Executive Meetings
League Executive
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League Executive Meetings
Meeting Minutes October 25, 2023
Opening: The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an in-person meeting at the Peterborough Air Force Club.
Present: Sean Traviss, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman, Charlie Lauer, Bill Deveraux, John Holmes, Bill McKnight, Barry Johnson. Absent – George Van Drunen, Don Bell, Paul Rellinger.
Registrations: As of today, we have 72 players registered. There are a number of regular players who have previously indicated their intention to play again next year but haven’t yet registered.
ACTION – Sean will reach out to these players and remind them to get their registration forms submitted along with their payments.
In order to field 8 teams next year, we will need at least 96 players. To encourage further recruitment, the following was agreed to:
NEW PLAYER REFERRAL DISCOUNT – Any player who brings in a new recruit(s) will receive a 25% discount on their next year’s registration fee.
ACTION – Paul Rellinger will develop a recruitment poster that can be placed in appropriate locations (curling clubs, arenas, bowling alley, etc.) to encourage new players to sign up. As well Paul will arrange for a media interview with President Sean Traviss to promote our League and encourage new players to join.
2024 Season: The 2024 season will start on Tue May 14.
Rain out dates will once again be added on at the end of the season (No Monday rain out games).
Managers – Two Managers will be stepping down this year, Gord Thompson and Jack Watkins. Thank you to both of you for your years of service in this role.
Rab Hill and Mike English have both stepped up to take on these vacant Manager positions. Thank you to both of you for volunteering. This is what makes this League a success.
Ratings Committee – Barry Johnson, Rab Hill and Gord Thompson will be working to tweak our methodology for selecting teams in order to generate the best balance possible across all teams.
Final Games – will be played at Eat City Bowl.
Umpires – We are always looking for additional umpires. Please contact Don Bell or George Van Drunen if you are interested in becoming an umpire.
Equipment – Dave Dettman has order 2 new bats and 5 dozen balls for next season.
Opening Ceremonies – In addition to mentioning the names of those who have passed since the previous year, we will also welcome all new players to the League.
Potential Rule Changes – the following were discussed and will be included in the winter survey of players:
“All infielders must be on the infield prior to each pitch.” (not on the grass)
“No Infield shifts allowed” (no more than 2 infielders on either side of second base prior to each pitch).
Items raised at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) may also be added to the winter survey. The AGM will immediately follow this Executive Meeting.
Financial Report: Bill Deveraux indicated that as of today’s date we have $7,480.65 in the bank with just over $1,000.00 in outstanding bills to be paid.
It was agreed that a donation of $100.00 would be made to the Air Force Club as a thank you for the use of their facility.
The League has also set up an e-transfer account so that going forward players will be able to pay their registration fees by e-transfer rather than by cheque.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes prepared by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Annual General Meeting – October 25, 2023
President Sean Travis welcomed approximately 65 players to the AGM and asked everyone to raise a glass in honour of long-time player George Trotter who passed just 3 weeks after the end of the season.
Sean thanked all of our Executive members, Umpires, Managers and Sponsors for a great season. With a special thanks to those non-playing umpires and managers who still come out to volunteer.
He also thanked Peter Flemons for all he does to help the league run smoothly and raising money through the 50/50 draws.
As well Steve Black was recognized for his efforts in hosting a few Bar-B-Q’s at the field throughout the year.
A winter survey will once again be undertaken to address any questions/issues raised at the AGM.
Next year’s season will begin on Tue May 14, 2023.
We are always looking for new players and to help get our numbers up a new PLAYER REFERRAL DISCOUNT was announced as follows:
Any player who brings in a new recruit(s) will receive a 25% discount on their next year’s registration fee.
Bill Deveraux then reviewed our financial situation.
The League has a current bank balance of $7,480.65 with just over $1000.00 in outstanding bills to be paid. He also outlined some of our larger expenses during the year, e.g. field rentals - $9,600.00.
We have also set up an e-transfer account for the League so that going forward players will now be able to pay their registration fees by e-transfer rather than by cheque.
Sean then opened the floor for questions and/or items for the winter survey:
Q – Will the home plate board be staying in the same place next year?
A – Yes, to help make it safer for the pitchers.
Q – Does the City know what time we play as sometimes their staff arrive to cut the grass when we are scheduled to play.
A – Yes, city administration is aware of our scheduled game times.
Winter Survey items raised:
- Could we switch to East City Bowl for the entire season not just the finals?
- Could we lower our age restriction below 55 years to help recruit more players?
- Could we change the playoff format and put all the teams in one pool?
- Could we shorten the regular season (only play each team 4 times) and use the extra dates for playoff games?
Award Presentations – the league trophies were then handed out as follows:
- Regular Season Champs – Currie Tire
- B- Division Champs – Hobies Sports
- A -Division Champs – Lakeview Bowl
Congratulations to all the winners.
Peter then held a draw for a free registration for next year and four 50/50 draws. Thank you Peter for organizing these events.
Minutes prepared by Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – April 13, 2023
Opening: The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an in-person meeting held at the Peterborough Air Force Club.
Present: Sean Travis, Bill Devereaux, John Holmes, Barry Johnson, Bill McKnight, George Van Drunen, Don Bell, Ron Hodson, Dave Dettman, Paul Rellinger, Charlie Lauer, Tim Moody.
Registrar’s Report/Teams: A the present time we have 96 players registered for the 2023 season. Based on these numbers it was agreed that we would plan on 7 teams with 13 players per team. (total of 91).
We are planning on some further recruitment efforts (e.g. TV spot on April 19, potential Wed ball recruits, etc.) and if these efforts result in an influx of new players then we may be able to expand to 8 teams before opening day (May 9, 2023).
ACTION - Sean to advise the City that we will require 1 hour less on Tue and Thur as we only have 3 games per day instead of 4. (Note: if we increase to 8 teams we can add the hour back on.)
Team managers will be as follows:
Jack Watkins – Dave’s Towing
Barry Johnson – Hobies Sports
Gord Thomson – McMillan Sports
Bill Gordanier – Deeth and White
Bill Devereaux – Lakeview Bowl
Ron Hodson – Douglas Automotive
Garnet Wray – Kawartha Foot
Pitcher’s Safety: In an effort to address some of the safety concerns raised by some of the pitchers it was agreed that the following rule change will be implemented for the 2023 season:
“The front of the “Board” will be moved back to the point at the back of home plate and a line will be drawn across the front of home plate. Batters must stay behind this line and will be called out if they step on or beyond this line when hitting. A pitched ball must land on the “Board” to be called a strike. A pitched ball landing on home plate in front of the “Board” will be called a ball. Any batter stepping on home plate while batting will be called out.” (Amendment: The "line" will be drawn one length from the top of home plate)
ACTION – Tim will amend the League rules to reflect this change and will post this new rule on the home page of our League web site.
This rule change will also apply to Wed ball.
Opening Day: Opening day is set for Tue May 9, 2023 with game one starting at 8:15 a.m. Opening Day Ceremonies for the 2023 season will take place between games one and two (approx. 9:30 a.m.)
ACTION – Paul Rellinger to make arrangements for media and City officials to attend the opening ceremonies
ACTION – John Holmes to contact all the Wed players and advise them that their opening day is Wed May 10.
Equipment: Dave has ordered 2 new bats and all of the other bats are getting regripped. He will also be ordering new hats for each team.
ACTION – Sean will contact the City about lime for the baselines.
Financial Report: With most of the deposits made for the upcoming season we have $15,214.55 in the bank. The ball fields will cost just over $10,000.00, which leaves us with enough to pay for equipment, hats, umpire supplies, Peter, parking at the church, etc.
It was agreed that we would increase the donation to the Church for parking from $200.00 to $300.00 for the season.
Sweaters for Spares: It was agreed that Managers should keep any extra team sweaters on hand to be worn by players who are temporarily filling in during a game.
Ratings Committee: The Ratings Committee (Gord Thomson, Rab Hill and Barry Johnson) will be meeting as soon as the list of players is finalized (which will be sometime after the TV recruitment effort on April 19th). Once the ratings are finalized, Tim Moody will then utilize our computer program to generate the Teams (taking into account pitchers and umpires). The Team Managers will then be invited to a meeting to review the proposed teams and to make any adjustments in order to ensure as much balance in the League as possible. The final team lists will then be posted on League web site.
Umpires: Once the teams are finalized then the umpire’s schedule will be drawn up.
ACTION – Tim to send out an email to current umpires to confirm their willingness to continue. He will also send out a broader email to solicit new umpires.
Adjournment: the meeting was adjourned at 3:20 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes prepared by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes - September 1, 2022
1400
Present: Sean Traviss, Jim Lee, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman, Bill McKnight, Bill Devereaux, Jack Watkins, John Holmes, Barry Johnson
Regrets: Charlie Lauer
Discussion about players who came into the league this year without any rating data. Re-rated six players to better reflect their skill level.
ACTION: Tim to update the player rating list on the website (done)
Discussion that despite our rule, this year managers are going to have to be able to pick up players to fill vacancies. Decision was to allow managers to pick up a spare from the opposite division of equal or lesser rating and should attempt to field a roster of 11 players each game.
There appears to be enough interest in having a year end luncheon. It will be at noon on October 19, at the Air Force Club on King Street. Tickets will be $10/player and the league will top up the balance of the meal ($5.00). There will be a door prize for the winner’s 2023 registration fee.
Costs, primarily for field rental, continue to rise and there has been no increase in registration fees for years. It was decided that 2023 fees will be $120.00
Over the 2022 season players have provided suggestions and ideas for rule and/or procedural changes for consideration. The executive discussed each one and found that most if not all where the same items that where included in the winter survey of 21/22. The executive did not feel it was necessary to revisit those same matters in another survey.
That being said, although the previous survey indicated that a large majority of players wanted to continue to play rain-outs, this season it became obvious that playing those games on the following Monday was difficult. The executive decided that for 2023 we will continue to make up rained out games, but will do so by holding some Tuesday/Thursday dates open at the end of the season and play make up games then. Rain-outs will not be played on Mondays.
Our rules require managers to rotate the batting lineup so that all players have an opportunity to bat lead off – Rule 4(7). A few players have asked their manager if they can remain at the bottom of the lineup to limit running. The executive decided that managers will continue to rotate the lineup, but if a player asks to remain at the bottom they may do so.
Rule 4(9) will be removed. We are all in this league to play ball. If a player arrives late for their scheduled game, simply put them into the lineup at the bottom.
The executive will wait until a mid-winter meeting to determine our need to continue our requirement for full COVID vaccination.
A new safe-base is on order.
The Ontario 55+ games organization is donating quantity of new balls left over from the event this summer.
Gord Thompson has offered to chair a rating committee using a defined skills assessment to ensure players are rated appropriately. As per the current process, those ratings will be used to generate teams using an unbiased computer program. Prior to the start of the 2023 season we intend to bring the managers together and do any additional tweaking to balance the teams.
Jack Watkins is stepping down from his role as registrar. This is an essential position and must be filled, ideally before the end of the 2022 season so that registration forms can be disseminated and collected. Jack will get the 2023 registration forms to managers before year end.
ACTION: Tim to send out a mass email seeking interest in the registrar position. The registrar may be a non-playing member or even a spouse of partner who is able to perform the duties. (done)
Jim Lee is stepping down as Umpire-in-Chief, however George Van Drunen and Don Bell have already volunteered to co-lead that role.
Paul Rellinger will act as our media relations contact and will be asked if he will take on the social convener role.
Financially we are in a good spot, and the official financial report will be posted in January 2023.
It was suggested that at the opening ceremonies, rather than, or in addition to mentioning the members who have passed that we should welcome new players. This will be adopted in 2023.
Meeting concluded at 1545.
Minutes prepared by: Tim Moody
Approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – April 11, 2022
Opening: The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 12:15 p.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an in-person meeting held at the Peterborough Air Force Club.
Present: Sean Travis, Jack Watkins, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman, Jim Lee, Charlie Lauer. Absent - Bill Deveraux, John Holmes
Registrar’s Report/Teams: At the present time we have a total of 98 players signed up. This will allow us to proceed with 8 teams (minimum 12 players per team, some may have 13) for the 2022 season.
ACTION - Jack will finalize the list of players and provide it to Tim Moody.
ACTION – Tim will generate the computer-based team lists utilizing last year’s year-end player ratings as provided by the managers and then share the first draft of the team lists with the Executive for comment before the teams are finalized.
Our League Insurance has been purchased and the Kinsmen Field has been booked with the City.
ACTION – Sean will check with the City to see if Wed ball would be considered a “practice day” according to the City’s definition and therefore be available to the League at no charge.
New Helmet Rule: Helmets will once again be mandatory for batters and base runners. Each player must provide their own helmet as the League will no longer supply shared helmets. The Leagues (limited) supply of used helmets will be available for sale on a first come first serve basis for $10.00 each. If you are interested please contact Dave Dettman.
ACTION - Tim Moody to send out an email to all players reminding them of the requirement to provide their own helmet this year.
COVID/Vaccination Policy – Based on the demographics of our players, the league will require that all players and non-playing managers and umpires be vaccinated (minimum 2 doses).
ACTION – the registrar will contact the few players that he knows are not currently vaccinated and make them aware of this requirement.
Opening Day Plans: After a couple of years of no opening day ceremonies due to COVID, we will once again proceed as follows:
Date – Tuesday May 10, 2022
Time – 9:30 a.m. (between games 1 and 2)
Tentative agenda – President’s welcome, Moment of Silence for those players we have lost, First Pitch.
ACTION – Bill McKnight to contact appropriate reps from the Media, City Council, Rec Dept, Past Executive, etc. to invite them to participate in the Opening Ceremony.
Wednesday Ball: John Holmes will once again run Wed ball but would like some assistance.
ACTION – John Holmes to contact Bob Cooling about once again helping out with Wed ball. (Charlie will send a reminder to John).
Umpires: The League is always in need of more umpires and this League only works if players step up and volunteer to help. If anyone is interested in umpiring, please let Jim Lee know.
ACTION – Jim Lee will contact a list of players and non-players who have had umpiring experience in the past or have expressed an interest in becoming umpires.
ACTION - Jim Lee will prepare an “appeal” for umpires and share it with Tim Moody who will then share it with all players.
Managers: At this point only one manager has indicated that they will not be returning to manage for the 2022 season. Thank you to those 7 returning managers.
ACTION – Bill McKnight to approach a previous manager about once again taking on the role.
Sponsors: During the 2 year down turn of COVID our sponsors were not asked to make their usual financial contribution. With a return to the “new normal”, our 8 returning sponsors will once again be asked to help support our League.
ACTION – Bill Devereaux to send $150.00 invoices to each of our 8 sponsors.
Equipment: Dave Dettman indicated that he has already picked up the supply of new balls from Hobies Sports and that the new ball hats have been ordered from McMillan Sports. There will be a supply COVID cleaning/sanitizing items available on Peter’s table for use by players during the games.
Social activities: With the COVID “new normal” we are now living with, it is time once again to explore opportunities for League social activities such as:
Card Night (euchre or poker)
Golf Tournament
Horse Racing/Dinner
Year-end Banquet/Luncheon
ACTION – Bill Deveraux to explore these opportunities with individuals who have previously helped to organize these various events.
Annual General Meeting (AGM): Prior to COVID the AGM was usually held before the ball season in conjunction with the Team Draft Day. Now that the Teams are generated by computer draw it has been recommended that the AGM be held at the end of the ball season in conjunction with the year end banquet/luncheon. This will provide the players with an opportunity to express any concerns about the previous year’s season and give the Executive time to implement changes for the next year.
Winter Survey Results: The results of last year’s survey were shared with all players earlier in the year. Thanks to Tim Moody who did a great job pulling this survey together and presenting the results in a clear and concise manner.
ACTION - Tim Moody to make the change to our League Rules such that a batter who is taking a “runner” and draws a walk, does not have to go to first base. The” runner” will be the one who proceeds to first base.
