Minutes of October 4, 2008
General Membership Meeting
468: The
mandatory general membership meeting of the Washington High School Boys
Lacrosse Association was held on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at
Bertona Hall,
Board
President: Vern Smith
Board
Executive Secretary: Gail Shelton
Division
I Rep:
Division
II Rep: Kevin Martin
East
Rep: Vern Smith
Metro
Rep: Ryan Kelly
West
Rep: Rob Hawley
North
Rep: Ken Hopkins
At-Large: Tony Olney
Division
I – Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Curtis, Garfield, Issaquah, Lakeside,
Maple Valley, Mercer Island, Northshore, Puyallup, Seattle Prep, Skyline,
Vashon
Division
II – Blanchet, Highline, Kings Way, Klahowya, Lake Tapps, Lynnwood, Nathan
Hale, North County, North Kitsap, Overlake, Port Angeles, Redmond, Roosevelt,
Sammamish, Snohomish, South Kitsap, Stadium, Tacoma, Three Rivers, Wenatchee, Whatcom
469: Roll
was taken and Vern asked each program to turn in or email the 2009 Program
Information sheet to Gail.
470: Vern
reminded the membership about the ground rules for speaking – everyone can
speak once on every topic; but if someone wants to speak twice on the same
topic, they must wait until everyone else has had the opportunity to speak
once. Also, he reminded the membership
to be brief when they speak.
471: New
members to the league and their representatives were welcomed and introduced –
Selah (no representative because it was his wedding day),
472: The
present WHSBLA Board members were introduced:
Brandon Fortier – Division I rep; Rob Hawley – West side rep; Ken
Hopkins – North side rep; Ryan Kelly – Metro rep; Kevin Martin – Div II rep;
Tony Olney – At-large rep; Vern Smith – East side rep and current Board
President; and
473: Once the
provisional members from eastern
474: The first
order of business for the membership was elections of regional
representatives. Write-in ballots are
allowed. Each candidate was given a
short time to describe why they want to be a member of the Board. Candidates for election were:
West
side rep: Rob Hawley, unopposed
Metro
rep: Ryan Kelly, unopposed
North
side rep: (1) Peter White (2) Ken Hopkins
East
side rep: (1) Henry Valentine (2) Vern Smith
475: Ballots were tabulated by Gail and Tony and
election results were announced by Tony:
West
side rep: Rob Hawley
Metro
rep: Ryan Kelly
North
side rep: Peter White
East
side rep: Vern Smith
New Business:
476: Leslie
Cornelison resigned as Secretary/Treasurer for personal reasons, so once again
the Board is looking for candidates to fill this appointed position. Vern asked members to ask qualified and
interested people to contact Gail before November 1ST.
477: Dues will
remain the same as in 2008 - $10/player for regular members and $5/player for
teams in their first year with the league.
478: Negotiations
continue with WALOA and is hoped that agreement will be reached before year
end. For budgeting purposes, teams
should plan for a 10% increase in referee’s fees, but negotiations continue. Playoff costs are similar to last year: first round or rounds, each team splits the
cost of refs. Semi-final refs are paid
for by WHSBLA. Last year the WA Chapter
split the cost of refs for the two final games.
This year, WHSBLA will ask the Chapter to pay for all refs at the
finals.
479: Important
dates:
January 1,
2009 -New teams to the League can
begin practicing (
March 2, 2009
– First day of practice for remaining teams
May 30, 2009
– Championship Day
August 1, 2009
– Dead period begins for all teams
480: The
survey results indicated overwhelmingly that membership wanted no change to the
Division I-II alignment. The Board
explored many other options, but felt the League is not ready to go to a
strictly regional alignment, 4A/3A or other system. The Board will be meeting to determine how to
integrate Selah,
481: The Board
voted to reassign Northshore and Seattle Prep to Division I and
482:
483: Defining
JV and Frosh/Soph teams means that a program can field sufficient players so
that a doubleheader (V and JV) or (JV and Fr/Soph) can be held on the same day
and at different locations. If projected
numbers do not support this type of schedule, do not sign up for a JV or
Frosh/Soph schedule. Players can play 4 quarters in one day. League rules specify that JV players can be
any age, but Frosh/Soph players must be 9th and 10th
graders only. You must have ten
practices before competing – this includes Saturdays, but not Sundays.
484: The Board
adopted a limit on the number of regular season games a team can compete in
during the season. The decision was made
in an effort to emulate similar game limits in WIAA sports.
From
the new edition of the Handbook:
10.4.0 REGULAR SEASON CONTEST LIMITS - 20 games
plus one jamboree.
10.5.0 JAMBOREE – A lacrosse jamboree is a series of abbreviated contests
during which a squad may play in no more than three (3) abbreviated contests in
one day. Each abbreviated contest may
consist of no more than four, 10-minute RUNNING CLOCK quarters – OR – two,
20-minute RUNNING CLOCK halves.
10.5.1
In excess of
the one allowable jamboree under rule 10.4.0, each subsequent day of a
participation in a jamboree counts as 1 game towards the 20-game contest limit.
485: No new
games will be scheduled after the first two weeks of the season because it becomes a nightmare for the treasurer,
the scheduler and WALOA. If a game needs
to be moved or a new opponent needs to be brought in, but the game has already
been paid for, that is acceptable. You
cannot add games that have not already been paid for.
486: Contact
Peter White if you are interested in attending the Cavalier Invitational in
Lynden on March 14 & 15. It will
host Division I JV and Div II Varsity teams.
487: Any
changes to the Handbook or Addendum will be highlighted in the new edition and
it will be out before the February meeting.
All WHSBLA documents – Handbook, Addendum, By-laws, Board and General
Membership minutes etc. are always up to date an posted on the League website.
488: The
survey overwhelmingly supported (20-3) the effort toward WIAA sanctioning. Tony has been in contact with the WSLA
representative who chaired their effort last December. WSLA was resoundingly defeated by the WIAA committee. However, they have been advised to keep
applying each year and to try to keep educating ADs across the state about
lacrosse.
The
Board has determined that an application will be presented in December to WIAA
on behalf of WHSBLA. The Board will be
reaching out to all coaches for assistance in this effort. It is important that every program builds the
best relationship possible with ADs trying to inform them that the more
programs are involved, the less impact it will have on the AD. Because lacrosse players own their own gear,
the financial impact is not nearly what it is for football. Tony was asked to publish the 53 members of
the WIAA voting committee which is made up of ADs from all over the state.
Even
if lacrosse becomes a WIAA sanctioned sport, the WHSBLA Board will still exist
because there will be clubs to organize who are not picked up by their districts
immediately. Schools do not have to
accept a sport when it becomes sanctioned and teams who are not part of WIAA
cannot play teams who are.
489: The Board
adopted, with modifications, a WIAA rule addressing situations where a coach
unilaterally refused to play a game:
From
the new edition of the Handbook:
12.6.0 REFUSING TO PLAY – Teams are obligated to participate in a contest to
its normal conclusion unless the contest is terminated by mutual consent of the
coaches and officials involved due to unusual weather or game conditions, or
situations which could be hazardous to participants or spectators. Any coach is prohibited from unilaterally
refusing to play.
12.6.1 Any
coach unilaterally refusing to play will be suspended. The length of suspension will be determined
by the WHSBLA Board. The game in
question will be ruled a forfeit.
12.6.2.1
In the case
of a Varsity JV doubleheader, if possible, the play of the JV game shall be
adjusted (shorten duration, cancel or reschedule) so that the varsity game is
played per rule. Any adjustments must be
agreed upon prior to the start of the first game of the doubleheader.
Teams
cannot start games without ten players, so if a coach doesn’t have an eligible
team, and the game can’t be rescheduled, it is a forfeit.
490: The 2008
Questionnaire was reviewed by Vern. Only
23 questionnaires were returned. It is
very important that every program return the Questionnaire – without feedback,
the Board can only assume everything is running smoothly.
