January 14, 2009 TASL MEETING MINUTES The regularly scheduled TASL meeting was held on January 14, 2009 with the following in attendance: Dorothy Morgan, Dave Dearborn, Teresa Phillips, Nan Beck, Milt Cummings (SSC), Dan Eaker (CUSC), Barb Kester and Mike Davis (CSL), Mike Williams (CUSA), Brian Francazio (NYSL), Jimmy Holland (PSC), Richard Brooks, Stacy Pauley, and Don Luzzatto (SYAA). President Dorothy Morgan called the meeting to order at 7:43pm. She asked that all introduce themselves and state their club affiliation. She thanked all for attending and thanked those who had attended the Christmas dinner. Dorothy asked that the meeting minutes from the November meeting be reviewed. She then asked for a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Dan Eaker made the motion and Brian Francazio seconded it. The motion carried. Ray Franklin, Treasurer was unable to attend the meeting but had sent all financial information via email. Dorothy reviewed the financials by stating that Ray had pointed out that TASL had spent over the fall budget mainly on referee fees and was due to more make-up games and more games played by the older teams. She asked Dave Dearborn to create a spreadsheet on fees as he has done in the past for fall planning. She reviewed referee fees per referee assignor and gave average cost for each. She then asked Dave to also use referee average costs in his spreadsheet for calculating the fee and asked him to recommend a standard rate for referee fees. A review of the upcoming dates and deadlines included the following comments were made by Dorothy: Passed out quick reference sheet of dates and deadlines and reminded everyone that they were also listed on the website and had been sent out via email Dates and deadlines for fall season will be set by April and announced in May. Stressed to the Club Reps to make sure to tell teams that all games must be scheduled by TASL Administrator, Teresa Phillips through them. To be an official match, it needs to be in the system as per sanctioning documents. No referees can be paid unless it is an official match scheduled by Teresa. In October 2005, TASL made an agreement that clarified the red card rule which requires a red card violator to sit out at the next consecutive game when the team is actually playing. Dorothy asked for questions. Dan Eaker asked for clarification of the number of games for the spring season. She stated that at the November meeting a vote of taken and passed to have a seven game season but there may be some teams that will have doubleheaders dependent on the number of teams declared and number of teams in a division. Dan then suggested the use of additional rain dates as possible Sunday dates, if needed. It was pointed out that more than a twenty-four hour notice would have to be given for rescheduling. Unfinished Business: Dorothy asked Dan to present his recommendations for the changes to the TASL Handbook. Dan gave a brief background of issues that lead to his suggestion to make these handbook changes. With document available for all, Dan reviewed them. Dorothy then recommended an additional statement to the end of Section 501.4(a) and 501.4(b) stating "The decision of the placement rests with each participating Club's Rep and will be finalized by the TASL Competition Committee." Also, recommended was the End of Season Tournament (EOST) being changed to TASL Tournament (TT). Dave Dearborn made a motion to accept the recommended changes submitted in writing by Dan with the additional ending sentence in Section 501.4(a) and Section 501.4(b) recommended by Dorothy. Jimmy Holland seconded the motion and it carried. (The document of approved changes is attached to the minutes.) New Business: : Dorothy asked for a motion to amend changes to the handbook for the End of Season Tournament (EOST) to be replaced with TASL Tournament (TT). Dan Eaker made a motion to amend the TASL Handbook so that wherever it reads EOST for End of Season Tournament, it would be changed to TT for TASL Tournament. Dave Dearborn seconded the motion and it carried. Dorothy then volunteered to make the changes. Everyone agreed that Dorothy do this. She then announced that at the February meeting there will be more discussion on changes to the handbook and discussion on including a section for acronyms. Jimmy Holland suggested a team labeled Co-Ed should be changed to Rec. Dorothy also stated that the sanctioning documents for spring will be completed soon. Dorothy pointed out that the summer is the only time of the year when teams can apply for participation in TASL as stated in the TASL Handbook, The first year is a probationary one. Teams from a club can play when sponsored by another club. If they are sponsored by a voting member club, the sponsored club can come in and play in own club uniform under their club name. If they are sponsored by a nonvoting member, the sponsored club must wear the sponsoring club's uniform and play as teams under the nonvoting member club's name. This must be followed closely due to sanctioning documents. Dorothy announced that two clubs have requested to play in TASL for spring season so she wanted all club to be aware they may be contacted by a club for sponsorship. In closing, several comments were made. Mike Williams asked if the declaration forms were available for spring. The one on website needs to have date corrected. Dave asked that the payment sheet be dated. Spring fees are the same as fall fees. Mike also asked if there was a policy on players being allowed to play up three years. Dorothy stressed that TASL needs to stick with VYSA standards. Playing one year up is fine but playing up two years needs to be discussed at the competition meeting. Playing three years up is discouraged by TASL. Dorothy announced that the competition meeting will be held on February 11th prior to the TASL meeting, starting at 6:30pm. Waivers are due on February 11th at the competition meeting. With no more new business, Dorothy asked for a motion to adjourn. Teresa Phillips made the motion and Dave Dearborn seconded it. The meeting was adjourned at 9:14pm. Respectfully submitting, Nan Beck, TASL Secretary Respectfully submitting, Nan Beck TASL Secretary Approved changes to the TASL Handbook: Section 501.3 - League Standings Standings, as maintained internally by TASL, and each organization's TASL Representative, have bearing on the seeding of the end-of-season tournament and are therefore relevant for the regular season and the maintenance of same shall be made by TASL. Section 501.4 - The Competition Committee A Competition Committee shall be established to assist in the organization of league divisional structures and to ensure similarities in skill levels between competing teams is maintained to the maximum extent possible. The Committee shall be comprised of representatives from each member/participating club who are familiar with teams' abilities and are authorized by their respective organizations to place teams in appropriate divisions established by the Committee. The Committee will meet one month prior to the beginning of the respective season and mid-season to seed the TASL Tournament. Section 501.4(a) - Seasonal Divisional Structure The Competition Committee will strive to establish as many divisions that can be supported by both quantity of teams and competitive levels of play. Information contained on the team declaration forms will be considered in the placement of teams in the various sub-divisions, as well as data associated with previous team performance during seasonal/tournament matches. Newly established/untested teams will generally be placed in a divisional bracket per the recommendations of their respective team/club staffs. It is each clubs' responsibility to ensure the team declaration forms with supporting information are submitted to the TASL Administrator prior to the Competition Committee meetings that establish the respective seasons' divisional structures. The decision for team placement in the seasonal divisions rests with each participating club representative and will be finalized by the TASL Competition Committee. Section 501.4(b) - TASL Tournament (TT) Seeding The Competition Committee will meet during mid-season to establish the divisional structure for the TT. Team data available via the match score reporting system will be used to determine the appropriate placement of teams. TT divisions can be adjusted such that teams with a significant goal differential (positive or negative) can be shifted between seasonal divisions to ensure quality of play for all players participating in the TT. It is each clubs' responsibility to ensure the data in the score reporting system is current prior to the Competition Committee's meeting to develop the TT divisional structures. The decision for team placement in the respective TT divisions rests with each participating club representative and will be finalized by the TASL Competition Committee.