RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
July 11, 2010
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - May 17, 2010
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
MA’s Absent: CLCF
All Board Members Present
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by NRI and seconded by Newport. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by Warwick and seconded by SRI. The motion passed unanimously.
*Referees - Not Represented
*Registrar - Sharon Serio
a) Sharon passed out the final numbers for the year 2010-2011. (had 4 unclaimed players.
b) Sharon handed out the Technical Bulletin for registration (individual and team). This must be followed exactly.
1. You must name a head coach on the roster.
2. All Travel teams (not including Mites and Squirts B & C) must sign the rosters.
3. All National Bound Teams have to be signed before their first game and given to
Sharon before their first games.
4. All RIAHA Leagues pay $50 per league.
5. All other teams registering pay $10 per team up to $50.
c) Sharon announced that all Non-USA citizens must make sure they have the correct form.
d) Sharon announced that Credential Forms were missing from Coaches’ books. The registrar for each league needs to print out one for each team.
e) Cyber-Sports were sent out to each league except Warwick, NRI, Pawtucket and Newport. The registrars for these leagues have not responded back that they will be the registrar again or no new registrar has been named.
1. If you have a new registrar make sure the old registrar gives the new one the BAR CODE SCANNER. USA Hockey will charge for a new one.
f) All Leagues in their registration forms should have the word “contract”.
g) Sharon is sending out letters to players who owe money. These letters will state “all bills need to be paid before a player can play”. Sharon cannot sign rosters until payment is made.
h) Sharon announced that all State Teams and Leagues are under our jurisdiction: “RIAHA is the Governing Body of Rhode Island”.
i) Paul Given suggested getting a “collection agent” for past due bills. Richard stated that Sharon is doing this. You just need to get her a list of payments due and from whom.
j) Jack Coffey asked if Sharon has any rosters for next season (2010-2011). Sharon stated that Cyber Sports just came out and to register as soon as possible. Registration is now open for the 2010-2011 season.
*Girls Hockey/Dave Sorenson
a) Dave announced that their will be a meeting concerning Tier II Girls Hockey on June 21st at the Crowne from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
b) Each MA that is placing a team in the Tier II League should send out an e-mail to all their parents regarding the Team.
c) Dave announced that the turn out was great to see the Olympic representative.
*New England Meeting
a) Richard announced that there will be a New England Meeting on July 30th and July 31st at the University of Connecticut. On Saturday July 31st the meeting will be held. Let him know if you are interested in attending.
b) Richard announced that on Saturday, June 26th (UConn) and Sunday, June 27th (Burlington, VT) meetings will be held on “Grow the Game of Hockey”.
1. Richard feels that we should go together as a state with every league sending a representative. Possibility of renting a bus? We need to reserve a table so please let Richard know as soon as possible. He prefers Saturday, June 26th at UConn.
*President – Richard Oliver
Background Checks
a) Richard will send out the forms, get them back to Sharon
b) Everyone in your league (board of directors, coaches, clock workers, score keepers, etc) who has contact with the players must fill one out.
c) This is the 3rd year so everyone in the organizations needs to have a Background check done.
Colorado Meeting
On June 10 - 12 there will be a National Meeting in Colorado. If you would like to attend with Richard please let him know. The meetings overlap in time so you would be able to help out.
2010-2011 New Englands, Nationals and Yankee Conference
a) The Tier I Nationals Dates have been set: they will begin on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
b) The Yankee Conference Festival will be held March 25 -27, 2011
c) The New England Regionals will be held March 18-20, 2011. (We will be affected by the high school playoffs. Richard will be speaking to the rest of the New England states to see if we can hold the Bantam and the Midget Regionals in November)
d) There will be a Tier II National Tournament for Midget Major, Midget Minor and Bantam Major.
e) There will be a discussion at the August meeting in regards to RI teams attending Tier II Nationals and a decision made shortly after.
f) All Nationals were run extremely well.
g) There will be a discussion at the summer meeting if we will continue after the 2 years.
Saints, Stars
a) Dave Berube handed out the RI Saints financial report
b) Richard requested that we receive monthly reports for all our state sponsored teams.
c) Jack Coffey requested 10 – 12 blocks of ice from each league for the Stars.
1) Time frames would be Sundays: 12 noon – 6:00 pm or 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm - these will be blocks for 4 games. Angelo will get the numbers together.
*New Business
a) Edgewood questioned the ability of someone trying out for the Stars who is leaving an organization. Do they need to sit out?
1) You need to be able to play State League Play with the organization you are registered and playing with. Angelo will put this in writing.
2) We do not want players jumping from organization to organization using the “Stars” as their “sit-out” year.
b) Bob Larence questioned if all players were being treated equally “Double A”
1) The Stars were formed so players who did not make the Tier I can play with the Tier II Stars. This way we are keeping players in Rhode Island.
2) We need to get this information out and be very clear on the rules. Angelo will put a communication out soon clarifying all the information.
c) Mark stated that over the summer we need to review and revamp our Release Rules due to the changing of dates the season can start trying out and playing.
*RIAHA Board of Directors Elections
Richard turned the meeting over to Secretary Sue Lang for this year’s elections. Sue reported that there is only one nomination for President of RIAHA for the 2010//2011
Season: Richard Oliver. Sue then asked the membership three times if there were any nomination from the floor for President of RIAHA for the 2010/2011 Season. With none forth coming Sue completed one vote for Richard Oliver. Sue then explained that there were 5 open board member seats up for election this year. Four seats will be three year terms and one seat will be a two year term. The two year term will be the remainder of Barry Hopkins seat which he has resigned from. The candidate with the lowest vote total from the top five vote totals will receive the two year term. Sue read the names of the candidates: incumbents running are Austin Livesey, Ray Morgan, John Petricig and Al Williams. New candidates are Steve Boyle and Jim Maguire. Ballots were distributed and returned by all MA’s present. After the nominating committee completed the tabulations Sue read the results. Steve Boyle, Austin Livesey, Ray Morgan and Al Williams were elected to the three year terms; John Petricig was elected to the two year term. Richard thanked all who that had ran and thanked Barry for all his years of dedicated service and wished him well. We will truly miss him.
*NRI Ruling
a) Bob Larence requested the committees’ decision on NRI and the Nationals
b) Sue read the letter that was sent to NRI on the committees’ decision
c) Bob questioned if we were changing the By-laws to reflect the changes of the non-attendance ruling stated in our by-laws
d) Richard stated that on page 3 of the by-laws; “BY-LAW FIVE: POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD” number 2, that this change was possible only on a single basis.
