advised the club reps to take this information back to their teams and to begin preparing for this possibility with more small fields, more coaching training and more necessary equipment. Jeff noted that U9 and U10 would probably play 7 v 7, and U11 would probably play 8 v 8.

The President also discussed the issue of referees giving cards to coaches. NCSL has a rule that officials will show cards to team officials, however, FIFA Laws of the Game does not. The referee administrators from MSYSA and VYSA met to discuss how to deal with this. They have decided to request that all referees in both states show cards to team officials, however, if the referee does not show the cards any card issued still stands and will be recorded and reported to R&D. Discussion followed on various situations with referees and R&D related matters. Dennis Quicker reminded the group that it is the teams' responsibility to keep track of the cards and disciplinary points their team has accrued.

Jeff discussed the college seminars that were conducted over the winter. These seminars will probably be conducted again.

The USYS National competition will be conducted at the Soccerplex next July. The committee is seeking ball boys and girls to assist during the matches.

The NCSL 2002-03 calendar was discussed. Club reps were encouraged to review the calendars carefully and be prepared to vote on it at the next BOD meeting.

The President went over the NCSL 2002-03 Budget proposal. Jeff discussed the possible 75% increase in the Demosphere fees. The cost increases include charging for teams who drop and the related division changes after the draft schedule is produced by Demosphere. Jeff explained to the membership that they must decide if they want to continue with the NCSL drop date and pay Demosphere the additional fees or eliminate the drop date. There was discussion regarding pursuing other vendors for the NCSL's IT service needs.

Jeff discussed the increase in Soccerplex fees to the Capital Cup. The fees have increased $10,000.00. Discussion followed on how to make up this difference. Jeff asked the club reps to decide if the tournament should be subsidized by the league. The tournament directors have resigned and Jeff is looking for new talent to raise funds and assist with the tournament.

Demosphere has recommended that the NCSL discontinue use of the Hotline. They recommend posting the closings and changes on the website instead. Kathleen spoke in favor of keeping this telephone system for dissemination of information on rainy days. Jeff asked the club reps to review this with their teams and send him an email message with their recommendations.

The entry procedures for the U10s was discussed. The club reps agreed to the following rule clarification for the U9 and U10 age groups: The maximum number of teams in each age group is sixty (60). For the Fall U9, Spring U9, and Fall U10 seasons, the league will accept more then 60 teams. However, each club is allowed to submit and is limited to two U9 and two U10 teams for league play.

The meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Sessions, NCSL Administrator