NCSL Board Meeting
November 13, 2017
Westin Tysons Corner

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m.

 

I.          Roll Call

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: Arundel Soccer Association, Barca Futebol Clube, Fairfax Police Youth Club, Fauquier Soccer Club, Great Falls Athletic Assoc., Hagerstown Soccer Club, Herndon Youth Soccer Association, Maryland Rush, Maryland Rush Montgomery, Reston Soccer Association, Severna Park Athletic Club, Southwestern Youth Association, Stafford Soccer Club, Team America Football Club, Thunder Soccer Club, Tri-County Soccer Club, Washington Soccer Club

 

Minutes for the last meeting were not circulated in advance of the meeting; they will be presented for a vote at the next meeting.

 

II.         Reports

 

Kathleen Sessions – NCSL Administrator: No report.

 

Eric Popiel – NCSL Vice President: No report.

 

Carol Montoya – NCSL Secretary: No report.

 

Anne Maynes – NCSL Treasurer: No report.

 

Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: No report.

 

Maureen Dalbec for Alan Paez – NCSL Rules & Discipline: Reminder to scan and send completed Sit Out cards to the R&D Committee right away. Failure to do so will result in the affected player or coach being placed on the sit out list.

 

Reps are asked to remind teams to track their accumulated sit out points. Players with more than 20 points will owe a sit out at the beginning of the spring season

 

U12 and U13 managers should submit orange STAR cards to the league office so that payment can be made to the STARs.

 

Mike Basileo – Maryland Registrar: No report.

 

Carol Coulter – Virginia Registrar: No report.

 

Richard Smith – President: The fall season has officially ended. This season, we tried a new rescheduling format, which worked out well. There were some games that couldn’t be played at the end of the season due to rain, meaning that holding the rain dates proved critical.   Richard expressed appreciation for teams and clubs that were flexible with the rescheduling of games due to late-season rain, which caused the rain out dates to be used, for which some teams had registered for tournaments. He asked reps to remind their teams that the rain out dates may be used, and to register for tournaments with that in mind.

 

Richard noted a better experience with referees and STARs this season. Working with CASRA was helpful, as was the new Flex Rescheduling timeline, which helped assignors make changes in advance.

 

Richard noted that more STARs were used this season than in the past season. Especially in Maryland, where the league worked with CASRA to not assign assistant referees for U12 and U13 games. Some clubs have asked the league to consider a policy to require STARs at the field at games, and not just listed on the roster. Monitoring the presence of STARs at the field could be difficult. The league has been asking referees to report the names of the STARs that work their games; reporting has not been consistent though. In addition, not all team managers are listing STARs on the blue game card. Richard asked clubs for suggestions of how to report/enforce STAR attendance at games.

 

In response to a question about referee courses, Richard noted that while NCSL sponsors grade 9 referee classes, there are many other courses offered by the state referee associations for other grades. Clubs can sponsor a grade 8 online combo class. Richard has reached out to West Virginia’s association about an online certification since all of the state’s re-certification is online. There is a requirement for an in-person module though. He is exploring conducting a large majority of the modules online, and offering a brief in-person class locally.

 

Richard asked for feedback on the new Flex Rescheduling process. A request was made to publish a list of the clubs that have a policy of not rescheduling games. Some clubs make exceptions to their policy, so posted lists may not be accurate. There was feedback that clubs with a lot of teams have a brief window in which to handle reschedule requests. Richard met with Demosphere today to discuss online options for rescheduling.

 

There was a comment that some teams were confused/frustrated with the hard deadlines for rescheduling, but changes for State Cup could be made throughout the season. Richard noted that the league is required to reschedule for State Cup and President’s Cup.

 

 

A number of NCSL teams made it to Virginia State Cup finals and there were numerous Presidents Club finalists as well. NCSL provides a stipend to any league teams who win State Cup to assist them with the expenses associated with participating in their regional competition. Stipends are also provided to teams who win a regional competition to help with the national tournament. Any teams qualifying for a stipend should provide information for the mailing of checks and to whom they should be made out.

 

US Soccer has voted to reduce the role of the Region One Commissioner. Power has been moved from the regions and centralized in the national office in Frisco, TX. Greg Smith, the executive director of Maryland Youth Soccer, has been named as the Region One manager (a paid position within US Soccer).

 

Richard just received an email from US Soccer with the names of teams that have applied to the Region One Premier League.

 

Region One competition changed last year from a seasonal league to a tournament format where games are played over the course of two weekend. NCSL teams have typically sat out from spring games to participate in Region One. This change created a significant change in programming for the spring season. In addition, in Virginia, many high school teams sit out the season. Richard has been discussing the concept of a new spring league for teams affected by the Region One change and sit out. The Executive Committee has discussed establishing a four-game league for the spring to supplement NCL and CCL teams, which have no games on the schedule after February, and teams playing a few weekends only in Region One.

 

To participate in State Cup, teams have to play in a US Soccer qualifying league. This new spring league would provide the games needed to play in State Cup. GotSoccer points would be available.

 

In response to a question, Ricard clarified that the spring league (tentatively called Elite Spring Series) would target Region One, CCL, NPL and NCSL teams that would otherwise not be participating in league play, and not pull teams that are typically registered for a full season in NCSL.  Acceptance is not automatic.

 

The Executive Committee has hired an assistant administrator.  Richard appointed a subcommittee comprised of Eric, Anne, and Alan to examine the leagues’s needs and to recommend a new hire.  The committee unanimously recommended Alison Smith for the position. Because Alison is Richard’s wife, Richard asked the Executive Committee to consider the recommendation without his input.  The committee noted that Alison has been volunteering as an assistant administrator for a few years, helping with scheduling and other administrative duties.   The EC unanimously agreed wih the recommendation (Richard abstained).  Alison will be primarily responsible for administering the Elite Spring Series, in addition to supporting Kathleen with other tasks.

 

Information about the Elite Spring Series will be Forth coming. The application will be circulated after the normal NCSL application is complete.  Registration will be on the NCSL website, via a separate application (showing in a separate column) on the club rep page of the website.

 

In response to a question, Richard said that clubs from surrounding states would be welcome to participate in the Elite Spring Series.

 

For clarification, Richard noted that games will be played on Sundays, and the series will be for high school age teams only. Teams would have to play on US Soccer rosters.

 

Richard described a provisional roster, which can be approved by the president of the league in special cases. US Soccer allows for provisional rosters for players affected by the birth year change whereby most U15s are playing high school and a few kids (e.g., 8^th graders) are left with no team on which to play, or a high school team sees most of its players graduated and leaves behind too small a number to form a team. A player can be left on primary roster and added to a provisional roster that allows them to play just in a particular league.  Teams finding themselves in that position can inquire of Richard or their state registrar.

 

For structure this season, Richard said he is working with Demosphere to merge the information collected in the Google Docs team information form with the team application that comes in through the club rep portal. In the meantime, Richard asked clubs reps to ensure that information about the teams is submitted through the Google Docs (two Docs—one for U12-U14, one for U15-U19); information should not be emailed to Executive Committee members.

 

Richard reminded reps that they can print a voucher that lists all teams registered to a club. Before the drop deadline, reps should review the list to avoid forfeiting the registration fee if the club needs to pull the team. Richard has asked Demosphere to add the results for the last two seasons to each team’s report on the voucher, and possibly include the comments submitted via Google Docs.

 

A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.