* A motion to adjourn was made by Pawtucket and seconded by NRI. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 1, 2010
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - February 15, 2010
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
MA’s Absent: West Bay, Edgewood, Hetland
Board Members absent: Matt Hammatt, Barry Hopkins, Al Williams
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by NRI and seconded by Woonsocket. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to postpone the Treasurer’s report to April was made by Warwick and seconded by Woonsocket. The motion passed unanimously.
*Registrar - Sharon Serio
a) Sharon needs the following coaches books: Bantams, PeeWee A Gold, Squirts and all the Girls by Friday. She is leaving to go away and needs to sign off on them. The Midgets are all set.
She needs to see the birth certificates, but they are not to be included in the books, just have them available at Regionals and Nationals. Each book must contain Consent to Treat forms and Code of Conduct forms for all, including coaches, and 20 or more game sheets.
b) Sharon handed out Tier II National Brackets. RI is in 2A.
c) Sharon handed out the breakdown of players and announced that all unclaimed players have been picked up.
*Girls Hockey/Dave Sorenson
a) Dave announced that the U-19 and U-17 Yankee Conference Teams have been picked and they are all set
b) Edgewood can only put in a U-19
c) Glen announced that there are only 16 Panthers and that they would not be competitive at the next level. He would like to pull the team out. Richard stated that we have committed and that it is too late, the cost would be $1,150. This will be discussed with Richard later.
*New England Meeting – Report from Richard
a) Richard announced that Matt, Kevin, Steve, Ray, Dave and Richard attended the Coaching Meeting.
b) Dave stated that next year they plan to go back to the single tryout for the Girls Yankee Conference. This will help our allocation.
c) Jack announced that they are looking to change the Coaching Levels to 2 years – coaches will only be able to get 1 level per year.
1) Ernie announced that this will take affect in the season 2011-2012 - all coaches need to get their levels now.
d) They are looking for nominees for the award. Gerry Letourneau’s name was suggested by Kevin Sullivan. Paul Given will help in getting something together and we will get it out to Bill Corbel.
e) ADM Program
1) Vermont - all Mites are cross-ice
2) Connecticut - next year all Mites will be cross-ice
3) New Hampshire is using jamborees
4) RI
a) Mite C’s were all cross-ice this year
b) Richard would like to see all Mite C’s and B’s be all cross-ice next year
c) Richard suggested 1 jamboree a month (we can do 8 teams at one rink and 8 teams at another) and the Mite’s can play games the other weekends.
d) It was suggested that the Mite B’s play cross-ice until Christmas/beginning of January. We will discuss this in April.
e) Cross-ice is difficult for NH, RI & CT due to the proximity of Massachusetts.
5) 3 or 4 programs need to put an ADM model together and present this in April
a) CLCF – Ernie will head the committee. Newport, Warwick and NRI will work with him.
b) Matt is reviewing the whole ADM model and will be involved.
*Divisions
Midseason Bantam A’s
a) Teams are still playing.
b) Playoffs will start:
1st Round: Feb. 22 - Feb. 26
2nd Round: Feb. 27 - March 2
Championship - March 3 - March 7
c) Regionals and Sectionals are March 19 – March 21
Midseason Bantam B’s
a) Ed passed out a list of missing game sheets. He needs all the game sheets by
Feb. 20. The standings will be completed by what game sheets he has, he will not call anyone. The top 8 teams will be in the playoffs.
PeeWees and Squirts
a) The price for the Playoffs will be $390/per team for the round robins
b) Single game prices will be $195/per team per game
c) Checks are to be made out to the host organization and given to them prior to the first game unless other arrangements have been made
d) The host team will pay for the ice and referees
e) Newport made a motion that the state pay for the trophies and plaques. This was seconded by CLCF and passed unanimously.
PeeWee Gold
a) Mark is still missing game sheets – they have not affected the standings that much
b) Mark handed out the standings and schedules for the playoffs
1) If Burrillville makes it to the Semi-finals the game will be moved from Friday night to Saturday due to an important fund-raiser already scheduled.
PeeWee Silver
a) 6 teams will be in the playoffs – the format will be 1-3-5 and 2-4-6
b) The winners of the two divisions will compete in the championship game
c) Regular season games must be done by Feb. 28 - game sheets must be to Mark by this date and he will go with the standings as of the game sheets he has
PeeWee B
a) 6 teams will be in the playoffs – the format will be 1-3-5 and 2-4-6
b) The winners of the two divisions will compete in the championship game
c) Austin stated that the PeeWee B’s will be hosted by both CLCF and Edgewood. Please make the checks out to Edgewood.
d) The playoffs will start on March 14
PeeWee C
a) nothing yet
Squirt A
a) Sue will put everything on the website tonight
Squirt B Gold
a) CLCF will host the playoffs
b) 8 teams will participate – 1 & 2 will receive a bye to the semi-finals
c) The format will be 3-6-7 and 4-5-8
d) The winners of the round robin will compete in the semi-finals
Squirt B Silver
a) Burrillville will host the playoffs
b) There will be 5 teams (Jason will take out Hetland)
c) Playoffs will start around March 7th
d) Jason is helping out and Barry is answering the phones
Squirt C
a) West Bay will host the playoffs
b) 8 teams will participate – 1 & 2 will receive a bye to the semi-finals
c) The format will be 3-6-7 and 4-5-8
d) The winners of the round robin will compete in the semi-finals
e) There are no dates yet
Mite A Gold
a) The playoffs will start on March 15th
b) There will be 7 teams – 1st place will receive a bye
c) The semi-finals will be on March 27th and the Finals on March 28th
d) Each team will receive 4 coaches passes
e) There will be a charge at the door – MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS
f) The price will be $495 for the round robin - $185 for the semi-finals and $185 for the finals (per team)
Mite A Silver
a) The playoffs will being on March 14th
b) The semi-finals will be on March 28th and the Finals on March 30th
c) There will be a charge at the door – MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS
d) The price will be the same as the Mite A Gold
Mite B
a) The playoffs will start on March 25th
b) There will be 9 teams - 1st place will receive a bye
c) The semi-finals will be on April 1st and the Finals on April 2nd
d) There will be a charge at the door – MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS
e) The price will be the same as the Mite A Gold
Mite C
a) The playoffs will begin on March 8th
b) The semi-finals and finals will be held March 16th, March 18th and March 20th
b) There will be 18 teams – broken up into 4 divisions (North, South, East and West)
c) There was discussion on scoring, referees and championship
d) Mark questioned calling the winner “Champion”
e) Kevin Sullivan questioned the coaches reaction to keeping score for these games – Ray needs to make sure this is posted
f) They will play to a win – there will be no ties
g) The price will be $325 for the round robin, $100 for the quarter-finals, $100 for the semi-finals and $100 for the championship
h) There will be a mandatory Coaches Meeting on March 2nd at Smithfield - times are as follows
1) Mite C - 6:30 pm
2) Mite B - 7:00 pm
3) Mite A - 7:30 pm
Richard stated that we need to relook at the Parity Schedule and shorten it up so the teams can start state league play earlier next year
*Referees - Bob Maguire and Roger Bissonnette
a) Posting on U-Tube
1) If there is a problem with a referee they have no problem with someone putting it on disk and sending it to them (Roger encouraged putting it on disk)
b) The referees do have a problem with posting this on U-Tube. This is not advantageous to anyone.
