CT Chapter Meeting Minutes

Thursday October 13, 2016

6:30-8:30 pm

Norwalk High School – 55 County Street, Norwalk – Room C318B

Present: Phil Schneider, Rich Heritage, Mark Duclos, Randy Bayliss, Caitlyn Hinchey, Ralph Mayo

The meeting was called to order at 6:50pm by welcoming everyone and introductions

Phil presented the minutes from Board meeting on September 15, 2016 and Leadership Conference Call on October 5, 2016.

Group had some discussion about the US Lacrosse age segmentation policy and CONNY’s plan for implementation.

No action was taken on the minutes for either meeting

·        First item on the meeting agenda was CT Chapter reports. Phil had asked for reports to be submitted to him, if committee coordinators could not attend the meeting.

President Report – Phil reported that the New England Black Wolves had been in contact with him about hosting the annual coaches’ clinic. They are looking to have it on Sunday January 29, 2017 after a home game at the Mohegan Sun on Saturday. Rich Lisk, GM of Black Wolves, needs to confirm the date. The Black Wolves are also offering a 2 for 1 season ticket deal and would like to have a Chapter newsletter sent out with this information. There was some discussion about the value added to our membership for this offer and it was agreed that this would be a benefit to members and should be done. There was more discussion on the development of a standardized sponsorship packet for potential vendors should be created. Rich suggested contacting Ryan to see what chapters in the Rochester and Buffalo area do with sponsorship agreements with NLL teams in their area. No action was taken on these items.

Vice Presidents – Men’s and Women’s – no report

Treasurer – Rich was able to report that present Chapter reserves are $55,200. Phil asked about the October disbursement from US Lacrosse. Rich reported that it had not been received. Phil also reported that final 2017 CT Chapter budget was submitted to US Lacrosse.

Hall of Fame Committee – no report, but Rob will be having a HoF committee meeting within the next week.

Grants Committee – Mark reported that he had received one grant application from Wethersfield for the early grant period. The committee is reviewing the application. Grants are being accepted for the late grant period which ends on January 31^st.

Coaches’ Education – Phil reported that the next CDP Level 1 clinic with be in Waterford on October 30^th. He also reported that US Lacrosse is in the process of identifying and training CDP trainers in each chapter. This will provide more trainers and more flexibility in scheduling CDPs. Randy stated that he had been trained as a CDP trainer, but had only done one clinic and would look to do a refresher course to be able to do more clinics. A question was asked about other CDP trainers in the Chapter. Phil reported that the Train the Trainer event would be at Springfield College in December, but was not exactly sure who would be attending for the Chapter. Ryan should be able to provide this information. Randy asked if the CDP clinics in the Spring would follow the old format (6 hours) or the new condensed format. Ryan should be able to provide an answer to that.

Events – no report besides the potential for the previously mentioned coaches’ clinic at Mohegan Sun in January.

Sponsorship/Fundraising – no report

Communications/Website – Phil reported that Drew and Mitch were looking into potential upgrades for the Chapter website and would have a proposal prepared for the January meeting.

Sportsmanship – no report

·        The next item on the agenda was discussion about the CT Chapter Board of Directors elections. Phil reported that the Chapter by-laws require a nominating committee be established prior to Board of Directors elections. The committee is basically tasked with approaching present board members to see if they are still interested in serving in their present board position and to find qualified replacements for vacant board positions. The committee can also determine the most effective way to receive and review applications for board positions. Phil has been in contact with several board members about serving on this committee. According to the by-laws, Board elections should take place at the December meeting. No action was taken on forming or appointing members to the nominating committee.

·        The next item on the agenda was CT Chapter meetings. Phil reported that hosting Chapter meetings at a variety of locations allows for different constituent groups to attend the meetings in their area more easily. A recommendation was made to host all of the Chapter meetings in a consistent location. There was a discussion and agreement by group members that having meetings in different locations is helpful for some board members, but that a consistent location would be the best option. Some group members suggested using 2 or 3 sites on a rotating basis (i.e. Trumbull and some location in the eastern part of the State) if we still wanted to make it easier for some constituent groups. The recommendation from the group was still to host meetings in a consistent location with Cheshire being the best option. There was a discussion about the meeting dates and having them posted on the website. Phil mentioned that they were presented at the September meeting and were in the minutes of that meeting, but the group agreed that they needed to be more readily available. There was some discussion about an electronic calendar for posting meeting reminders. Randy suggested using some type of Google calendar and seeing if the website had capabilities to post meeting dates. Mark suggested using the calendar on the Chapter website to post meetings. No decisions or actions were taken on these items.

·        Meeting Decisions and Points of Action – due to a lack of quorum of the board of directors, no decisions could be made.

Items to still be discussed and approved:

·        CT Chapter coaches’ clinic at Mohegan Sun, discount ticket offers and sponsorship agreement

·        Nominating committee and Board of Directors elections

·        Chapter meeting locations and notification of meetings

The next meeting of the Chapter will be Wednesday November 9, 2016, Location TBD

Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm