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LEHIGH VALLEY YOUTH SOCCER LEAGUE GENERAL LEAGUE MEETING

Northampton Community College March 11, 2014

7:30 PM Exec. Director: Robert Rooney E-mail: info@lvysl.org League Tel.: (484) 319-7881 League Address: PO Box 273, Parker Ford, PA 19457 League Web Site: http://www.lvysl.org State Office; Tel.: “EPYSA”, 4070 Butler Pike, Suite 100, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462; (800) 562-7485

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Call to Order: Gus Garcia called the meeting to order at 7:34 PM. Roll Call: Clubs are fined for non-attendance based on the sign-in sheet. A list of clubs

attending this meeting is attached as Annex A.

* * * APPROVAL OF MINUTES As a first order of business, the November 12, 2013 minutes were read and unanimously approved. SPECIAL PRESENTATION Jason Freedman (Philadelphia Union) Stu Fox (Philadelphia Union) Gus introduced Messrs. Freedman and Fox from the Philadelphia Union who spoke for a few minutes regarding the Philadelphia Union soccer club and provided the handouts attached as Annex B. Jason indicated that the purpose of their brief presentation was to familiarize the member clubs with upcoming events at PPL Park and provide information regarding ticket packages and Philadelphia Union points of contact. Jason and Stu are two of the Union employees assigned to act as liaisons to each LVYSL club as indicated on the handout. At the close of the presentation, Jason gave game tickets and Philadelphia Union scarves to four member clubs selected at random from the sign-in sheet. SPECIAL PRESENTATION Curt Mosel (ArtsQuest) Gus next introduced Curt Mosel from ArtsQuest who spoke for a few minutes regarding the upcoming SoccerFest event, including World Cup viewing parties, to be held at SteelStacks in Bethlehem on June 12-16, 2014 and June 19-22, 2014. A handout with additional details regarding SoccerFest is attached as Annex C and a website for the event can be found at LVSOCCERFEST.COM. PRESIDENT’S REPORT Gus Garcia (Tri-Boro SC) Gus provided a few details from the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association’s annual general meeting (AGM). He reported the concern from the AGM that youth soccer registration continues to trend

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down (from 150,000 players in 1995 to 105,000 players registered in EPYSA today). A concern was expressed by the EPYSA director of coaching that we are making a simple game too expensive and there is a need to simplify and make it easier for players to play pick-up and neighborhood soccer. Fees are increasing at EPYSA: the team fee is increasing by $1 from $6 per team to $7 per team; the insurance fee is increasing by $7 from $25 per team to $32 per team; and the background check fee is increasing by $.50 from $3.50 per team to $4 per team. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Rob Rooney Rob stated that the 35th Annual Lehigh Valley Youth Soccer League Tournament will be held on Jun. 7 and 8, 2014. Registration is open and the application and website are on line at www.lehighvalleytournament.com. The $50 early discount for teams that applied and paid by March 1, 2014 has paid off as 28 teams registered early for the tournament, including a number of Parkland teams. Rob indicated that the tournament would do much better with more support from other local clubs. The league signed a contract for a new website and hired Demosphere as its new website provider due to its comparable or better costs, ease of use and navigation, good customer support and scheduling capability. The new site is expected to be on line by June 15, 2014, and, beginning in mid-April, league representatives will have to populate the website with information such as field sites, availability and addresses, club contact information and other information necessary to allow for scheduling and league operations on the new site. We are starting fresh and will not import the information from the old website, some of which is outdated. Concurrent with the roll out of the new website, the league will update its logo. Rob confirmed that in connection with the new division appeal process, no team appealed their placement. The 48 hour divisional review period allows the league to catch (if possible) and the teams to monitor whether or not all of their teams are registered with the league and to also contest placement in the case of errors or lack of communication between coaches and team registrars.

