Minutes September19, 2005 President Tom Gruver called the meeting to order with 4 board members present and 20 members present. Treasurers Report- Motion to approve made by Wayne Hultgren, seconded by Billie Weiss.-Motion carried. Minutes Report- Motion to approve made by Cary Salkin, seconded by Jon Sekinger- . Motion carried. Correspondence- 1. We received a thank you note from Tom Gruver for the flowers sent to him following his surgery. Comments from the floor- 1. Kim Ridley and LaQuwanna Blackman spoke about coach Bob Schaming. They felt that he was a good coach. They were given some time to look over the details of the board’s decision of suspending Bob Schaming for one year from coaching or becoming a commisioner. Two members of the board met with Bob on Sept. 7, 2005 and listened to his side of the story. The board then met with a third board member and the decision of suspension was made. We then presented our decision to the voting members of the Athletic Association. The vote was than taken on this matter (for more details, see August minutes.). The vote was nine in favor and zero opposed. The board’s decision stands. Bob will be notified. 2.The board then presented their decision to “Warn” Don Graughn (9-10 yr. Old baseball coach) after hearing complaints about his coaching from parents (see August minutes) and meeting with him on Sept. 7th to listen to his side of the story. We presented our decision of a “warning” to the voting members of the Athletic Association. The vote was nine in favor and 0 opposed. The board’s decision stands. Don attended the meeting. 3. Nominations for commissioners of the following sports - Baseball, Cheerleading, Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, and Softball- will be held at the October 17 F.T.A.A. meeting. Please spread the word to anyone interested! SPORTS REPORTS Baseball-Dan Martyak did the budget with Rick Hartranft. Joe Tuterice will help with the Easton League area of the baseball program for next season. We are looking for an overall commissioner. Tom Gruver has offered. Nominations will take place at the October meeting. Cheering- Billie Weiss reported that Nov. 13 is the first competition. The cheerleaders are selling magnets ($12) at the football games. This will help defray the end of the year banquet costs. She is trying to have cheerleaders at the Thursday night games . Football- Fran Tone reported (by e-mail) that all teams are playing and are doing well. There is no news on changes from the league. He is requesting to use his dance money to purchase coaches shirts for the new coaches. Also , he is requesting money so that his coaches and support staff can attend the league dinner. The cost is $10 per person. Motion was made . A vote was taken. Motion carried. Soccer- Jon Seckinger reported that the season started out fine. But, now there are two teams (U 13 boys and U11 girls) who may fold. The U13 boys team only has 7 players remaining. Because of a Blue Mt. League rule, the organization is fined $100 plus referee fees for each forfeited game. So far, the team has incurred one fine. Steve Semanek is going to phone the league president tonight about this problem. The U11 girls team’s coach has not shown up at the last 2 games. Steve S. has tried to reach her but she is not returning his calls. The assistant coach from this team is willing to take over. Parents are upset about these problems because their children go to practice and they want to play in games. A couple of solutions were suggested: maybe they could bring up some younger players from teams who have more than enough players and also there are some new township residents who did not live here at the time of signups but would like to play. Jon and Cary are trying to get these new residents on the league roster. The will notify Jerry if they are able to play so they can register with the athletic association. Some of the teams did not receive first aid kits. Krishna King reported that there are first aid kits in the soccer shed. Khrisna King requested a refund for the Weider family. They had just moved into the township and signed their son up for soccer. There was some miscommunications and the child does not want to play. Butch Scerbo made a motion to refund their $50. Vote was taken- motion carried. John Amentler is concerned about his son’s soccer team. His son was not called for a team. It seems that there was a mistake made at registrations and his daughter was but on a roster. She received a phone call for a team and the son did not. Steve S. apologized for this and when John brought it to his attention, his son was put on a team immediately. John had coached in the past and would like to help out but he did not renew his coach’s card ( which you need to coach in the Blue Mt. League) because of the mix up. His son’s coach does not want any help with coaching. The coach also does not want parents yelling from the sidelines. Cary Salkin went on to explain that parents can yell encouragements to the kids, but coaches do not want parents “coaching” from the sidelines. Parent behavior is watched closely by the league. John feels there are too many miscommunications with the coach ( I.e.