Adjournment: A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Jim Lee. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes prepared by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – October 18, 2021
Opening: The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an in-person meeting and held at the Peterborough Air Force Club. A special thank you to Bill Deveraux and the Air Force Club for making this facility available to the League.
Present: Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman, Jim Lee, Charlie Lauer. Absent – Bill McKnight, John Holmes.
Wednesday Ball: We discussed the need to improve the way the 2 leagues (Wed and Tue/Thur) function together. It is important that the Wed registrations and money get to the Registrar and Treasurer in a timely manner.
ACTION - Sean to canvas a couple of individuals to see if they would be interested in assisting John Holmes with the Wed league.
Rule Changes: A couple of potential rule changes have been suggested to the executive as follows:
1. Pitching Screen – due to safety concerns expressed by some of the pitchers it has been suggested that a pitcher’s screen could be used. Such an addition would also require a number of other rule changes, i.e. what happens when a batted ball hits the screen, what happens when a fielder throws a ball that hits the screen, can the pitcher field a batted ball, do all the pitchers have to use the screen, etc., etc. After a lengthy discussion it was agreed that a questionnaire would be sent to all designated pitchers in the League to seek their views on the merits of pitchers having the option to utilize a screen.
ACTION – Tim to send out the questionnaire to all designated pitchers with a two-week turnaround for comments. Tim will then share the results with the Executive.
2. First Base – While we currently utilize a two-bag system at first base (white for the fielder, orange for the base runner) there have been some suggestions that the two bags need to be further separated much like the system used at home plate. After discussing this item, it was agreed that our current system is satisfactory from a safety stand point.
ACTION – Tim will send out a survey to all league players asking if there are any other ideas/suggestions for future rule changes that they would like the Executive to consider, e.g. should all players be required to supply their own helmet.
Player Ratings: Thank you to all the Managers who submitted their player ratings at the end of the season. Based on those ratings, Tim will utilize the computer program to randomly assign players to the teams for 2022 season. Prior to the AGM in the spring the managers will be invited to a meeting with the Executive to review the new teams and make any suggestions for changes to ensure a balanced League. Once any changes have been made, then managers will be randomly assigned to their team for the 2022 season.
Registrations: We currently have 100 players signed up for next season and a few other potential players pending recovery from injury, returning from LOA, etc. As such it appears we are in good shape to field a League of 8 teams in 2022.
Starting Date for 2022: Our plan for the 2022 season is to start on Tuesday May 10, 2022.
Financial: We are in good shape financially with a current balance of approximately $7,900.00 in the bank.
ACTION – Bill will provide Tim with a financial statement at year end (Dec 31st) for posting on the League web site.
Equipment: Dave will be ordering 5 dozen balls ($500.00) and team hats ($1,200.00) for next year. As well he will be getting the trophies engraved and replacing the ice packs.
With respect to bats, all players must use League bats only – no personal bats.
ACTION – Dave and Peter will sort through our existing supply of bats to eliminate the older bats that are seldom used by anyone.
Executive Positions: As Bill is currently doing both the Treasurer’s job and the Social Convener’s job, it would help if we could find someone to take on the role of the League Social Convener.
ACTION – Sean will reach out to a couple of players who have previously expressed an interest in helping out with the Executive.
COVID 19: For the 2022 season all players will be required to provide proof of vaccination before they will be allowed to play.
ACTION: Tim will post this requirement on the home page of the League web site.
League History: Wally Bevis has provided the Executive with a large collection of photos and scrap books dating back to the beginning of the League. A MOTION to donate this material to the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame was made by Tim Moody and seconded by Bill Deveraux. Carried.
Adjournment: A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Jack Watkins. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes prepared by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes - September 2, 2021
The in-person meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Present:
Tim Moody, Sean Traviss, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman, Bill Devereaux, Bill McKnight, Jim Lee, John Holmes, Jack Watkins
Discussion about substitutes for the 2021 playoffs:
Since almost every team is short this year, managers will pick up a sub of equal or lower rating to be able to field an 11 man roster. Subs must come from a team in the other playoff division, and be approved by Sean in advance.
Discussion about the Wednesday league:
It was unanimous that we need to maintain the Wednesday league as a feeder source for Tuesday/Thursday.
John submitted the remaining Wednesday player fees. In the future, Wednesday players need to register with and pay fees directly to the Registrar to ensure timely and accurate book keeping.
Player Ratings:
Managers will submit post-2021 player assessment sheets that will inform the ratings for 2022.
Post COVID we will form a ratings committee to discuss and verify player ratings. The committee may be composed of managers or a separate group (TBD).
A computer application will continue to be used to create teams, however we may have the ratings group meet after the initial creation to further adjust teams if necessary.
Finances:
We have over $8000 in the bank with some expenses yet to be paid out. A full financial statement will be posted on the website after the season is over. ACTION: Bill D
To assist the treasurer and registrar, there will be no refund or hold-over of 2021 fees for those that played all season.
The executive agreed that we will keep the fee for 2022 at the current $100.
2021 Playoff Prizes:
Rather than t-shirts or bags, we will give Canadian Tire gift cards to the season champs, and the winners of the A and B Championship games. ACTION: Dave D
All teams will play on the final playoff date, however only the A Division Final will be 9 innings.
Player Contact Clean-up:
During the off season all players who requested a COVID related leave of absence will be contacted to determine if they intend to play in 2022. ACTION: Jack W
No further COVID related LOA will be permitted. Those players on a LOA wishing to return in 2022 must register.
Player Survey:
Players may wish to suggest rule changes or comment on other league issues. Anyone wishing to provide input should send an email to the league at peterboroughsrslopitch@gmail.com
Suggestions will be collected and sent out to players for consideration in the form of a survey. ACTION: Tim M
Meeting Minutes – March 12, 2021
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 11:15 a.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting.
Present:
Sean Travis, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman, Bill McKnight, Charlie Lauer, John Holmes, Jim Lee.
2021 Season:
REGISTRATIONS - When we include all the returning players, new applicants and Wed ball players who wish to move up to Tue./Thur ball, we have a total of 96 ball players, which would allow for 8 teams of 12 per team.
START DATE - The City has indicated to Sean that their intention is for all Leagues to begin play this year at their normal times. In our case this would be Tue May 18, 2021. This will of course depend on how things are going related to COVID and therefore may be subject to change.
INSURANCE – We will hold off with the purchase of our insurance until closer to our tentative opening day and see where we are at with respect to COVID.
TEAMS – Tim will use the ratings information submitted by the managers at the end of last season to computer generate 8 well balanced teams for 2021, taking into account things like 2 pitchers per team, at least one umpire per team, sponsors, etc.
ACTION – Tim will generate the initial team lists and share it with the executive for review and comments.
WEDENSDAY BALL – John Holmes will continue to look after Wed Ball and indicated that there are currently 21 players signed up for Wed Ball.
ACTION – John will share with the Registrar the names, contact information and ratings of those Wed ball players who wish to move up to Tue/Thur ball.
PICKING UP PLAYERS – Due to the uncertainties associated with COVD, managers will be allowed to pick up players from Wed ball or other teams within their bubble in order to field 11 players. Managers should attempt to replace absent players with players of similar rating.
OPENING CEREMONIES – For the second year in a row there will be no opening day ceremonies held due to COVID concerns and restrictions.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – There will be no AGM held prior to the start of the season because of COVID. Hopefully we will be able to hold and AGM at the end of the season.
MANAGERS – Most of the team managers will be returning for the 2021 season, however we will need at least one new manager (maybe more). ANY PLAYER WISHING TO TAKE ON THE ROLE OF TEAM MANAGER FOR 2021 PLEASED ADVISE SEAN. Remember this League only works if people step up to volunteer!!!
WEB SITE UPDATE – Sean will provide Tim with a revised President’s message outlining some the above information and any new information regarding COVID restrictions as we receive it from the City.
COVID-19:
The COVID Plan we put in place for last season will position us well for the upcoming year, i.e. players to sanitize their hands before each at bat, the ball is sanitized between innings, fans are to stay back on the grass (not in the stands), players are to spread out on the bench, etc.
However, the City has indicated some new restrictions for 2021, such as a max of 50 players in any one league bubble. Therefore, we will have to start the season with our 8 teams split into 2 four team bubbles. As the season progresses we are hoping that the COVID restrictions are relaxed and we will then be able to join the two bubbles into one so that all 8 teams can play against each other.
Note – this also means that our umpires can only do games within the bubble they play in.
Once we receive the final COVID guidelines from the City we will have to prepare a new League COVID Plan for the 2021 season.
ACTION – Sean will prepare the draft COVID Plan and share it with the Executive for review and comment.
ACTION – Tim will check our COVID supplies from last year and top up as necessary.
Financial:
Bill indicated that our current bank balance is approximately $14,500.00, which will be sufficient to cover the costs of the ball field (approximately $8,500.00), new equipment, COVID supplies, etc. for the 2021 season.
In light of the impact of COVID on many of our sponsor’s businesses a motion to waive the sponsorship fees for the 2021 season (as we did last year) was made by Bill Deveraux and seconded by Jack Watkins. Carried.
ACTION – Bill will send a letter to all our sponsors to thank them for their support and advise them that sponsorship fees will be waived for 2021.
Jack also noted the excellent job our Treasurer has done in keeping track of all the money carried forward, money refunded, etc. as player’s status has been a moving target during COVID times. Well done Bill!!
League Bylaws:
The league bylaws were then reviewed and suggestions for amendments put forward.
ACTION – Tim will prepare a revised set of Bylaws based on the results of our discussion and distribute it to the Executive for any further comment.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will be near the end of April when we have (hopefully) received final COVID guidelines from the City.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jim Lee and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 12:40 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – October 7, 2020
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting.
Present:
Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman. Bill McKnight, Charlie Lauer. Absent – Jim Lee, John Holmes.
2020 Season Wrap-Up:
Although it was a shortened season due to COVI-19, the general consensus was that it was a very successful year with the Executive members receiving plenty of positive feedback from those who did participate.
After reviewing the expenses associated with the 2020 season, it was determined that a fee of $50.00 per player will be levied. As all those who played in 2020 had previously submitted a fee of $100.00, they will only have to pay $50.00 next season (2021) instead of the usual $100.00 fee.
Players who paid but did not play in 2020 and did not request a refund will have their $100 applied to the 2021 season
Any player who opted not to play in 2020 and requested a refund for the 2020 season and any new players in 2021 will pay the full $100.00 for the 2021 season.
Treasurer Bill Deveraux indicated that after paying all our bills for this year our current bank balance is approximately $12,000.00. This is higher than last year’s bank balance of approximately $7,000.00, largely because of the much lower field rental costs we had to pay the City for our shortened season. The reduced fees for next season ($50.00 instead of $100.00) will bring our bank balance back down to a more “normal” level by the end of 2021.
ACTION – Bill Deveraux to prepare a financial statement (Statement of Receipts and Disbursements for The Period Ending December 31, 2020) for posting on the League website by early January 2021.
Registration for 2021:
Jack indicated that at the start of the 2020 season we had a total of 123 players registered. Of these, 72 played in 2020 and 51 chose to sit out the season. As well another 5 new players joined for the 2020 season. If the majority of these players return for the 2021 season we should have enough players to go with 10 teams with 12 players per team.
ACTION – Jack, Bill and John will prepare the message to be distributed to the players regarding fees for next year and about indicating if they plan to play in 2021, with a response deadline of Dec 31, 2020.
Player Ratings:
In an attempt to improve the player rating system, it was agreed that a small committee would be more appropriate than having only one individual do the final ratings. It was also agreed that a small number of participants (3) with many years of experience and hence good knowledge of player’s ability would be very helpful in such an undertaking.
ACTION - Tim Moody (as Chair of the Ratings Committee) will select 3 experienced participants to join him on the ratings committee for the 2021 season.
While every effort is made to balance the teams through this rating process, there may be some years where an in-year adjustment may need to be made. However, this should be the rare exception rather than the rule.
Sponsors and Managers 2021:
All sponsors have indicated that they will be with us for the 2021 season. Great News.
We anticipate that most managers will return for the 2021 season, however we may be looking for a couple of new ones for next year. If you are interested in being a manager, please advise any member of the Executive. Remember this League only works if people step up to volunteer!!
Equipment:
ACTION - Dave will order 10 dozen balls for next season.
Trophies:
ACTION – Dave will track down the 3 League trophies and have them engraved with the team and player names for presentation at next year’s opening ceremony.
Peter Flemons:
Peter has expressed an interest in returning to his usual duties for the 2021 season. He was greatly missed in 2020 and would be a welcome addition for the 2021 season.
ACTION – Sean to contact Peter about returning for next season.
Insurance:
Jack indicated that because we only had 6 teams in 2020 instead of 9 teams due to COVID-19, that we have a three-team credit on the books which will reduce our insurance costs for next year.
League Executive:
All members have to date indicated that they will be staying on for the 2021 season. As such we are not currently recruiting any new members. Tim Moody was approached by one individual who expressed an interest in joining the Executive and we will keep their name on file for future consideration.
ACTION – Tim will contact the individual and advise him that he will be considered in the future as the need arises.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will be held in mid-February 2021.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jack Watkins and seconded by Bill McKnight. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes prepare by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – July 27, 2020
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting.
Present:
Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman, Jim Lee, Bill McKnight. Absent – John Jolmes.
Equipment and Field:
Dave Dettman has inspected the equipment bunker at the Kinsmen Field and indicated that we have the following equipment on hand for the 2020 season:
4 pitchers helmets and 3 pitchers masks
1 dozen new balls and 20 used balls
20 bats
Dave will bring the portable defibrillator, first aid supplies and score board numbers to the bunker prior to the first game.
All managers will be supplied with a key to the bunker.
The Home Team manager of game one will be responsible for getting the field ready (bases, lines, etc).
The Home Team manager of game three will be responsible for putting all the equipment back in the bunker at the end of the day.
Dave also noted that there was no lime in the bunker and the pads for the posts on the screen were also missing.
ACTION – Sean will contact the City about getting a supply of lime and the missing pads.
Umpires:
Jim Lee has prepared a schedule which will be shared with all the umpires.
The umpires will be responsible for reminding players about social distancing and for wiping the ball with sanitizer between innings.
Both teams will keep score and after each inning the umpire will confer with both managers to confirm the number of runs scored and then the umpire will be responsible for posting it on the score board. Following the game, the home team manager will advise Tim Moody of the final score and Tim will post it on the League website.
Rule Change for 2020 – NO LEADOFFS!!
There will be a supply of Rule Books and Umpire Uniforms at the field on Aug 4th for those who need them.
COVID 19:
Tim Moody will pick up the following supplies:
7 one-liter pump bottles of hand sanitizer
1 one-liter spray bottle of sanitizer
3 or 4 disposable alcohol wipe containers
The approximate cost of these supplies is $400.00 (Correction - supplier misquoted - intial cost was only $149.66 TM)
League Permits:
The City has approved and issued the League the necessary permits to play Tue and Thur mornings from August 4, 2020 – Sept 15, 2020 – with rainout games to be played on Mondays.
The cost for the fields is $1,941.29.
Number of Players:
Based on the earlier survey results it was decided to proceed with 6 teams of 13 players for the 2020 season. As the season start date approaches there continues to be a number of players deciding not to play.
As such we plan to go with 6 teams of at least 11 players each. We are trying to supplement teams with Wednesday ball players and new players.
As well managers will have the option to pick up players from other teams to bring their roster up to 11 players.
Our League Registrar, Jack Watkins, will be the keeper of the master list of all players to ensure that no one gets lost in the shuffle.
Team Managers:
At 2:45 p.m. team mangers who are not on the League Executive (Paul Rellinger, Al Anderson) joined the meeting. Manager’s responsibilities, rule changes and COVID 19 procedures were discussed as follows:
• Home team Manager (game one) – gets field ready and equipment out of the bunker.
