I. ATTENDEES:

1. HOUSEKEEPING

   1. Voted to approve August 2017 meeting minutes

2. CHRIS WILKINSON (Rep from Positive Coaching Alliance)

   1. Hingham Sports Partnership (HSP) Workshop coming up on 10/24 “Double Goal Coaching Workshop”

   2. Other sports have contributed towards ~$1600 cost for two workshops.

      How much can HYS contribute? Some members of the Board will be making personal donations and will work offline with C.Wilkinson on details.

   3. **R.Puntiri will email coaches to encourage attendance.

      Our goal is to have 30-40% of our coaches attend the workshop. There are about 300 head and assistant coaches in HYS.

   4. ** C.Wilkinson to send PCA link to C.Gong, J.Theis & B.Carr.

3. UPDATE FROM DIVISION DIRECTORS

   1. Senior Girls (Rory Murray)

      1. Good showing at practices. 4-5 coaches at each practice

      2. There was one incident of coach yelling at the referee, which has been handled

      3. Starting to get dark at practices.

         1. Push to an earlier time. On Wednesdays it will conflict with CCD.

         2. Alternate: move under lights on the turf

   2. Junior Boys (Sean Downey)

      1. There are no referees for games.

      2. Fields are a bit too long. Kids run out of steam. Play based on the number of kids that show up, e.g. 6 v.6 or 7 v. 7. Games are supposed to be played 6 v.6 for Juniors, not just add a player if the whole team shows up.

         1. Move goals to make field smaller, if necessary

         2. F.Benham suggested making different colored lines for Juniors & Seniors in the future so that Juniors can have shorter field.

      3. One field had a hole that has received attention. Although it is noted that use of a different field is preferred, we do not have any other fields available now. There may be some opening up in the spring.

      4. Overall, kids are playing well.

      5. There is still room on all teams for more players.

   3. Steve McCoy (Senior Girls Division Director)

      1. Concern re: early darkness. Move practice to 5:00-6:15 for the next 2-3 weeks.

      2. Carlson Field is not available the week before Veterans Day. Look for turf.

   4. Brad Carr (webmaster)

      1. Improvements - The look and feel of current website is old. SP can make improvements to improve website to make more modern and mobile friendly. Cost is about $200. It is the front-end of the business that everybody sees and worth the investment. Target to be done by spring 2018.

      2. Schedule – Coastal has Spring 2017 schedule on their website, not Fall 2017. Would like to upload current info if and when available.

         ** Brad work with S.Fetsko on Spring schedule.

   5. Joe Slankas (Treasurer)

      1. Reminder that we need to get final scholarship/financial aid amounts to Paul McGovern. We awarded 7 players a total of $1200, which has already been reported to Paul.

      2. Whether or not there is a deficit in the budget remains to be determined by the end of the year.

   6. Dan Gilbert (U14 Girls)

      1. Question: Can teams use players that are not listed on roster (i.e. borrow players)?

         Answer: HYS’s position is no, cannot borrow or share players.

      2. There are still some girls travel uniforms in storage for anyone who needs it.

   7. Steve Fetsko (Intown & Travel Coordinator)

      1. There were a few coach incidents at the U14 Boys level, nothing major.

      2. Winter indoor communications are starting to come out from various organizations. Futsal is sanctioned by MYSA. MA Youth Soccer is running a program at the U in Hanover. Ryan Puntiri will be expanding his program to include Kickers and up.

         a. Remind Coaches that if they decide to register a team to play at Select, to get waivers signed by parents to protect themselves against liability.

      3. U10 Jamboree in Spring 2018 – C.Gong volunteered Hingham to host the next U10 Jamboree as a way to fundraise. We will make money on concession items. Coastal will cover cost of referees. We pay field fees.

         **R.Puntiri to head committee to take on this endeavor.

      4. Travel games that were rained out do not need to be made up.

   8. Grant Owen (Senior Boys)

      1. Good turnout at both games & practices

   9. Micheael Dupin (Kickers K)

      1. No bathrooms at HMS Field. **Suzie is looking into whether or not we can have a porta-potty there.

      2. Remind parents to pick up their trash.

      3. Parents are inquiring re: winter practice sessions **R.Puntiri will email soon.

      4. Kickers Guidelines are still on website for anyone who wants to view it

   10. Frank Benham (U12 Boys Division Director)

       1. Lost 3 girls (in Sr. Girls) due to conflict with cheerleading. There was also a conflict with some baseball games. While we overlooked coordinating with cheerleading, we did coordinate schedules with baseball. Missed attendance was likely result of parents not wanting their kids overplayed.

       2. Carlson Field – what is long term plan? Country club was hired to maintain the field. Carlson has irrigation. The problem is that there is not enough top soil on the ground and the grass dies quickly. **C.Gong will refer matter to T.Healey who is on the Town Fields Committee

   11. Dave MacKay (Referee Coordinator)

       1. 38 kids left; 2 dropped out. Registration is open at the end of October for any 14- year olds who want to ref games. Training will be available in January 2018. Recertification Nov 2017 through Feb 2018. The requirement is that they be 14 by the time they take the class.

          ** Suzie will send a blast out to let people know.

       2. Dave proposes to raise pay scale for referees. While Hingham was on the higher end of payscale many years ago, we are now on lower end compared to neighboring towns. Proposal is to raise that amount to the higher end of the middle of paygrade.

          **D.MacKay send proposal to J.Slankas for review.

   12. Picture Day is coming up 10/21 and 10/28. Eastern Exposures will be delivering paper packages to division directors.

   13. Ryan Puntiri (Director of Coaching)

       1. Wants to push coaches to get their F & E Licenses. He is looking into hosting a session in Hingham to encourage coaches to attend.

   14. Christopher Gong (President)

       1. Has announced that he will be retiring when fiscal year is over

       2. Numbers are better but still down

          1. In-town: 867 this year compared to 1018 last year

          2. Travel: 454 this year compared to 513 last year

       3. We need to have a firm policy in place for thunder & lightning.

       4. **C.Gong will cross reference referees in database and notify their parents. Parents are always complaining that their kids don’t get to ref games but kids do not show up or sign to cover games.

       5. Voted to approve $100 expense to buy new bins in storage facility. Need to reorganize the storage unit.

       6. Set up tables to sell pullovers for $50 at events. There are very few adult sizes.

       7. Donate excess jerseys to regions affected by recent storms

       8. Discussed idea of potentially sponsoring a fair at the Bathing Beach to receive kickbacks to raise funds.

4. NEXT MEETINGS: (no meeting in December)