NCSL Board Meeting
January 8, 2019
Westin Tysons Corner

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 p.m.

 

I.         Roll Call

 

The following clubs were in attendance at the meeting: A3, Alexandria Soccer Association, Alliance Soccer Club, Annandale Boys & Girls Club, Antietam United Soccer Club, Arlington Youth Soccer Club, Bethesda Soccer Club, Braddock Road Youth Club, Broadneck SC, Burke Athletic Club, Calverton Soccer Club, Chantilly Youth Association, Culpepper Soccer Club, D.C. Stoddert, Damascus Soccer Club, DORADUS, Epic Soccer Club, Fairfax Police Youth Club, FC Frederick, Fort Washington, Fredericksburg Soccer Club, Front Royal Soccer Association, Future Soccer Club, Great Falls – Reston, Gunston Soccer Club, Hagerstown Soccer Club, Herndon Youth Soccer Association, La Plata Soccer Academy, Laurel Soccer Club, Leesburg Football Club, Loudoun Soccer Club, Maryland Rush Montgomery, McLean Youth, Montgomery Soccer, Northern Virginia Soccer Club, OBGC, Old Dominion Football Club, Potomac Soccer Association, Premier Athletic Club, Prince William Soccer, Inc., Real World Futbal Club, Severna Park Athletic Club, Shenandoah FC Elite, Soccer Association of Columbia, South County Athletic Association, Southwestern Youth Association, Springfield South County Youth Club, St. Mary's Soccer, Stafford Soccer Club, Sterling Youth Soccer Association, Takoma Park Soccer Club, Team America Football Club, Thunder Soccer Club, Tri-County Soccer Club, Vienna Youth Soccer, Virginia Soccer Association, VISTA, Waldorf Soccer Club, Warrenton Youth Soccer Club, Washington Capital FC, Winchester Youth Soccer Club, Woodbridge Soccer Club

 

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: AC Cugini, Arundel Soccer Association, Calvert Soccer Association, Davidsonville Athletic Association, FC Dulles, FCV Ashburn, Fredericksburg FC, Lee-Mt. Vernon Sports Club, Virginia Blackwatch Soccer Club

 

Approval of Minutes

La Plata Soccer Academy made a motion to approve the August 22, 2018 minutes. Damascus Soccer Club seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed.

 

II.        Reports

 

Ryan Rich – Executive Director: No report (not present)

 

Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: No report

 

Doug Walls – NCSL Commissioner: No report

 

Mike Basileo – Maryland Registrar: Mike reported that registration is running well.

 

Carol Coulter – Virginia Registrar: The state is still “working out the kinks” with the new registration system. Generally, it seems to be running well.

 

Kathleen Sessions – NCSL Administrator: Kathleen asked the reps to submit all entry materials before the end of the meeting. you leave. There are several deadlines on February 14: field permits are due, last day to drop a team for a refund, division structure information is due. Submitting earlier is encouraged. Kathleen noted that team information is very helpful for structure placement. The Google form is still available to submit information.

 

Alan Paez – NCSL Rules & Discipline: Alan reported that an email will be sent from the R&D Admin regarding sit outs. Please check the sit-outs owed list in case paperwork is missing.

 

STARs need to be re-certified for 2019. There are NCSL-sponsored STAR classes on March 2 and April 6 (April 6 is the last chance to get certified for NCSL spring season). Referees can take any Grade 8 or Grade 9 new or recertification class through http://www.vadcsoccerref.com/ (check “Clinic Listings”). A 2019 badge is needed to be certified.

 

New team administrator meetings will be held at 7:00pm on March 18 and April 1. “New” means have not played in NCSL in two seasons. All managers of new teams are required to attend; new managers for existing teams are encouraged to attend. It is a great information session.

 

Dave Tyhalia joined NCSL as the new R&D Administrator in mid-October. Use rdadmin@ncsl-soccer.com email to contact him. Parents need to remember to go through Club Reps to contact R&D.

 

Carol Montoya – NCSL Secretary: No report (not present).

 

Anne Maynes – Treasurer: Please continue to send in STAR cards for reimbursement. Contact NCSL if the amount is incorrect or the check should be made out to a specific person instead of the team. For spring registration: multiple dropped teams can be listed on one sheet for reimbursement/payment. The budget will be discussed at the March meeting.