VP OF OPERATIONS REPORT Greg Ramos (Lehigh Valley United FC) Not present. TREASURER’S REPORT Rich Mitstifer (Northwestern SC) Rich wrote checks during the period for the following expenses: - $1,985 to Loch, Elsenbaumer, Newton & Co., CPAs for their work on the annual report and tax filings; - $886 to the referee assignor for the balance of the Fall and Round Robin referee assignor fees; - $3,449 to Gina Keys and Rich Mitstifer for their work as league registrars and for office expenses; - $1,000 for the Lehigh Valley Scholar Athletes (Soccer); and - $1,000 to Demosphere for a portion of their fees for the new website. The bank balances at February 28, 2014 were $77,555 compared to $85,750 at February 28, 2013. The difference of approximately $8,200 is due to the fact that the league is not operating at break even and deposits are lagging by approximately $2,000 compared to the same period last year. GAMES COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS Girls/Boys Game’s Commissioner and League Scheduler Bob Eaton Bob stated that the scheduling process was underway and 195 teams registered, which means that there will be over 700 games scheduled. Fifteen clubs requested self-scheduling, and the home dates for the clubs that selected self-scheduling should be available by Mar. 14. Clubs should return self-schedules to

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Bob no later than 3-4 days after. He expects to have schedules published around March 21, or one week prior to the start of the season, which will be on March 29. In response to a concern that fields may not be ready by March 29, Gus stated that we will just have to play as many games as possible and if the fields are not ready then those games will have to be rescheduled in accordance with the league’s rules. Rob reminded clubs to review the Rules of Play in order to understand the acceptable reasons for requesting a reschedule. As a reminder, requests for schedule changes are allowed for the following reasons:

State Cup Match Conflict.

Soccer Tournament Conflict.

Loss of Field – Due to closure or unplayable conditions.

Cancelled match due to weather related conditions.

In addition, an ODP conflict will be considered. As an EPYSA function and program that LVYSL encourages for all league players, ODP conflicts will be considered based on requesting team’s roster size and number of requesting team’s players involved. (See Rules of Play, Section II,H,4). Any requests not falling within one of the authorized reasons will be denied. Rob further reminded clubs/coaches to immediately (don’t wait) advise the league and the referee assignor of State Cup conflicts as soon as they become aware of them. Do not reschedule games within the 10-day window as there is a $25 for a reschedule date that is less than 10 days out. The league’s software allows a member club to reschedule inside the normal 10-day window, but that will result in a $25 fine if approved. REGISTRARS’ REPORT Kris Campbell (Parkland Area Soccer Club) Kathy Garcia (Tri-Boro SC) Gina Keys (Lehigh Valley United SC). Rich Mitstifer (Northwestern SC) Manuela Tufano (FC Pocono) Kathy reminded clubs of the following dates: - Mar. 21 – State Cup roster freeze (so have any changes to the league registrars by Mar. 19); teams

in State Cup cannot make any changes to their roster until their teams are eliminated or the Cup competition ends;

- Mar. 31 – LVYSL roster freeze; - Apr. 1 - no pending PS-1’s; all changes approved; and - May 19 – LVYSL roster freeze ends. The members next discussed the use of guest players for small sided teams. For the Spring ’14 season, small sided teams (U9, U10, U11 and U12) can use guest players for each game as long as the following criteria are met: (1) the player has to be an EPYSA rostered player with a player card; (2) the player has to be a player from the same club; (3) the player’s must be added (handwritten in) to the team’s game day roster prior to each game; (4) the player has to be the appropriate age for the team or from a younger age group; and (5) a team’s game day roster could only have 14 active players inclusive of any guest players.

EPYSA John Kukitz Not present. Gus reported that Wim Roset retired, and John Kukitz is the new EPYSA representative.

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In response to a question regarding the new coaching license requirements discussed at an earlier meeting, Gus confirmed that there will be no changes to the coaching license requirements for LVYSL. An updated coaching license matrix is located in the Coach’s Info section of the LVYSL website. REFEREE ASSIGNOR’S REPORT Hal Grahn Not present. Gus initiated a discussion regarding the league’s decision to allow piggy-back substitutions on another team’s throw-in. Currently, the LVYSL Rules of Play provide as follows: 1. An unlimited number of substitutions will be permitted in all games to encourage participation.

