LCIHA BOD Meeting Minutes

Time/Place: 10/21/03, 7:00 P.M., Jett Hall Rm. 283, NMSSU

Present: Chris Burnham, Chris Christeson, Cynthia Clark, Tom King, Nancy Peckham, David Rockstraw, Ryan Rockstraw, Hugo Vilchis, Hugo Vilchis Jr., Patty Walters, Derrik Wootton.

Minutes:

v Chris Burnham presented the Treasurer's Report, which Dave will post on the Website as soon as he can get an electronic copy of it. The report presented covered the period from August 1, 2003 to the date of the meeting. Dave pointed out that the last Treasurer's Report that had been filed covered August 1, 2001 through July 31, 2002. The board has not seen a financial statement covering the period from August 1, 2002 through July 31, 2003. Chris said he would check with Kevin McNelis, the previous Treasurer, to see if one had been prepared. Chris has also checked into seeing if some of our bank charges could be waived. Although the bank was amenable to waiving some of the standard charges, some, such as those for NSF checks, will not be waived. The Board also discussed checking into the legality of setting up a sweep account, whereby most of our money could be in an interest bearing account and operating funds "swept" into a commercial account on a periodic basis. We need to find out if it is legal for a non-profit organization to earn interest on their funds.

v The Board discussed different fund-raising possibilities, such as selling concessions at the games. Getting volunteers to work on and manage this project may be difficult. It was decided that we should post an announcement on the bulletin board at the rink and see who might be interested. Cindy volunteered to write up a proposal for such a venture and be the contact person for interested parties, Nancy volunteered to help her. Some ideas for generating volunteers included having teams be responsible for the booth during the game right after theirs; providing free drinks/snacks for the teams working; and providing a commission to the person in charge of managing the booth.

v The Board discussed whether or not getting a Sam's Club membership would be beneficial to the league. It was decided that we would wait to see if the concessions idea took off before reconsidering this expenditure.

v Tom King brought up the subject of whether or not the league has grown to the point that it needs to hire a part-time professional accountant. Chris Christeson may know someone already involved in the league that might be willing to volunteer their services for routine tax and annual reports; he will check on this. Cindy said that other organizations that she has served on Boards for hire an outside party for an annual audit, and she recommended Lisa Willman. Cindy further stated that the City is not legally entitled to see an organization's books unless they are showing a surplus of $100,000.00. She promised to send a copy of the law asserting this to Tom. The conversation was tabled until Chris can ascertain whether or not the person he is thinking about is willing to take on the responsibility of doing routine accounting for the league.

v The BOD has never obtained supplemental liability insurance. Cindy made the motion that the league procures a three-year policy covering the BOD; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Tom will handle obtaining the policy. Derrik suggested that he go directly through the insurance company, as it will be more expedient than going through USAHI. Tom further advised the Board that the USAHI insurance for individual players does not become effective until the money for the players' registrations are received in their office. Therefore, Tom has not been letting people play until all of their required paperwork has been submitted. We may need to re-examine our registration deadlines or try a pre-enrollment period to ensure that all players are properly enrolled and covered prior to the start of the season. New players or those who miss the deadline will have to show their card before being allowed to play.

v Nancy Peckham gave the Registrar's report. There are currently 180 individual players in the league, playing in 6 divisions on 23 teams. The electronic registration process is working well. They (USAHI) are trying to web-enable the process but there are security issues that need to be worked out. She asked that the BOD look at hiring a data entry person at a nominal salary to help during the registration process, particularly in the fall. She also needs a current list of referees.

v John Jacobs was commended for his hard work and dedication to the U10 division and its players.

v Tom announced that we are now 100% PAYS compliant. Getting everyone through this training is a big headache/hassle every year for the President. The City is still kicking around the idea of allowing parents/players to "attend" an online session, but so far seems to feel that the face-to-face training is more appropriate. One suggestion was made to put the onus on the coaches to make sure that everyone on their team is in compliance. Another suggestion was made to hang a list of names on the bulletin board at the rink of those players not in compliance or whose year eligibility is about to expire, requiring re-attendance and re-certification. Anyone who plays while not in compliance with the PAYS training will cause his or her team to forfeit the game. This way, the players will be motivated to police each other. The list would need to be continually updated, as expirations will occur throughout the year. It was decided that Nancy will use the database and print out a list of expired and about-to-expire PAYS cardholders to post on the bulletin board during the weekend games.

