NCSL Board Meeting

August 24, 2020

Via Zoom

The meeting was called to order at 7:33 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, Arundel Soccer Association, Bethesda Soccer Club, Blue Ridge United, Braddock Road Youth Club, Broadneck SC, Burke Athletic Club, Calvert Soccer Association, Calverton Soccer Club, Chantilly Youth Association, Culpepper Soccer Club, D.C. Stoddert, DORADUS, Epic Soccer Club, Fairfax Police Youth Club, FC Charles, FC Dulles, FC Frederick , FCV Ashburn (St. James FC), Fredericksburg FC, 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, Lee-Mt. Vernon Sports Club, Leesburg Football Club, Loudoun Soccer Club, Maryland Rush Montgomery , McLean Youth, Montgomery Soccer, Northern Virginia Soccer Club, OBGC (Olney), Old Dominion Football Club, Potomac Soccer Association , 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, Thunder Soccer Club, Vienna Youth Soccer, Villarreal Virginia Academy, Virginia Revolution, Virginia Soccer Association, VISTA, Warrenton Youth Soccer Club, Washington Capital United, West Virginia Futbal Club, Woodbridge Soccer Club

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: Damascus Soccer Club, Maryland Rush, Premier Athletic Club, Team America Football Club

Executive Committee in Attendance: Maureen Dalbec, Howard Kohn, Carol Montoya, Eric Popiel, Richard Smith, Dave Shannon, Doug Wall

Staff in attendance: Ryan Rich, Alison Smith

Approval of Minutes

Takoma Park made a motion to approve the June 25, 2020. VISTA seconded. The minutes were accepted by acclimation.

Ryan Rich – NCSL Executive Director: The deadline for State Cup registration has been extended to September 3. Ryan asked club reps to remind teams playing in SuperGroup that registration for State Cup is a requirement.

Ryan is keeping track of teams that need to enter rosters and jersey numbers. He will circulate the updated list each week.

A New Team Admin Meeting has been recorded and the link has been shared with club reps. Live Q&A sessions will be held as a follow up. Richard noted that the New Team Admin Meeting is not mandatory. It is also not just for new teams or new admins. Club reps are asked to circulate the video to their managers, who should watch the video prior to the Q&A sessions.

Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: No report.

Doug Walls – NCSL Commissioner: Doug noted there were a lot of division structure change requests. He and Maureen did their best to accommodate requests.

Carol Coulter – Virginia Registrar: Carol noted that all team admins and players over the age of 18 have to complete SafeSport training to be rostered. Next year, they will have to take a refresher. Clubs can send files of players and admins to be uploaded into the system. A registrar needs to be assigned for each team. Once a team is ready for approval, an email needs to be sent to the registrar; they do not receive a notice through the system.

Richard noted that team registrations should be completed since it is likely we will have a fall season. There is no insurance coverage for returning teams after September 1. Teams need to be registered to be insured through the state association.

Mike Basileo – Maryland Registrar: No report (not in attendance)

Alison Smith – NCSL Administrator: Alison noted there were delays in posting schedules due to ODSL cancelling its season and NSCL getting an influx of teams; and waiting to get enough fields in the system to cover call teams. Alison thanked everyone for their patience during the process. The schedule will be posted soon.

Field loading has been open and there will be a chance to make updates.

Game numbers will align with age groups, with the exception of U9.

Some clubs have not submitted fields and scheduling will proceed without them.

September 4 is the deadline for FLEX Rescheduling for September games. Teams should check with the club reps/club to confirm field space is available before submitting a reschedule request.

Updated invoices will be sent soon, for clubs that added teams. There will be flexibility in the deadline for payment. Alison will confirm with clubs when payment is received.

Carol Montoya – Secretary: No report.

Eric Popiel – Vice President & Treasurer: Eric said that invoices will be issued for all financial transactions so there is a record of amounts owed to the league. The ability to pay via credit card will be added soon.