• Home team Manager (game three) – puts all equipment away in the bunker.
• Both teams keep score (umpire posts it after each inning).
• Home team Manager (all games) advises Tim Moody of final score.
• Remind players about COVID 19 procedures – six feet apart on the bench, sanitize hands before each at bat, etc.
• Managers to contact all players on their team before August 4th to confirm they are playing and advise Jack Watkins of any players who have decided not to play.
• Managers will make their best efforts to replace missing players with players of similar ability for games when they need to bring their number up to 11 players. The League does recognize that with fewer players in the League this year it will be a challenge and that players of a higher rating may have to be picked up on some occasions.
• Distribute sweaters at the beginning of the season and collect them at the end of the season.
ACTION -Jack Watkins will supply each manager with a score book prior to the start of the season.
ACTION – Tim Moody to supply all Managers with the new password to access the ratings information.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will be held at the end of the season.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Tim Moody and seconded by Bill Deveraux. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes prepared by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – July 20. 2020
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting.
Present:
Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman, Jim Lee, Bill McKnight. Absent – John Holmes.
2020 Season:
The City has advised Sean that they hope to get new contracts out to each of the ball leagues by the end of this week (July24, 2020).
A question was raised about the COVID testing site located at the Kinsmen Arena parking lot and whether this would have any impact on our use of the Kinsmen ball field.
ACTION - Sean will contact the City to confirm that we can still use the Kinsmen ball field and also to ask if the League has to submit a revised “Field and Facility League Request Form”.
ACTION - Charlie will prepare and submit a revised Request Form (if required by the City) based on the following:
• Six Teams
• League games – Tue Aug 4 – Tue Sept 1, 2020 (correction - last season game September 3 - TM)
• Playoff games – Thur Sept 3 – Thur Sept 10, 2020 (correction - last final game is September 15 - TM)
• Game times – 8:45 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m.
• Rainout games – on Mondays
• No Wed ball
ACTION – Tim will finalize the schedule and team rosters to ensure a manager and 2 pitchers are on each team.
ACTION – Jim Lee will prepare an umpire schedule once he has the final league schedule and team rosters from Tim.
COVID 19:
Due to the COVID 19 situation the following protocols will be in place for the 2020 season:
• Helmets will not be mandatory. Individual players may wear their own helmet if they wish but the League will not be providing helmets.
• Pitchers must wear a facemask. League facemasks will be cleaned with a sanitizer between games.
• Baseballs will be wiped by the umpire between innings.
• Limited warm up pitches and infield throws will be permitted.
• Hats will not be provided by the League this year.
• Players will spread out (6’ apart) along the 1st and 3rd baselines during the game.
• Fans will be asked to sit 6’ apart on the grass hill along the first base side.
• Each batter will use hand sanitizer before picking up and using a bat.
• A 1-liter pump bottle of sanitizer will be provided for each team and kept in the equipment bunker.
ACTION – Tim will purchase necessary safety supplies once we have confirmation from the City that we have the approval to play.
Team Rosters:
If current roster players drop out before or during the 2020 season, new players in the Wed League may be invited to fill their spots with the understanding that they may have to return to Wed ball at the start of next year.
Playoffs:
For the 2020 season only, the playoff format will be as follows:
1st place vs 2nd place in best of 3 series – “A” Champions
3rd place vs 4th place in best of 3 series – “B” Champions
5th place vs 6th place in best of 3 series – “C” Champions
Note – teams will play all three games regardless of the outcome of the first two games
Fees:
Once the final schedule is confirmed with the City, the fees for the 2020 season will be determined as a prorated cost based on the number of games to be played this year as compared to a “normal” year.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will be held on Monday July 27 at 2:00 p.m. via video conference.
All team Managers will be invited to join for the latter part of the meeting.
ACTION – Tim to make arrangements for the next video conference.
ACTION – Sean to invite the managers (who are not on the Executive) to join the call.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Bill McKnight. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – June 24, 2020
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 11:00 a.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting.
Present:
Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman.
Absent – John Holmes, Jim Lee, Bill McKnight.
2020 Season:
At this time the City is still not issuing permits to use the ball fields and with the Provincial restriction for gatherings set at a maximum of 10 people, we are still not in a position to proceed with the 2020 season.
We will continue to monitor the situation and reassess things again in July.
ACTION - Tim to update the League website.
League Rules:
Tim had previously redrafted our League rules to match up with the NSA rules which we use. This material was reviewed with consensus being reached on the majority of the changes. Great job Tim!!
The one area that raised concern was Rule 8 (3) - “double safety bag at first base”. While we all agreed that the intent of the rule is to protect the safety of both the base runner and the first baseman, there was considerable debate on how this should be worded.
ACTION – Jack and Bill to provide wording for this rule from other leagues they play in for review and comment by the Executive.
ACTION – Tim to consolidate all changes from today’s discussion and the eventual wording for rule 8 (3) into a final version of our League rules to be posted on our webpage.
At our next meeting we will review our League Bylaws.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will take place at the discretion of the President in early July to once again assess the potential for a 2020 season.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Charlie Lauer. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – May 27, 2020
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 10:30 a.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting.
Present:
Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, Tim Moody, Bill McKnight, Jim Lee, Dave Dettman, Charlie Lauer. Absent – John Holmes.
2020 Season:
Sean met with the City yesterday (May 26, 2020) along with representatives from other ball leagues regarding the potential for getting onto the ball fields this season. Unfortunately, the City was not very optimistic about the 2020 season. Although the City has not yet given up on the possibility of playing this year, they are beginning to lose hope. The City must continue to follow the direction from the Province and the League cannot move forward without the blessing of the City.
The City did indicate that they are now doing some maintenance work on the fields in the event we do get the green light to play.
We agreed to hold off on any decision about the 2020 season until we meet again in late June and see what the direction is from the Province/City at that time.
Wednesday Ball:
With the uncertainty associated with this season as a result of the COVID-19 situation, a MOTION to cancel the 2020 Wednesday ball season was made by Tim Moody, seconded by Bill McKnight. Carried.
ACTION – Sean will provide an update to Tim for posting on the League website regarding the current status of the 2020 season and the decision about Wednesday ball.
Treasurer:
The results of the survey indicate that if the 2020 season is indeed cancelled, the vast majority of the players are OK to leave their money with the League as payment for next season. This means much less work for the League with issuing refunds. Thank you to all those who indicated they were alright with rolling their money over into the 2021 season.
Insurance:
ACTION – Jack will check with our Insurance Co about the possibility of leaving our money with the Insurance Co for next year (if the 2020 season is cancelled) instead of asking for a refund.
Equipment:
Dave has the new hats for this year and if the season is cancelled we will use them next year.
Hobies Sports is holding off on ordering our new balls until we determine if the season will go ahead.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will be held on Wed June 24, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. via video conference.
ACTION – Tim to make arrangements for the next video conference.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Charlie Lauer and seconded by Bill Deveraux. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m. by president Sean Traviss.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Meeting Minutes – May 5, 2020
Opening:
The Meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by President Sean Traviss. The meeting was an online video meeting because of the COVID-19 situation.
Present:
Sean Traviss, Jack Watkins, Bill Deveraux, John Holmes, Tim Moody, Bill McKnight, Jim Lee, Dave Dettman, Charlie Lauer.
Previous Minutes:
Charlie reviewed the minutes of the April 8, 2020 meeting and the associated action items. The major of these items have been addressed with the 2 exceptions.
ACTION – Once our Bank reopens (after the COVID-19 business settles down), the three individuals with signing authority will go into the bank to put their signatures on our file.
ACTION – Tim will send out via email to all players the results of the 2019 survey. (Note – Tim had hoped to be able to post the results on our website, but it turned out to be more awkward to do than originally anticipated and hence the switch to an email to all players)
2020 Season:
The City had previously advised all Leagues that ball fields will be closed until at least May 31, 2020.
Sean attended a meeting with the City and other League representatives on April 29, 2020 and was advised that the City expected to get further direction from the Province regarding what they will be allowed to open and what they won’t, around May 15, 2020. As such City has set up another meeting with League representatives on May 19, 2020 to provide further details on an actual plan to move forward from May 31, 2020. The City also advised the League representatives that they would require some time to do maintenance work on the fields before the Leagues could begin play. As such it appears that the earliest possible start date could be around June 15, 2020.
ACTION – Sean will provide Tim with an update on the status of the 2020 season to post on the League website.
COVID-19 Precautions:
In the event that we do the green light from the City to play this year, there are a number of guidelines and procedures that will have to be put in place to reduce the risks associated with COVID-19. These would include things like, Lysol wipe bats after each use, Lysol wipe balls after every inning, no sharing of batting helmets, no sharing of pitching masks, maintaining social distance on the bench, etc. These items will be finalized and shared with all players prior to the start of the season.
Survey – Who’s playing?
A number of players have advised individual Executive members that even if the City gives the green light to play and even if the League institutes COVID-19 precautions, they still do not plan to play this season. With this uncertainly about the number of players for this season, it is difficult to finalize the team rosters and the schedule. In order to address this uncertainty, the Executive agreed that an email survey of all players was warranted with the following types of questions:
are you intending to play this season?
If you don’t play, are you Ok to have your $100.00 fee carried forward to next season?
ACTION – Sean to provide final wording for questions to Tim.
ACTION – Tim to email questions to all players with a response date prior to our next meeting with the City on May 19, 2020.
Sponsors:
With so much uncertainly associated with playing this season and the difficult business climate as a result of COVID-19, a MOTION to advise sponsors that they do not have to pay for the 2020 season was made by Bill Deveraux, seconded by Jack Watkins. Carried.
ACTION – Bill Deveraux to advise all sponsors of this decision and to return any sponsorship funds that have already been received.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive will be held on Wed May 20, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. via video conference.
ACTION – Tim to make arrangement s for next video conference.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jim Lee and seconded by Tim Moody. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Executive Meeting - April 8, 2020
On-line due to COVID-19
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Past President Bill
McKnight. The meeting was an online video meeting because of the COVID-19 situation and the
need for social distancing.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Sean Traviss, Charlie Lauer, Tim Moody, Dave Dettman, Jack Watkins, Jim Lee, Bill
Deveraux. Absent – John Holmes.
Executive:
Sean Traviss is our new President and he indicated that he was looking forward to the
opportunity to contribute to the league which he has very much enjoyed playing in the past few
years.
The balance of the 2020 League Executive is as follows:
Jack Watkins – Vice President/Registrar
Bill Devereaux – Treasurer/Social
Charlie Lauer – Secretary
Tim Moody – Web Master/Scheduler/Team Rosters
Jim Lee – Umpire in Chief
Dave Dettman – Equipment
John Holmes – Wednesday Ball
Bill McKnight – Past President
Thanks to all for stepping up to keep our league going.
Previous Minutes:
Charlie reviewed the minutes from the October 9, 2019 meeting and the associated action
items, which have all been dealt with by various members of the executive.
He also indicated that Kinsmen field has once again been booked with the City for the
upcoming season and that the Kinsmen Field is scheduled for major maintenance in the fall of
2020 and hence will not be available after Sept 14, 2020.
Registrar:
Jack indicated that we currently have 113 players registered. We need a total 117 in order to
field 9 teams with 13 players per team. John Holmes has advised that there may be 4 players
from Wed ball willing to move up and Charlie indicated that he received registration forms and
cheques from 3 new players. As such we should have enough players to fill out the 9 teams.
ACTION – Charlie to drop off cheques and registration forms at Bill’s house.
Insurance - Jack has also finalized our League insurance with NSA and the City for 9 teams for
the 2020 season.
Managers - At the present time we have the following Managers confirmed for 2020 – Paul
Relinger, Clare Leahy, Bob Grimes, Bill Gordanier, Bill Devereaux, Reg Woodbeck and Al
Anderson. Bill McKnight indicated that he has been speaking with John Crawford and he would
be willing to be a manager if we are short for this year.
If anyone is interested in being a manager please provide your name to Jack Watkins.
Treasurer:
Bill D. indicated that our current balance is around $8,700.00. He also has cheques for the 2020
season worth about $9,700.00 which he will be depositing.
ACTION – Bill D. to reimburse Jack for our league insurance ($675.00). Dave will also be submitting invoices
for hats and balls. As well Bill has sent out invoices to our sponsors ($150.00 each).
Financial transactions require 2 signatures and the three positions authorized to sign on behalf
of the league are the Treasurer, Vice President and President.
ACTION - Once the bank reopens (after COVID-19 business settles down), these three individuals will have to
go into the bank to put their signatures on our file.
Umpire in Chief:
Jim indicated that last year we had 30 umpires on the list. So far, he has 20 confirmed for this
season but is missing some contact information.
ACTION - Tim will provide Jim with the missing contact information and hopefully we can grow this list.
A reminder to all players – we are always looking for more umpires, so please advise Jim Lee if
you are interested.
Equipment:
Dave advised that he has ordered balls from Hobies and hats from McMillans. ACTION – Dave
to email the invoices to Bill for payment.
Website:
Tim indicated that the 2020 schedule has been done with a proposed start date of Tue May 12,
which means each team plays the other 8 teams a total of three times, followed by the playoffs.
In the event that the season is delayed (very likely) due to COVID-19, we could use the same
schedule with a start date of June 11 (play each team twice) or July 14 (play each team once)
followed by the playoffs. It will all depend on when/if we get the green light from the City to
use the Kinsmen field.
Tim then reviewed the results of the on line survey that was done over the winter. Most
impressive was the fact that we received a total of 75 responses!! A motion to accept the
results of the 2019 survey and implement them for the 2020 season was made by Jack Watkins
and seconded by Tim Moody. Carried
The Players have spoken – The Executive have listened!!
As such we will be adopting the results of the survey for the 2020 season – this means:
- Lead off rule, if you lose contact with the bag you are out
- Picking up players (regular season) – contact Wed players first
- Playoff rosters – no pick ups
- Aluminum bats only
- Computer draft to select teams
- Player rating categories reduced from 13 to 7 (top 3, bottom 3, the rest in the middle)
ACTION – Tim to post complete survey results on the league website.
Tim also indicated that in his efforts to clean up our website he has been working on the
League’s Bylaws and Rules in an attempt to capture all recent changes, NSA rules and to
incorporate any “unwritten” rules which seem to pop up from time to time.
ACTION – Tim will circulate a draft of the revised Bylaws and Rules to the Executive members for comment.
Tim also advised that Sean’s Presidents welcome message has been done and will be posted on
the website.
ACTION - Sean will provide Tim with a brief update following this meeting for
posting on the website.
ACTION - Once the registrations are finalized, Tim will run the names through the computer
draft and create the 2020 team rosters prior to the next Executive meeting.
New Business:
1. Peter Flemons – with Peter’s retirement, the home team manager for game one will be
responsible for getting the field ready (lines, bases). The home team manager for game
four will be responsible for putting away all the equipment. All managers will be
responsible for keeping score and reporting the results to the web master (Tim) for
posting.
2. Golf Tournament – It was cancelled last year due to a late change of date by the golf
course.
ACTION – Bill D. to look into getting a league golf tournament up and running for
this summer.
3. COVID-19 – This has resulted in a lot of uncertainty for the upcoming season. We will
only be playing if the Province/City gives the OK that it is safe to play. Even if we do get
the green light, there may be some individuals who still do not feel comfortable to play
this year and they will not be penalized for making such a choice.
Next Meeting:
The next Executive meeting will be held on Tue May 5, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. via video conference.
ACTION – Tim to make arrangements for next video conference.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Tim Moody and seconded by Dave Dettman.
Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 a.m. by President Sean Traviss.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Sean Traviss
Executive Meeting - October 9, 2019
Air Force Club
Bill McKnight - Chair
Bill Devereaux
Dave Dettman
Jim Lee
Tim Moody
Jack Watkins
John Holmes (part)
Welcome to Jim and Jack as new members of the executive - thanks for stepping up guys
Bill Mc opened meeting at 13:06
Reviewed past minutes for action items
- participation in senior games (still no information so agreed that we would not participate)
- team balancing (to be discussed during meeting)
Recognition of Steve Gardner
- standard plaque from league for service as president (ACTION: Bill Devereaux to purchase)
- if Steve's hockey group is organizing anything re: his injury we will put the link and info on our website
- (addendum: it is expected that there will be a social - date and place TBA)
Jack re: player numbers
116 registered and all but 5 paid for 2020!
4 players requested a leave
9 players retired after 2019
Jack to contact NSA and change league registrar contact info
Jack - asked if sponsors who play are exected to register and pay like everyone else - executive confirmed yes, all players treated as such
John - 6 players have advised that they want to come up from Wednesday rookie ball, John to confirm with them and advise Jack
Bill Mc - options for score keeping, post-Peter
- discussion - executive agreed that like most other ball, each team will keep score and managers will confirm final and provide scores to Tim for posting
ACTION: Tim will canvas players and non-players on the mailing list to see if anyone wants to take over all or some of Peter's duties
Bill Mc - some players have asked why we do not use Bower's Park and play several games at once
- discussion revealed that rent is much more costly, there is no shade so hotter than Kinsmen and we would need to build or arrange space for our gear, including purchasing of at least one more set of bases etc. Umpire scheduling would also be problematic.
Dave - new balls ordered for 2020. Will wait until we have more solid numbers before ordering hats. There were no complaints registered about using only 2 new balls per game days. Probably have enough bats.
Bill Mc - discussion about lead off rule.
- discussion - suggested go back to "any loss of contact with the base the batter is out" (simplest for umps and players to understand). ACTION: take to AGM for confirmation
Jack - John Russo sent in an item via Jack that teams should be able to bring their numbers up to 11 players throughout the regular season (i.e a full roster every game rather than only to 10)
- discussion - agreed, however first call should always be to Wednesday list and only go to bye team if no Wednesday player is available (Rookies need to be used and evaluated, recognizing that an exact ranking match may not always be possible - close is good enough)
Jack - good response from members overall about rule of not picking up players during the playoffs - executive agreed to consider keeping this format.
Dave - led discussion about 2019 ranking, response from members generally supportive, some discussion about reducing the number of categories from 13 to fewer lumped groups, given the majority of players play within the 5-10 range notwithstanding their ultimate ranking. More discussion to occur. ACTION: Tim to research on-line survey options to take certain questions to the membership over the winter.
Managers - Wayne Davis may be interested in taking on a team if needed.
Executive Membership
- need a president, vice president, member-at-large and possibly a treasurer. Jim Lee has accepted the role of Umpire in Chief. Bill Mc temporarily holding down the fort as a past president.
ACTION: Tim to send a broadcast email to all members seeking applications of interest
Jim Lee moved to adjourn at 14:42
Next executive meeting, 12:00 noon, April 8, 2020 at the Air Force Club
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Annual General Meeting – April 30, 2019
President Steve Gardner welcomed approximately 50 players to the AGM and noted that we have one new Executive member, Bill Devereaux and one new sponsor, Kawartha Foot and Orthotic Clinic. He then introduce the remainder of the Executive. A variety of items were then discussed as follows:
Team Managers: There will be nine teams in the League this season (down from 10 last year) and we are still short 2 managers. Anyone who is interested in managing a team this year was asked to speak to President Steve Gardner following the AGM.
Playoff Format: The top 4 teams will play off in pool “A” and the bottom 5 teams will play off in pool “B”. There will be no replacement players in the play offs this year. Each team will play with the 9-13 players that show up for each playoff game. If the team has less than 9 players they will forfeit the game.
Challenger Baseball: This is an adaptive ball program designed for children, youth and adults living with physical and/or cognitive disabilities.
Their under 23 team has been invited to attend the Little League World Series in the US and are looking for financial support. The League has agreed to donate the proceeds from this year’s 50:50 draws to Challenger Baseball.
Their adult program is looking for teams to play against this summer on Thur evenings between June 20, 2019 and August 8, 2019 at Briton Carpet at 7:00 p.m. Our League has agreed that the manager with a bye on Thur during this time period (June 20 – Aug 8) will field a team to play against the Challenger team.
Kingston 60+ Tournament: President Steve Gardner has been approached about our League sending a team to a 60+ tournament in Kingston and also about hosting a home and home series with a team from Kingston. If anyone is interested in leading this initiative, please speak to Steve following the AGM.
Financial: The League is financially sound with about $4,500 in the bank at this time. A complete financial statement can be found on our website.
Equipment: New balls and a couple of new bats have been purchased for the 2019 season. Dave Dettman has new hats out in his car for any manager who has not yet picked them up.
Social Events: There will be a League golf tournament, cards night and yearend banquet. Dates have yet to be confirmed and Bill Devereaux is looking for volunteer to help with any of these events.
Registration: We currently have 115 of 117 spots filled, so two teams will start the season one man short. It appears that there will be plenty of new players from the Wed league to draw from to fill these spots once the Wed players have been rated. This rating will occur in the first couple of weeks.
Wed Ball: There are 22 returning players and 18 new players. Of these we are aware of 13 who are willing to move up to the Tue/Thur League to fill any vacancies.
Practice Dates: We have been advised by the City that no teams will be allowed on the fields before Fri May 10, 2019 (and our regular season starts on Tue May 14, 2019). As such it will be the responsibility of each manager to find a suitable venue, date and time to get their team together prior to the start of the season.
Opening Day: Opening day ceremonies will be held between games one and two at 9:30 a.m. on Tue May 14, 2019. All Players are encouraged to attend.
Umpires: Jim Glynn thanked all those who have volunteered to umpire and reminded all players to respect our umpires as per our League Code of Conduct.
Website: Tim Moody will be posting the 2109 schedule and team lists following today’s AGM.
When there is a rainout Tim will send out an email to all player in the league no late than 7:30 a.m. This is much faster than posting it on the website. Bill McKnight will be checking the condition of the field by 7:00 a.m. on game days.
Insurance: All players who have not completed the NSA registration form on line must do so before the start of the season or they will not be allowed to play. If you completed the form last year you do not have to do it again.
Ontario Senior Games: There was a question from the floor about our League’s participation in the Ontario Senior Games which are being hosted by the City of Peterborough in 2020. Our Executive has been contacted about this event but there seems to be considerable confusion about the format (men only or women only or mixed teams) and qualifications (must win a qualify tournament in June of July of 2019). Further discussion revealed that some individual players have also been in discussion with the organizers of this event and our League Executive will continue to monitor things as they unfold.
Balancing the Teams: In an effort to make the League as balanced as possible the Executive tried a new approach for the 2019 season, instead of the random draw of rated players as has been used in the past. This new approach, lead by John Russo and Tim Moody, involved a complete review of player ratings, a computer application designed to balance the teams, and taking into consideration things such as pitchers, infielders and outfielders.
One player raised concerns with this new approach and felt that it was totally wrong and should have been put to a vote. Another player praised this effort to better balance the teams. The Executive appreciates everyone’s comments and will assess how this year works out with this new approach and determine how we will proceed in the future.
Teams: The new teams for the 2019 season where then displayed on the screen for everyone to see. Managers will be contacting players regarding practices, uniforms, schedule, etc.
Minutes Submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes Approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Umpires Meeting - April 30, 2019 at 11:00 a.m.
The League Executive met with the League umpires (approx. 25) prior to the start of the 2019 ball season.
Umpire-in-Chief Jim Glynn provided some general reminders such as:
• Make calls loudly
• Use hand signals
• Keep games moving
• NSA rules apply plus League’s unique rules (e.g. no infield fly rule)
• Mistakes will be made
• Consult with the other umpire (communicate with one another)
Code of Conduct: Jim reviewed the League’s Code of Conduct and reminded everyone that this is a fun league and we are all volunteers. Any abusive behavior will result in ejection from the game and repeat offenders will be referred to the Executive for further discipline.
Rules: There are no rule changes for the 2019 season. NSA Rule books are available on the NSA website and Jim has some hard copies of the NSA rule book available as well.
Schedule: Jim outlined the umpire schedule for opening day (May 14, 2019) and advised that he will have a complete schedule for the 2019 season to hand out to all umpires on opening day. He also reminded umpires that it is their responsibility to find a replacement umpire if they are unable to make their regularly scheduled time slot.
Pitch Height: 6-12 feet. Try and use a reference point, be consistent, give the pitcher a warning and make the call as early as possible.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Manager’s Meeting – April 30, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
The League Executive met with all the team Managers prior to the start of the 2019 ball season. Items discussed were as follows:
Challenger Baseball: This is an adaptive ball program designed for youth and adults living with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. They are looking for teams to play against this summer on Thur evenings between June 20th and August 8th at Briton Carpet at 7: 00 p.m. and asked if our league would provide teams for them to play against. It was agreed that we would do this.
ACTION – Each team manager will be responsible for fielding a team on Thur evening at Briton Carpet at 7:00 p.m. on the date that their team has a bye in our regular season schedule between June 20 – August 8.
Player Substitutions: The mangers were reminded about Rule #9 that allows a manager to get replacement players (of equal or lesser rating) during the regular season from the Wed league, the bye team or a team they are not playing against, if they are going to have 10 or fewer players.
Playoff Format: For the 2019 season there will be no replacement players. Each team will play with the 9-13 players that show up for each playoff game. If the team has less than 9 players they will forfeit the game.
The top 4 teams will play off in pool “A” and the bottom 5 teams will play off in pool “B”.
Line Up Rotation: After 3 or 4 games the managers are to set their batting order and rotate it through the regular season by moving the player at the bottom of the batting order from the previous game to the top of the batting order for the next game.
Practice Dates: As we have been advised by the City that no teams will be allowed on the fields before Friday May 10, 2019 (and our regular season starts on Tue May 14, 2019), it will be the responsibility of each manager to find a suitable venue, date and time to get their team together prior to the start of the season.
Bats: There was a suggestion that the League should purchase a couple of new bats. A motion to purchase 2 new bats was made by Wayne Withers and seconded by Bill Devereaux. Carried.
ACTION: Dave Dettman will purchase two new bats prior to the start of the new season.
Hats: Each manager to get their new team hats from Dave Dettman.
Minutes Submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – April 30, 2019
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by President Steve Gardner at the Peterborough Naval Club.
Present:
Steve Gardner, Bill Devereaux, Dave Dettman, John Holmes, Wayne Withers, Charlie Lauer, Bill McKnight, Tim Moody, John Russo. Absent – Peter McCrae, Jim Glynn
Registration:
We currently have 115 of 117 positions filled on the 9 teams with 13 players/team. It appears that there will be plenty of new Wed League players to draw from to fill these spots once the Wed players are rated. This should occur in the first couple of weeks of the season.
Managers:
We are still short 2 managers for this season. This subject will be raised at the AGM later in the day with the hope that 2 volunteers will step forward.
Kingston 60+ Tournament:
President Gardner has been approached about our league sending a team to a 60+ tournament in Kingston and also about hosting a home and home series with a team from Kingston. This topic will be raised at the AGM to see if there is anyone interested in leading this initiative.
Challenger Baseball:
Challenger baseball is an adaptive ball program designed for children, youth and adults living with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Their under 23 team has been invited to attend the Little League World Series in the US and are looking for financial support. A motion to donate the proceeds from this year’s 50:50 draws to Challenger Baseball was made by Wayne Withers and seconded by Bill McKnight. Carried.
2019 Schedule
Opening day is Tue May 14, 2019 with opening ceremonies held at 9:30 a.m. between games 1 and 2. ACTION - Bill Devereaux to contact media and City about sending representatives to this event. The 2019 schedule will be posted on our web site later today. We have been informed by the City that no teams will be allowed onto the fields before May 10, 2019 due to the cold wet weather we have been experiencing.
Sponsors:
We have one new sponsor this year – Kawartha Foot and Orthotic Clinic. Welcome aboard.
Thank you to Peter Ward and King’s Crossing for your past sponsorship.
Playoffs – Replacement Players:
The current playoff replacement rules were put in place about 8 years ago when there was a concern raised about some teams suggesting to their weaker players that they need not show up for playoff games. This rule has generated a considerable amount of work for the person responsible for finding replacement players of equal or lower ranking for each player missing from a team during the playoffs to ensure all teams are playing with a full 13 man roster. As well this rule sometimes (when 3 or 4 replacement players added to a team) results in the playoff team being very different from the regular season team.
For the 2019 playoff season there will be no replacement players. Each team will play with the 9-13 players that show up for each playoff game. If the team has less than 9 players they will default the playoff game.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Bill Devereaux. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 a.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Charlie Lauer
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – April 8, 2019
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 12:40 p.m. by President Steve Gardner at the Peterborough Navy Club.
Present:
Steve Gardner, Bill Devereaux, Dave Dettman, Tim Moody, John Holmes, Wayne Withers, John Russo, Charlie Lauer, Bill McKnight, Jim Glynn
Executive:
President Gardner welcomed Bill Devereaux to the Executive. Bill will be taking on the role of the League Social convener, i.e. golf tournament, euchre night, year end banquet, etc. Thanks for stepping up Bill!!
Registration:
We currently have 114 people registered. This leaves us three players short for a nine team league with 13 players per team. There are currently 3 players from the Wed League who are willing to move up which will bring us to the required 117 players.
However, we know from experience that a few more players will drop out between now and opening day. The Wed League has 22 returning players and approx. 15 new players. It is anticipated that a number of these new players will be willing to move up so we should have enough players to fill out the rosters for 9 teams.
ACTION – Wayne Withers will talk to Jim Byrnes about moving up to Tue/Thur ball.
ACTION – John Holmes to contact the new Wed players to determine who might be interested in moving up and advise John Russo by next week.
ACTION - John Russo will evaluate and rank these 15 new Wed players for a week or two before they are moved up to the Tue/Thur League.
Challenger Baseball:
Bev Quinlan from Challenger Baseball is looking for teams from our League to play against the Peterborough Challenger Senior Ball team.
Challenger Baseball is an adaptive ball program designed for children, youth and adults living with physical and/or cognitive disabilities.
Games are Thursday nights between June 20th and August 8th at Briton Carpet at 7:00 p.m. with the exception of “Opening Day” which is at 5:30 on June 13th.
The League Executive supports this initiative and will bring it up at the Managers meeting on April 30th. It is hoped that each Manager would be responsible for fielding a team for one of these Thur night games during the summer.
Managers:
We are still short two managers for this season.
ACTION – Steve Gardner will contact players on the two teams without a manager and try and convince someone to take on this task.
Reminder – this League only works if people step up and volunteer!!!
AGM:
The AGM will be on Tue April 30 at the Navy Club starting at 1:00 p.m.
It will be preceded by an Executive meeting a 9:00 am,
A Managers meeting a 10:00 am,
An Umpires meeting at 11:00 am
ACTION – Steve Gardner will bring a lap top and a projector to show the team rosters for the 2019 season.
Playoffs:
With only 9 teams this year, the playoff format will be Teams 1-4 in playoff pool A, and Teams 5-9 in playoff pool B.
Equipment:
Dave Dettman has ordered new umpire shirts.
Website:
ACTION - Steve Gardner will send his welcome letter to Tim Moody for posting on the website.
Bill McKnight will be the one checking the field at 7:00 am on game days. If games are to be cancelled, he will advise Tim Moody who will send out an email to all players.
NSA Insurance:
A reminder that all players must register on line with NSA to be covered by our League insurance. If you did it last year you do not have to do it again.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Jim Glynn, Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes prepared by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – Feb 15, 2019
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by President Steve Gardner at the Peterborough Navy Club.
Present:
Steve Gardner, Charlie Lauer, John Russo, Dave Dettman, Jim Glynn, Wayne Withers, Peter McCrae, Tim Moody, John Holmes. Absent: Bill McKnight.