c) Bob stated that if there is a problem to call or e-mail him.
d) Richard stated that we have no control over this, but we will discourage it.
e) Bob announced that all state league playoff and regional schedules are to go to Roger Bissonnette and Bob Maguire. Do not send these schedules to anyone else!!
f) Bob stated that the referees are having a serious problem with coaches snapping on the bench
1) The referees are enforcing the rules and the coaches need to understand that the referees are just doing their jobs according to USA Hockey
g) The referees are also having a problem with parents in the stands and after the games
1) Coaches need to address the parents about proper behavior
h) If there are any problems please get in touch with Bob immediately and he will get back to you with an answer
i) Roger stated that coaches need to stay out of the referees locker rooms - wait until they come out to speak with them
j) Roger only has the PeeWee Gold State Playoff schedule as of now - all coordinators need to get their schedules to him and Bob as soon as possible
1) If an organization has issues with a specific referee let them know (especially if the referee lives in the area of the organization and is a coach/referee in a league)
*Boys Tier 1
a) Tryouts are in place
b) Coaching applications will be taken
c) The Saints now have 5 directors – we will add four temporary directors
1) Warwick, SRI, Woonsocket and CLCF
2) This will be formally voted on in April
*AA Boys Proposal
a) Ernie handed out the proposal for the AA League
b) Edgewood was not in attendance to let us know if they will participate
c) We need to do get the AA League up and going quickly - we will be competing with the EHF tryouts for their AA Teams
d) Richard announced that if we have 3 teams, they will be playing each other
e) Bob Larence stated that if there are 2 teams we need to bring in outside teams and limit the game to 15
f) Richard announced that the tryouts should be divided into North and South for Mite Majors to Bantam Majors
North South
Burrillville CLCF
Providence Newport
NRI West Bay
Pawtucket Warwick
Woonsocket SRI
(Edgewood still in question)
g) For the first year our main objective will be to keep the players who did not make the AAA team to remain in RI and play on the AA teams
h) Sunday afternoons will be a moratorium for all leagues in the state
i) One administrator will run both the North and the South teams
j) Mark stated that we need to get this almost “Perfect” before we go
k) Every Member Association needs to post the AA Team formation offering and information on their own web-site
l) Kevin stated that we cannot finalize the Massachusett and Connecticut teams in the league – Richard and Jack will try to finalize this by the end of the week
m) Jack feels quite confident that we can final a place to play and teams to play
n) Kevin stated that we should try to reduce the amount of travel
o) Jack stated that the people he and Richard are speaking to are PeeWee Major and down
p) Connecticut is looking to put teams together to participate in AA
q) Try-outs will be separate:
1) AAA Tryouts will be March 30 – April 8
2) AA Tryouts not set
3) CLCF announced they have ice availability until the middle of April
r) A motion was made by CLCF to form two AA Teams (North and South). This was seconded by Warwick and passed unanimously.
s) A motion was made by Providence to adopt the whole proposal. This was seconded by Woonsocket and passed unanimously.
t) Kevin stated we need to get a meeting together as soon as possible.
u) Jack will come up with a general Boys AA web-site for each league.
* Girls Tier 1 Policy/Document/Proposal
a) This was based on the Boy’s Tier 1 Document
b) The major differences are:
1) age classification
2) there will be 1 major team in each division
c) A motion was made to accept this proposal by Providence and seconded by Newport
d) Discussion:
1) Dave Sorenson stated that there are Tier 1 Representative already in place
2) Digit asked,”What the goals and objectives are?” - “How does this help keep girls in RI?” and “What is the difference between what is being proposed now and what was happening 3 months ago?”
3) Richard stated that the objectives are to grow the game of hockey and retain the girls in RI.
4) Mark stated that this proposal is similar to the boys and gives the MA’s oversight to the girls Tier 1 Program
5) Digit questioned the number of Board Members who would be involved in the Tier 1 Program – do we need a lot of representation?
6) Digit stated that there is a problem with the 14 year old girls due to high school hockey
7) Richard stated that we do split seasons for the 14’s and 16’s
8) Bob Larence stated that we could do Major (14) and Minor (13)
9) Digit stated that we need to get tryoust going shortly to keep the players in RI – the Polar Bears and the Spit Fires are holding tryouts in March
10) Digit stated that the biggest issue is the 14’s and feels that we will be able to resolve this
11) Digit will survey the 10’s and 12’s to see if there are enough girls for a viable program and will come back to us with an answer
12) Digit stated that there is a problem trying to get coaches
a) it is difficult to get non-parents to commit
b) it is difficult to push the idea of women coaching girls and hard to find women to coach - most parents who coach are men
13) Bob Larence stated that the biggest problem is losing the girls to Massachusetts
14) Mark questioned if this passes can we do this
a) Other organizations can apply to become Tier 1
b) Mark also questioned the problem of the lateness in starting – we need to start now
c) Mark stated that there is an existing Tier 1 Program in place – and he could not understand why we would change them since they already have started
d) Mark stated that we need to adhere to the proposal
15) Bob stated that we are working to put a framework together so we are all on the same page - we are offering this program to our best players
16) Digit stated that she has a problem with the number of board members
17) Beth stated that the membership of the present Tier 1 program is concerned about a change in the program
18) We can now push the Massachusetts rule of Tier 1 since we now have a Tier 2 program
19) Mark questioned the Non-Profit status of the Tier 1 program
20) Digit stated that if the are the Tier 1 Representative they will become Non-profit
21) A vote was taken and unanimously passed on the motion of the proposal.
22) Digit will put a proposal together and a special meeting will be held to vote on this.
23) Digit stated the Express tryouts would be at the end of March
* A motion to adjourn was made by NRI and seconded by Warwick. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
January 16, 2010
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - December 21, 2009
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:06 PM.
MA’s Absent: Hetland
Board Members absent: Barry Hopkins, Jason Hopkins, John Petricig, Dave Sorenson
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by Burrillville and seconded by NRI. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by NRI and seconded by CLCF. The motion passed unanimously.
