Minutes of September 18, 2001 LISC Board Meeting

Present: Robert Baird, Joe Seeley, Seamus Reilly, Trey Bradberry, Terry Hinds, Mike Wingo and Jan Weyhenmeyer

Absent: Jon Foreman and Kent Williamson

Terry gave a Fall Cup report to the board.  There is a good, energetic committee this year.  Most of the teams have a representative and meetings are well attended.  The scheduling of the games is done and there will be no changes.  The hotels are very close to being totally full.  This includes Champaign, Urbana and Rantoul.  The U of I had reserved the few remaining rooms in anticipation of a football game getting rescheduled to that weekend.  However those have now been released and we will not have to contend with a football game. 

There have been many questions and requests from teams.  Terry is communicating with coaches and team representatives via the phone and email.  As usual teams have requests for specific opponents, later playing times, more rest between games etc…

The trophies are ordered from Celtic Awards and will be delivered at the main site Friday or Saturday (9/28-9/30).  Terry does not think we will have to apply the stickers this year.  He is negotiating with Celtic Awards about a different arrangement such as having them already applied or mailing them to teams.  A deposit does need to be sent to them. 

Jon and Terry had a meeting with the U of I about the facilities.  The U of I will mark the fields and will hold the 2 fields by Huff Gym for possible use.    There will also be 1 additional field this year.  The U of I wants to increase fees by 20% again this year.  Jon pointed out to them that rates have been raised the last two years and have gone from  $14.00 per game per field to

$20.00 per game per field.  Another increase would make the fields $25.00

per game.  This would make field rental very expensive.  Jon is going to provide the paperwork to the U of I proving the previous increases. 

The lights at the main complex will be on Friday night for registration and Saturday morning because games start at 7:00 am.  The U of I wants control over tent placement.  All tents need to be setup by 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon because the grounds staff will direct placement. 

Parking along St. Mary’s Road is unofficially allowed but if asked, people should be directed to the lots off Florida/Kirby.  There is a possibility that another gate can be opened off St. Mary’s Road.  It has not been used for years but still should open. 

All Fall Cup team representatives have volunteer sign up sheets. Five hours still seems to be an issue but all parents received and should have signed a club contact that states this requirement.  Schedules will be posted on the website.  Amy Hall will have schedules printed and delivered to the main site Friday afternoon.  Letters have been sent to the advertisers that have contributed to LISC and the tournament in the past. 

Karl Newman is responsible for the field marshals.  Each will be responsible for 4-5 fields. 

The goals will be delivered from Parkland.  However, we still need a few goals.  In the past, we have used our goals from Dodds Park.  This year, the Champaign Park District seems to be disputing ownership of these goals and have scheduled games on Saturday 9/29.  We will need 1 large set and 1 small set of goals.  Mike will order new goals from Soccer Country. 

Jon will order the money from the bank after Ann Hall determines what is needed. 

Human Kinetics will supply a banner for the registration and concession area.  We will have books for sale in the concession area.  They will need an eight foot table and if possible the ability to process credit cards.  More books will be sold if people can use a credit card. 

There is still a problem with referees for the tournament.  Charlie Smyth was our official assignor for the Fall Cup and had taken the IYSA course for certification last March. Since he resigned Seamus has been trying to determine how to solve the problem since the IYSA requires all tournaments have an official assignor.  Dave Gire is an official assignor and has worked for our tournament in the past . . . This year he may be our only option although, after pressure from Seamus, Charlie did agree to allow us to use his name.  Gwen Gaynor will call referees and help schedule assigned times.  Seamus does not think we should use parents as linesmen.  He has 10 pairs of linesmen from Parkland and will call the High Schools to get some of the soccer players to work especially on Sunday.  The linesmen should wear official shirts or black tee shirts.   The field marshal’s duties will be crucial as they must keep the games on schedule and make sure the referees are on the field. 

Robert Baird reported on the CPD field rental situation.  He has worked with the CPD before and believes he can discuss the situation with Mark Mitchell.   The lack of official contracts and reliance on memories has caused a severe problem for LISC.  In the past, LISC paid $500.00 per season for use of the fields.  However, as noted in the last meeting minutes, Scott Anderson paid CPD with a personal check for $1000.00.  The accounting for this money has never been clear to LISC.  CPD also expressed concerns about out of county players (visiting teams) using the fields.  Our verbal agreements concerning micro-soccer and the ownership of goals are also in dispute.  Robert will talk to Jon, Scott and Mark Mitchell and try to solve this dispute.  We will use these fields for this season but will probably move to the Parkland fields for the spring season. 

Referees for home league games are still needed.  The club also needs game coaches.  Some of our experienced coaches have more than 1 team and therefore sometimes have conflicts.  The club needs a protocol for this situation. 

There will be goalie training every Wednesday from 5-7.  Philip Holt is a goal keeping coach with a D license who is willing to volunteer his time. 

The younger players, U12 and younger, will be trained from 5-6 and the older players from 6-7. 

The club needs a parent newsletter.  Some parents still feel uninformed despite letters and meeting attendance by board members.  A monthly newsletter might help solve this problem.  The club should also have pre-season and post-season events.  This would help the club be viewed as an institution. 

Next meeting October 9. 2001 at 7:30 at Mike Wing’s house.