NCSL Board Meeting

June 27, 2019

Westin Tysons Corner

The meeting was called to order at 7:34 p.m.

I.         Roll Call

The following clubs were in attendance at the meeting: A3, Alexandria Soccer Association, Alliance Soccer Club, Antietam United Soccer Club, Arlington Youth Soccer Club, Bethesda Soccer Club, Braddock Road Youth Club, Broadneck SC, Burke Athletic Club, Calvert Soccer Association, Calverton Soccer Club, Chantilly Youth Association, Chantilly Youth Association, D.C. Stoddert, Damascus Soccer Club, DORADUS, Epic Soccer Club, Fairfax Police Youth Club, FC Frederick, FCV Ashburn, Fort Washington, Fredericksburg Soccer Club, Front Royal Soccer Association, Future Soccer Club, Great Falls – Reston, Gunston Soccer Club, Herndon Youth Soccer Association, Laurel Soccer Club, Lee-Mt. Vernon Sports Club, Loudoun Soccer Club, Maryland Rush Montgomery, McLean Youth, 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, Stafford Soccer Club, Sterling Youth Soccer Association, Takoma Park Soccer Club, Team America Football Club, Thunder Soccer Club, Vienna Youth Soccer, Virginia Revolution, Virginia Soccer Association, VISTA, Waldorf Soccer Club, Warrenton Youth Soccer Club, Washington Capital FC, West Virginia Futbal Club

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: Annandale Boys & Girls Club, Arundel Soccer Association, Davidsonville Athletic Association, FC Dulles, Fredericksburg FC, Hagerstown Soccer Club, La Plata Soccer Academy, Leesburg Football Club, Montgomery Soccer, Springfield South County Youth Club, St. Mary's Soccer, Winchester Youth Soccer Club, Woodbridge Soccer Club

Approval of Minutes

FC Frederick made a motion to approve the May 9, 2019 minutes. Alliance Soccer Club seconded. A voice vote was taken; all were in favor and the motion passed.

II.        Reports

Ryan Rich – Executive Director: Burke and Team America both had teams that won in the regional competition. The Team America team is advancing to the national competition.

The boys college combine was held this past weekend. There were 90+ players in attendance. The day included video sessions and two DC United soccer players attended. Dates for the winter combine are being finalized for early January.

Alison Smith asked Ryan to share that registration checks will be deposited next week.

The sit out list has been circulated; the spring list is shorter than the fall list was. Any documentation of sit outs that were already done should be submitted.

We are projecting to release the fall schedule in early August. We plan to go to online rescheduling instead of Flex Rescheduling for the fall. Webinars are planned to demonstrate the process; team managers will be invited to participate. The new system should make the process easier for club reps.

Ryan has reached out to all clubs regarding input for division structure. He is willing to hold calls or meetings with clubs to gather information.

Ryan recently circulated a document showing the pathway to the regional competition. A Super Group will be designated in the Spring and that group’s Spring performance will determine which team will advance to the regional competition. We expect to place the top three Division I teams, the top Division II team, and outside teams which will have to apply. The outside teams must be from a NCSL club, but don’t have to be a NCSL team. Top teams will be invited to participate, and don’t have to be part of the Super Group.

Virginia high school-aged teams have to play in State Cup in order to be eligible to play in the Super Group. Maryland teams that sit out in the fall will be evaluated based on their prior spring season.

The U18/19 Super Group may be handled differently since it’s a combined age group. The teams should enter in the U18 State Cup in the fall. We may have a U18 champion and a U19 champion, depending on the number of teams enrolled.

If the State Cup winner is in the Super Group, NCSL will send the Super Group runner-up to the regional competition.

There was a question about the use of STARs in the Super Group. Consideration is being given to not using STARs for Super Group games. A change to the STAR program needs to be made via a motion from the Board of Directors.

Sterling Youth Soccer Association made a motion to eliminate the STAR program. Alliance Soccer Club seconded. The floor was opened to discussion.

Ryan provided some feedback from referee assignors that indicated referees go to other leagues if they are not finding games in NCSL because STARs are refereeing. The program tries to address the referee shortage in the area. If it’s disbanded, we may need to look at other options. Richard predicted difficulty in getting assistant referees assigned to U12 games if STARs are not used. There are reports of STARs showing up for games and not being used, which creates frustration for the STARs that show up. Maryland will be offering “grassroots” referee courses, which makes it more difficult for STARs to get certified. An observation was made that STARs don’t tend to stay on as referees.

The vote was called for. A voice vote was taken; a majority were in favor and the motion passed.

Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: No report.

Doug Walls – NCSL Commissioner: We won’t know whether the U18/U19 age groups will be separated or combined until the Division Structure meeting. A suggestion was made to ask clubs if U17 teams are returning.

Carol Coulter – Virginia Registrar: Carol noted that clubs can start working on 2019-2020 rosters. Clubs must go into the system first and set up the teams. No rosters will be approved before August 1. A bug that allowed a player to be rostered to two teams was fixed.

Background checks are good for two years. All adults associated with teams must have a sexual abuse training certificate uploaded to their profile. Registrars will check this before approving rosters.

Mike Basileo – Maryland Registrar: Maryland’s system will be open July 1 for clubs to start entering their teams. MSYSA has selected a background check vendor that must be used by all clubs.

Richard noted that under USYS national championship rules, there is a roster freeze date after which no one can be added to the roster from outside the club; this is tied to the State Cup date. The date is early for Virginia (can be as early as August). NCSL won’t have a freeze date for Super Group competition, but it’s possible that players eligible to play in NCSL could be prohibited from playing in regional competition if he/she is rostered after the freeze date. Richard has asked the leadership of USYS and Region 1 to consider changing the freeze date deadlines.

Carol Montoya – NCSL Secretary: No report.

Anne Maynes – Treasurer: No report.

Eric Popiel – NCSL Vice President: No report.

Alan Paez – NCSL Rules & Discipline: No report (not present).

Alison Smith – NCSL Administrator: No report (not present).

Richard Smith – NCSL President: Richard handed out checks to clubs with teams that won in State Cup and Presidents Cup competitions. He presented checks to Team America Football Club, Burke Athletic Club, and Winchester Youth Soccer Club.

Richard reviewed upcoming deadlines and dates:

· Drop date, to receive refund: July 14 (drop form is required)

· Field loading due: July 14

· Division Structure meeting: July 21

· Fall schedules posted August 6

· New Team Administrator Meeting: August 19

· New Team Administrator Meeting: September 3

· Board meeting: August 26

· First game: September 7

A list of new teams will be circulated so club reps can confirm the correct teams are listed.

III.      New Business

None.

A motion was made and seconded to adjourn. A voice vote was taken, all were in favor and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.