*Bob Maquire - Referees
a) Having problems with the parents in the stands, the 0 Tolerance Rule is being enforced. Bob suggested that the coaches have a meeting with their parents. A warning will be giving to the coach first, after establishing which team the parent belongs to. If the parent is asked to leave the rink, the clock will not start until the parent leaves.
b) The single game fee was questioned. Richard stated that if there are back to back games and two different sets of referees are sent they do not receive single game fees. Bob stated that the referees should be told to call him if there is a question.
c) The referees are having a problem with score keepers filling out game sheets incorrectly. He suggested that a dummy game sheet should be available to the score keepers so they will know how to fill these out.
d) Richard stated that tournament games are treated as regular games. If an incident occurs, this needs to be reported to the division coordinator, and what team the player is on.
e) When calling for womens/girls referees, please let the assignor know the oldest age of the girls playing so the appropriate officials can be assigned.
f) There was a question on a whistle when a goalie losses a glove. There is no ruling for this, only an automatic whistle for the loss of a helmet.
*Registrar - Sharon Serio
a) Sharon handed out the member count and registration summary. She reported that our overall numbers are down. If anyone wants a copy of all coaches levels and expiration dates please e-mail her.
b) Sharon reported that many of the young players do not go online and register. This needs to be done in order for the number to count.
c) As of tonight we have 659 unclaimed players.
d) A discussion was held concerning the retention issue with our players and getting more players involved. Suggestions to help this out were:
1. Contacting the Vocational Schools in regards to doing a video.
2. Again contacting the Providence Jr. Bruins. The Boston Bruins contribute to Massachusetts hockey, but the Jr. Bruins do not contribute to RI hockey.
3. Contacting the Director of the Public Access Stations.
4. Directing funds into this project so we can start and retain more players. This is the year to market hockey, with many different hockey events taking place in 2010.
5. A committee was assigned to put a marketing program together:
Kevin Sullivan, Glen Haskins, Paul Given, Richard Oliver and Bob Bray
6. Jack felt that the Bantam loss was due to the fact that we do not have a full year Bantam Minor league. He felt that we could retain these players if we went to a full year Bantam Minor league and a split season Bantam Major league.
*Girls Hockey/Richard Oliver
a) We have had a problem reaching Dave Sorenson – if there are any questions regarding girls hockey please contact Richard Oliver.
b) The women’s Tier 1 program is not working at all. Richard wants to put a girls committee together to come up with some new ideas.
c) Richard wants to get all the Womens/Girls hockey programs together before the January meeting to discuss girls hockey and a decision will be made at the January meeting regarding Tier 1. Glen will send out an e-mail for a date to meet.
*Coaches
a) There will be a Level 2 clinic held this Saturday.
b) The Level 3 clinic will be rescheduled to January at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. If a coach registered on line with USA Hockey to attend this clinic his certification will be covered until this date.
c) There is a Coaches Directors Meeting at the New England Winter Meeting, January 29 & 30. It is mandatory that each state’s Coaching Director be present.
*Special Needs Hockey
a) There are 17 skaters in this program right now.
b) A motion was made to contribute $2,000.00 to the Special Needs Hockey program to help cover their ice costs. Edgewood made a motion to donate $2,000.00 to Special Needs Hockey and was seconded by Warwick. The motion unanimously passed. The check is to be sent to “Blackstone Valley Sport”.
*Divisions
a) All division information is available on the riaha.com website
b) There will be a 6 team format at the PeeWee and Squirt Regionals.
*Mite Division
a) The Warwick Mite A’s are moving down
b) Woonsocket Red is moving to the A’s
c) Ernie will get back to Ray regarding CLCF
b) There was a decision to go with 3 Divisions for the Mite A’s and B’s:
1) Top 8 teams to will be in the Mite A Gold
2) The next 8 teams will be in the Mite Silver
3) The next 9 will be in the Mite B’s
c) You will need to get to Ray 10 blocks of ice per association
d) The Mites regular season will end the 1st week in March.
*Yankee Conference
a) Tryouts for the 12, 13 and14 year old players will be held shortly. If anyone has a 4 hour block of ice during the week please call Sue.
*New Business
a) Brown University is sponsoring a “Concussion Awareness” program - this would be good for all coaches to see
b) Ernie announced that the CLCF bubble is down and they may need some help with ice.
c) Ray also announced that if the bubble is still down for the Kennedy tournament that they will need ice for 30 games
d) Dave Lussier commended all who were involved in the running of the Mite C Jamboree at Warwick during the Thanksgiving weekend – it was fantastic
e) Richard suggested distributing $1,500.00 back to each league. Each league can decide how this money is to be spent.
1) The question was raised on using this money to purchase bumpers. Woonsocket questioned this due to the fact that many rinks have a problem with storage.
2) A motion was made by Pawtucket and seconded by SRI to distribute $1,500.00 back to each league to use at their own discretion. The motion unanimously passed.
f) One-goal equipment is available from USA Hockey for approximately $70. Please check the USA Hockey web-site for more information.
g) ADM – One Goal – Concussion Awareness Posters are in the back – Please make sure to take one.
*New England Meeting
a) They are looking for a new Managing Director.
b) If anyone is interested in becoming a director or managing director please contact Richard.
*Old Business
a) Richard still has goalie equipment that has not been picked up at his office. One set of 20” goalie pads has been purchased for each league.
Tier 1 Policy and Proposal
a) Warwick - this was discussed at their Board Meeting. They want the RI Saints to become part of RI Hockey. 1 team per age group and only RI players on the team. If a player tries out for the team and is cut he must go back to the league he originally came from. They had a question regarding the tryouts: on whether they should send players or would it be an open tryout. They felt there was a definite need for a higher level team.
If was stated that as of now Squirts and Mites who play for the Saints still play for their town league and that it is open to RI and bordering town players.
b) Pawtucket - agreed with Warwick
c) CLCF - no discussion yet. Ernie is concerned about the Tier 1 as being “good for the state” or “good for the best players.
d) Burrillville - no discussion yet
e) SRI - feels that a Tier 1 team is needed - he needs to go back to the SRI Board for a resolution. Suggested possibly a Saints representative could speak to his board.
f) All agreed that a representative from the Tier 1 teams would sit on the RI Board and be reportable to us.
g) There is a need to establish governing rules for these teams (Richard will put this together)
h) Richard stated that if a league wants a Tier 1 program there would be only 1 team at each level and that all other players will return to the league they were in.
i) Mark stated that there is a loop-hole in our RI By-laws which allows a player to “sit out1 year from a league and then to go any league he wants to”. He suggested that this rule be changed to state that the player must return to their original league when they return to RIAHA play. We should change this now so there are not questions.
j) The girls Tier 1 program will be a separate issue.
k) If anyone has any questions regarding the Tier 1 program and proposal, please call or e-mail Richard.
l) Pawtucket recommended that we vote only on the main principles and need a committee set up to “fine tune” the rest.
m) A motion was made by Pawtucket to have a final vote on this at the January meeting and seconded by Woonsocket. The motion passed unanimously.
* A motion to adjourn was made by Burrillville and seconded by Newport. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
December 14, 2009
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - November 16, 2009
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
MA’s All Present
Board Members absent: Sharon Serio, John Petricig
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by NRI and seconded by Warwick. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by NRI and seconded by Pawtucket. The motion passed unanimously.
*Presentation by Kevin Erlenbach - USA Hockey
Kevin made a presentation regarding “Acquiring and Retaining Youth Hockey Players”. There has only been a little growth in recent years and this is mostly women and adult hockey players. 14 and under players are leaving as fast as they are coming in. 8 and under players coming in are 22.1% less than ten years ago.
Why are we losing players? A survey was conducted with the following results:
1) Cost 2) Commitment 3) Not a lot of fun
Kevin and USA Hockey want to be a liaison to help local programs grow and maintain their number of players. Please see usahockey.com/programservices for ideas or contact Kevin himself. Marketing, art work and other tools are available to teams.
Hockey Weekend Across America will be held on January 29 – 31, 2010.
Kevin Sullivan asked about contacting the Providence Jr. Bruins concerning helping out RI youth hockey. Kevin will look into this when he returns to Colorado.
*Referees - Peter Terreiri
a) Jack Coffey stated that the Midget 3 man system worked well
b) There will be a RI Referee Meeting on Thursday/ contact Peter if there are any questions
c) Richard questioned the “single game fee” - (using 2 different sets of referees for back to back games due to the age of the players - referees wanted single game fee) Our rules state that if there are back to back games, there is no single game fee - Peter will look into this
*Registrar - Sharon Serio
a) Sharon was attending a funeral and was not present – she sent a report of USA Hockey counts for RI - 5,760 (with coaches), 864 unclaimed
*Girls Hockey/Dave Sorenson
a) Dave needs ice for the Yankee Conference tryouts - please contact him if you have ice available - A suggestion was made to schedule the older Yankee Conference Girls Tryout Ice on the weekend
b) The girls schedule is out – please contact him with any questions. The home and away ice is not balanced to ice time. The teams will play each other 3 times. The games played in BayState between the teams will also count.
c) U-16 and U-19 Roster Releases are still being questioned
d) The Tier 1 program is going well. The teams are competitive and the skill clinics are great.
e) We need to start discussing in January and make a decision in March on the future of the Tier 1 program.
*Coaches - Kevin Sullivan
Steve Boyle is now the ACE Coordinator and Matt Hammett the Coaching Director
CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH!!
a) A Level 1 clinic was held on November 15, 2009 - 85 coaches attended and it went very well. There is no future Level 1 clinic.
b) Dave recommended that Roger Grillo do the Level 2 and Level 3 Clinics to be held on December 19 and December 20. Kevin will speak to Bill Corbel about this.
*Parity Rounds
a) Richard felt that the parity rounds were successful, but with some problems
b) We need to relook at the teams traveling to Regionals and Sectionals - the teams in the Silver divisions need a sectional to travel to – not take all the teams from the Gold
c) Pawtucket questioned the use of the parity rounds if leagues/teams could choose where they would play
*RI State Midget Teams
a) Both the Major and the Minor teams made it to the Semi-finals
*Midgets (A & B)
a) The Midget Season is finished
b) Midget A – CLCF will represent RI at the Tier 2 Nationals
c) Woonsocket, Providence and SRI have true Midget Minor Teams – they will play for the representation at the Midget Minor Nationals
*Bantam A’s
a) Edgewood and SRI are playing in the finals tonight
*Bantam B’s
a) Final – Woonsocket 3 - Newport 1
*Mid-season Bantams
a) Please let Richard know how many teams you will have and send him the ice. They will start as soon as possible.
*PeeWee A’s & B’s
There was a discussion of the PeeWee A’s and B’s
1) Kevin suggested just PeeWee A and PeeWee B – no gold or silver
2) Ernie suggested just having A and B for the regular season and split at the end for the playoffs
3) Mark’s concern was someone getting hurt
The final results for the PeeWee division:
a) Newport and Burrillville moved to the “A – Gold”
1) These teams need to contact the Gold and schedule games and contact the Silver to cancel.
b) NRI, SRI and Woonsocket moved to “A – Silver”
1) These teams need to cancel their B games and contact the Silver to schedule games
c) In the PeeWee A Division – the gold teams will play each other twice and the silver teams will play each other 3 times
d) PeeWee A – Gold must be finished by February 16, 2010
*PeeWee C’s
a) All set
*Squirt A’s & B’s
a) Schedules are out and teams are all set
b) Sue and Jason announced that all teams will remain where they are
*Mite C’s
a) A Mite C Jamboree will be held in Warwick on Thanksgiving weekend - there are 16 teams signed up – please let John Rinn know if you are attending
b) Richard handed out the Cross Ice System for the Mite C’s - Ray suggested if you are not sure how to run this you can go to Warwick Thanksgiving weekend and see how the cross ice system runs
c) Richard requested the leagues to let him know about cross ice game numbers and number of C teams
1) if a league has 2 teams they will travel together
d) Richard has 2 set of goalie equipment (22” and 24”) for each league
e) There was a question concerning bumpers for the Mite C’s
1) Cranston’s bumpers were burned in the fire
2) PC uses fire hoses
3) There is a problem with storing the bumpers at rinks
4) There was a question concerning buying the bumpers in bulk – but the storage problem still exists
f) A suggestion was made to host a Jamboree instead of playoffs for the Mite C’s
*Yankee Conference
a) Tryouts for the 15, 16 and 17 year old players were held and Sue thanked all those who helped out.
b) Sue also requested that if any league has ice at the end of January or early February to host the 12, 13 and 14 year old tryouts to please contact her.
*Leagues offering to host playoffs
Girls - Warwick
Squirt A - Newport
PeeWee A - Edgewood
*New Business
a) WestBay is trying to generate 5000 lbs. of food for the Food Bank
1) SRI made a motion that $500 be donated to WestBay to purchase food - seconded by Pawtucket - the motion unanimously passed
b) Special Needs Hockey
1) Jerry LeTourneau runs the Special Needs Hockey in Pawtucket. The program is not in it’s 3rd season. He has built special chairs himself to help these skaters.
2) Ken Nadeau, also helps out quite a bit with many more volunteers - there is 1 volunteer per skater!!