- picture dates , game times) . This coach has asked John to be the team manager. This may help with some of the miscommunications. Steve. S . explained that as soon as he receives any changes, he gets the information to the coaches. He cannot control what the coaches do with the information . A team manager would help. John has agreed to be the team manager. One of the changes for next season may be that Forks will drop out of the Easton league and have their own “in house” league for the younger players. They may invite Palmer twp. To compete with them. Colleen Semanek is showing some interest in helping to co-ordinate the development of the youth program between Forks and Easton High School. Wrestling- Joe Veres thanked the A.A. and the rec board for listening to their concerns. The decision was made at last night Rec. Board meeting to grandfather any out of township kids who have been in the program for more than 2 years .There are 7 children that this rule affects. No more non residents will be able to participate without approval form the Rec Board. He attended the league meeting last month. He requested a proof of insurance so the he can give this to the league. He also requested a check from the rec board for league fees. Basketball- No report Lacrosse- Scott Holland reported (by e-mail) that all of the equiptment was turned in. He is trying to join a new league in New Jersey which will be closer than the league they were in last year. He will update this at the next meeting .He turned in his budget. Softball- Dan Martyak reported that he did the budget with Rick H. Rick will order “female” chest protectors for next season. COMMITTEE REPORTSDance- Wayne Hultgren reported the dance on Fri night (cheering) had about 680 kids attending. It went very well. One child was sent home for misbehaving. There were 23 chaperones. One parent called the fire dept. because she felt there were too many children in the building. The fire department responded. The gym capacity is 1400 . Some children did bring last years I.D.s There were older children who were sent home. October is Football’s dance. Snack Bar-Wayne Hultgren reported that everything is going fine. He is having some trouble with not having enough parents from the midget football team to help in the snack bar during the pee-wee game. Donna Mason complained about the conditions of the snack bars. They are fumigated once a month and Jerry is looking into having the refrigerators replaced. Registrations- Krishna King reported that the flyers were sent out through the Easton Area School District. Dan Martyak presented a check list to all commissioners about the new sign up procedures. Scholarship- No report Background Checks- No report Rec Board- Butch Scerbo reported that commissioners must attend the next rec board meeting to discuss their budgets . It is on Oct. 16th -7:00p.m. in the community center. Old Business: 1. Wayne Hultgren reported that the new committee formed to help with sports met last week. Nancy Bonafonti who was unable to attend tonight , has the guidelines that were discussed. They will meet again before the next A.A. meeting . New members have joined. 2. A “rental” fee of $100 will be charged to any off season sports for the use of Fork’s equiptment. Chris Henry (who coaches and also helped with the handout of fall baseball equiptment) commented on the fact that he spends about $200 on baseball for fall baseball and he always donates them to the Forks program. The fall baseball program does not use the township uniforms. There is still a problem of uniforms from all sports that are not being returned.The township will now charge a $25 late fee. 3. Fork’s baseball will change their current cut off dates to conform with the change that was made by Little League. New Business 1.Ed Adamko would like to help out with the F.T.A.A. web page. Dan will talk to Jim Mazarowski, who currently does it. 2. Dan Martyak proposed a change to our Bylaws. This change was read, and will be read at the Oct. meeting and then voted on at the Nov. meeting. The proposal is to change: Article XVII- Children (players) Now reads: Section 2. Children from outside of Forks Township may participate in F.T.A.A. programs in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Forks Township Recreation Board and current leagues. To: Article XVII- Children (players) Section 2. F.T.A.A. Sports are for Forks Township Residents. Children from outside of Forks Township may request to participate in F.T.A.A. programs from the Forks Township Recreation Board. Motion to adjourn was made by Steve Semanek and seconded by Billie Weiss. Respectfully Submitted, Colleen Ziegenhorn