Registration:
To date there are 121 players registered. It is anticipated that about 5 more people will register and about the same number will drop out before opening day. As such, we will plan for 9 teams with 13 players/team for the 2019 season. This is one team less than in 2018.
Sponsors:
As he will be stepping down as a sponsor in 2019, the League wishes to extend a special Thank You to Peter Ward for his many years of sponsorship.
ACTION – Wayne Withers to check with Kings Crossing about continued sponsorship for the 2019 season.
ACTION – Steve Gardener to line up new sponsors (if necessary) from a list of businesses that have previously expressed an interest.
Executive:
Bill Devereaux has expressed an interest in joining the Executive. All were in favour of adding him to our group.
ACTION - Steve Gardner to contact Bill to confirm his appointment.
John Russo has agreed to be the League Registrar for one more year. Jim Glynn will take over as the Umpire in Chief. We still need to confirm a Social Director.
Ontario Senior Games:
The League has received a request from the District 12 Coordinator of the Ontario Summer Games to organize a one-day Senior Men’s Slo-Pitch tournament sometime before the middle of June 2019. After discussion it was agreed that the Executive was not prepared to commit the time necessary to hold such an event.
ACTION – Charlie Lauer to contact the District 12 Coordinator and advise her of our decision.
Rule Changes:
The question of the “lead off rule” was once again brought up. It will be further discussed at the next Executive meeting.
Balancing the Teams:
In an effort to make the League as balanced as possible, Tim Moody and John Russo will conduct a review of the current player ratings and then conduct a mock draft based on the principle of the team with the highest ranked player in one round getting the lowest ranked player in the next round.
ACTION – Tim and John to present the results of this effort to the Executive at our next meeting.
Tim and John will also do the ratings for Wed players prior to their movement up to the Tue/Thur League.
Insurance:
Our League insurance will once again be supplied by Game Day Insurance.
ACTION – John Russo to supply the Certificate of Insurance as per the City’s requirements to Charlie Lauer as soon as possible after March 15, 2019.
ACTION - Charlie Lauer to provide the Certificate of Insurance to the City.
Financials:
Peter McCrae indicated that as of Dec 31, 2018 the League had a balance of about $5,800.00. This is up about $2,000.00 from the 2017 year end. This is largely a result of the $75.00 fee for Wed ball.
Going forward we need to be aware that with only 9 teams in 2019 we will have one less sponsor and 13 fewer players which will have an impact on our revenue.
Equipment:
Dave Dettman advised that he has ordered 5 dozen 40 core balls for the 2109 season.
Website:
Tim Moody will be doing some updates in an effort to simplify and clean up the website. The current software provider is still supporting our site and as such the League will not be purchasing any upgrades at this time.
ACTION - Tim will move some the historical information to a stick and provide it to the League Secretary for safe keeping.
ACTION – Tim will prepare the schedule for the 2019 season based on 9 teams.
ACTION – Steve Gardner to provide Tim with a welcome message for the 2019 season to be posted on the website.
Future Meetings:
The next Executive meeting will be on Thur April 18, 2019 from noon – 3:00 p.m. at the Navy Club.
The AGM/Team Reveal will be on Tue April 30, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Navy Club. (Note – Executive meet at 9:00 a.m., Managers meet at 10:00 a.m., Umpires meet at 11:00 a.m.)
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Wayne Withers. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – October 4, 2017
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by President Steve Gardner at King’s Crossing. Steve welcomed Tim Moody our new Umpire-In- Chief to the executive. He also thanked outing Umpire-In-Chief Bill Young for his time on the Executive.
Present:
Jim Glynn, Tim Moody, John Holmes, Bill Young, John Russo, Steve Gardner, Vince Bowe, Dave Dettman, Brian Balcombe, Charlie Lauer, Peter McCrae. Absent; Wayne Withers, Bill McKnight
Minutes:
The minutes of the August 30, 2017 meeting were reviewed. ACTION – John Holmes will look into the potential costs associated with paid, carded umpires for future consideration. A motion to accept the minutes of the August 30, 2017 meeting was made by Bill Young and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Umpire-In-Chief:
Bill indicated that overall the umpires did a very good job this year. It was suggested that Rule 18 be separated into a part a) and a part b) in order to make it easier to find the extra inning tie breaking rule for playoff games. ACTION – Brian Balcombe will make this change to the rules on the web site.
Bill will be handing over the umpire list, uniforms, counters, etc to Tim Moody following the meeting.
We also discussed a number of items such as calling of illegal pitches, positioning of the umpire on the field during the game, force out rule, etc. ACTION – Tim will bring these items up at next year’s meeting with the umpires before the season starts.
Wooden Mat:
The pros and cons of the wooden mat were discussed. It was agreed that a bit of grooming or leveling around home plate prior to each game made the plate sit more level and that the 4 spikes kept it from moving. A motion to use a wooden mat in the future was made by John Russo and seconded by Bill Young. Carried.
Peterborough Sport User Evaluation Meeting:
The City will be holding a Sport User Evaluation meeting on Wednesday November 22nd for all organizations that use City Ball diamonds. They will discuss Permitting Information and Maintenance Updates and Projects. All attending organizations will also be given the opportunity to provide feedback and comments to the City.
President Steve Gardner will attend.
Registration Numbers:
At this point we have 133 players paid up for next year. There are 8 others on leave and we are aware of 6 who will be retiring. There may be 5 or 6 from Wed ball who might be willing to move up next year. At the luncheon on October 16 Steve will encourage current players to help the League recruit new players.
Equipment Update:
Dave Dettman advised that the awards (shirts and bags) for presentation at the luncheon are all ready to go. He has also taken all of the bats into Hobies for regripping.
We discussed the need for and cost associated with having a new ball for every game. A motion to use 2 new balls per day instead of the current 4 new balls per day was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Vince Bowe. Carried.
ACTION – Dave will also look into foam inserts for some of the helmets for next year.
Finances:
Peter reported that our current balance is around $6000.00 which is consistent with previous years. We still have some yearend expenses to address, e.g. luncheon, equipment, etc.
The numbers for the golf tournament were down from last year as a result of the change in date due to the rain out on the original date. Overall income was approximately $21,000.00 and expenses were approximately $21,000.00. As such the League is in good financial shape.
A motion to accept the treasurers report was made by Peter McRae and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Yearend Bar-B-Q Luncheon:
Vince advised that we have 95 players paid for this year’s luncheon which is about twice as many as attended the evening banquet last year. With the sponsors and a few tickets at the door we anticipate around 110 people in total.
Peter Flemons will be selling 50/50 tickets and there will be a door prize for a free registration for the 2018 season.
New Business:
Newspaper Highlights – Next year Peter will only submit the final scores to the newspaper.
Balancing the Draft – A number of suggestions were made for how we can better ensure that the teams are well balanced. This will be discussed further as we move forward.
Managers – we are looking for 2 or 3 new mangers for the 2018 season. If you are interested please let one of the Executive know. Remember – this League only runs if we have people step up and volunteer.
Umpires – We are also looking for new umpires. Please let Tim Moody know if you are interested in umpiring.
Sponsors – At this point we understand that all current sponsors will be continuing. ACTION – Peter McCrae will send out invoices to each sponsor in January 2108.
Future Meetings:
The next regular meeting of the Executive will take place on Wednesday February 28, 2018 at King’s Crossing with lunch at 12:00 p.m. followed by the meeting at 1:00 pm.
The annual Draft Day and AGM will take place on Wednesday April 25th. Location TBD.
The 2018 regular season should start on Tuesday May 15th (weather and field condition dependent).
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jim Glynn. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Minutes from Executive Meeting August 30, 2017
Present: Brian Balcombe, John Russo, Bill Young, Steve Gardner, Vince Bowe, Peter McCrea, Dave Dettman, John Holmes
Absent: Wayne Withers, Jim Glynn, Charlie Lauer, Bill McKnight
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
End of Season Banquet
We will be using a new format for the banquet in keeping with the wishes of the majority of players asked. Instead of a more formal evening event, there will be a BBQ type meal at the Lion’s Centre in Easy City. Catering of the meal, consisting of hamburgers, sausage and Caesar Salad will be done by one of our sponsors, King’s Crossing. The Lion’s Club will run a bar. This will be a “players only” event (i.e. significant others not included), with the addition of complimentary passes for sponsors, non-playing umpires, and lifetime members and Peter Flemons. The cost is to be determined soon, and managers will be provided with tickets. As with all league events, this event is open to the Wednesday League players (John Holmes will be issued tickets for them). The event is scheduled for Monday, October 16, and is to run from 12:00 to 3:00.
Wooden Home Plate
The Wednesday League has been playing the last few weeks with a prototype plywood home plate. John Russo made a motion to re-adopt the wooden plate for Tuesday-Thursday play. Starting August 31st, and for the remainder of the regular season, a wooden plate will be used. A decision on its continued use for the remainder of the season will be made by the Executive after obtaining input from those playing in the remaining games. The Executive voted to support the motion, although not unanimously.
Replacements for the Play-Offs and Rankings
The Executive reviewed a list compiled by Brian of the most up-to-date information regarding players added to teams to get the rosters to 13. Brian will be contacting all Managers to validate the information on the lists, and then this information will be used by the two Executive members who have been assigned the duty of taking information provided by the Managers in regards to missing players for the play-offs. John Russo will be the principal contact for Managers for the “B” Division (teams 6 to 10 in the standings), and Wayne Withers will do the “A” Division. Managers will have more information forthcoming from Brian on this.
Appreciation Plaques
Dave Dettman, Equipment Manager, arranged to have plaques that show the League’s appreciation to our sponsors created. Each plaque has a photo of the 2017 team, and is constructed in such a way that the photos can be changed form year to year if we choose to do so. This is most likely a “one shot” deal, and apt this year as the teams all got new sweaters at the expense of the sponsors. Dave is handing out these plaques to our sponsors.
2018 Registrations
John Russo noted that less than ½ of the registration forms have come in so far. A note will go out to Managers and a reminder will be put on the website to get this task done. Concerns were expressed about our ability to sustain 10 teams in the future, as we have had some reluctance on the part of Wednesday League players to fill in spots when the regular league teams run short.
Wednesday League
Discussions took place regarding the viability of this league as well. A previous By-Law had existed that encouraged Wednesday League players to move up when requested on penalty of being dropped from the league if they refused to do so. When regular league numbers were better, this condition was dropped. While the Wednesday League serves a useful purpose as a cache of players for the regular league, it is only useful when players are willing to fill in occasionally during the regular season. John Holmes is to present the feelings of the Executive on this matter to the Wednesday players. It has been noted that there is not much of a net gain or loss to the League in terms of finances. Things are to remain as they are for the 2018 season.
Umpire in Chief
We are pleased to announce that Tim Moody has offered to assume the role of Umpire in Chief for next year. Bill Young will assist him in the transition.
Paid Umpires
Steve brought up the idea of a paid, carded umpire. It was agreed that $100 per day (4 games) might be too costly, but members wondered if there are better deals out there. John Holmes will look into this a bit for us before the next meeting.
By-Law 4 amended
By-Law 4 deals with refunds of fees and additional costs when players move during the season. The wording change was minor, changing the word Treasurer to Executive, at the request of our current Treasurer, Peter McCrea. The wording now reads: “A player called up from the Wednesday League will pay an additional pro-rated fee as determined by the Executive that takes into consideration that he has paid his $50 Wednesday League fee.”
Discussions Surrounding Rule 20
Steve brought up Rule 20, the “force play” rule that we use to minimize collisions at bases. His rationale was that if the base behind the runner is open, the runner has the option to return to it. In our games, runners are usually called out in this situation, because it is assumed that once a player seems committed to getting to the next base, he will not turn back. No doubt, this conversation may take place again, as the situation occurs with great regularity.
Financial Update
Peter McCrea provided an updated financial report that will be put on the website.
Rule Change for 2018
A motion was made by John Russo to change the “no lead-off rule” (Rule 12) to an “anticipation rule”. A player may take a step off the base in anticipation of a hit being made; more than one step and the baserunner is out. The motion carried. The rules will be amended on the website.
Next Meeting
Tim Moody will be invited to the next meeting to take place at 1:00 on Wednesday, October 4.
Submitted by acting Secretary Brian Balcombe
Approved by Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – July 27, 2017
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by President Steve Gardner at Brian Balcombe’s residence.
Present:
Jim Glynn, Vince Bowe, Dave Dettman, Brian Balcombe, Charlie Lauer, John Russo, Steve Gardner, Wayne Withers, John Holmes, Peter McCrae.
Absent: Bill Young.
Minutes:
The minutes of the June 14, 2017 meeting were reviewed. It was noted that the testing of a wooden plate in the Wed ball league is still
underway after some modifications to the ground around home plate by the City. As well Dave Dettman has prepared photo plaques for each of
our sponsors in recognition of their support for the League. A motion to accept the minutes of the June 14, 2017 meeting was made by Wayne
Withers and seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
Registrar’s Report:
We currently have 14 players on leave and 2 have passed away. John’s list shows a total of 126 active players. There was some discussion about the
accuracy of this number. ACTION – John Russo will reconcile his numbers to ensure we have an up to date number.
Wednesday Ball:
John reports that 3 new players have joined the Wed ball league to bring the total to 32. Of these 32 he is aware of 4 players (Brian O’Brien, Dave
Borland, Barry Johnson and Jim Bested) who are willing to move up to the Tue/Thur league. President Steve Gardner will assign these 4 players to
teams based on need and ratings.
Player’s Suggestions:
Steve Gardner has received only one suggestion since our last meeting as follows:
Designated Pitchers – It has been suggested that each team designate 4 players as pitchers and if 3 of them are away that the remaining pitcher
be allowed to pitch the entire game. (Our current rules only allow an individual to pitch a max of 4 innings per game). It was agreed that we
would review this suggestion at the end of the year.
Banquet:
The survey done of all players indicated little support for the traditional banquet we have had in the past. As such it was agreed that we would
change to a Bar-B-Q type format with a cash bar at a location such as the Kinsman arena within a couple of weeks of the end of the season. ACTION
Vince Bowe and Jim Glynn will finalize the details for this year end event.
Financial Update:
Peter McCrae indicted that the books are in good shape with a current balance of approximately $6,200.00.
We did have a discussion about refunds for players that are unable to play due to health issues (Bylaw #4). A motion to amend bylaw #4 to provide a
100% refund up to the end of May, a 50% refund up to the end of July and no refund after July 31 for players who are unable to complete the
season due to health issues was made by Peter McCrae and seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
Peter also indicated that he would be making donations to appropriate charities on behalf of the League for players that have recently passed
away (Bill Bowers and Terry Downer).
Golf Tournament:
Vince indicated that the number of golfers participating has changed from 57 down to 44 as a result of the change in the date. Keystone Golf Club
has been very accommodating in dealing with this change of date and numbers.
Expansion or Reduction for 2018 Season:
There was a wide ranging discussion about our future in terms of number of teams, number of players per team, interest from other communities,
availability of new players, etc. It was agreed that we would review this subject again at the end of the season.
Next Meeting:
The next Executive meeting will take place on Wednesday August 30th at King’s Crossing with lunch at 12:00 p.m. followed by the meeting at 1:00
p.m.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jim Glynn. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Update to all members June 15th from President Gardner
I'm writing this note to bring all players up to speed with some changes that will impact games and hopefully provide some parity to the games. As you are aware we have had a few teams operating short handed during the first month and this has caused some disparity among some teams.To offset this we have drafted some players from the Wed league to fill gaps.
But there are still some teams short handed due to short term injuries and such. This is where we have made some changes and wanted to make you aware, to answer any questions that may come up.
These vacancies will be filled short term by players from Wed league, however very few of them are willing or able to help out, so we have adapted this rule to allow players from the bye teams to be used to offset these shortages only after Wed players have been asked. So, you may see some players from other teams playing against you and you may be asked to fill in for a missing player . This is similar to the playoff format but will only occur after Wed players are approached.
