NCSL Board Meeting

January 10, 2017

Westin Tysons Corner

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m.

Richard Smith announced that Carol Montoya has been appointed as Secretary, to replace Lisa Stevenson, who has stepped down. He thanked Lisa for her service.

I.             Roll Call

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: Bethesda Soccer Club; Barca Futebol Clube; Fredericksburg FC; Freedom Soccer Club; MD Rush; Maryland United FC (Freestate); Pasadena Soccer Club; Warrington Youth Soccer Club

OBGC Olney Soccer Club made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 25 meeting with a correction to the age of STARS. Arundel Soccer Association seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed.

II.           Reports

Richard Smith for Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: Richard noted many important deadlines on February 3:

• Last day to drop a team and receive a refund.
• Coaching conflicts must be inputted into team form. It was noted that coaching conflicts are done within NCSL games only, for two teams only, and must be listed on both teams.
• Team scheduling requests must be submitted. Up to three requests can be made: full Saturdays can be requested as byes; only hours available can be indicated for Sundays (no Sunday byes). He encouraged reps to reach out to their teams to poll players for weekends with major conflicts.
• Field loading is due.
• Division Structure requests must be submitted. The Club Rep document link will provide access to a Google doc where requests can be entered; this link can be shared with teams.

There will not be games on Easter weekend (April 15-16), but there will be games the weekend prior (typical spring break).

In response to a question about assignments for U11, the Executive Committee will have access to records when doing Division Structure and will use those results to place teams.

Any club-to-club transfer requests must be submitted to Maureen by January 27 (this is 7 days prior to the deadline of February 3, so Maureen has time to prepare). Richard suggests starting the process early. Page 22-23 of Rules and Procedures Manual details the process and items needed.

Teams are asked to review their team pages to make sure rosters are inputted (U12 and up) and that contact information is current.

In response to a request about when teams returning from sitting out a season can access their team pages: they will be accessible after Division Structure is released.

Mike Basileo– MD Registrar: Presidents Cup and State Cup registration opened January 5. U12 teams in both cups will play 9v9 and can have a maximum of 16 players on their rosters, including club passes. . Registration for State Cup closes on February 1. Registration for Presidents Cup for teams not playing in State cup closes on March 3.

Alan Paez – NCSL Rules & Discipline: The sit outs list has been compiled and Dottie Talbott is reaching out to clubs who have sit outs owed. Players, coaches, or parents on the list are not permitted to play in the first game of the Spring season. Failure to sit out results in an additional sit out.

There were issues in the Fall with club passes. In most cases, all players had the proper documentation. Make sure teams are aware of club pass rules and abide by them. Alan will send information before the start of the season and reps are asked to share with their teams before the start of the season. Club pass players are listed on the blue card, not on the roster, and must have a current card.

Demosphere is being updated to allow for sit out reporting and club passes.

Richard noted there were some issues with check-ins in the Fall where referees didn’t follow exact NCSL procedure. The blue game card notes items that may be issues upon check-in so the information is readily available. Managers should also have their Rules and Procedures Manual available at each game. Referees can be encouraged to check with their assignors about any clarification of rules.

Richard encouraged managers to check with referees after games about cards issued to ensure all cards are properly recorded.

Kathleen Sessions – NCSL Administrator: Kathleen reminded everyone that all entry forms and fees are due today. She will follow up with any registrations that don’t look correct and will clear up wait lists prior to the ODSL registration deadline. She noted that the cap for each age group is 80 teams.

Anne Maynes – NCSL Treasurer: Anne has reviewed the budget and does not anticipate a fee increase for next year. The budget will be presented at the March meeting.

Fifty two percent of STARS cards have been submitted. Please remind managers to turn them in for reimbursement.

Eric Popiel – NCSL Vice President: There is a PCA workshop scheduled for January 24 in Arlington. Another one will be scheduled in conjunction with Arundel Soccer Association. NCSL is paying for the workshops and reimbursing for the books.

Richard Smith – President: Richard will be attending NSCAA Conference this week and participating in Region I meetings to represent NCSL.

STARs with 2016 badges need to be re-certified. Badges must say 2017. This mostly affects U13 teams who have had the same STARs from the past few seasons.

The New Administrators Meeting is scheduled for March 20 at the Westin Tysons Corner. Any new teams must have a representative at the meeting. New teams are any who have not played the last two seasons. A list will be circulated and reps can confirm the status of teams. All managers and club reps are invited to attend the meeting.

Meetings were held with clubs over the summer to discuss the effect of age group changes on structure. The meetings were beneficial and will be offered again prior to the Spring season. For Maryland high school teams that sat out in the Fall, this can be especially helpful.

For U11 Girls, an unscored division, input is being requested for relative strength so they can be assigned in structure. An email will be sent to reps requesting feedback.

Questions have been received regarding West Virginia State Cup. They have a qualifying tournament which has not been considered by NCSL as part of the tournament for purposes of scheduling. Due to the number of teams now in West Virginia, the qualifying games will be treated as State Cup games.

III.          New Business

Club Pass Motion (U11 Girls): Scores are not kept for U11 Girls, the same as for U9 and U10 Girls. Currently, unlimited club passes are permitted for U9 and U10 girls. This proposal would update the wording to allow unlimited club passes for U11 Girls, to align the treatment with that of U9 and U10 Girls.

The motion for the club pass change was submitted by FC Frederick. Takoma Park seconded.

In response to a question, Richard confirmed that there are different rules for Girls and Boys teams at this level.

In response to a question, Richard confirmed that Girls U11 teams would still be able to provide input on relative playing level. When Girls U9 and U10 teams register, they report their relative level of play.

Richard called the vote and it passed unanimously.

U12 9v9 Small-sided Play: Richard noted that over the summer, there were indications from Region I, Maryland, and Virginia that there would not be changes to format for U12. Maryland has already voted to make the change, and Virginia is expected to vote later this week to have State Cup teams play 9v9. U.S. Soccer has mandated that 9v9 will be the maximum number of players allowed for U12 games.

The change would apply to Boys and Girls U12 teams. The Executive Committee has the authority to make the necessary language changes to the Rules and Procedures necessary to implement the change.

The motion for the format change was submitted by FC Frederick. Takoma Park seconded.

In response to a question, Richard clarified that rosters would still remain at 14. Field dimensions would not be changed. There was concerned expressed about teams already being in place with the expectation of 8v8 play. Teams registered in NCSL are aware that tournaments are being played 9v9 and choose to register in a league that plays 9v9. There was a point made that the number of teams affected by this is small.

There was a question about waiting to see what the states will do. Richard clarified that Maryland is still playing 8v8 at U12. In Virginia, the practice has been that U12 games play 8v8. Later this week, Virginia will address the 9v9 issue for State Cup. It’s not known what the leagues will do in response to potential changes made at the state level.

There was a point made that 9v9 provides more playing time, thereby supporting player development. Richard noted that coaches could still opt to play 8v8 games because they would have the minimum number of players required.

There was concern expressed about crowded fields.

Richard called the vote. By voice vote, it was declared that the motion failed. A roll call vote was requested. A roll call was conducted and the motion failed.

IV.          Good & Welfare

DC United’s season opener is March 4.

Trophies for Fall winners have been sent out; if they have not been received, contact Kathleen. Lack of receipt is most likely due to incorrect contact information in the system.

The meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m.