491: Gail
spoke to comments on the questionnaire regarding the WA Chapter. There seems to be confusion about the roll of
the Chapter. The Chapter does not get
involved with scheduling or the day-to-day running of any league in the
state. The WA Chapter
providesservices for its members – both men’s and women’s lacrosse. The State Championships are hosted by the WA
Chapter and funds from that event provide equipment grants, clinics,
convention, grants to the National Convention, first aid/cpr classes etc.
492: There were
some good suggestions on the questionnaire for the Coaches Convention. Gail will pass those on to the Chapter
President as well as suggestions for the 2009 championships.
493: Mike
McQuaid was hired by the Chapter, WHSBLA and WSLA to raise awareness of
lacrosse across the state. The Questionnaire
revealed mixed reviews of the effort. The
Board believes he raised the awareness significantly and understands it is a
cumulative effort. The Board will be
asked again to participate in this effort, although it will be more expensive
that 2008. The information Mike has
available to him depends on how diligent teams are in providing that
information. Assign someone from your
team to call the information or text it to Mike before the deadlines. If you aren’t seeing articles in your local
papers, you should contact your editors, because many local papers are carrying
the stories that Mike prepares.
494: The
survey indicates the worst part of coaching in 2008 was the disrespect shown to
coaches, timekeepers and officials. This
behavior reflects a small handful of coaches, but the Board encourages everyone
to be more mindful and try harder to respect players, coaches, officials and
fans.
495: There
were very few complaints about scheduling matters. With 422 games scheduled and one scheduler it
doesn’t leave much room for complaints.
It is important that each team has a central contact person for
scheduling that
496: Rob
addressed the complaint from the survey that decisions were made without
membership notice. Before a Board was
put in place, coaches were required to attend one meeting a month (WA Lacrosse
Council) during the off season. When the
league started to grow, that model wasn’t useful and the same 5-6 coaches were
coming to all the meetings to make decisions.
Under the WHSBLA Board structure, each team has two representatives who
they should communicate with about their concerns and issues. The Board established 3 subcommittees in 2008
and invited the membership to help guide policy on the Board. The membership has not stepped up to fill the
committees so they have been disbanded.
497: Kevin
reviewed the officials’ evaluation forms and impressed on the membership the
importance of completing them after each game.
It helps WHSBLA provide feedback to WALOA and also helps select
officials for the playoffs and finals.
Coaches are asked to complete two forms after each game (1 for each
official). The form is the same form
being used by the college coaches. Of
844 officials assigned in 2008, WHSBLA received feedback for 96 – 11%. Chris Long, WALOA representative said the
information is helpful to WALOA and they send out a veteran official to review
the official. If the evaluation is correct,
they work with the official and Smitty tried to make sure they weren’t assigned
to big games.
Old Business
498: Three
subcommittees have been disbanded for lack of membership participation:
Coach
Assistance Subcommittee
Compliance
Subcommittee
Program
Assistance Subcommittee
499: Vern
reminded all coaches of the coaching standards which go into effect in
2010. Each program/AD is responsible for
keeping track of hours. The policy has
appeared in previous minutes, but will be posted on the website.
500: The
501: Question:
The League needs a central website that expresses news in boy’s high
school lacrosse and because WHSBLA has its own website it has the ability to be
a news source. Would it be possible for
502: The
Chapter is looking at new venues for the championships and WHSBLA has agreed to
work with them. While the Board cannot
run the championships, it will put this matter on the October Board
agenda. There were concerns expressed by
the membership that the Chapter is leaving Memorial Stadium and rotating the
games to different high schools. Many
feel a move to a high school stadium would be a step backwards for the
championships. Vern agreed the Board
would discuss the following and take the results to the Chapter Executive
Committee:
Venue
concerns
Timing
of games – prime time and back to back
503: If any
coach has a question about rules during the season, please contact Chris Long
from WALOA.
504: The next
general membership meeting is a mandatory meeting for head coaches.
Saturday,
February 7, 2008. The time will be
announced.
505: The
meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm.
Gail
Shelton, Executive Secretary