NASL Meeting Minutes - July 21st, 2004

President Ed Turner called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. The meeting was held at the Brahan Spring Recreation Center, and the following board members were in attendance: Ed Turner, Steve Bryan, Gina Conard, Irene Wisner, Ruth Ghoja, Jim Swain, Belton MacCary, and Becky Vansant,

Treasurer Irene Wisner presented a financial report showing a balance of $13,660.65. Five thousand dollars of this existing balance is earmarked for lights at John Hunt Park. These earmarked funds represent proceeds from parking fees charged at the State Cup tournaments hosted in Huntsville in Fall 2003. After these monies were set aside for lighting, the State Cup tournaments hosted in Huntsville netted $2700.

Irene reported that she will bill the clubs for the FOSNA fees which are due September 15th, 2004 and will in turn pay FOSNA. FOSNA will then cut checks to the designated recipients requested by the clubs.

Irene also presented income/expenditure data for the budget committee to work with in the formulation of a budget for the upcoming administration. The budget committee will consist of Belton MacCary, Becky Vansant and Gina Conard.

During the financial report, board members discussed the fee structure for “Rec Plus” teams versus D-III teams. With roster sizes decreasing due to small-sided game implementation, the existing $135 NASL fee for U-11 and U-12 teams seemed high. A motion was made by Ruth Ghoja to reclassify “Rec Plus” to “D-III” up through the U-12 age group and to charge $75 for scheduling up to 10 games. D-III teams age U-13 and above will continue to pay $135.

Under unfinished business, Ed Turner presented a draft of the proposed NASL Corner Flag Policy as previously requested by NASOA. Revisions were made during group discussion, and a motion was made by Irene Wisner and seconded that the revised policy be approved. The motion carried.

Also in response to a previous request by NASOA, the board discussed implementing a coach conduct policy in regards to NASL scheduled games. It was recommended that the policy address all verbal and physical abuse toward referees and officials with the following disciplinary actions for infractions: first offense – one game suspension, second offense – three game suspension; and third offense – license suspension for one year. Disciplinary actions will include but may not be limited to these penalties. It was decided that the referee will hold the player card of the offending coach. The player card will be delivered to Pete’s Soccer Shop or given to the NASL field scheduler. The infraction will be noted on the game record, and the NASL field scheduler will be notified of all incidents at the weekly NASOA meetings. In turn, the NASL field scheduler will convey information to the Disciplinary Committee for action.

A motion was made by Ruth Ghoja and was seconded that this coach conduct policy be accepted as discussed. The motion carried.

Announcements included a mention of Marty Eaton’s report from the most recent AYSA meeting.

The next board meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, September 29, 2004 at Brahan Spring Recreational Center based on availability of meeting rooms. Meeting notification will be made on the NASL website, and Secretary Becky Vansant will e-mail meeting reminder notification to each board member.