Rye Little League

Rye Little League Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, June 11, 2008, 7:00 p.m.

Attendance: B. Monahan, J. Sexton, D. Crisp, T. Mardin, M. Shepcaro, R. King, S. Turner, S. Turner, D. Record, D. Richard, J. Ritzo, P. Taylor

Minutes from April 9 were not submitted for approval. A current financial sheet was distributed.

Team Standings – The team standings were reviewed as of this date. It was voted and approved that this would be an “unofficial” final standing for the season. Based on the current win / loss records, the standing were accepted as follows:
1 – Dodgers 15 – 1
2 – Pirates 9 – 6
3 – Cardinals 5 – 10
4 – Braves 3 – 12

Tournament Schedule – Because of the differential lead of the Dodgers vs. the remaining number of games, it was agreed that none of the teams could affect the standing if they were to win their games or the Dodgers to lose more games. It was proposed that the tournament schedule begin earlier noting that the standings won’t change and that historically the weather is very unpredictable causing rain delays that out number the make-up days available. Also pointed out is that the Major League must be done playing on June 21 in order to not overlap the All-Star schedule. Taking all of this into account, it was voted and approved that the tournament play would begin on Saturday June 14. Conflicts were discussed concerning graduation ceremonies at RJH and New Castle schools. It was reported that the New Castle time was already coordinated. In the past, we have not held games on the night of the RJH graduation since there are usually multiple families affected by this. The following is the approved schedule for the tournament play.

June 14 Saturday Game 1 Team 1 vs. Team 4
June 14 Saturday Game 2 Team 2 vs. Team 3
June 16 Monday Game 3 Loser of game 1 vs. Loser of game 2
June 17 Tuesday Game 4 Winner of game 1 vs. Winner of game 2
June 18 Wednesday no game due to graduation at RJH
June 19 Thursday Game 5 Winner of game 3 vs. Loser of game 4
June 20 Friday no game rain make-up time
June 21 Saturday Game 6 Winner of game 4 vs. Winner of game 5
June 21 Saturday Game 7 only if needed to break a tie

All-Star Teams – The commitment letters need to be turned in to Bob no later than Friday 6/13 so the ballots can be ready for Saturday 6/14. The Major League players will be brought to center field between the 9:00 and 11:00 games and John will give the instructions on the voting procedure. The coaches were handed the commitment letters for their respective teams. They are to hand them out and get them back so they can get them to Bob on time. The announcement will be made on Closing Day 6/21.

The teams will have 13 players on the roster with 1 manager and 2 coaches. The manager is allowed to choose 3 players to add to the ballot voting. The vote values are managers = 2, coaches = 2, players = 1. This balances out any possibility that the players vote based on popularity vs. skill levels. If there aren’t enough players in the 11/12 group, clearance from the head office is required in order to pull up players from the 9 / 10 group to fill the roster.

All-Star Managers – The winning manager is offered the opportunity to manage the all-star team. If that manager is unable to take on that commitment, it will be offered to the manager with the next best record, and so on until there is someone who can make the time commitment.

All of the above was voted and accepted.

Announcing the results of the all-star voting – The various options of how to proceed were discussed and the following method was voted and approved to go forward with for this year.

June 14 Saturday Voting takes place in center field between the 2 a.m. games
June 20 Friday Mangers of the 4 Major League teams will call their respective players who were on the ballot but did not make the All-Star Team. This will allow time for the player to process any disappointment and be ready to play the game on Saturday and support the players who are announced on the team.
June 20 Friday All-Star Manager will call the players who were voted to be on the All-Star team. This way every player will know ahead of time and be ready to play and to be respectful of the feelings of the players who did not get selected.
June 21 Saturday All-Star Team announcement is made after the Championship Game, during the Closing Day Ceremonies.

Flash Jenness Award Nominations – Explanation and discussion took place concerning the process of this honored award. The nomination form is posted on the website under the Flash Jenness tab. Only Board Members are allowed to nominate players for this award. All nomination forms are to be turned in to John Sexton no later than Monday night, 6/16. He will not be accepting any late nominations. Dianne will send a reminder to the board members to get this taken care of on time. The voting for these nominations is done by only the voting members of the board. John reads the nominations as they are presented to him on the form. The ballot for voting is in secret. The secret ballots are given to John who counts them and seals the winner in an envelope and no one knows who it is, except for John, until the announcement during the Closing Day Ceremonies. A trophy is purchased for this winner, but there is no name on the name plate. This voting will take place on Tuesday 6/17 for the voting members of the board only.

2008 Season Games under protest – John discussed the four games from this season that are under protest concerning issues during the games. John said that the ruling on the field stands. He also commended the coaching staff this year for knowing the rules well enough to know if a protest was warranted. That is a good thing knowing that the rules of the game are understood.

Proper behavior from spectators during the game – It was mentioned and discussed that there have been some instances this season of inappropriate behavior from people in the stands. As is the case every year, there are some parents / spectators that get over-involved with the game and get out of hand. It is important to remember that this is a game for our children to play and enjoy. The role of the parents is to support all of the players and the coaches. The umpire staff will not tolerate the unacceptable behavior of people in the stands. The coaches and managers were required to take the Positive Coaching Alliance course prior to beginning this season. The parents are encouraged to do so also. The link for this information is on the website.

Vehicles on the grounds – It was noted that a vehicle drove inside the snack shack perimeter over by the Rye Rec buildings, when a game was going on. This is unacceptable for obvious safety reasons. It was noted that this was someone not involved with the Little League, however, it is critical to note that no one should even drive on the little driveway by the garden, when the game is on. It was noted that the pizza delivery vehicle pulls in there to unload the car.

Donation to support the family of the District Umpire in Chief – The District Umpire in Chief, Ray Vasquez, is very ill and has been supportive of the Little League program for many years. The various district teams are showing support to his family by collecting donations. It was agreed that our Little League would also participate in this show of support. Peter will look into the details of how to do this properly regarding the use of league money. Suggestions were to just pass the hat at various games, donate a certain amount of snack shack revenue, other suggestions are welcome.

Closing Day Picnic – Dianne presented the proposed schedule for June 21 Closing Day Picnic. It was approved and she will send it out the families and post on the website.

Next meeting – Tuesday, June 17, 2008 for Voting Members of the Board only