Little League Baseball, Inc., United States Eastern Region

State of Pennsylvania Association of District Administrators

www.pastatell.org

Meeting Minutes

November 16, 2008

Little League Headquarters, South Williamsport, PA

State Coordinator Glen Fiebig called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.  Roll call was taken by sign in sheet.  Districts represented: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31 and 32.  Also present was Don Soucy, East Region Director.

Motion to approve the meeting minutes of May 17, 2008 was made by District 15.  Second by District 17.

Motion to approve the finance report dated August 23, 2008 was made by District 13.  Second by District 32.  Report attached.

Glen introduced Don Soucy.  Don reviewed non-compliant charters by district and noted that each year that there must be a signature from each league’s president for compliance with background checks.  Any new charters for 2009 will be kicked back if they are not compliant.

OLD BUSINESS

There was a brief discussion concerning Honorary Members and their rights as outlined in the by-laws.  There was a consensus that all were in agreement with the by-laws as they currently stand.

NEW BUSINESS

Glen stated that sections must meet before the next meeting to assign the state tournaments.  They will be announced at the next meeting

Motion by District 14, second by District 12 requiring that the 9/10 and 10/11 tournaments move up one week in the schedule.  Motion passed.

Motion by District 12, second by District 14 asking that the Junior and Senior tournaments be accepted as noted in the spreadsheet.   Motion passed.

Motion by District 14, second by District 25 requiring that the Major tournaments be adjusted to allow for three days prior to the regional tournaments.  Motion passed.  The revised start dates for Major tournaments were agreed as follows:

The Schedule spreadsheet will be adjusted accordingly.

EAST REGION REPORT

Don Soucy, Director of the East Region reported on:

1.      2009 elections are required for districts, 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 , 25, 28, and 31.

2.      There will be Road Shows in Maryland on December 5^th and in Harrisburg on January 10^th.

3.      The East Region clinics are as follows: League Administration – Jan. 24^th and 25^th; Umpire – Feb. 7^th and 8^th; Michelle Smith Mar. 8^th (tentative)

4.    Don reviewed minutes from the “Eastern Region Advisory Board”.  A copy is attached.

GOOD OF THE ORDER

Date for the next meeting was decided on for April 4^th, 2009 at noon.

There was a discussion concerning Choice Point, background checks with significant emphasis on the importance of completing these checks.

Motion to adjourn.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Wendler

DA PA District 14

Penna. State Little League DA’s Treasurers report

August 23, 2008

Beginning Balance Aug, 2008            $3,288.40

CHECKS

125      Food August            $42.80

126      Rent                         $50.00

127      Donation                $500.00

RECEIVED

            Dues                    $250.00

Ending Balance                                 $2,945.60

Eastern Region Advisory Board – Position Paper

1.       We support the idea that the 5-run limit be abolished in the final full inning of a game at the minor league level.

2.      We do not support any change to rule 4.12

3.      Recognizing the importance of the ASAP Program, we believe that Little League, Inc. needs to consider recognizing Safety Officers at the state level who work diligently to assist leagues with ASAP plans.  We also ask that Little League actively recognize those volunteers who retire from Little League after decades of service.

4.      We ask that Little League announce the dates of the World Series final games at least two years in advance so that the individual states can better plan their tournaments.

5.      The members are grateful that a Softball Manager has been hired to focus on the Softball Program and we thank Little League for recognizing the need to fill this position.  We hope that the Manager will be a voting member of the Charter Committee and also become a member of the Rules Committee, where the Manager will be able to focus on issues pertinent to the softball program.  Due to the fact that there are thousands of “softball managers” in the program, we recommend that the title be changed to Director of Softball.

6.      In order for Little League to determine the growth or decline of baseball and softball programs, we recommend that Little League look at the rosters to determine the number of players involved in the Program. Chartered league numbers and team numbers cannot be relied upon to be accurate due to the process used for the formation of combined teams.

7.      This Board wishes to recognize the commitment and dedication of the entire Eastern Regional staff to its District Administrators, Assistant District Administrators and to its volunteers.

The East Region Director’s Advisory Board

31st of October, 2008

Dave Ruotolo, Maryellen Holden, Martin Donovan, Stan Brown, Biff Newnam, Dan Cavallo, Dave Koehler, Tony Richardson, Gary Royer, Terry Bean, Patrick Freaney, Stephen Coles, Ed Wojtkowski

Eastern Region Advisory Board - October 31, 2008

The members present at the East Region Director’s Advisory Board meeting would like to communicate the following to Williamsport:

There is great concern about the construction of the new Concession Stand.  This Advisory Board believes that the construction of the Concession Stand should begin this fall (2008).  The construction should be according to the original plans; there should be no scaling back the project.  The construction will be paid for with the money that was raised in the East.  Additional funds needed to complete the project should be allocated by Little League International.