QUINCY UNITED SOCCER CLUB
    

Quincy United Soccer Club, Inc.

Board Meeting Minutes

April 9, 2008

Board Members/Officers/Team Representatives Present:   Jim Murphy, President;  Lori Schulz, Treasurer; Nancy Dreyer, Secretary;  Greg Reis, Vice-President, U11B and U14B Coach; Terry Bower, Director of Operations, and U-15B Coach;  Mike Foster, U14G Team Representative and Director At Large; Steve Venvertloh, U17/U18B Coach and Director At Large; Mike Plant, U15B Team Representative and Director At Large; Jim Thomas, U14G Coach; Lori Murphy, U13G & U7B Team Manager; Cindy Reis, U14B Team Manager; Jamy Landwehr, U10B Team Representative; Duane & Julie Venvertloh, U7B parents; Tina Chisholm, U9B Team Manager; Sandy Gilbert, U9B parent; Pete Keane, U9G parent; Mark Hayes, U9B parent; Steven Rosen, U8B parent; Jim Kelahan, U8B Asst. Coach.

Officers, Board Members unable to attend: Denette Kuhlman, U12G Team Representative; Randy Westerman, U10B Team Representative;  Lori Clarkson, U13B Team Representative;  Dave Keck, U12G Coach, U14B Team Representative and Director At Large; Sarah Mueller, Assistant to Dir. of Coaching; Randy Rees, U11G Team Manager; Chris Niemann, U16B Team Representative; Mike Francis, U7/U8G Team Manager; Jane McNay, U13G Team Representative; Eric Peters, U11G Coach; Terri Welch, U10G White Team Representative; Ron Amos, U10G Red and U8B Team Representative; Kirk Rodemich, U11B Team Representative; Kent Kite, U10G Red Team Representative; Matt Longo, U13B Coach and Director of Coaching; Tony Reis, U-13B and U11B Coach; Brian Vahlkamp, U11B Coach;  Kent Vonderheide, U11G Team Representative.  

Call to order

President Jim Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.  The meeting took place at the Knights of Columbus. 

Secretary’s Report

The minutes for the April 9, 2008 meeting were presented for approval.  No vote was taken; not enough members for a quorum. 

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s Report, prepared by Lori Schulz, was presented for review.  No vote was taken; not enough member for a quorum.

Committee Reports…

Competition:   No Report.

Finance:  Lori Schulz reported that Denette Kuhlman will sit on this committee with Lori.  They will work on setting up a budget for the Club.    

Fundraising:  No Report.

Rules and Bylaws:  No Report.  

Activities:  No Report. 

Equipment:  No report.

Merchandising:  Nancy Dreyer reported that warm up suits are being reviewed and selection of new ones are being worked on.  Because we are using the uniforms for two years instead of one, as in the past, that the Club could purchase a warm up suit for every player. 

Mike Foster offered to sell QUSC merchandise at his business in the mall.  Nancy Dreyer will get with him after the Outdoor tournament to get merchandise to him.

Indoor Tournament:  No Report.

Outdoor Tournament:   Discussion on how the tournament directors would use the U13 Boys and Girls’ parents to assist with the tournament took place.  Jim reported that the Developmental age bracket is full.  Trophies have been selected; Jim Murphy brought a sample to share and all greed it was a nice change.  They are a little more expensive, but was good for a change. 

Newsletter:  No Report.      

Website:   Jim Murphy requested team managers, coaches or representatives to email him with corrected information about their team as well as their win loss information for league games and tournaments.

Vice-President’s Report

No Report.

Director of Operations Report

Terry Bower reported that the Peoria and Columbia game schedules are up.

Director of Coaching Report

No Report.

President’s Report

Jim reported that the U11 boys team did very well in the Region II Tournament.

Old Business

Hotel Coordinator position was discussed.  The club sees this position as a facilitator, giving a list of hotels in the area, to the team managers.  Denette Kuhlman has joined with Nancy Dreyer and Lori Schulz to assist getting this position filled.  It was suggested that we should poll the team managers about their experiences, what works and what isn’t working for them on securing hotels for out of town tournaments. 

Mike Foster has offered to get First Aid Kits for the Club, one for each team and one for the Developmental League. 

New Business

Discussion was held concerning the Developmental League.  Parents were invited to attend the board meeting to discuss concerns they had with the program.  Eight parents attended the meeting; age groups represented were U9 boys, U9 girls, U8 boys, and U7 boys.   Here are a few concerns…the college coaches assisting Dave, are not authoritative when placing players in positions, they allow them to choose the position they want to play; at practices the kids don’t scrimmage with their actual team members, they pick who they want on their team; coaches are not showing up to scrimmages and parents are asked at the last minute to step in and coach; coaches too young to consistently handle them; skill work isn’t very well directed; rules and basics of the game aren’t being taught well enough, too much emphasis on fun.  One U8 boy parent sees the program as positive for his son, however he does see some of the issues noted above. 

Greg Reis commented that the board would discuss issues with Dave White, Developmental League Head Coach.  Greg reported that he watched some of the scrimmages this past Sunday.  He spoke to the group about his experiences with an “A” team and a “B” team as well as “premier and classic” teams.  He said parents will pull their kids out of the program because they don’t make the best team.  Because of this, the number of players trying out gets lower and lower.  He doesn’t believe, at this level, that it is a good idea to divide them into A and B teams or Premier and Classic.  He sees the pros and cons in both ways, but wants to keep higher numbers of kids trying out.  He believes it should be fun, learn skills and be a better player for next year.  Greg believes that every player should learn to play all positions.

Jim Murphy asked the group their opinion on whether this age group should travel.  Varied responses were received.  One parent recommended two different fee schedules be developed based on the level of play.  Another parent believes quality over quantity should be the goal.  He believes that if skills and the rules of the game aren’t ingrained to the kids on the weekend games, then they shouldn’t travel to out of town games. 

Jim Murphy also asked the group their thoughts on having one U9G and one U9B team, who have to tryout to travel.  Most agreed that it would be good, a few others disagreed because of their age. 

Jim Murphy also announced to the group that we would meet again with them after a decision was made.  Jim announced the date and time for QUSC tryouts for Developmental age group.

Mike Foster recommended that the parents be patient with the Club and allow us time to try and fix the program.  Jim Thomas reported that he believes change can be accomplished this year.  He said he would give of his time to help Dave White and his assistant coaches, and believes there are many other coaches that would do the same to help the program.  Jim also noted that if the Club wants the program to be competitive, then we need to have a premier and a classic team. 

Discussion

Nothing.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 7:00 PM at the Knights of Columbus. 

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 8:54 PM.  No quorum.