Time/Place:
Present: Eli Best, Bernice Castelo, Tony Castelo, Cynthia Clark, Curtis Clark,
Patrick Coughlin,
Minutes:
v
Derrik briefed the Board
on his meeting with Jimmy and Sonya. We will be
allowed to practice according to our existing schedule for the time being. We still may be asked to give up some of our practice time
on the pad in the future, but they will try to give us more notice so that we
will have time to make alternative arrangements for practices.
Sonya and Jimmy are supportive of our goal to have our own facility, but
it is going to be up to us to make this happen. We
will continue to look into obtaining private sector funding and/or public or
private grants.
v
Derrik updated the BOD on
the current status of NMSS. The rink has arrived,
but they are still waiting on some critical funding.
v
Dennis asked Cindy Clark
to present her complaint against Joe Short to the Board. Cindy
was not comfortable doing this in front of the Short children, and Dennis
requested that they leave the room during this portion of the discussion so
that the adults could have a candid discussion. After
they left, Cindy read a prepared statement outlining her concerns and presented
a copy to the Board. Summarily, she
feels that the removal of her son Ben from the Scorpions was a violation of the
Coaches’ Code of Ethics and several of the LCIHA by-laws, including but not
limited to Article 11, which governs team formation. She
asked that sanctions be imposed on Joe and/or his team. A
lengthy discussion ensued, and pertinent comments are paraphrased below:
o
Cathy Short: I was not prepared for this, I thought we were here to discuss the
forfeit of the Scorpion/Iguana game last Saturday. The
Coyotes were disbanded and the Scorpions were formed, so it is not the same
team and the same players did not have to be included on the team.
o
Pat Switzer: My son Josh wanted to play
on the Scorpions, and I was initially O.K. with that. Once
I found out what happened to Ben and seeing what direction the team was taking,
I decided to place Josh in the draft.
o
Dennis Downey: Where the BOD fell down in the first place was not following the team
formation rules in the first place.
o
Cathy Short/Lisa Maurer: We didn’t realize what the team formation rules were.
All of the kids should have been put in the draft. It
isn’t their fault that they weren’t.
o
Tim Flynn: I didn’t realize any of this was going on. Obviously
this ties in to the forfeit of the game on Saturday,
which we came to discuss.
o
Victoria Flynn: Sean (her son) felt betrayed by the forfeit on Saturday. We need to do what is best for all of the kids.
o
Daniel Castelo: Dan Short and Dave Rockstraw butt heads every week. We
need to find a way to resolve this conflict. I have
already spoken to Jimmy Rivera about it. The game
forfeits are discrimination against the kids on the Scorpions who have paid to
play hockey.
o
Pete Kane: What was the point of the forfeit?
o
Cindy Clark: There were a lot of bad feelings toward the Scorpions.
o
Tim Flynn: It seems like it was a form of protest and way of bringing the problem
out into the open, which it did.
o
Hugo Vilchis Sr.: We need to follow the rules and by-laws, and the adults need to fix
the problem so that the kids can get back to playing hockey.
o
Ray Meyer: Why did Joe not want Ben on the team?
o
Cathy Short: I don’t know, I think it was because he didn’t feel he had the skill
level to play in the 14-16 league.
o
Cindy Clark: He played in the 14-16 league last Spring
season, so that isn’t valid.
o
o
Cathy Short: Dan would be devastated. We should leave the
teams the way they are and go on from here.
o
Eli Best: Suspensions or sanctions may be warranted.
o
o
Cathy Short: If you are going to sanction a coach, make sure you make it plural.
o
Derrik Wootton: I want an apology from Dan for his belligerent tirade on Saturday, and
an acceptance from him that this type of behavior is not acceptable, especially
in front of the younger players.
o
Cathy Short: What tirade? I did not see the incident you
are referring to.
o
Bernice Castelo: I did, and I’ll remove my child from the team if I see anything like
that again.
v At this point, the BOD, League President Derrik Wootton and League Secretary Patty Walters convened to discuss the situation and possible remedies. One problem discussed at length was that many players on the other 14-16 teams did not want to play against the Scorpions because they feel that they play too aggressively. Hence, if the Scorpions continue as a team, forfeits are likely to continue. Following is a summary of actions that were proposed and discussed by the Board:
The Coach (Joe Short)
1. Verbal reprimand
2. Letter of reprimand
3. Suspension, ranging from one game to an entire season.
4. Ask him to appear before the Board to explain his actions.
5. Do nothing.
The Team (Scorpions)
1. Do nothing.
2. Suspend from end of season tournament.
3. Disband team and reassign players.
Dan Short
1. Letter of reprimand for inappropriate language Saturday.
Safety Concerns of Players
1. Have officials call games a little tighter.
2. Have officials talk to players briefly before each game, reminding them of the penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Once these options had been discussed and considered, the following motions were made and voted on.
v
Dennis made a motion that the team be disbanded
and the players be reassigned to different teams if they wished, or refunded
their money if they did not wish to be reassigned. The
motion was seconded and passed by a vote of 5-3 (FOR: Eli Best,
v Dennis made a motion to suspend Joe Short for the rest of the season, allowing him a chance to appeal and present his side in a Board meeting to be held the following Monday. Chris seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
v
v The Board discussed whether or not there had been unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of Dave Rockstraw for his role in the forfeit of the game on Saturday and allegations by Joe Short that he was sending out e-mails encouraging other teams to forfeit. No one on the Board had seen the e-mail that Joe was referring to, and the Board further felt that his not allowing his children to play was due to his concern for their safety and was his decision to make as a parent and a coach. Pete moved that Dave’s actions did not constitute unsportsmanlike conduct. Chris seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
v Ray Meyer will write up a letter for the refs, telling them to watch for and penalize any player exhibiting unsportsmanlike conduct or using profanity. He will also remind the refs that this is a non-checking league, and ask them to remind the players of the aforementioned rules and possible penalties for breaking them before the start of each game.
v Eli
Best will write the letter to Joe Short informing him of the Board’s decision
and the reasoning behind it. Chris will deliver the
letter to Joe. Dennis will notify the complainants of
the actions decided on in tonight’s meeting.
Respectfully Submitted: Patty
Walters, Secretary, LCIHA