If we continue to see that Wed players don't want to, or are unable to move up, we will need to address how and if we run that league.
There were a number of other issues discussed which you can see in the minutes of the meeting also on the website. (check under Executive/ minutes from meetings)
Hopefully these adjustments will help with numbers if not we may have to look for other solutions going into next year.
Our best recruiting tool in the past is word of mouth so if you have friends who may want to play let's get them out to Wed ball and if they want to play Tuesday- Thursday with out the waiting period that most went through now is the time to get in.
We are in need of all levels of players.
Steve
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – June 14, 2017
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by President Steve Gardner at Steve’s residence.
Present:
Steve Gardner, Peter McCrae, John Holmes, John Russo, Vince Bowe, Wayne Withers, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman, Jim Glynn, Brian Balcombe. Absent: Bill Young, Bill McKnight.
Home Plate:
There was a discussion about the pros and cons of a rubber matt or a wooden board for home plate. The rubber matt was instituted as a safety measure but some have expressed concern that it makes it more difficult for the umpires to call balls and strikes. A motion to prepare and install a wooden plate for a three week trial period in the Wed ball league was made by John Russo and seconded by Wayne Withers. Carried. Executive members will attempt to attend some Wed sessions to aid in the evaluation during this three week trial period.
Mercy Rule:
There was discussion about the need for a mercy rule (e.g. 15 runs after 5 innings) during the regular season to help keep games on time. It was agreed that this idea would be brought forward at next spring’s AGM for further discussion with the players.
Wed Ball Call Ups:
John Holmes reported that he has 7 players willing to be called up on a permanent basis and 7 players willing to be called up on an as needed basis.
Based on the current identified needs and ratings the following call ups will go ahead :
Permanent Call Ups:
Peter Ward – 2 players – Gord Lowes, Dave Hedges
Ziebart – 1 player – Paul Rellinger
Hobie’s – 1 player – Dennis Donavan
Temporary Call Ups:
Douglas Automotive – 1 player – Lee Palmer
Player’s Suggestions:
A variety of suggestions have been brought to the attention of the League President by a number of players as follows:
White Home Plate – It has been suggested that the current orange home plate be replaced with a white home plate. This idea will be put on hold while we evaluate the wooden plate in the Wed league as mentioned above.
Balance of Outfielders and Infielders – It has been suggested that during the draft we attempt to balance the number of outfielders and infielders on each team. While this would be desirable to do, the complexity it would add to the draft makes it impractical at this time.
Sponsor Recognition – It has been suggested that we provide further thanks and recognition to our sponsors for their support of our league. This could take the form of a team photo and plaque which the sponsor could put on display in their place of business. ACTION: Dave Dettman to investigate the cost for photo plaques and report back to the Executive at our next meeting.
Player Substitutions – The current Rule 9(b) allows a manger to request a Wed call up when he will be below 9 players. It has been suggested that this number be raised to 10 players. A motion to amend Rule 9(b) to read as follows “Player Substitution: If a manager knows that he will have 9 players or less, he may contact the President to request a player or players from the Wednesday League of equal or lesser ranking to bring the roster up to 10. If no player is available from the Wednesday League, the President may attempt to get a replacement player from one of the teams that have a bye that game day” was made by Steve Gardner and seconded by Vince Bowe. Carried
Bylaws:
A number of the current bylaws were discussed and amended as follows:
Bylaw 6A now reads: Officers -Officers of the organization will include President, Immediate Past President, Vice President, Treasurer, Registrar, Secretary and other Directors as determined by the President.
Bylaw 7 now reads: Quorum - There must be at least 50% plus 1 officers present at each meeting of the Executive to be a duly constituted meeting.
Bylaw 16 is eliminated. This bylaw made it a requirement for Wed league ball players to move up to the Tue/Thur league when asked. As we no longer enforce this bylaw it has been eliminated.
Bylaw 16 (formerly bylaw 17) now reads: Leave of Absence – Any player may request a leave of absence. Any player wishing to return from a leave of absence will have to re-apply to the Executive to continue in the league. The decision will be at the discretion of the Executive.
Bylaw 18 (formerly bylaw 19) now reads: Injured Player Replacement – When an injured player is going to be absent for more than 2 weeks, a temporary replacement of equal or lesser ranking will be assigned by the President or his delegate. His temporary replacement will remain a player on that team until he returns, or until the end of the season, whichever occurs first.
Banquet:
There has been discussion about potential changes to the yearend event for this year.
ACTION: Vince Bowe to canvas the managers and get their input on what type of year end event we should proceed with this year.
Ken Withers:
In recognition of Ken’s many contributions to our League over the years it was agreed that the League would donate $50.00 to the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of Ken.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Wayne Withers. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – April 12, 2017
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 1:10 p.m. on April 12, 2017 at King’s Crossing by President Steve Gardner.
Present:
Steve Gardner, Dave Dettman, Charlie Lauer, John Russo, John Holmes, Bill Young, Wayne Withers, Jim Glynn. Absent: Peter McCrae, Bill McKnight, Brian Balcombe, Vince Bowe.
Minutes:
The Minutes of the March 1, 2017 meeting were reviewed. A motion to accept the minutes of the March 1, 2017 meeting was made by Jim Glynn and seconded by Bill Young. Carried.
Ratings:
The player ratings have been done for the 2017 season and have been posted on the League web site under the Manager’s information section (restricted access).
There will no doubt be a few adjustments as we learn of players who drop out for a variety of reasons at the last minute.
Wednesday Ball:
John Holmes indicated that he has had 15 news players sign up for Wednesday Ball bringing the total number of players to 44. All of these new players have expressed a desire to move up to the Tue/Thur League as vacancies occur.
ACTION: John Holmes will discuss with each player their desire to move up or stay in Wed Ball and also to sort out the ratings for these new players.
Equipment:
Dave Dettman advised that all the new sweaters have been ordered and that half of them have arrived and the rest will be here in time for the start of the season. As well all the new balls have been purchased.
We have also purchased 3 new batting helmets and 3 new pitching helmets.
Managers will also be receiving new keys for the equipment bunker and for the 2 lock boxes inside the bunker.
A motion to accept the equipment report was made by Wayne Withers and seconded by John Russo. Carried.
Registrar’s Report:
As of today we have 129 players registered and paid. We will require one additional player from the Wed Ball list to bring us to 13 players per team. There are 10-12 players on leave.
A motion accept the Registrar’s report was made by Jim Glynn and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Treasure’s Report:
The necessary changes to our signing authority have been made at the bank to reflect the changes in the executive, e.g. Steve Gardner as new President.
As all the sponsor’s money was used for new sweaters this season our yearend balance will be somewhat lower than previous years but overall the league will still be in good financial shape once all our other bills are paid.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report was made by John Holmes and seconded by Wayne Withers. Carried.
AGM/Draft Day:
The AGM/Draft Day will be held on Tue April 25, 2017 at the Navy Club. The Executive will meet at 9:30 a.m., the Managers at 10:00 a.m., the Umpires at 11:00 a.m. and the AGM/Draft will begin at 1:00 p.m.
ACTION: Steve Gardner will prepare and share with the Executive members a proposed motion to be brought forward at the AGM regarding the opening up of the By-Laws- specifically By-law #11 dealing with Amendments.
ACTION: Jim Glynn will pull together hand out material for the Manager’s meeting, e.g. line up sheets, news paper summary sheets, etc.
Social Events:
As Lakeview Bowl is now one of our League sponsors we will investigate the options for a special event for players at Lakeview Bowl.
There was also discussion about possible changes to the format of the year end banquet.
ACTION: Vince Bowe to investigate the above two items further and report back to the Executive.
Umpire-in-Chief:
Bill Young reported that he has 6 new umpires for this year for a total of 32. This is still below the ideal number of 40 umpires and as a result each umpire will have to do a few extra games. The schedule for umpires will be finalized after the draft is complete when Bill knows which team each umpire is on.
If you are interested in becoming an umpire please contact Bill Young – remember this League runs on volunteers and only works if everyone steps up and takes a turn at helping out!!
A motion to accept the Umpire-in-Chief’s report was made by John Russo and seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
New Business:
1. RULES: A variety of potential rule changes were discussed. At this time the Executive does not propose to change any rules prior to the start of the season. However a few items were considered as worthy of further consideration in the future as follows:
2. HOME PLATE: Rubber vs Wood. The plate was changed to rubber for safety reasons but has caused some concern with the calling of balls and strikes. We are aware that the City has done some modification and maintenance work at the Kinsmen field and these changes may help alleviate the safety concerns associated with the wooden plate. This will be assessed as the season proceeds.
3. SPEEDING UP THE GAMES: Many ideas have been suggested and one that might be worthy of further consideration is starting each at bat with a 1 and 1 count.
4. LEAD OFFS: The current “no lead off” rule will be further reviewed.
Practice Schedule:
The practice schedule for the 2017 season is as follows: (at Kinsmen Field)
Tuesday May 9, 2017
8:00 a.m. – Deeth and White
9:00 a.m. – Ziebart
10:00 a.m. – Currie Tire
11:00a.m. – King’s Crossing
Noon – Hobie’s Sports
Thursday May 11, 2017
8:00 a.m. – McMillan Sports
9:00 a.m. – Peterborough Battery
10:00 a.m. – Douglas Automotive
11:00 a.m. – Lakeview Bowl
Noon – Peter Ward
Sports Hall of Fame:
Don Sherry is being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame and we have received a request to support the effort through the purchase of an ad in their program. A motion to place a $50.00 ad in the Sports Hall of Fame program was made by Jim Glynn and seconded by Wayne Withers. Carried.
ACTION: Jim Glynn to arrange to make this happen.
Next Meeting:
Tuesday April 25th at the Navy Club at 9:30 a.m. followed by the Managers meeting at 10:00 a.m., the Umpires meeting at 11:00 a.m. and the AGM/Draft at 1:00 p.m.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jim Glynn. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – March 1, 2017
Opening:
The meeting of the League Executive was called to order at 1:05 pm on March 1, 2017 at King’s Crossing by President Steve Gardner.
Present:
Steve Gardner, Charlie Lauer, Wayne Withers, Jim Glynn, Bill Young, Bill McKnight, Vince Bowe, Dave Dettman, John Russo, Peter McCrae. Absent: Brian Balcombe, John Holmes
By-law Amendment:
The League’s current by-law #11 states “Any amendments to the By-Laws shall be by a 2/3 majority vote of the members at a General Meeting”. Over the years this by-law in it’s current format has created some difficulties for the executive in dealing with amendments in a timely manner. A motion to amend By-law 11 to allow the Executive to amend By-laws as necessary be brought to the AGM on April 25, 2017 for a vote by the membership was made by Wayne Withers and seconded by Bill McKnight. Carried. It was also recognized that the Executive may from time to time choose to proceed with a referendum if a significant change to a rule or by-law is being considered (as was done with the wooden bat proposal in 2015).
Action – Steve Gardner will contact Brian Balcombe and ask Brian to draft the proposed amendment and rationale which would be circulated to the Executive for review and comment prior to being distributed to the membership.
Sponsors and Sweaters:
The following sponsors and sweater colours were confirmed for the upcoming season:
Peter Ward – Yellow
Deeth and White – White and Red
Uniglass Plus Ziebart – Blue
Hobies Sports – Orange
McMillan Sports – Red
Douglas Automotive – Light Blue
King’s Crossing – Light Grey
Lakeview Bowl – Light Green
Peterborough Battery – Dave Dettman and Steve Gardner to confirm new colour with sponsor
Currie Tire – Dave and Steve to confirm new color with sponsor
The sweaters for Peter Ward have been re-crested by Peter. Hobies and McMillans will being buying their own sweaters. Dave Dettman will be purchasing new sweaters for the other 7 teams.
Action: Dave Dettman and Steve Gardner to review the various materials for sweaters and select the most appropriate.
Ratings:
The ratings committee will be chaired by Wayne Withers and include Steve Gardner, Jim Glynn, John Holmes, John Russo and Len Clancey. They will have the ratings completed prior to next Executive meeting on April 12th.
Number of Players per Team:
We currently have 135 players registered for the league and always seem to lose a few more for a variety of reasons as the start of the season approaches. As such it was decided that we will go with 13 players per team for the 2017 season. If we still have more than 130 players registered on Draft Day (April 25), the last players in will be the ones reassigned to Wed ball with the understanding that they will be the first ones to be called up as new players are needed.
Insurance:
We will go with the same carrier and plan as last year. John Russo will take care of getting the appropriate insurance coverage letter to satisfy the requirements of the City.
Rules:
A number of potential rule changes were discussed related to player safety, speeding up the games, umpiring challenges and the playoffs. There were pros and cons to all of these ideas and further discussion on some of these items will take place in the future.
Managers:
It appears that we still might be short one or two managers. Steve Gardner will finalize the list ASAP.
Annual Audit:
By-law #10 states “An audit of the fiscal year’s finances and records will be conducted on an annual basis”. League President Steve Gardner read a letter from Jack Darwin that indicated that he had reviewed the books and that everything was in order. Thanks to Jack for doing this review for the League.
Banking:
With the change in President of the League there is a need to change the signing authority at the bank. This requires the new President, the past President and the Treasurer to all attend a meeting at the Bank together to sign the necessary documents. Peter McCrae will make arrangement for a meeting with the bank as soon as possible.
Future Meetings:
Wed April 12, 2017 – Executive Meeting at King’s Crossing at 1:00 p.m. (lunch at noon).
Tue April 25, 2017 – AGM/Draft day at the Navy Club. Executive meet at 9:00 am, Managers meet at 10:00 am, Umpires meet at 11:00 am, AGM/Draft at 1:00 pm.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Bill McKnight and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm by President Steve Gardner.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Steve Gardner
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – October 12, 2016
Opening:
The regular meeting of the League executive was called to order at 1:05 p.m. on October 12, 2016 at King’s Crossing by President Bill McKnight.
Present: Bill Young, John Holmes, Dave Dettman, Vince Bowe, John Crawford, Peter McCrae, Bill McKnight, Jim Glynn, Dave Foster, Brian Balcombe, Steve Gardner, Charlie Lauer, Bob Cooling.
Minutes:
The minutes of the August 26, 2016 regular meeting were reviewed. A motion to accept the minutes of the August 26, 2016 meeting was made by Bill Young and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Peter McCrae distributed an up to date financial statement which showed a current balance of $7107.47. With the change in some of the executive positions there is a need to change signing authority at the bank.
ACTION – Peter McCrae, Steve Gardner and Bill McKnight to go to the bank and make the necessary changes to the League’s signing authority.
We also discussed the current fees that we are being charged by the bank.
ACTION – Peter McCrae and Jim Glynn to explore other financial institutions to determine if we can do things at less cost.
There was a wide ranging discussion about the current size of our balance and possible uses for this money. A motion to put the majority of these funds in short term GIC as a contingency fund after we have determined if we will move to a new financial institution was made by Jim Glynn and seconded by John Crawford. Carried.
Peter also indicated that Jack Darwin has agreed to review the League’s books at no charge.
Registrar’s Report:
Jim Glynn indicated that we currently have 142 players registered for next summer. Based on previous years experience we will probably have 10 to 12 of these players drop out for a variety of reasons. Brian Balcombe will post a notice on the web site in March (prior to the draft) to ask players to notify the League if their playing status has changed. A motion to accept the Registrar’s report was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Bob Cooling. Carried.
Welcome to Dave Foster who will be taking over as the League’s Registrar.
Wednesday Ball:
Bob Cooling indicated that he ended the year with 18 players, the majority of which were not interested in moving up to Tue/Thur ball. Bob will share the names of those players who are interested in moving up with the ratings committee in time for next year’s draft.
Welcome to John Holmes who will be taking over as the Wed Ball Coordinator.