Furthermore, a substituted player may re-enter the contest an unlimited number of times. 2. Substitutions shall only be permitted when the ball is not in play and only on a team’s own throw-in,

after a goal, at half time, on either team’s goal kick or during a stoppage for injury. 3. If there is a stoppage of play due to an injured player on the field, that player must be substituted for

and may not return until the next opportunity for substitution. 4. The opposing team may substitute at the time of the yellow card (1 for 1). The Rules of Play have been modified to also allow teams to substitute (unlimited number) when the opponent has a throw-in. In Hal’s absence, Rob reiterated clubs that coaches should do their job and let referees do theirs; coaches don’t referee and referees don’t coach during games; use game reporting to indicate referee shortcomings – don’t challenge referees at games. Youth referees are especially at risk for improper behavior so teams are reminded to control their coaches and parents and to be respectful and not address officials, especially youth officials, with officiating issues. Coaches should report any issues directly to Hal through the game reports, and Hal will address all comments directly with the officials (and with coaches when they request a call back or a response). Rob reminded clubs to communicate with coaches the following procedures:

Prepare materials pre-game (i.e., stamped line-ups with numbers);

Have passes ready, including passes for coaches (if referee doesn’t check passes, please inform

Rob and Hal);

Ensure that nets, corner flags, fields, referee fees, etc. are in order prior to the start of the game; and

Maintain order by having players/coaches on one sideline and everyone else on the opposite side.

OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS Evergreen Soccer Club. Gus introduced Evergreen Soccer Club (Fleetwood area team) and requested that the member clubs approved Evergreen’s entrance into LVYSL for the Spring ’14 season. Rob stated that the club’s application met the league’s basic criteria for entrance – 2 teams in the Spring (U14 and U18 girls), payment of the $200 fee, and field availability. After questions and discussion, the Evergreen’s application was approved.

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Spring Games for High School Age Teams. In response to a question regarding adding more games for high school age teams that only play in the Spring, Gus indicated that the league can only offer 6-8 games in the Spring due to the fact that the Spring season has only 8 available weekends. Bob also mentioned that in the older age groups there are often only 4 teams per division so he schedules each team to play each other twice resulting in 6 games. A discussion ensued, and Gus offered to continue the discussion to determine if it is possible to have more games for the high school teams in the Spring. June LVYSL Board Elections. Member clubs are reminded that there will be elections in June for all positions:

LVYSL Position

President

VP Operations

VP Finance

Treasurer & Registrar

Secretary

Boys Game Commissioner

Girls Games Commissioner and League Scheduler

Small-side Games Commissioner

Registrars

GOOD OF THE GAME Gus encouraged member teams to support major League Soccer and the Philadelphia Union by watching games on television and attending them in person. Two local players from Lehigh Valley United, Erinne Finlayson and Jonathan Kleinhenz, were recipients of Union League of Philadelphia's Good Citizenship Award at EPYSA’s Awards Reception on March 8, 2014. NEXT LEAGUE MEETING Tuesday, June 10, 2014 7:30 PM Northampton Community College

* * * There being no other business, at 8:50 PM, the meeting was adjourned. /s/ Paul Bento Secretary

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Annex A

1 Abington Soccer Club

2 Back Mountain Youth Soccer Association

3 Bethlehem Soccer Club

4 Carbon United Soccer Club

5 Catasauqua Youth Soccer Association

6 Enco United

7 F.C. Elite

8 F.C. Freedom

9 F.C. Pocono

10 Keystone Athletic

11 Lehigh Valley United FC

12 Lower Macungie Youth Soccer Association

13 Nazareth Soccer Club

14 Northampton Soccer Club

15 Northwestern Soccer Club

16 Palisades Soccer Club

17 Parkland Area Soccer Club

18 Pennridge Yellowjackets Soccer Association

19 Salisbury Y. A. Soccer Club

20 Saucon Valley Soccer Club

21 St. Joseph's Soccer Club

22 St. Thomas More Soccer Club

23 South Parkland Youth Association

24 Tri-Boro Soccer Club

25 Valley Soccer Club

26 West End Soccer League

27 Western Lehigh United Soccer Club

28 Wind Gap Area Athletic Association

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Annex B

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Annex C