Richard Smith – NCSL President: Richard has been in touch with referee assignors and shared the dire shortage of referees. Maryland is down by 100; Virginia is down by 2,200. Virginia has shut down its system and referees were not able to be certified or re-certified.

New Business: Return to Play

The draft return to Play guidelines were circulated prior to the meeting. The guidelines reflect the situation as of today and may be changed/updated as needed. Richard noted that the guidelines are a minimum of what is required. The guidelines are broken down by recommendations and requirements. He noted that local jurisdictions may have additional guidelines and the requirements of the host club must be followed.

Richard reviewed the guidelines.

Pre-Game:

· Home team managers need to provide guidelines to the visiting team 48 hours prior to the game (e.g., how to enter the field).

· Parents must not allow their children to play if they are feeling ill or exhibit any symptoms.

· Goalkeepers must sanitize their gloves prior to the start of each match.

· There is no sharing of water bottles.

· Hand sanitizer is encouraged at breaks

Arrival/Facilities:

· Clubs must have a plan for how players will arrive, stage, and depart at the field and everyone must wear a mask during the transition

· Teams must depart the field before the next players can enter

· Clubs should provide staff at fields to the extent possible to help with enforcement

· Benches should be wiped down on arrival

Per-Match:

· Referees should remain socially distanced

· Rosters including the first and last name and jersey numbers of each player playing in the match must be presented to the referee; blue game cards do not need to be used (but spring 2020 blue game cards CAN be used)

· Player cards must be available; they can be presented electronically, left on a bench for the referee to review, etc.

· Only one captain per team at the coin toss; maintain social distance

· Referees can do visual inspections of equipment

Match:

· Anyone on the bench needs to wear a mask

· Substitutes should not have contact with others as they take the field

· Referees are asked to allow substitutes to come off the bench instead of gathering at the mid-field line

· Spectators are permitting, noting it is a privilege, not a right; Richard noted that this could be one of the first things to change if jurisdictions find that sidelines are too crowded

· Spectators must maintain social distance from each other, players, and referees

· Referees must wear masks and can not share equipment; except during play, they are to maintain social distance

· Distance should be maintained when a player is injured

Post-Match:

· Everyone must leave the field at the end of the game; no post-match team talks

· No high fives/fist bumps

Let R&D know if there are any issues with teams or clubs abiding by the guidelines. The first offense will result in a warning. The second will result in expulsion for the remainder of the season.

Richard reviewed the process that would be enacted if there is a confirmed infection. Clubs should notify the league of any player, coach, or official with a confirmed infection. Diagnosed individuals can not return until cleared by a physician.

Richard addressed questions posed by attendees.

New Business: Modification to Laws of the Game for NCSL Play

Three proposals for changes were presented:

· Unlimited club passes

· Allowing players to play in more than one game in a day

· Ability to use state rosters instead of blue game cards

Frederick made a motion to adopt temporary rule changes to the Rules and Procedures Manual that would allow unlimited club passes and allow players to play in more than one game in a day. Olney seconded. A vote was held via the Zoom poll functionality. All were in favor and the motion passes.

Ryan shared an example of a printout from the VYSA database that includes the team roster and images of player cards.

Motion to Include U20 Players in U20 Age Group

US Youth Soccer has authorized registrations for U20 (2001) players to play in the 2020-21 seasonal year. States have not made similar allowances, but leagues can adopt the exception.

Annandale offered a motion to allow players born as early as 2001 to play in NCSL this season. VISTA seconded. Annandale offered some background on the opportunities this can give for players who had to miss their spring season. VISTA noted that this would affect State Cup teams. There was additional discussion; many clubs did not object to the proposal, citing that all of the players are of-age adults.

The vote was called. A vote was held via the Zoom poll functionality. A majority of clubs were in favor (38); the 7 clubs that voted against did not request a roll call vote, and the motion passed.

Richard noted that a successful fall season depends on communicating the Return the Play Guidelines and abiding by them. He asked club reps to emphasize that to their teams.

Calvert made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Olney seconded. The meeting adjourned at 9:09 p.m.