3) Ken and Jerry would like to get the word out concerning this program – many people do not know it exists - Please spread the word
4) The Special Needs Hockey is held in Pawtucket (Lynch Arena) on Saturday mornings at 10:00. The fee is $165 for the season
* A motion to adjourn was made by Pawtucket and seconded by NRI. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
November 14, 2009
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - October 19, 2009
Vice President, Mark Glaude, called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
MA’s Absent: Hetland, Panthers, SWS
Board Members absent: Richard Oliver, Ed Dunphy, Matt Hammatt
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by CLCF and seconded by Warwick. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by CLCF and seconded by NRI. The motion passed unanimously.
*Referees – Bob Maguire
a) Bob announced penalties have gotten out of control, leagues need to look at this - Jack stated that Midgets have become much better - John Rinn suggested we get all game sheets (state, tournament and exhibition) to keep track of the penalties
b) Penalties are like for like games
c) Mark asked about the referee’s job when there is a scuffle – by book wait until partner comes and they should break it up – Mark has had a complaint from coaches about referees not stepping in
d) The referees also complained that the parents are out of
e) The referees are going to start enforcing the “0” Tolerance Rule – for coaches and players - Mark suggested that referees need to approach both benches before the game and let everyone know
f) Paul raised a question concerning referees doing a game with children on a team - Bob with address this at his next meeting – they should not be doing games with their children participating with any questions.
g) Bob stated that the League Associations need to know if a coach is having a problem - the referees need to let the leagues know
h) Bob again offered the referee association to go out and meet with the coaches
i) There is a referee meeting next Monday night - anything you have a question about please call his cell and let him know - not his home
j) Bob stated that he will address the point of linesmen calling penalties - they cannot put there are up for a penalty – they need to wait for a stoppage of play and see the referee
*Registrar - Sharon Serio
a) Sharon asked if all leagues have registered everyone (including learn to skate)
b) We are under 6000 as of right now – last year we were over
c) Register everyone – even if they don’t have to pay (6 and under)
d) Rosters are coming in smoothly – Sharon is just waiting for a
*Girls Hockey/Dave Sorenson
a) Dave needs U-12 ice from a couple of leagues.
b) Releases are being discussed
*ADM
a) Mark has the ADM Model Package - feel free to take
b) All registrars received these packages in the mail
*Midgets (A & B)
a) Midget A - in 75 games played there were 21 game misconducts (1 player had 2)
b) Midget B - in 55 games played there were 4 game misconducts
c) The Midget A & B will end on October 31, 2009
d) Jack reviewed the playoff strategy and he needs to know if any team is going to decline the Nationals (in New York or Pennsylvania)
e) Jack inquired about teams being true Midget Minor teams – he will get in touch with the associations to figure out the Minor situation - only true Midget Minor teams can attend the Midget Minor Nationals
*Bantam A’s
a) Hetland has dropped to Bantam B
b) John handed out standings, and the playoff format
*Bantam B’s
a) Standings are on the website
b) The playoff format was handed out
*PeeWee A’s
a) missing game sheets – Mark sent an e-mail out to the coaches
b) Mark feels the parity round games are going well
c) Some of the strong PeeWee B teams may belong in the A’s
d) There was a discussion about the Silver division not being able to advance from the playoffs - we need to look at this for next year – We will stay with the 4 teams advancing from the Gold division this year
e) Many leagues are concerned about the Gold and Silver divisions – Mark stated that we need to try this for this year and relook at it for next year
f) The decision of where a team is placed after the parity round will be made by the director – leagues and coaches can request where they would like to be placed
g) Leagues need to send in their ice now – state league games will begin around November 15, 2009 and end the second week in February - Playoffs will begin after February vacation
h) John suggested that we need to be very specific about the leagues and what is going on
*PeeWee B’s
a) Austin raised the possibility of moving teams to the A division and C division after the parity round - he will get in touch with the coaches
*Squirt A’s
a) Parity round is going well - good input from the coaches
*Squirt B’s
a) Parity round is going well - good input from the coaches
b) Jason will not stop any teams from going to the A’s
*Squirt C’s
a) Please contact each other with the corrections and games that need to be scheduled
*Mite A’s
a) Schedules are out – please check schedule games that need to be scheduled
b) Please send all changes to
*Mite B’s
a) Schedules are out – Ray made changes
b) After the Parity round there will be discussion if a split (Gold / Silver) is necessary for the regular season
*Mite C’s
a) Not started yet – Mark took a pole of the leagues for Mite C teams
b) Please send in ice for “C‘s” - the format will be written out and sent to the presidents
*Yankee Conference
a) Applications are on the internet
b) The tryouts will be held at Portsmouth Abbey on November 9, 11 and 12
*New Business
a) New England Meeting
1) Squirt Regionals in New England will remain
2) Larry Reid stepped down as Managing Director
3) Walter O’Brian will remain as the Girls’ Director
b) Saints and State League
1) Warwick stated that they are having a problem with the Saints and State League – the Saints play at the lower level in the Massachusetts League as the RI representative - Warwick asked which league needs to come first
2) The questioned was raised about a player sitting out a year by playing on the Saints and going to a new league the next year
3) Mark will talk to Richard about this
c) Warwick’s Mite C Jamboree
1) Ray handed out information for Warwick’s Mite C Jamboree
2) This was e-mailed to all leagues - if a league has 2 teams they can send both – first come/first serve until 14 teams have signed up - you need to respond by November 7th
* A motion to adjourn was made by Pawtucket and seconded by Providence. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
October 12, 2009
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - September 21, 2009
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
MA’s Absent: Providence, Woonsocket
Board Members absent: John Petricig
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by CLCF and seconded by Woonsocket. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by CLCF and seconded by Newport. The motion passed unanimously.
*Referees – Bob Maguire
a) The invitation is still open for Bob or a member of his staff to attend a coaches meeting of any organization to explain the rule changes (if any more rule change books are needed Sharon will call and order more)
b) Coaches need to remind players that colored mouth pieces must be worn and 3 straps and earpieces are mandatory on helmets. Also, that helmets must be worn at all times when players are on the ice.
c) Bob announced that the referees would like to receive 3 checks per game – Midgets (not just the one check that was previously done). The referees will receive $37 each and the linesman will receive $26). If a state league game is played in Hetland they also have the 3 man referee system.
d) Please e-mail Bob Maguire (zamman0424@verizon.net) with any questions.
