Board Meeting Minutes August 2016

Bethlehem Soccer Club

Board Meeting at PJ Whelihan’s

August 16, 2016 at 8:00pm

Minutes of the meeting taken and transcribed by Kristine Blake (Secretary Bill Blake absent)

Meeting called to order at 8:05pm

Present: Bill Horvath, Stephan Ohl, Kristine Blake, Rob Taniser, Rebecca Daley, Nalisha Tahir

Vice President Report - Bill Horvath:

Spirit Wear/30th Anniversary Shirts

  • The Club was started July 1, 1986, so this year we celebrate its 30th anniversary as a Club!
  • Although it is not required to purchase spirit gear, we should encourage people to do so. 
  • The Club gets money back from the purchase of spirit gear.
  • There already is a new logo on the uniforms – “1986” is inside the ball on the uniform shirts
  • We’d like to have a fundraiser selling t-shirts to celebrate the anniversary with a new logo – we want to come up with a design, tag line, etc.
  • Nassim’s dad offered to make them

Indoor Gym Space:

  • We have a great agreement with Lehigh Valley Academy to use their indoor gym space for free to train indoors, but the space is too small for the older age groups.
  • If you know anyone who owns a space, like a warehouse, for example, talk to them to see if they would be willing to allow us to use it for indoor training
  • Moravian College Field House may be a possible place to practice indoors??
  • Maybe look into the Medical Charter School on Howertown Road as a possibility??

Schedules:

  • Game schedules should be approved by August 24, 2016
  • Apparently, we can possibly access the schedule online, even though it isn’t officially posted, but it may change until it is actually finalized

Field Space/Northeast Little League October & November:

  • Northeast Little League can’t actually charge for the use of their fields, but they can take a “donation,” so we give them $500 for use of the lighted fields 3 nights per week once it is getting too dark at night to practice without the lights
  • Field space is very tight at Hanover
  • We could rent the elementary school fields in the Bethlehem School District - $100 for 12 weeks
  • Use of the Goals:
    • Our insurance does not allow use of the equipment by anyone other than teams and coaches;
    • We changed the storage locks to key locks because kids were figuring out the combination and taking out the equipment to use;
    • Everyone keep their eyes out for unauthorized people using the equipment

President Report – Stephan Ohl:

Club State of the Union:

  • We have 8 teams right now and field space is tight.
  • We lost a couple of teams at certain age levels because of the changes in birth year, but still doing well fielding most teams
  • On Airport Road behind Gregory’s restaurant, there is some space that the Airport donated to the Township; Two fields are done and there are still two more fields that are being worked on, but we are still looking for space

Open Positions:

  • We currently have two open positions:
    • Website Manager
    • Field Coordinator: Responsible for training schedules, field setup, collecting equipment from coaches

ENCO Merger:

  • Bill Horvath, Stephan Ohl and Joe Russo discussed this as a possibility after the turnout at tryouts was lower than in previous years
  • Stephan met with the ENCO President.  They are not interested in a merger, but want to help BSC from going under and would be willing to do a “partnership.”
  • Some possible ideas that Stephan and the ENCO President discussed for a “partnership”  that would get more exposure for both clubs include:
    • An ENCO/BSC Tournament for ages U9 and lower age groups
    • Tryouts done in coordination with both Clubs
    • Maybe consider merging the U12 and older age groups

Treasurer Report – Joe Russo absent/Stephan Ohl reported:

Bank balance/Expenses to be Paid:

  • The Club is not hurting financially – As of July 1, 2016, we had $62,462 in the account, with approximately $30,000 in expenses still needing to be paid
  • This is the first year that we are requiring all players to pay the full amount for the entire year upfront
  • We have expenses each year that we normally are breaking even on, including rentals fees at Hanover (they increased their fees this year), Referee fees, Goals, Goal-keeper training ($4,500/year)

LVYSL Representative – Rob Taniser:

Update:

  • Negative parent conduct at games is something to pay attention to and that they are not tolerating: 1 warning is a fine, 2 warnings is a fine, after that, ejection from the game is the penalty
  • U12 and above age groups are allowed to head the ball.  Under U12 age groups are not allowed to head the ball anymore. Penalty for under U12 heading the ball is that it is called as a foul with an indirect kick
  • If a player leaves a game for a head injury of any kind, he/she cannot come back on the field without clearance from a doctor.  If a team puts a player back in the game in violation of this policy, the game will be suspended and the offending team will forfeit the game
  • U12 and above age groups can request assistant refs (?)

Sponsorships/Fundraising – Rebecca Daley:

Picture Day:

  • Picture days are September 9, 2016 and September 10, 2016
  • Rebecca has the picture order forms already

Latest on Sponsors:

  • Finding sponsors is a challenge, so ask anyone you can think of that might be willing to be a sponsor
  • Only two sponsors from last year sponsored the Club again this year
  • For a sponsorship, we are only asking for about a $100-$250 donation
  • The company that brought the samples to games would be willing to sponsor the Club

Academy – Nalisha Tahir:

Update:

  • Talked about the Pass Back Program through Allstate where kids turn in gently used equipment and it is donated to kids who need it.  If it is not needed in the U.S., it will be donated to other countries
  • Talked about the website link for Concussion Training required for Coaches and Assistant Coaches
  • There will be a Parent Meeting prior to the first day of Academy
  • Academy Registration ends on August 20, 2016

Social Media Coordinator – Susan Ohl absent/Stephan Ohl reported:

Update:

  • We have 281 likes on Facebook
  • Please have coaches ask parents to send Susan any pictures from games

Field Coordinator/Equipment – OPEN POSITION – Stephan Ohl reported:

Update:

  • We will be buying a pair of goals because we now need three field sizes

Club Registrar – Stephan Ohl:

Update:

  • Almost all teams are done with their registrations. We are waiting for one U15 player; otherwise, we have all the player passes

Next meeting: PJ Whelihan’s on November 17, 2016 from 8:00pm-9:00pm

Meeting adjourned at 8:53pm