NCSL Board Meeting
March 23, 2017
Westin Tysons Corner

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:41 p.m.

I.             Roll Call

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: Barca Futebol Clube, BAYS, Cugini Soccer Club, Fauquier Soccer Club, Freedom Soccer Club, Future Soccer Club, Maryland Rush, Maryland United FC, Pasadena Soccer Club, Southwestern Youth Association, Stafford Soccer Club, Takoma Park Soccer Club, Warrrenton Youth Soccer Club

A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2017 meeting. All were in favor and the motion passed.

II.           Reports

Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: Maureen noted that Club Reps should be the first point of contact for NCSL issues and asked Club Reps to remind their coaches and parents of this.

Maureen asked Club reps to remind team managers that home teams should make contact with their opponent by Wednesday prior to the game. Rosters and passes need to be at field in hard copy; not electronic (e.g., not on an iPad).

Team managers need to make sure their webpages are current with team contacts.

April 1 is the deadline for all U12 and over teams to review and update team information (fist last names, jersey number) and for U12 & U13 to list STARS on the team page. Fines will be if the information is posted.

STARS forms are downloadable from the website.

Managers are responsible for tracking all players and coaches who accumulated yellow or red cards throughout the season.

Maureen Dalbec for Alan Paez – NCSL Rules & Discipline: The sit out list was distributed and is also on the website. Sit outs track with players if they change teams or don’t play for a season. Maureen asked Club Reps to remind team managers to review the list. Failure to sit out a game results in additional sit outs for the player, as well as the coach, and the game is forfeited. Richard noted that managers need to ensure sit out cards are completed and submitted.

Division scorekeepers are on the website under Division contacts.

Mike Basileo – Maryland Registrar: No report.

Carol Coulter – Virginia Registrar: No report

Kathleen Sessions – NCSL Administrator: Schedules have been posted.

Kathleen talked about a new feature on the website that shows what fields are closed on game days. There is also an option to sign up for text messages to be notified of field closures.

In response to a question, Kathleen noted that she is informed by Club Reps when a field is closed. Richard clarified that NCSL relies only on Club Reps, and not county hotlines or other sources, for field closures. If a field is closed, Kathleen updates the website and notifies referees. She encouraged Club Reps to have a plan in place to address inclement weather.

Let Kathleen know about State Cup conflicts. She has Maryland’s schedule; is waiting on Virginia and West Virginia.

Flex Rescheduling Forms are on the website on the Club Rep page under documents. Deadline for Flex Rescheduling is 5:00pm on the Tuesday prior to the game. This is a firm deadline.

Richard noted the Twitter handle is @NCSL2.

Carol Montoya – NCSL Secretary: No report.

Eric Popiel – NCSL Vice President: No report.

Richard Smith – President: Richard noted that the league and clubs try to hold as many referee certification courses as possible. The state associations have set a deadline—that have passed—for taking recertification classes. NCSL is working to get additional classes scheduled. There are few classes left, including two new STARS classes in Fairfax, March 25 and April 1.

Richard has been told that referees certified in Maryland and Virginia can work in either state.

There are three grade 8 classes, which have a majority of work done online. They will be held March 25, 26 and 29, in DC, Springfield, and Arlington. There is a recertification class on March 25 in Springfield.

Information about referee classes was sent to Club Reps previously. It appears that referee associations are not contacting already-certified referees directly.

Richard said that Maryland’s referee assignor organization, CASRA, has decided to charge referees $60 to be eligible to take assignments. The impact on referee availability remains to be seen.

Richard asked Club Reps to immediately communicate with U12 and U13 teams about the requirement to list two certified referees, over age 15, on their team webpages. STARS do not need to be a relative of a player. R&D will be checking STARS listing to confirm compliance.

In response to a question, Richard clarified that the class deadline is for re-certification.

Richard reviewed the resources available under NCSL Forms on the website:

• STARS forms for reimbursement
• Team Official cards (any adult on the team’s sideline needs to have a card)
• Player, parent, and coach codes of conduct are on the documents page as well. These are not required, but can be used by teams if they find value in it

Region I conflicts were addressed during scheduling, as well as Maryland State Cup. If any were missed, please let Kathleen know right away. Virginia will be posted in the coming days and conflicts should be sent in. In response to a question, Richard said that conflicts are not addressed for other/private tournaments.

There are four ways to incur fines:

• Not entering rosters for U12 & up on team pages; R&D will check on April 1
• Not having STARS listed
• Not attending New Team Meeting
• Not having PCA (this has been suspended)

Richard asked clubs to be prepared for the 750 games scheduled on opening weekend (April 1 & 2).

• Make sure fields are ready: mowed & lines down.
• Know where equipment is; have all proper equipment available; know combinations

During the scheduling process, many clubs did not have enough field space allocated. This led to the need for hand-scheduling some games (Kathleen had to make 4,731 changes to the schedule!) To the best of the league’s ability, U13 games were stacked on full-sided fields, so referee assignors have consecutive games where ARs aren’t needed.

Changes done via Flex Rescheduling MUST be signed by the Club Rep and turned in by the deadline.

Fourteen clubs had at least one team that did not attend the New Team Meeting. The information for those teams will be sent to Club Reps. If the teams were not new, Club reps should let the office know. A team is defined as a team that did not play in NCSL or WAGS for the past two seasons.

Player Development Initiatives: US Soccer is implementing 9v9 for U12. NCSL will need to decide how to handle this. Club Reps will need to get input from their clubs, with the goal of having a decision in place prior to tryouts.

For U9 and U10, US Soccer is changing the field size to a maximum of 55-65’ in length and 35-45’ in width. This is slightly smaller than the current mandate. US Soccer also wants to add a “build-up” line between the 18-yard line and mid-field line. The attacking team is required to retreat from the build-up line, and the keeper may not punt the ball. The attackers would have to retreat on goal kicks as well. The build-up line will also be the offside line. US Soccer is also recommending a new goal size: 6.5’ x 18/5’ maximum size.

Changes for U11 & 12 include increasing field size from 70’ to 80’ long and 45’ to 55’ wide. Goals can be a maximum of 7’ x 21’. The maximum number of players on the field is 9v9 and rosters could have a maximum of 16 players. It was noted that continuing with 8v8 would be within the mandate.

Richard wants Club Reps to talk to their clubs and be prepared to discuss them with the Board. Richard is willing to talk to clubs directly if desired.

The next Board meeting is May 1. If this is too late for clubs as they prepare for try outs, the meeting may need to be rescheduled. Participation in the meeting where these issues are discussed is very important.

III.          New Business

2017-18 Budget: Treasurer Anne Maynes reviewed a handout showing how the team fees are estimated. Due to the financial health of the league, clubs are not being charged the full amount of the net fee. She also reviewed a summary of the half-year budget.

Virginia teams may see an increase if the VYSA increases the state fee.

There was a question of whether referee fees can be credited if a referee doesn’t show up or an AR steps in to be center referee. In most cases, it’s a case of a referee not being assigned, rather than a no show. There was some discussion of how volunteers can handle this. One suggestion was to have Club Reps track the occurrences and turn in reports at the send of the season.

Richard encouraged clubs to sponsor more referee classes and encourage participation. He noted that referee assignors send out notices of games without referee coverage. However, because referees will pick up games very late in the process, a decision can’t be made to cancel/reschedule games a few hours prior to a game. Club Reps get the emails from the referee assignors and can contact their club when they see a game does not have coverage to see if someone from the club can help.

Loudoun offered to help explore opportunities to address the issue.

The budget for referee fees is based on the actual payout for the Fall season.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the 2017-2018 budget. The motion was seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed.

The meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m.