*Presentation by Turfer Athletics
a) Drew, Michael and Gary attended the meeting with new announcements from Turfer and to answer any questions
b) They would like to provide Stanley Cup type trophies for each division
c) Turfer wants to help generate money back to the organizations - each organization will have their own website within Turfer so everyone will be able to order what they want and the merchandise will be sent directly to them – pricing will be discussed – each organization will be able to decide what they would like to have available on the website
d) Gary suggested that the entire state stay with Turfer’s price for all team suits
e) They will hold an open house for sizing with all sizes available to try on
* Mini Games are being held for Mites and Squirts
a) For Mites and Squirts
b) Everything is going through Ron Digregorio
*Kevin Sullivan - IP Director
a) There will be a Level 1 Coaching Certification November 15, 2009 at PC – no on ice – this is posted on the USA website
b) All Midget Coaches must be Level 4 Certified – if a coach is a Level 3 and has not receive a waiver previously please contact Richard by Oct. 4, 2009
c) Girls/Womens U-19 and U-16 Coaches need to be Level 4 Certified
d) Level 3 recertifications can be done on-line (follow up if no stickers in 3-4 weeks)
*Registrar - Sharon Serio
a) Sharon will contact the appropriate registrars in regards to the 5 players who are not US citizens – they will need to get the appropriate paper work
b) Insurance books – the registrar of each league will need to download these and give a copy to each coach – Sharon will contact the registrars
c) When an injury is reported (must report all injuries on forms) – a copy needs to be sent to Ray Morgan, Richard Oliver and Sharon Serio
d) Remember that each league needs to do their own back round check for all new coaches and board members – this needs to go to the Attorney General’s office (can be mailed) and there is no fee
*Girls Hockey/Dave Sorenson
a) Dave reviewed the girls state league teams in the state. The U-12’s are the only divsion that he will be scheduling, the rest of the divisions will schedule their own games.
b) Each league needs to get back to Dave on the number of games they want to play
c) The Panthers can use extra players - if anyone has extra players please get in contact with Dave
*Bantams
a) A & B are all set – there will be no C’s
b) Bantam B – NRI, Pawtucket and Woonsocket need to schedule their own games (teams do not have to play their own teams) please contact each other, don’t wait. After the games are scheduled contact the league director
c) Hetland is thinking of moving their Bantam A to Bantam B, they will be looking into this further
*PeeWees and Squirts
a) Parity round schedule are done – the directors would like input from the coaches on the games
b) The divisions may not be split evenly in half
c) There were some conflicts with the parity round schedules – please contact Jack
d) PeeWee C and Squirt C need to send in new ice – they will play 1 parity round and revisit
d) The Parity Round games will only be included in “Games played” - they will not be included in the stats for the season
*Mites
a) There will be more discussion on the parity rounds for A & B
b) The parity rounds for Mite A & B will begin right after Columbus Day and continue until December 21, 2009 – state league play will start the beginning of January
c) Please send in 8 to 9 blocks of ice for A’s and 8 to 9 blocks of ice for B’s - do not send in regular season ice
d) Mite C’s will not start until November (please send in ice – 1 block of ice for 2 games if the league is using cross ice)
e) There will be a Mite “Jamboree” in Warwick over Thanksgiving weekend
1) The state will pay for the ice
2) John will let us know about cross ice games
3) There was a question about the fee for each team - $100 suggested
*New Business
a) New England Meeting
1) RI will vote to keep Walter as the Women’s Director
2) RI will vote yes to keep the Squirt Regionals
3) Richard announced that the Winter Meeting will be held in Florida Martin Luther King weekend – if you want to attend please contact Richard – leave Friday morning and return Sunday morning
b) Ray Morgan asked each league to please check their website to see if it is current and let him know
c) PC has 8 am – 12 pm on Sunday Mornings available right now ($200/hour) - please contact Ross Brooks at PC if you can use this ice
d) Richard asked if a team is coming to the Columbus Day Tournament they need to get their application in
e) Al reminded all leagues to mail their $50.00 to him as soon as possible
* A motion to adjourn was made by Pawtucket and seconded by NRI. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
August 27, 2009
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting - August 17, 2009
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
All MA’s were present
Board Members absent: Barry Hopkins, Jason Hopkins
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by Burrillville and seconded by NRI. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented was made by Warwick and seconded by Providence. The motion passed unanimously.
*Roger Grillo, ADM Program and USA Hockey addressed the membership regarding youth hockey in the United States and the ADM program. They are concerned about the number of players and the cost to play hockey. Their goal is to develop players and retain players (less burn out). They will work with the Board of Directors, coaches and parents of interested leagues to explain the ADM program to them, work on ice and help with practice plans.
*Al Williams announced that the leagues and either mail the $50 to him or bring it to the next meeting.
*Sharon Serio handed out the Annual Guides, Insurance Packets and the Official Rule Books.
*Referees – Bob Maguire announced that at the Midget Level it would be possible to change from 1 referee and 2 linesmen to 2 referees and 1 linesman. This is only when a Midget team plays in Rhode Island. A motion was made by Warwick to put this change into effect and seconded by Pawtucket. The motion passed unanimously.
The Referee Clinic has been changed to Smithfield High on Saturday, August 29, 2009. The on ice session will be held at the Smithfield Rink. Skates and helmets are required. Registration will be held from 7:00 am – 8:15 am, the fee is $25.00. There is no preliminary registration, just show up. The session will end at approximately 3:00 pm. Information is located on the USA Hockey Referee Website.
Bob announced that beginning this year all mouthpieces must be colored. The first violation in a game by a player will result in a warning, the second violation by this player, and he/she will be accessed a misconduct penalty. Bob recommended that each referee go to the benches of each team before the game begins and give the warning, stating “this is your warning”. Once the puck drops, the use of a non-colored mouthpiece will result in a misconduct penalty.
This ruling applies to Peewees, Bantams and Midgets.
* Ernie Tommasiello has stepped down as the ACE and Coaching Coordinator. We are now looking for someone to take over this
position. Richard will send an e-mail to Ernie requesting details of this position. Kevin Sullivan will remain as the IP Director for the present. We also need someone for this position beginning next year. There are no IP dates set as of now.
* Girls Hockey/Dave Sorenson handed out a sheet of information concerning Women’s Hockey – New England Meeting, Regionals, Yankee Conference, etc. Please e-mail Dave on what teams you are having and at what age level. If you have any left over players please include this in your e-mail.
There will be a Tier 1 meeting Tuesday, August 18 for players, coaches and parents of players on the Tier 1 Girls.
* Richard announced that the next New England Meeting will be held in Exeter, NH on October 3, 2009. The subject of Squirt Regionals for 2010-2011 will be discussed. Richard asked that the presidents discuss this with their boards and let him know at the September meeting what was decided.
* Midgets will begin playing the weekend after Labor Day and finish their regular season the end of October. There will be representation from RI at the Tier II Nationals Midget Major and Minor.
* Bantams will begin the weekend after Labor Day. 8-10 blocks of ice are needed for each team, please get these in as soon as possible. The Bantams will be split into A and B. Organizations need to contact each other if they have extra players or need players.
At the National Level there are no major or minor, just Bantams.
