Agenda items:
(i) To receive a report from the President or the Executive Committee.
The main challenges in the league have been twofold:
1) Field discipline and player conduct have been an ongoing problem. This has an immediate impact on the enjoyment of the league and also acts as an inhibitor for attracting new players to the league. This is of particular concern for attracting more youth players. There are several items addressing this later in the meeting.
2) Field availability is still constrained and impacts scheduling. This has a cascading effect where an unpredictable schedule leads to difficulty in teams fielding full rosters.
Homie Khan will be working with UC Berkeley and Otto Steinbusch with Stanford University to improve this situation, but the outlook is unclear. At UC Berkeley at least there may be potential for more field time due to the inauguration of Underhill field as an additional venue.
At present, there are two-hour time slots available at Berkeley on March 22, 29, April 5, 19. Six-hour time slots are available May 18, 25 and July 20. The intent is to use the March time slots for preseason games.
Additionally, it was noted that the Sikh Festival Hockey tournament in Hayward last year was considered a good success. The Executive Committee hopes that this will grow in the coming season and become an established fixture for BAFHA participation.
There is also an urgent need for more youth work within BAFHA to ensure the future of the organization and the league. There are successful youth programs in existence throughout the Bay Area and BAFHA needs to do more to encourage their growth.
Finally, the Executive Committee feels that BAFHA should make more of an effort to encourage the social component of the league. It is felt that this would improve inter-club relations and reduce some of the animosity that sometimes erupts on the field.
(ii) To receive and review the Accounts of the Association for the preceding financial year.
The treasurer was prevented from attending the meeting at the last moment, but an accounts sheet was submitted for review. The highlights:
1. The accounts balance for the year 2007 was $19,112.
2. Overall the 2007 seasons ended in a $2100 surplus compared to a $5667 deficit the year before.
3. The surplus is principally due to decreased expenditures, most notably:
a. Almost $1900 less in field rentals compared to 2006
b. $1300 less in umpiring expenses
c. ~$800 less on web page expenditures
4. As a result, the cash balance of the league has improved year-over-year, although it still has not recovered to the pre-2006 level.
(iii) To approve a budget for the forthcoming year.
A preliminary budget was discussed assuming annual dues of $1300/team. However, since the actual number of teams for the 2008 season is not yet final, the budget was not passed. Instead, the treasurer was tasked with creating a budget analysis for scenarios with different numbers of teams in the league. The due date for this analysis is Saturday February 16, 2008. After receipt of this report, the Executive Committee will meet by phone conference on Sunday, February 17, 2008 to pass the final budget.
(iv) To receive a report from the General Secretary and Secretary for Hockey Development.
Quoted from the Secretary’s report:
“At the end of the 2007 season, there were a total of 151 registered players in the league. This represents an essentially stable membership in the league compared to the numbers for 2006.
Compliance with the registration process has improved relative to 2006, but it is still a tedious process for the league administration. A more proactive stance from the clubs would be helpful.
Recordkeeping has improved, but still needs to be better. As with last year, communication of disciplinary infractions from the umpires to the league secretary were haphazard.
Once again, the task of simplifying access to the league rules and regulations fell victim to the time requirements starting the league. I suggest to the incoming secretary that a concerted effort in this direction be done before the start of the league, as that is likely the only time that any progress can be made. Again, it would help if the clubs would assist in turning in paperwork proactively rather than having the secretary chase after people.”
In regards to the last item there was some discussion to establish a mechanism for getting the league rules more accessible to everybody. One possible solution is to hire outside help to complete this task. A resolution was deferred until the phone conference on February 17th.
The position of Secretary for Hockey Development is currently vacant.
(v) To receive a report from:
-The Selection and Competitions Committee
The Chairperson of the Selection and Competitions Committee could not attend the meeting
-The Coaching and Umpires Committee
The Chairperson of the Coaching and Umpires Committee could not attend the meeting
(vi) To determine the scale of affiliation fees,
The affiliation fees were tentatively set at $1,300 per team by unanimous consent. However, a final determination will only be made after the budget has been passed. In a change from previous years, the entire dues will be required at the beginning of the season in a single installment. The due date is April 1st, 2008 (receipt of payment by the treasurer).
(vii) To allow for nominations from the floor by any individual or club member in good standing.
(viii) To elect the Officers of the Executive Committee.
The following were elected by unanimous voice vote.
1. President: No nominations. It was decided that election of the president be deferred until an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), to be held after completion of the pre-season games. As the preseason is currently projected, this EGM will be held March 29, 2008. In the meantime the Executive Committee will canvas the membership for nominations.
2. Vice-President: Harv Dhaliwal
3. General Secretary/ USFHA Representative: Andreas Kadavanich
4. Treasurer: Niall Murphy
5. Secretary for Hockey Development : No nominations
(ix) To elect the Chairpersons of:
-The Selection and Competitions Committee: No nominations received
-The Discipline/Umpires Committee: Otto Steinbusch
(x) To transact any business as raised by the membership.
1. Establishment of a youth program within BAFHA:
At present there are various youth hockey organizations active within the Bay Area.
Examples include an active program in Sacramento, as well as four U16 and 3 U12 teams active in the immediate Bay Area.