v LCIHA Accountability was discussed. Tom needs to compile a list of certain documents to show to the City in order to get our funding from them. These documents include the PAYS compliance list and a document showing that our non-profit status is current (to accomplish this documents need to be filed with the state in a timely manner). Tom would like the BOD to revise the by-laws so that each league Officer position has a more clearly defined set of responsibilities so that the "little things" don't fall through the cracks as often. It was agreed that the BOD would have a special session directly prior to the next General Membership meeting in November to accomplish this task.

v Scholarship accountability was also discussed. In the past, scholarships were handed out at the discretion of the Board to persons that they knew needed assistance. Some suggestions for improving accountability in this area that were discussed are as follows:

o Draw up a list of requirements that define eligibility for scholarship assistance, e.g. financial hardship. Perhaps the same form/criteria that the schools use for free lunches could be utilized.

o Have parents fill out a form or formal request for scholarship assistance.

o Limit the number of scholarships available based on the financial strength of the league.

o Have scholarship recipients work off the scholarship by doing set-up and teardown, working concessions, etc. Cindy volunteered to make up an In Kind Volunteer Form to facilitate this.

v The playing down issue was discussed once more. We need to have set criteria for allowing players to play down written into the by-laws. For instance, players should be allowed to play down for medical reasons only, and at the written request of the parents.

v Referee performance was discussed. We have lost a couple of our referees. We need to continue to try to improve and expand our pool of referees. Some suggestions for accomplishing this were:

o Having a referee clinic by a USAHI representative in December or January.

o Have the Head of Refs hold meetings at halftime with the game refs to support (provide backup)/coach/critique.

o Change the current structure, which has one Head of Refs, to one that has multiple Heads of Refs (one for each age division).

o Improve our system of paying the young refs so that they are always paid in a timely manner.

v The following purchases were discussed and voted on:

o Four more sets of goalie gear are needed (2 Youth, 2 Adult) at a cost of approximately $1000.00. Motion was made to purchase these items, seconded and passed unanimously. Dave will canvass his sources for the best deal for our money.

o New league jerseys are needed, approximately 20 for the U10 and U12 leagues and 20 more for the U17 and O17 leagues. Motion was made to purchase these; seconded and passed unanimously.

o Purchase of jerseys & whistles for youth referees was discussed, as well as possibly providing helmets. We need to look into whether HECC certified helmets are required per USAHI, or just recommended. We decided to research this purchase (cost & requirements) a little further before taking a formal vote on this expenditure.

o Our borders are still in bad shape. Eight have already been repaired, and they are not holding up well. Twelve more need repair. Chris Christeson will distribute four of the borders to the four upholsterers in town and see who does the best job. That person will repair the rest of the damaged borders. A motion was made to spend the necessary funds to have the borders repaired. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. On a side note, the league will begin penalizing players for gratuitously slamming into and/or jumping on the borders as part of their "game style". This weekend, the player so penalized will take a 2-minute penalty but the team will not be on the power play. The following weekend and thereafter, a 2-minute penalty will be assessed and the team will play shorthanded. A formal motion was made to institute this penalty; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

o Awards for the fall season were discussed. Tom and Nancy will take care of purchasing these. We will do away with the medals for the adults. We will look into giving out ribbons or patches to 3rd and 4th place teams rather than participation medals. A motion was made authorizing Tom & Nancy to spend the necessary funds to obtain end-of-the-season Awards. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

o A motion was made to authorize spending funds for a battery charger and some additional lights. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Chris Christeson will take care of purchasing these items.

o Tom King would like to purchase a securable footlocker to store the T-shirts inside the portable shed. We will need to ensure that the footlocker not only locks, but also cannot be physically removed in its entirety from the shed. A motion was made to authorize funds for this purchase; said motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

v There is a tournament in December in El Paso that some of our members may be interested in participating in. Chris Christeson will get and disseminate more information on this tournament (including ascertaining the dates) to league members.

Respectfully Submitted: Patty Walters, Secretary, LCIHA