CPU Board Meeting Feb 10 2002
Board Members in Attendance:
- Matt Weiss
- Ashley Smith
- Anne Zacharias
- Dave Lionetti
- Tara Branstad (Treasurer)
Henry Thorne, Absent
Presenters:
Agenda:
- Treasurer's Report (Tara)
- Results of Membership Voting for Summer League Structure (Anne)
- Spring League (Evan)
- Women's League (Ashley, Stacy)
- Summer League Commissioners and Handbook (Stacy)
1. Treasurer's Report:
- Tara submitted a Cash Flow statement giving detailed information about expenditures and income as of March 1, 2001. This statement can be made available to anyone interested, and will be included in the Annual Report. Anne Zacharias will complete the Annual Report by March 1, 2002. In the past year, CPU lost about $1400. This was due to the cost of Summer League Insurance, the purchase of a video camera, not being reimbursed for fields by some club teams, and taking in less money from Summer League because of additional t-shirt and disc costs.
The treasury currently holds $9569.39. We need approximately $6000 as capital for Summer League and Mars. Although Tara had suggested in the past that we place the money in an interest-bearing account, due to low interest rates, that has been shelved for the moment.
2. Spring League:
- Evan is considering increasing the number of teams from 6 to 8, but limiting the number of players. Teams will again be self-forming and a 3/4 -- 4/3 coed ratio will be maintained. With the addition of 2 teams, the league will need to extend the number of games if field space allows. The league will be one or probably two nights per week (Tuesday and Thursday) and may begin as early as the middle of March until the end of May. Fees have not yet been determined because field space has not been secured.
Evan will be looking into out-door, lit fields in Harmarville, and Matt will be calling the city to see if we can get Fowler fields, but the permit will not likely start until the middle of April. Other options are being explored.
3. Women's League:
- Again this year, there will be a one-day Women's Ultimate Clinic followed by a four-week league. This league is designed as a recruiting tool and a way to retain and enhance the skills of female players. Issues were discussed regarding field space for the Spring Women's League. Because we no longer have Arsenal, and it was determined that it be important to have the league on a city field (due to safety and travel issues for college students), Matt volunteered to see if Polish Hill is an option. If that is not possible, the Women's League will have to be on a weekend, because there are no other lit fields in the city we could get access to. One possibility is that we have the clinic and the league at Chatham, so as to keep it in the city and to encourage Chatham players to join in. Ashley will follow-up on this option. Another option is a field in Shadyside that Anne has found. It is small and does not have lights, but could work on the weekend.
4. Summer League Restructuring Results:
- Anne presented the results of the on-line membership vote. She reported that 65 people voted. This is over 18% of our membership, which is actually a good turn out, as we believe that the average voting percentage for the UPA elections is approximately 2-5%. The results of the election were as follows:
1) Captain Recruitment and Pairing:
a) No Adam/Eve, have one captain per team
b) Continue with Adam/Eve as in years past
c) Adam/Eve but recruit male and female captains separately and match them up
RESULTS
b) 39%, a) 30%, c) 31%
We will continue with Adam/Eve as in years past
2) Baggage
a) Eliminate baggage entirely
b) Eliminate only captain baggage and allow other players to baggage
c) Eliminate all baggage except husband/wife players for childcare issues
d) Keep baggage as-is with baggage and captains allowed up to 16 in total rankings
RESULTS
b) 39%, c) 26%, d) 20%, a) 16%
We will eliminate captain baggage and allow other players to baggage
3) Rankings
a) Continue to use 1-6 ranking system
b) Use an altered 1-7 or 1-8 system with more detail on what each level means
c) Change ranking system to 1-8 with ranking based on 3 things - Throws/handing, defense and hands/catching
RESULTS
b) 40%, c) 32%, a) 28%
We will use an altered 1-7 or 1-8 system with more detail on what each level means
4) Rookies
a) Have rookies placed on team with referrer and divide remaining rookies evenly
b) Divide rookies up fairly ignoring their referrer
c) Give rookies the choice of playing with their referrer or randomly assigned a team
RESULTS
c) 74%, a) 20%, b) 6%
Rookies will be given the choice of playing with their referrer or randomly assigned a team
5) Finals Structure
a) Continue with finals as in past but (assuming 20 teams) have the top 16 teams play for the Summer League Championship and the bottom 4 play for the "C Pool" title
b) Change finals so that the weekend before finals there will be preliminary round games with #1 playing #16, and so on throughout the top 16 seeds.
RESULTS
a) 54%, b) 46%
We will continue with finals as in past years but (assuming 20 teams) have the top 16 teams play for the Summer League Championship and the bottom 4 play for the C Pool Title
5. Summer League Commissioners and Handbook:
- Stacy has been developing a Summer League Commissioners' Handbook. So far what she has put together looks terrific and will be a real asset to the commissioners and to the league. The Handbook lists all of the volunteer positions needed, what the jobs are, and when they need to be completed. It also includes the names of those who have done these jobs in the past, and in many cases they have already been assigned for this summer (Thank you everyone who has volunteered, we still need more support!!) The Handbook will ensure that commissioners do not have to "reinvent the wheel" every summer, and will facilitate running Summer League much more smoothly and efficiently.
We still do not have any appointed Summer League Commissioners. However we are now providing much more support to the potential commissioners (via the Handbook, the filling of many of the volunteer positions, in addition to on-going support for commissioners as Summer League organization develops). As a result, the CPU board members will be approaching potential commissioners in the next couple of weeks to solidify those positions.
If you have read this far in the minutes, you are obviously interested in Pittsburgh Ultimate. Please consider volunteering to help out with Summer League. We cannot have any ultimate activities in Pittsburgh without you. Please write to the CPU board if you can help out in any way: cpuboard@pittsburgh-ultimate.org
6. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be on Sunday, February 23rd, to discuss Summer League needs and Commissioners.