These organizations could serve as feeder programs to BAFHA and would in turn benefit from exposure to BAFHA, both for coaching expertise as well as demonstration of adult hockey. Additionally the organizational clout and capacity of BAFHA could serve to unify disparate programs and provide the foundation for a youth league.
To facilitate coordination between BAFHA and the existing youth programs, a motion was passed to establish the Committee for Youth Development. The primary responsibility of this committee will be to coordinate youth development between BAFHA and existing youth hockey organizations in Northern California.
Arvind Singh was elected to be the chairperson of the Committee for Youth Development.
2. Club participation for 2008
It was noted that Cal will not field a team for the 2008 season. There have also been unconfirmed reports that Yuba City may not be joining the league. This requires clarification and Arvind Singh volunteered to contact Jagtar Sahota from Yuba to receive confirmation. Additionally, Hayward may field two teams.
It was unanimously decided that all team entries are due by March 15th.
3. Length of the Season: Shorten to 4 months
It was generally agreed that the league would benefit from a tighter schedule. However, it was noted that the schedule is constrained by field availability. Lack of field space and predictability of availability leads to unpredictable schedules, which in turn makes it difficult for clubs to field full rosters on short notice. The straightforward ways to redress this constraint are to either shorten the season (by number of games or duration of games) or to increase the field availability. It was generally considered undesirable to shorten the season. Instead BAFHA intends to make a concerted effort to expand the pool of available fields. This will include consideration of polygrass fields (such as Berkeley High School) as well as the more conventional astroturf. Homie Khan volunteered to contact Berkeley High School (BHS) to get more information on availability. Arvind Singh agreed to provide his list of contacts to the Executive Committee for evaluation.
4. Stricter disciplinary actions for 2008
It is generally considered that field discipline has degraded during the 2007 season. This hurts the organization in many ways as it drives current players away and inhibits new players from joining. It is particularly detrimental to attracting more youth players and social players. It was particularly noted that parents do not want to have their children exposed to fighting on the field.
To address this, the following were resolved:
• The General Secretary will send a document to all clubs reiterating the BAFHA code of conduct. All clubs are reminded that they are responsible to adhering to these rules as a condition of membership in BAFHA. Additionally all clubs are reminded that they act as ambassadors of hockey to future generations of players as well as the community at large.
• The disciplinary committee needs to be reinvigorated. To that end a motion was passed that all clubs must designate a representative to serve on the disciplinary committee to help adjudicate infractions of the BAFHA code of conduct. Should any club fail to do so, they will forfeit any points for games while they do not have such a representative.
5. Limit the number of forfeit points won in League Standings
It was noted that 2007 had an extraordinary number of forfeit games, many on short notice or with no notice (i.e. one team would show up for a game to find that they had no opposing team present). Two predominant reasons were identified for the large number of forfeits:
1. The unpredictability of the schedule resulted in many games being announced on short notice, which led to difficulties in mobilizing teams for the matches.
2. In some instances teams chose not to play other teams they considered to be unruly and dangerous.
The unpredictability of the schedule has already been discussed and mitigative measures proposed. To address the concern about dangerous conduct on the field it was again noted that vigorous-and speedy-action is necessary to deal with infractions of the code of conduct.
To improve enforcement of the code of conduct, it was resolved that the Executive Committee will meet by phone conference in the weeks immediately following games, preferably the day of the games or the next day. Any conduct issues will be addressed at that time or scheduled for further action. This standing meeting will be scheduled by the General Secretary and limited to 1 hour duration. If additional time is required further meetings will be scheduled to address specific items.
6. Make clubs more responsible for providing umpires.
As has been noted in the past, 2007 again had many instances of teams failing to provide umpires as scheduled. While part of this may be compounded due to the unpredictable schedule, it nevertheless represents a serious failure of commitment by the clubs responsible.
To help address this issue it was resolved that each instance of failing to provide an umpire will be penalized by deducing at least one point from the team responsible. Further points may be deducted for repeated or otherwise egregious failures in fulfilling a team’s umpiring duties, at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
7. Team behavior during 2007 playoffs
Various incidences of poor field discipline and conduct during the 2007 BAFHA Cup were noted. It was generally agreed that the measures outlined above should mitigate the probability of further misconduct.
8. Format of the BAFHA Cup
The question was raised whether there is a designated structure to the BAFHA Cup. The conclusion after some discussion was that the structure is heavily dependent on field availability. As noted before, resolving the latter issue is of paramount importance to BAFHA.
Action Items:
Owner Item Due Date
Niall Murphy Budget analysis for having 6-8 teams during the 2008 season 2008-02-16
Arvind Singh Contact Yuba City regarding team entry for 2008 seasong 2008-02-16
Andreas Kadavanich Setup phone conference for Executive Committee on Sunday 2008-02-17 2008-02-14
Homie Khan Investigate additional field availability at UC Berkeley Ongoing
Otto Steinbusch Investigate additional field availability at Stanford University Ongoing
Arvind Singh Provide list of potential fields with contacts to BAFHA (send to General Secretary) 2008-02-16
Andreas Kadavanich Provide all clubs with the BAFHA Code of conduct Before the start of the season
Andreas Kadavanich Setup regular phone conference for Executive Committee Before the start of the season
Cheers,
Andreas V. Kadavanich
General Secretary
Bay Area Field Hockey Association
|