Umpire-in-Chief:
Bill Young advised that he had 39 umpires last year. He will be losing 4 of these but has 3 new volunteers for next year. He would like to find an additional 5 or 6 if possible. The umpires meeting on the morning of the AGM/Draft Day will be an in service training session. Bill will also explore the possibility of a second in service training session in order to accommodate people’s schedules.
Equipment:
Dave Dettman indicated that he has ordered 13 dozen balls from Hobies Sports and ordered hats for next year from McMillan Sports. We also discussed the batting helmets and pitching helmets.
ACTION: Dave Dettman to explore the purchase of new batting helmets and pitching helmets in a variety of sizes and specifications e.g. CSA approved.
Web Site:
Brian Balcombe indicated that the web site software has been upgraded and has a slightly different look. This update was necessary in order to add a back up Web master (Dave Foster) in the event that Brian is away or unable to maintain the web site. Brian has also completed the schedule for 2017 and will be posting the important dates for next year on the web site as follows:
AGM/Draft Day – Tuesday April 25th, 2017 at the Evinrude Centre.
Season begins – Tuesday May 16, 2017
ACTION- Charlie Lauer to book rooms at the Evinrude Centre for April 25th, 2017 and also book the fields with the City for the 2017 season.
New Business:
a) Duties of new executive members: It was agreed that we will add two “members at large” with duties as assigned by the President.
b) Length of games: there will be no time limit imposed for games for next year. All players, managers and umpires will be encouraged to keep games moving.
c) Playing rules: There were a number of proposed changes for next year as follows:
Rule #13 – dealing with safety. Add the following;
batting helmets are required for all batters and base runners – a player who enters the batting box without a helmet will be ordered to don a helmet and will be assessed 1 strike.
Pitchers are required to wear a protective helmet and face protector
Rule # 25 – dealing with jewellery – will be changed to a recommendation.
Rule #30 – dealing with replacements for injured players - will be dropped.
Rule # 33 – dealing with infield fly rule – there will be no infield fly rule.
Rule #9 – dealing with number of players needed to start a game – will remain at nine and we will drop part b dealing with player substitution.
Rule #31 – number of players per team – will be reduced from 14 to 13 (depending on actual registration numbers in April)
New Rule – dealing with tie breaking;
Regular Season – 1) team with the most wins prevails
2) team with the fewer runs against prevails
Playoffs – 1) team with the best head to head record prevails
2) if 3 teams tide, team with the best run differential prevails
d) ByLaws: The current bylaws can only be changed with a 2/3 majority at the Annual General Meeting.
ACTION – Brian Balcombe will post the proposed changes on the web site prior to next year’s AGM.
Sponsors/Sweaters: We are continuing to search for a few new sponsors who will be asked to purchase new sweaters for next year (approx $400.00 per team). As per our current Bylaws (bylaw #18) sponsors will not be asked to pay the $140.00 sponsorship fee in a year when they purchase new sweaters.
ACTION - Peter McCrae to send invoices to all sponsors in the New Year once the list of sponsors has been finalized.
Next Meeting:
The next Executive meeting will take place on Wed April 12, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at King’s Crossing. Members are encouraged to have lunch at the restaurant at noon.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by John Crawford and seconded by Peter McCrae. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m. by President Bill McKnight.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Bill McKnight
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2016
Opening:
The regular meeting of the League executive was called to order at 1:00 p.m. on August 26, 2016 at King’s crossing by President Bill McKnight.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Bill Young, Dave Dettman, Brian Balcombe, Steve Gardner, Charlie Lauer, Jim Glynn, Vince Bowe, John Crawford, Bob Cooling. Absent: Peter McCrae.
Minutes:
The Minutes of the June 24, 2016 regular meeting were reviewed. This generated a discussion about the use of the rubber matt and it was agreed that the rubber matt would continue to be used in the future for safety reasons and also a motion to cut the front of the rubber matt around home plate for the 2017 season was made by John Crawford and seconded by Bill Young. Carried.
A motion to accept the minutes of the June 24, 2016 meeting was made by Jim Glynn and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Bill McKnight presented the report on behalf of Peter McRae. We are in good financial shape and have paid the majority of our bills for the 2016 season with the exception of the new score board which will be paid in the near future.
It was also pointed out that some of our sponsors have not paid for the 2016 season and have indicated that they will not be continuing as sponsors in the future. These sponsors will be dropped from the league going forward.
ACTION - Bill McKnight to send a Thank You letter to these outgoing sponsors for their past years of support for our league.
As well we discussed the need to once again have an independent review of our books by a third party and pay that person the same fee as last year for this review.
ACTION – Bill McKnight to ask Jack Darwin to do a review of the books for 2016.
Registrar’s Report:
Jim Glynn advised that the registration forms for next year have been distributed to the Managers.
We also discussed a concern about the Executive not being made aware of certain things (e.g. major injuries) until well after the fact. As such a motion for the 2017 season that Managers must report injuries or extended leaves to the President in a timely manner was made by Jim Glynn and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Wednesday Ball:
Bob Cooling advised that there are currently 24 active players of which 15 will be willing to move up next season and 9 wish to remain in Wed ball. They will conclude this year’s season the 3rd week of Sept.
John Holmes has agreed to take over Wed Ball starting in 2017. Welcome John.
A big THANK YOU to BOB COOLING for his 5+ years of service at Wed Ball.
Banquet:
The banquet is set for Thur Oct 6, 2016. The tickets have been printed and will cost $30.00 per person. Our actual cost will be $33.00 per person.
We also discussed the list of those who will receive complimentary tickets, e.g. managers, sponsors, non playing umpires and a few dignitaries.
Umpire-in-Chief:
Bill Young advised that the League had received a Thank You card from the Special Olympics for providing umpires and equipment for their tournament. He also indicated that we could use more volunteers in the future for this event.
Bob held a training session for umpires although attendance was a bit low.
Once the playoff schedule is set Bob will do the umpire schedule with umpires from the bottom half teams doing the games in the top half and vise versa.
Equipment:
Dave feels that up to 8 teams may need new sweaters. This will be further discussed once we have finalized the sponsors for next year. As well we will need some additional sweaters for umpires next year.
Dave will have the League Champs and A and B Champ shirts ready for the banquet in October.
Web Site:
Brian indicated that there is an annual cost of $40.00 to keep our web site up and running. All agreed that this was a reasonable and worthwhile expense.
We also discussed the need for a back up web master and the potential hardware needs, software costs ($99.00) and training requirements to do this.
ACTION - Brian to discuss this position with Dave Foster.
Brian also indicated that he did not have all of the player ratings and that this will be essential for the playoffs.
ACTION- Brian to provide the names to Bill McKnight who will then contact the appropriate managers to finalize the ratings.
Brian has also received some requests from past players who would like to return to the league without going through the step of playing Wed ball. It was agreed that all players would follow our current process for entering the league.
New Business:
a) # of players per team – For a variety of reasons (injuries, fewer players in the League) only 5 teams have had a full 14 player roster this year. The other teams have played with 13 or 12 players for the majority of the season. We discussed the potential work load associated with bringing all teams up to 14 players for the playoffs and the fact that the current standings are in fact a reflection of number of players that teams have been playing with all season. As such a motion for the 2016 playoffs, teams will play with the number of players that they played with for the majority of the season as follows: McMillan Sports 13, Hobbies 12, Peterborough Emissions 14, Peter Ward 13, Deeth & White12, Brew Kettle 14, Uniglass Plus Ziebart 14, Wayne’s Warriors 14, Rooney Electric 13, Bob Kelly Automotive 14 was made by John Crawford and seconded by Steve Gardner. Carried. ACTION – Bill McKnight to advise all managers of the change for the playoffs.
b) Pick up of players: The current rule 9 (a) states that a team must have 9 players on the field to start a game or must forfeit the game. There was a discussion about changing this rule to 10 players. This item will be brought forward a next spring’s AGM/Draft for further discussion. As well a motion to create a Rules and Bylaws Committee was made by Brian Balcombe and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
c) Web Site suggestion box: Some players have put forward the idea of a suggestion box on our League web site. Our current web site will not accommodate such a function. All players are encouraged to bring ideas, concerns or compliments to the attention of an Executive member.
d) Playoff rainouts: A motion that any playoff rainouts will be moved to the end of the round robin was made by Brian Balcombe and seconded by Bob Cooling. Carried.
e) Future Executive: There will be a number of changes to next year’s executive as follows: Steve Gardner will move from VP to President, Jim Glynn will move from Registrar to VP, Bill McKnight will move from President to Past President. John Crawford will move from Past President to a well deserved rest, Bob Cooling will move from Wed Ball Coordinator to a well deserved rest, John Holmes will be the new Wed Ball coordinator and Dave Foster will be the new Registrar. All other Executive members will remain in their current roles: Peter McCrae – Treasurer, Charlie Lauer – Secretary, Umpire-in-Chief – Bill Young, Equipment – Dave Dettman, Web Master/Communications – Brian Balcombe, and Social Coordinator – Vince Bowe. In addition we may add a couple of at large members to help us out.
f) Sponsors: There have been some changes to our sponsors and various executive members are working to finalize the sponsors for next year.
g) Team Managers: There will be some turnover in the manager ranks for next year. Thank you to Bill Gordanier, Dave Dettman and Bob Grimes who have stepped up to help fill the vacancies. We still need a few more and discussed what incentives might be necessary for others to come forward. Anyone who is interested in managing a team is encouraged to let one of the Executive know.
h) Playoff Substitute Players: The group responsible for selecting player substitutions for the playoffs will be Steve Gardner, Vince Bowe and Bill Young. Bill will also assign the umpires once he knows the final standings.
Next Meeting:
The next Executive meeting will take place on Wed Oct 12. 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at King’s Crossing. Members are encouraged to have lunch at the restaurant at noon.
ACTION – Bill McKnight to invite the new Executive members to this meeting.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Bob Cooling and Seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m. by President Bill Mcknight.
Minutes submitted by; Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by; Bill McKnight
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – June 24, 2016
Opening:
The regular meeting of the League executive was called to order at 12:55 p.m. on June 24, 2016 at King’s crossing by President Bill McKnight.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Brian Balcombe, Charlie Lauer, John Crawford, Vince Bowe, Dave Dettman, Bill Young, Bob Cooling, Steve Gardner. Absent: Peter McCrae, Jim Glynn.
Minutes:
The minutes of the April 6, 2016 regular meeting, April 19, 2016 AGM and Draft Day, April 19, 2016 meeting and the May 25th meeting were previously distributed. The Action items from these minutes were reviewed. A motion to accept these 4 sets of minutes was made by Brian Balcombe and seconded by John Crawford. Carried.
Executive Roles:
The functions for each executive position had been previously distributed to all members and were discussed. A number of changes were suggested.
Action – Charlie Lauer to revise the Executive Roles document as per our discussion and distribute it to the executive members.
Action – Brian Balcombe to post this new document on the League web site.
Treasure’s Report:
The League is in good financial shape. The invoice from the City for the rental of the Kinsman ball field has been received and will be paid shortly. This is our largest expense of the year.
Registrar’s Report:
The most recent list of rookies was distributed.
Wednesday Ball:
Bob Cooling reported that we started the year with 36 players then lost 4 to injuries, 12 have moved up to Tue/Thur ball, 1 new player joined late, and 4 more are expected to move up to Tue/Thur ball soon. As such the current total of Wed Ball players is 16.
Action – Bob Cooling to provide names to the managers of teams that still require players.
Umpire-in-Chief:
The timing of games is still causing some concern. The use of the stop watch and clear declaration of the last inning by umpires has helped. All umpires and managers to be reminded of the wording of our approach to keep the games on time – “no new inning will start after 1 hour and 5 minutes”. If a game ends early the next game can start when the managers agree or at the regularly scheduled time.
There will be an in-service training session for umpires and those interested in becoming umpires at the Kinsmen field on July 11, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
Action – Bill Young to advise all umpires of this training session.
Action – Brian Balcombe to post this event on the League web site.
Bill Young will again be seeking umpires to help out with the Special Olympics ball tournament on July 16, 2016.
Equipment:
Dave Dettman gave an update on the costs associated with buying a 25th anniversary shirt for all players, managers and umpires. We also discussed the need to replace most of the team sweaters for next year and which of our sponsors might be willing to purchase new sweaters.
Action – Bill Mcknight and Steve Gardner will contact our sponsors of teams with older uniforms and discuss the need for new sweaters.
Dave Dettman will hold off on buying the 25th anniversary shirts until we have a better feel for the level of support we have from sponsors.
We also discussed the warning labels on some of our recently purchased bats and the potential liability this might create for the League.
Action - Bill McKnight to contact our insurance company rep to discuss this concern and determine if we need to pull these bats.
We also discussed the current home plate (2 ft x 3 ft plywood) and the potential safety hazard it presents and the possible alternatives we could use. A motion to replace the current wooden home plate with a white rubber mat was made by Bob Cooling, seconded by Vince Bowe. Carried.
Action – Dave Dettman to purchase a 2 ft x 3ft white rubber mat.
Web Site:
Brian Balcombe outlined a number of potential updates to the web site. A motion to amend our rules including the change from SPN rules to NSA rules as a result of our change in insurance carrier, the modification of rule 10 to reflect the notification of players about cancellations using email and the web site, and a change to rule 35 to reflect the NSA rules that a game be considered a regulation game after 4.5 innings was made by Bill McKnight and seconded by Dave Dettmen. Carried.
Brian noted that he needs to get “injury forms” for new players when they move up from Wed ball.
New Business:
a) Lead off rule – there has been some concern raised about our current lead off rule (rule #12 – No lead offs are permitted. A base runner is out if he fails to keep contact with the base ….). It was agreed that this rule will brought forward for further discussion at next year’s AGM.
b) Mercy rule, runners, tie games – other suggestions from players for additional rule changes e.g. 10 run mercy rule, designated runners from behind home plate, putting a runner on second base with one out for tie games were all discussed and determined not to proceed with any of these changes at this time.
c) New Score Board – The current score board which recognizes the contributions to the success of the League made by Don Sherry will be replaced with a new score board thanks to the ongoing financial support of Mrs. Sherry.
d) Bulletin Board - A plaque which recognizes the contributions made to the league by Jack Mackness will be purchased by the League and placed on the Bulletin Board.
e) Injured Player Replacement – The current bylaw #19 that deals with injured players has come into question on several occasions recently. This bylaw will be brought forward for further discussion at next year’s AGM.
Next Meeting:
The next Executive meeting will take place on Friday August 26, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at Kings Crossing. Members are encouraged to have lunch at the restaurant at noon.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Bob Cooling, seconded by John Crawford. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m. by Bill McKnight.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Bill McKnight
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – May 25, 2016
Opening:
The League meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. on May 25, 2016 at Brian Balcombe’s residence by President Bill McKnight.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Charlie Lauer, Brian Balcombe, Steve Gardner, Dave Dettman, Bill Young, Vince Bowe, John Crawford, Peter McCrae. Absent – Jim Glynn, Bob Cooling.
New Players:
Some members of the Executive spent part of the morning helping rate players from Wednesday ball. With the large number of new players in Wed ball it was agreed that a couple more weeks was required to do the ratings. Players will then be called up as needed for temporary replacements for Tue/Thur Ball.
Speeding up the Games:
There continues to be lots of concern about how long the games are taking and how far behind schedule we are by the end of the day. A variety of possible solutions were discussed and debated. A motion that no new inning will start after 1 hour and 5 minutes will be instituted effective Tue May 31 for the rest of the 2016 regular season (this final inning will be unlimited runs) and managers will be responsible for posting the scores on the score board was made by Steve Gardner and seconded by Brian Balcombe. Carried.
Playoff games will still be 7 full innings.
Bylaws:
The need to change a number of the current bylaws was discussed, however Bylaw #11 states that any amendments to the Bylaws shall be by a 2/3 majority vote of the members at a General Meeting. As such Bylaws #16 (Wednesday Ball) and #19 (Injured Player Replacement) will be placed on the agenda for next spring’s Annual General meeting.