* Bantams and Peewees – The winner of the playoffs will be going to the Tier I New Englands, the 2nd place team after the playoffs will be going to the Tier II Nationals and the 3rd and 4th place teams after the playoffs will be going to the Sectionals. Playoffs for Bantams will be discussed in September.
* PeeWees and Squirts – There was a discussion regarding the “parity round” for PeeWees and Squirts. The finals decision was made that each team will play 6 games to start September 13th and end October 31. After these games are played, teams will be placed in the appropriate category. The regular season will begin the 2nd week of November. Only the winner of the playoffs in the Gold division will be going to the regionals.
* Mites will be discussed in September. At the President’s meeting it was decided that the Mite C’s will use cross ice for this year and then this policy will be reviewed. Coaches will be on the ice, there will be goaltenders and no score will be shown.
* New Business
Pawtucket asked about the release committee decisions – Bantams and Midgets will be finished tonight. Squirts and PeeWees will be done the end of August.
RIAHA Tier 1 document was discussed and a decision for a gentlemen’s agreement by the Presidents was made that no league will apply for a Tier 1 Team this season. The Presidents will continue meeting and report to the board in December with their decision regarding Tier 1 teams. Woonsocket noted that if Tier 1 teams are formed, tryouts need to be held in the Spring. There will be future discussion on Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams, leagues need to know if they will be loosing players in the spring in order to make adjustments.
The President’s Meeting was a huge success and they will continue. There will be 1 or 2 State Board Members present at each meeting.
* A motion to adjourn was made by Pawtucket and seconded by Edgewood. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:44 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Lang
Secretary
RIAHA BOARD MEETING MINUTES
August 8, 2009
Minutes of General/Annual Meeting – July 29, 2009
President, Richard Oliver, called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM
MA's absent: Hetland, SRI and Pawtucket
Board Members absent: None
A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report as presented was made by Woonsocket and seconded by WestBay. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented was made by the Panthers and seconded by NRI.
The motion passed unanimously.
* Sharon handed out screening forms. Each league is responsible for having the forms completed by each coach and board member and filing them with the Attorney General. If a coach or board member was screened last year, they do not have to be done this year. Call Richard immediately if there is any mark on the forms when returned. If a league does not want to review them, just send everything to Richard. Sharon needs a list of all coaches who are screened by October 1, 2009. If they are not on the list she will remove them from the roster.
Sharon announced that she will be going to each team during the season to review coaches’ books. Every
book must contain insurance papers in it. Any injury, even minor, must be reported to Sharon, Ray and
Richard immediately. There will be no Birth Certificates in the books this year, but remind parents they
must have one available with them at all times.
USA Hockey cards will not be issued this year (everything is on line).
Bantam and Midget coaches must be correctly certified before their names are put on the roster. All other
coaches must be correctly certified by December 1, 2009.
* The Referee Association announced their annual seminar will be held on Saturday, August 29, 2009 at
PC from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. You must e-mail them if you are planning to attend. The cost was not definite. WestBay questioned the practice of paying referees after every game. This must be done. Each league can have their own form for the referees to sign and date verifying payment at the end of the game.
* Roger Grillo was not able to attend this meeting. He will be at the August 17th meeting.
* Dave Sorenson was introduced as the new RIAHA Girls’s Director. Dave announced that New England is working on a more uniform evaluation for Yankee Conference Evaluations. Also, that we need to focus on Tier II teams. Dave also stated that there are 400 girls 12 and under skating in RI and we need to focus on getting these girls involved in Girls Hockey. Richard suggested the state financing skills sessions for U-12 girls and under. We need to concentrate on what we have. We want to give all girls the opportunity to skate with girls. We need to get these clinics all in place before the women’s college hockey season begins.
Richard, Dave and a person from SRI will review the option of having the Girls Tier I teams as a RIAHAState Board Member Association.
As off now we are committed to Tier I and Tier II teams at each age level. Coaches need to know ice times (practice, skills and games) before they are chosen so they can make a commitment.
Girls cannot be rostered on both a girls and boys team which is nationally bound.
* The Referee Contract is still in discussion. A motion was made by Warwick and seconded by Woonsocket to accept the proposal made with the clarification of Midgets. The motion passed unanimously.
* The New England Meeting was held the end of June. Richard reported that “Hockey Weekend Across America” will be held on January 30, 2010. He will send out forms.
USA Hockey wants leagues to adopt the ADM process. On Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7:00 pm at the CLCF Building there will be a meeting headed by Ernie of all Presidents and RIAHA Board Member Mark Glaude to discuss this proposal and decide if RIAHA will follow it. They will report their decision at the August 17th meeting. It was suggested that Roger Grillo should be invited to attend this meeting. Warwick questioned the time element in getting this back to each leagues board members for discussion. Warwick suggested that Richard could send out the information to all Presidents as soon as possible so they would have time to discuss this with their own board members. Richard will do this.
There will be a 48 State Tier II National Tournament for boys. RI is in the 2A Conference and this will take place in the East Coast.
There are no Tier II New England Regionals for Midgets, Bantams and PeeWees. There will be a discussion at the August 6th meeting concerning which teams at the Bantam and Midget level will go to the Tier I New Englands and which will go to the Tier II Nationals. There will be a Tier III Sectional for Squirts and a Tier II Sectional for PeeWees and Bantams. The teams to attend will be discussed August 6th. The Midgets need to be split into Major and Minor.
All team representation for Nationals, Regionals and Sectionals will be discussed on August 6th and reported back to the board on August 17th.
* Jack Coffey will be in charge of the Parity Rounds for all Squirts and PeeWees. He will need the ice as soon as possible. They will start the 3rd week of September. The RIAHA Board of Directors will determine which level each team will be placed in. All Division Coordinators will be responsible for doing their own Division’s schedule.
Mark Glaude suggested that if a league in sponsoring two Bantam teams, they put their first team in Bantam A – their second team in Bantam B. If a league is sponsoring a third team, that league will have the choice where to place them.
Warwick stated that they would like a list from all leagues of their extra Bantam Players for a Bantam C Division. Warwick will supply all the ice.
* Tom Berard and Bob Creamer were present from Edgewood to answer all questions pertaining to Edgewood and the Capitals. They have not merged and Edgewood will continue playing in the AA League as they previously have done.
* Richard announced that if any league is owed money by a player that they need to contact Richard and Sharon right away.
Mark Glaude stated that if any league has a question concerning a release to contact him right away and he will look into it.
If a league is offering a girls team at the appropriate age level for any girl who played in the league last year on a boys team in such same league, that these girls need to abide by the release rules if they wish to leave to go to another league.
* A motion to adjourn was made by Woonsocket and seconded by Burrillville. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Lang
Secretary