 

Eric Popiel – NCSL Vice President: Eric is taking over the STAR program and is working on getting NCSL-sponsored STAR certification classes set up in Maryland as well. He is also considering STAR classes at Audi Field; check NCSL website for more information.

 

Division structure information forms are on Google forms; please give as much information as possible. Email Eric if you would like a list of what information has been submitted for teams in your club.

 

Richard Smith – NCSL President: Ryan is attending the NSCAA convention in Chicago, so this is a combined Executive Director/President report. 

 

NCSL has met with Demosphere to talk about making more features available online.

 

A reminder that there are four ways to get fined:

 

1) Absent from two consecutive Board meetings; having a proxy attend on a club’s behalf is acceptable.

 

2) A new team is not represented at a New Team Administrators meeting.

 

3) Not providing STARs for U12/U13 teams.

 

4) Not having rosters entered into the system (U12 and above). Player names and jersey numbers are needed to fulfill this requirement.

 

Division Structure

February 14 is the last date to drop teams, put fields in the system, and provide information in Google docs for the structure meeting. Ryan is going to reach out (via phone or email) to as many as Club Reps as possible about team placement. 

 

College ID Camp

The College ID Camps were a huge success. There were 51 clubs represented: 35 boys teams and 34 girls teams. Players from as far away as Arizona and Long Island came to the event. College coaches ran the training sessions and there were panel discussions on how to get recruited. Participants played games with coaches rotating among the games.

 

We will be putting together a video.

 

The event was held at the St. James Complex in the Springfield/Annandale area. The new facility was impressive. More than three dozen coaches attended, including Georgetown, William & Mary, George Mason, and American. Players were divided by age group and there was very impressive talent on the field. The purpose of the event was to showcase clubs through the larger league structure. Two Club Reps each noted that they knew college coaches who attended and were impressed with the event.). The price point was competitive. The boys’ side sold out; about a dozen boys had to be turned away.

 

We hope to have another event in the winter of next season. We have been asked to produce an event at the end of the spring season.

 

Futsal

We started the futsal league a little late to get into budgets and scheduled. We will be holding a session next winter as well. There are already a few teams signed up at the St. James for the second session, beginning January 19-20. Registration is still open (online).

 

Sponsorship

The league has had good discussions with Adidas and soccer.com about possible league sponsorships. Sponsorship support would be through events, promotions at events, and monetary contributions. We would invite clubs to participate in voluntary sponsorship opportunities; league-wide involvement would give clubs more value than they can get on their own as well as a financial benefit. The league is aggressively pursuing these opportunities and discussing a meet and greet with coaches to showcase new equipment and kits.

 

The league has been engaged in talks with a variety of actors, including CCL and VPL and the U.S. Youth Soccer CEO and U.S. Club CEO to talk about how we might position NCSL to offer the best competitive environment going forward, both on the field and in the marketplace. When U.S. Youth Soccer turned to EDP, it put us in a situation where we need to determine where Virginia and Maryland leagues fit. We need to consider how we can compete with EDP and Region 1. There is the possibility of NCSL and CCL winners playing in the National Championships. We continue to address what is best for our players, families, and clubs.

 

NCSL is weighing offers from U.S. Youth Soccer and U.S. Club. Ryan is meeting with them in Chicago. Richard asked Club Reps to use discretion when talking about the league’s efforts with their clubs.

 

III.      New Business

 

Calvert Soccer Association wants to introduce a motion to deal with the high number of forfeited games, especially when a referee crew is onsite, and the missing team has given no notice to the opponent or league. No formal motion was made, but the concept was introduced to collect club input. There was discussion of having different penalties for different types of forfeits: egregious ones with a significant fine; notice of forfeiture weeks in advance is a lighter penalty. There was a request for data about the number of forfeits per season. This information can be provided at the next Board meeting.

 

There was discussion about rescheduling rain games and playing during the week.

 

IV.       Other Business

 

Club Reps were reminded that the Elite Soccer Series is an option for competitive high school teams who want a 4-game season.

 

A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:51 p.m.