Rules:
A number of potential rule changes were discussed. A motion to delete Rule #32 (“if a substitute player is brought up to replace non-designated pitcher, that player cannot pitch for that team”) was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Vince Bowe. Carried.
There was also discussion about rule #2 and the need to insure that pitchers are not pitching from in front of the rubber.
Action – Bill McKnight to send an email to all managers to alert them to the above mentioned changes.
Umpires:
Bill Young will be putting on a clinic for the umpires and Dave Dettman will purchase some additional umpire shirts.
Next Meeting:
The next Executive meeting will be at 1:00 p.m. on Friday June 24, 2016 at King’s Crossing. All members are encouraged to attend for lunch at noon.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman and seconded by Bill Young. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m. by Bill McKnight.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Bill McKnight
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League - EXECUTIVE MEETING
Meeting Minutes – April 16, 2016
Opening:
A brief executive meeting took place immediately following the Annual General Meeting and Draft at the Evinrude Centre.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Charlie Lauer, Steve Gardner, Vince Bowe, Bill Young, Dave Dettman, John Crawford, Brian Balcombe, Jim Glynn. Absent Peter McCrae, Bob Cooling
The Draft:
There were some very minor modifications made to the draft to accommodate some late entries into the league. This will give more of the teams a 14 player roster.
Web Site:
We have had a couple of requests to post “non league” items on our web site. It was agreed that our web site will only be used for league related information.
Action – Bill McKnight to advise Larry Card of this decision.
We will also include player’s phone numbers on the site.
Brian Balcombe will check the Kinsman field on game days and post any rainouts on the web site and also send an email to all the players.
Communications/Media:
With the player numbers having fallen below 140 there is a need to more aggressively recruit new players.
Action – Vince Bowe to contact the appropriate dignitaries and media outlets to attend our opening day ceremonies. As well Vince will prepare an article about our League and submit it to the local newspapers.
Executive Duties:
There was a discussion about the various duties of each of the positions on the executive and the need to ensure that all necessary tasks are being addressed.
Action – Each Executive member to briefly describe the main functions of their position (a few bullet points) and submit them to Charlie Lauer who will compile the material for future reference.
Practice Times:
Our current contract with the City for the use of the Kinsmen field begins on opening day. Most teams will want to get together at least once before the season starts for a practice.
Action – Charlie Lauer to contact the City and see if we can get on the field the Tue and Thur the week before the season begins.
Timetable for games:
There has been concern expressed by many that the games are running too long and the last game especially is often starting half an hour later than scheduled. We need to speed things up where ever possible.
Action – Bill McKnight to advise the managers to keep the games moving.
Action – Bill Young to advise the umpires to keep the games moving.
Next Meeting:
The next executive meeting will take place on Friday June 24 at 1:00 p.m. at Kings Crossing. Members are encouraged to have lunch at the restaurant at noon.
Action – Bill McKnight to contact Kings Crossing regarding the use of their meeting room on the 24th.
The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Bill McKnight
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League
Annual General Meeting and Draft Day
Meeting Minutes – April 19, 2016
Welcome:
League President Bill McKnight called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. and welcomed all players for the 2016 season.
Heart and Stroke Fundraiser:
Amie Bronson from the Heart and Stroke Foundation thanked everyone for their efforts last year when over $5000.00 was raised. This brings our total to over $18,000.00 in the last 4 years. This year’s fund raising tournament is tentatively set for Friday Aug 11, 2016. A signup sheet was passed around and there will be further opportunity to sign up once our season starts. Len Clancey is the league rep for this event if you are interested in playing.
Introduction of Executive:
Bill McKnight introduced the league executive for 2016.
Introduction of Managers:
Bill McKnight introduced the Team Managers for 2016.
Team Sponsors:
Bill McKnight identified the team sponsors for 2016 and reminded everyone to support these sponsors with your business whenever possible.
Wednesday Ball:
Bob Cooling indicated that we have 16 returning players and 9 new ones for Wed ball. Players from the Tue/Thur league are welcome to join in with the Wed group if they want to get in some extra game time. Games are 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. at the Kinsmen field every Wed during the regular season. If anyone knows of players who would like to join the Wed league please let Bob know. As well we will be looking for someone to take over the leadership of the Wed ball next year. If you are interested please talk to Bob or any member of the executive.
Registration:
At the time of the player rating meeting we had 132 players (down from our normal 140). As such some teams will have 13 players and some teams will have 14 players.
If a team is short players they must abide by League Rules 9 (a) “A team must have 9 players and if fewer they forfeit the game” and 9 (b) “If the manager knows he will be below 11 players he should contact the manager of Wed ball for replacement players”. There are no substitutions allowed from players in the stands.
Some teams have just one designated pitcher who can only pitch a maximum of 4 innings per game. The manager will have to have other players on their roster pitch the other 3 innings.
Umpire-in-Chief:
Bill Young advised the players that the schedule for the umpires will be posted on the web site following the draft. If anyone else is interested in umpiring some games please advise Bill Young.
There has been one change to the rules for the upcoming season – the infield fly rule will be eliminated on a trial basis for the 2016 season. This change generated much discussion and will be reevaluated be the executive at the end of the season.
There was also a request from the floor to eliminate the lead off rule. This will be further discussed at the next executive meeting.
Equipment Update:
Dave Dettman has acquired a number of new bats and helmets for the upcoming season. As well the new hats were available at the meeting for managers to pick up.
Schedule:
The season begins on Tuesday May 17th. The official opening ceremonies will be between games 2 and 3.
Web Site:
Thanks to Brian Balcombe’s efforts our new league web site is up and running. The players were advised that they can find game schedules, team lists, executive meeting minutes, financial reports, etc on the site.
If a game is rained out it will be posted on the web site, an email sent to every player and aired on Country 105. If players do not have access to email, their manager will phone them about rain outs.
Draft:
The new teams for the 2016 season were then drafted and recorded on flip charts. This information will be posted on the web site and team managers will be contacting their players in the near future.
The draft and meeting concluded at 2:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Approved by: Bill McKnight
Peterborough Men’s Senior Slo-Pitch League
Meeting Minutes – April 6, 2016
Opening:
The regular meeting of the League was called to order at 1:05 p.m. on April 6, 2016 at King’s Crossing by President Bill McKnight.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman, John Crawford, Jim Glynn, Bob Cooling, Steve Gardner. Absent: Brian Balcombe, Peter McCrae, Bill Young, Vince Bowe.
League Insurance:
John Russo made a presentation on the 3 options available for insurance through NSA and also answered questions from the executive. A discussion followed regarding the merits of remaining with our current insurance (SPN) or switching to NSA, which was significantly cheaper in cost. A motion to switch to the NSA (option 2) insurance package was made by John Crawford and seconded by Bob Cooling. Carried.
Action: Bill McKnight to contact John Russo and advised him of our decision and request a “Certificate of Insurance” which names the City of Peterborough as an additional insured.
Action: Charlie Lauer to deliver the Certificate of Insurance to the City of Peterborough no later than 2 weeks prior to the start of the regular season.
Minutes:
The Minutes of the October 21, 2015 meeting were previously distributed. The Action items from the minutes were reviewed. A motion to accept the minutes was made by John Crawford and seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
The league’s financial reports are now available on our web site. At the request of the League’s executive the books were reviewed by an independent accountant (Jack Darwin) who has provided the League with a letter indicating that all is in order with our financials and book keeping.
Wednesday Ball:
Bob Cooling reported that he currently has 14 returning players and 6 new ones for Wed ball and that very few of these players are interested in moving up to play Tue/Thur ball for a variety of reasons. All League players are encouraged to help recruit new players for Wed ball. Thanks to Bob who has done a great job of handing the Wed ball for the past few years .If anyone is
interested in taking this one on beginning with the 2017 season please let Bob know.
Action: Bob Cooling to provide e-mail addresses for Wed ball players to Brian Balcombe.
Registrar’s Report:
Jim Glynn advised that there were only 133 (normally 140) players registered at the time of the ratings meeting and as such each team will have only 13 players (normally 14). Although a few teams will end up with a 14th player to ensure that all registered players have been assigned to a team. As well there were not enough players identified as pitchers to ensure that each team has two designated pitchers. A motion that the Wednesday (Rookie) League be open to all age-eligible players regardless of their intention to play in the Tuesday/Thursday league was made by Jim Glynn, seconded by Bob Cooling. Carried.
Umpire-in-Chief:
Bill Young was unable to attend the meeting.
Action: Bill McKnight to call Bill Young to make sure everything is in order for the upcoming season.
Equipment Up-date:
Dave Dettman advised that he has ordered hats for the 2016 season and has a buyer for our composite bats which we tried out on an experimental basis last season. Any expired equipment will be donated to the Peterborough Special Olympics organization. A motion to split the order for league T-shirts between our two sponsors, Hobies Sports and McMillan Sports was made by Dave Dettman, seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
Action: Jim Glynn to purchase 4 new batting helmets (with side flaps on both sides) and 4 new bats.
Schedule:
The 2016 schedule was prepared by Bob Boyce (thanks Bob) and has been posted on the league web site. We are currently in search of someone to fill this vacant position on the executive. Let us know if you are interested.
Web Site:
Brian Balcombe has done a great job of moving this initiative forward – thanks Brian!! You can now find Minutes of the Executive meetings, treasurer’s reports, League schedule, field status on game day (rain outs), etc on our web site.
New Business:
a)Smoking and Alcohol – we received a reminder letter from the City that there is no smoking or alcohol allowed at the ball field.
b)Infield Fly Rule – After much discussion a motion to eliminate the infield fly rule for the 2016 season was made by Steve Gardner, seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
Next Meeting:
The executive members will convene for a brief meeting immediately following the draft on April 19th at the Evinrude Centre. Members were also encouraged to come for lunch when meetings are being held at Kings Crossing as they have been kind enough in the past to provide us with a meeting room at no charge.
Adjournment: A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Bob Cooling, seconded by John Crawford. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m. by Bill McKnight.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Bill McKnight
Meeting Minutes – October 21, 2015
Opening:
The regular meeting of the League was called to order at 1:05 p.m. on Oct 21, 2015 at King’s Crossing by President Bill McKnight.
Present:
Bill McKnight, Charlie Lauer, Dave Dettman, John Crawford, Jim Glynn, Brian Balcombe, Peter McCrae. Absent: Bob Cooling, Bill Young, Bob Boyce, Vince Bowe.
Approval of Agenda:
The agenda was approved as distributed prior to the meeting.
Minutes:
The minutes of the Aug 15, 2015 were previously distributed. The Action items from the minutes were reviewed. A motion to approve the minutes was made by John Crawford and seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Peter McCrae indicated that there were only a few small outstanding bills and that the books were in good shape. The cost for our Web Site was considerably less that initially budgeted.
A motion to pay George Watts a $200.00 consulting fee and thank him for his help with the web site was made by Peter McCrae, seconded by Jim Glynn. Carried.
Peter identified 3 areas of concern. One – It appears that the City may not have charged us for Wed ball. He has advised the City and as such we may receive an invoice for approximately $1000.00. Two – Persons in charge of special events, e.g. the banquet, must reconcile their ticket numbers with their money before submitting money and tickets to Peter. Special event coordinators will be made aware of this prior to next year’s events. Three – Peter is concerned that the Treasurer has too much control/autonomy and that we need to build in some additional checks and balances without over complicating a system (e.g. one signature) that is currently working well.
A motion to have Peter McRae approach Jack Darwin to ask him to audit the books once per year before the end of December and pay him an honorarium of $100.00 was made by Jim Glynn, seconded by Brian Balcombe. Carried.
(Note – If Jack is not available to do this then Bill McKnight will approach Dave Foster with the same request)
A motion to move the majority of our cash into an open GIC for the winter months to generate funds to cover off bank fees was made by Peter McRae, seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
With the costs of the new web site sorted out and no requests to purchase new Team Jerseys our cash position is in very good shape.
A motion to rescind the hold on the purchase of league T-shirts for all players for next spring up to a max of $3500.00 was made by Jim Glynn, seconded by Dave Dettman. Carried.
ACTION – Dave Dettman to pursue the purchase of long sleeved blue T-shirts for all players, non playing mangers and non playing umpires.
A motion to accept the treasurer’s report was made by Jim Glynn, seconded by John Crawford. Carried.
Registrar’s Report:
Jim Glynn has called all players on the “on leave” list to determine their status for next season. He will forward the finalized list of players to the President for final approval. Jim will also add “e-mail address” to the registration form for next year.
A motion to accept the registrar’s report was made by Charlie Lauer, seconded by John Crawford. Carried.
Wednesday Ball:
By the end of the year we were down to 18 players in Wed ball of which 10-12 were unable to move up for valid reasons and the other 6 did not want to move up. As this is our feed group it is important to keep the Wed ball viable.
Equipment Up-date:
Dave Dettman indicated that this year’s winners all were happy with the T-shirts. We were able to return 7 dozen balls at year end and will only need to order 3 dozen balls and a few new bats for next year.
ACTION – Jim Glynn will order 4 double flap helmets for next year.
Schedule:
Bob Boyce has done the schedule for next season and it is up on the league web site. The starting date for next year’s season is Tuesday May 17, 2016.
Insurance:
The sweat shirts that were to be provided by our insurance carrier have still not been received.
ACTION – Bill Mcknight to contact the insurance company and advise them to deliver the sweat shirts to Peter McRae as Bill will be heading to Florida soon.
New Business:
a)Web Site – Brian reviewed a variety of items associated with the new web site, e.g. what information should be posted, who has access to what information, the format for items such as game status, etc. It appears that the majority of players have access to the web and this should reduce the amount of work associated with the manager’s role. Brian also indicated that he made some very minor changes to the League Bylaws when he was posting the rules and bylaws on the site. A Motion to amend the Bylaws as per the changes on the web site was made by Brian Balcombe, seconded by John Crawford. Carried.
b)Sponsors – ACTION – Bill McKnight to follow up with Bob Kelly Automotive regarding their status as a sponsor for next year.
c)2016 Executive – the Executive for next season is as follows; President – Bill McKnight, VP – vacant, Past President – John Crawford, Secretary – Charlie Lauer, Treasurer – Peter McRae, Registrar – Jim Glynn, Wednesday Ball – Bob Cooling, Umpire in Chief – Bill Young (new), Equipment – Dave Dettman, Scheduling – Bob Boyce (new), Recreational Activities, Flowers and Gifts – Vince Bowe , Webmaster – Brian Balcombe (new). A motion to accept the new Executive members was made by Jim Glynn, seconded by Peter McRae. Carried. Thanks to those new members for stepping forward.
d) New Managers – there are three new mangers for next year as follows: Brian Webb – Deeth and White, Bill Deveraux – Peter Ward 21, Bob Race – Brew Kettle. A motion to accept the new Managers was made by Charlie Lauer, seconded by John Crawford. Carried. Thanks to these new managers for volunteering.
e)Sport Show – We had a booth at this event at the Evinrude Centre but it was the wrong demographic for our league. Next year we will consider attending the senior’s Expo instead.
f)Meeting with the City – at the upcoming Sport User Advisory Meeting with the City we will raise concerns about grass cutting in the outfield and grooming of the infield.
g)Rules and Bylaws – it is important for all Executive members to be familiar with the rules and bylaws of the league as we are often questioned about these things at the ball park.
h)Ratings Meeting – the ratings meeting for next season will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at Bill McKnight’s house.
i)AGM/Draft Day – the AGM/Draft Day will be held at the Evinrude Centre on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The Umpires will meet at 10:00 a.m., the Managers will meet at 11:00 a.m. and the AGM/Draft will be at 1:00 p.m. ACTION – Charlie Lauer to book the room at the Evinrude Centre.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be scheduled following the AGM/Draft on April 19, 2016.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dave Dettman. Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 p.m. by Bill McKnight.
Minutes submitted by: Charlie Lauer
Minutes approved by: Bill McKnight