Urbana Soccer Association Monthly Meeting Tuesday May 20, 2003 Ijamsville Methodist Church   Attendees:  David Ward, Andy Keen, Karen Selwyn, Al Selwyn, Mark Keating, Rob Bubello, Rod McNiff, Paul Young   USA President David Ward called the meeting to order at 7:32pm.   Minutes:  The minutes were approved as submitted by Karen Selwyn and seconded by Rob Bubello.   Registrar’s Report:  (Karen Selwyn) In-person registration for Fall 2003 will be held on June 2, 3, 9 and 10. Each day will be held at the Urbana Park pavilion from 5:30 - 7:30. We will NOT be holding in-person registration on Saturdays in June at the Fire hall. Currently registered players will receive registration packets in late May. These packets can simply be filled out and returned via US Mail. Registration for Fall 2003 closes on July 1, 2003.   Treasurer's Report:  (Al Selwyn) Currently have almost $7,000 in the treasury. We expect a carryover of approximately $3,500 into Fall 2003. This is about the same as the carryover we had previously into Fall 2002.   Vice President’s Report: (Andy Keen) No report.   Secretary’s Report: (Donna Pike) Not present   Coaches Education:  (David Ward) 'E' license course in Westminster on June 7-8 and also in Hagerstown on August 21-22 (see www.msysa.org). Currently no 'D' courses listed. We are hoping that Coach Mac will organize NSCAA State, Regional and Advanced Regional courses at UHS in August. More on that soon.   Field Maintance:  (David Ward) There is no field maintenance planned for the short term. However, we held a discussion on how to bring both the Lower Field and U-8 Field up to game quality. We voted unanimously (with one abstention) to take both the Lower and U-8 Fields out-of-service for Fall 2003 so that the necessary field maintenance could be done. Practices/games usually held on the Lower Field will be moved to Oakdale MS. Practices/games usually held on the U-8 Field will be moved to Urbana ES and Oakdale ES. These moves are contingent on getting field requests approved at the schools and getting approval from Parks/Rec. The Lower/U-8 Fields would only be out-of-service for the one season (Fall 2003), and would go back to full usage starting in Spring 2004.   Pictures: (Jamie Dunn/David Ward) Pictures should be done this week and will be distributed next week to coaches.   Newsletter update/status:  (Carole Thompson) Next newsletter will be coming out the end of May. Look for it in your mailboxes!   Election of Officers: (All) Elections were held for 2-year terms for Vice President and Treasurer. Both positions were filled by acclimation since there was only one nomination for each position. Andy Keen will continue his service as Vice President and Al Selwyn will continue his service as Treasurer. Congratulations to Andy and Al and thank you.   Bylaws Change - Fee Exemptions: (Andy Keen) A discussion was held on the proposed bylaws change to reduce the registration fee exemption for coaches to only the children who they actually coach. The change was adopted by unanimous vote. Starting with Fall 2003, registration fees, uniform fees, etc. will be waived for a coach's children who actually play on that coach's team. Fees will not be waived for children not being directly coached by their parent/guardian. Board members who are not coaches are entitled to a fee exemption for one of their children. Andy will update the bylaws as necessary.   FASA Program: (Bo Eskay) Bo Eskay (FASA and Frederick United) came by to do a presentation on the new FASA program being run jointly by Frederick United and Frederick Excel. Program is for ages U-6 - U-10 and will concentrate on individual techniques. Players will practice once or twice per week with informal small-sided games on weekends. The U-6 program is very similar to our own. More information on FASA can be found at www.frederickalliance.com. USA will be joining the FASA Outreach program.   USA Policy for Blowouts: (David Ward) Tabled until June meeting.   USA College Scholarship:  (Al Selwyn) The Board met after the meeting to review applications and award the first-ever USA college scholarship. The recipient will be notified shortly by Karen/Al.   June 8 coaches/volunteers game/picnic: (Donna Pike) The coaches/volunteers game/picnic has been cancelled. Due to rainouts, we now have games scheduled on June 8. A short discussion was held about moving the game/picnic to June 15, but we decided against that because June 15 is Father's Day.   Fall 2003 player evaluations/tryouts: (David Ward) For Fall 2003, we will move to a tryout format for division 1 teams. Players will come to specific tryouts for each division 1 team (as opposed to age-group wide evaluations that were held previously). Tryouts will be held the first 2 weeks in June (schedule is on the web site - www.urbanasoccer.org). Attendance is mandatory for all players who wish to play on a division 1 team in Fall 2003. Exceptions will have to be approved by the Board of Directors. Each age group coaching staff will run their specific tryout and be responsible for picking the division 1 team(s) for that age group.   Tryout age group/gender leaders are as follows: U8 - Mark Keating, U10 Girls - David Ward, U10 Coed - Steve McKinley, U12 Girls - Al Selwyn, U12 Coed - David Ward, U14 Girls - Paul Young, U14 Coed - Rick Vert. Leaders need to call the other coaches in that age group/gender and decide on an appropriate tryout format and grading process.   Summer Pickup Soccer Games: (Paul Young) USA will be organizing weekly pickup games throughout the summer. Incoming 9th grade through adult ages will be playing on Tuesdays from 7:00-dark on the Upper Field at Urbana Park. First game will be June 24. U12-U14 players will be playing on Thursdays from 7:00-dark on the Lower Field at Urbana Park. First game will be June 26. Games are open to appropriately aged USA players and their families as well as to UHS players and their families.   For more information, contact Paul Young at 301-607-4256 or via email at YoungPF@nswccd.navy.mil.   New Fields Status: (David Ward) David and Bob Hajjar attended a meeting with Parks/Rec about building two soccer fields across Michael's Mill Rd. from the existing Buckeystown Park. After a long discussion, we decided to not pursue this mainly due to concerns that the adjacent property owners would not support such usage.   David met with representatives from Friends School in Ijamsville to discuss the possibility of building a regulation-sized field there. This is a continuation of the discussions we held previously. David will continue to pursue this option.   FYI - current growth projections show us being out of usable field space after Spring 2005 season.   End of Season Tournaments:  (David Ward) Boonsboro will be holding their annual end-of-season tournament for ages U10 - U14 on June 21-22 - see www.boonsborosoccer.com for more details. MAYAA will hold their end-of-season U8 tournament on June 14. U8 coaches just need to submit their registration forms (no money), and we will write a check to MAYAA to cover all USA teams. Coaches entering the Boonsboro tournament will have to pay the registration fee and then get Al to reimburse them after the tournament.   UK Elite Camp for Summer 2003:  (Donna Pike) The camp will be held at Urbana Park the week of July 7th, 2003.  We will have two sessions morning and evening.  Donna has been distributing flyers. At this time our camp is listed on the UK Elite website (www.ukelite.com) and you can start registering now.  Cost is $115.   Shooting Wall for lower field:  (David Ward) The building of the shooting wall is on hold until we complete the spring season.  We have approval from Parks and Rec to build the wall.  Bob Hajjar will take on handling this project.    Multi-Touch Balls: (David Ward) It was agreed that we will not continue to get multi-touch balls for new players. Coaches are finding it difficult to incorporate the balls into their practice sessions. Players who have a multi-touch ball should continue to use them on their own - they are a great teaching tool.   Plugging holes in U-10/12 goals:  (Al Selywn) The holes in all of the goals (except at the Oakdale schools) have been plugged by various means. Hopefully, that will eliminate any bee stings for this season. Thanks, Al.   New Business:  (All) None.    The meeting was adjourned at 9:50pm.