SSWHL Meeting Minutes

SSWHL Meeting Minutes

Meeting 14 June 2010

Financial / Ice Time

Nick Cardinale opened the meeting with the following topics:

- Final payments last season came in very slowly which became an issue for the league as the league signs contracts with the rinks

- Teams need to sign and return their contract with the first payment for this season in a timely manner – Deposits are due in July

- Marlboro (NESC) has not finalized what hours of ice the SSWHL will get, therefore, the league can neither generate a schedule nor determine if teams can be added: Nick is hopeful that he will finalize ice hours with NESC in the next few weeks

- Discussion regarding the payment of forfeit deposit. See the contract.

- Season is expected to be 23 games, just as in prior years

- Most likely SSWHL will have a significant amount of ice time in the NESC rink currently under construction

- During games, it is quite important that the Home team goes to the Home bench, the Away team goes to the Away bench to avoid issues with the referees and scorekeeper

General Scheduler Discussion

Cynara highlighted:

- Hours of ice dictate how many teams have byes on any given week

- Any given week, the SSWHL has a variable amount of ice time

Ice Time Discussion

- General discussion on finding another rink or rinks to offset the number of hours of ice time available each week to the league

- In general, the league needs a large block of consistent hours

- Anyone who believes they have a viable ice rink candidate should contact the SSWHL president Laura

Elections

The following positions were voted on and filled

- VP (Even year): Steph Spunt

- Treasurer: Louise Cardinale

- Secretary: Judy Sheldon

- Disciplinary Committee: Mary Carlson, Jen Devlin, Steph Spunt, Laura Bowser, CJ Johnson

- Rules Committee: Steph Spunt, Jen Devlin, Barb Callahan, Kim Whelan, CJ Johnson

Organizational Discussions

- An additional 4 to 6 teams are interested in joining the league

- Keri Allan has taken over for Don Moore as the Mass USA Hockey Registrar. Contact info: Address: 22 Springfield Drive, Littleton, MA 01460 Email: kallan@mahockey.org
Phone: 978-337-4692 Fax: 978-486-4940

- It is important that not only do SSWHL skaters register with USA Hockey as individuals, but that each SSWHL team registers with USA Hockey as a team. The league is investigating changing the process for MA-based teams, with a different process for National-bound teams. The league is considering taking on the role of registering teams, however until/if that happens, the requirement is that each team must be USA Hockey registered. This will be a topic for the Rules Committee

- Issues with skaters playing on multiple teams were discussed. A number of proposals were brought up. This will be a topic for the Rules Committee

- A number of proposals were discussed regarding methods for reducing the number of team penalties allowed before consequences occurred. This will be a topic for the Rules Committee

- A general discussion on divisions in the league, and the possibility of an over-30/40 division. This will be a topic for the Rules Committee

Aug 19, 2010 SSWHL Meeting Minutes

Laura Bowser opened the meeting.

– please update email list; need 2 contacts per team

To vote on –

Taking on ice at Milton Academy, 2-9 Sundays start Nov 7-mar 13 up to 6 games per weekend; We could gain flexibility and not have as many bye weeks ; we need to vote; approved; we need to find a score keeper.

Rule changes coming up; based on comments from Bill Paulsen and trying to make the league run better.

From Bill Paulsen, referee supervisor – players must have numbers on jerseys that match the score sheet and no duplicates; we need to be able to track penalties.

Two new teams C2 and D; should be ok with ice; haven’t heard from the AB team

Wizards D approved.

C2 Noreasters approved.

AB team approved if we hear from them within 5 days.

First Proposed rule change – Barb Callahan:

League does pre-printed game sheets (Stacey) – info will be sent via Judy Sheldon for labels this year

Rule 107/d cross off those not there on all pages – have until the second period; jersey must match game sheet – change it if needed; game sheet must be signed;

Comment – suppose someone doesn’t do it; one step at a time – we will try to address

USA hockey on us to get registered

Treasurer’s report: Louise Cardinale - if we want to play 24 games, cost will be more. Max is $4400 we will try for 24 games within that fee. Contracts will go out soon. They must be signed and returned – you are bound to that contract. Please return them asap. A couple of teams need to replace the forfeit fee.

List of players with financial obligations: not allowed to play until cleared by Laura Bowser:

Ice devils : Molly Eggleston and Emily Hoyt

East Coast Wizards: Renee Sisti

Storm: Brittany Hernandez

Ice Coordinator’s Report: Nick Cardinale – ice – NESC Rink6 construction 3 weeks behind although promised to us; NESC 265 hours; 104 hours Bedford; Canton 146 hours, cost up by $20 different costs different weeks at Canton rink.

Milton – new ice so we can do 24 games for 44 teams (prob $4400) will try to keep costs low; slight change to score sheet – took off number of goals so that there is more room for asst scorer jersey number.

If you are a home team; go on the home team side of the ice to help the score keeper.

For scratching out missing players on the 2^nd and 3^rd sheet, he tries to have scorekeeper double check.

He can sell us 6 hours day after Christmas and day after Thanksgiving if the league wants it.

No games on Superbowl Sunday; no Christmas eve, no New Year’s eve, no Christmas: but will skate day after Christmas and day after Thanksgiving.

We do have some 9:30 hours in Canton, Bedford.

NESC rinks 3,4,5,6 (requested 13 hours per week but some weeks we have only 4 hours).

Reminder – must sign contract; $150 at end as credit; teams that owe must replenish ex. Shamrocks forfeited against Nighthawks.

Should be look at increasing the forfeit fee? The cost is more like $180 per game? $150 good enough for now – credit will go toward fees for next year.

We only had 2 forfeits last year – has improved since having the forfeit fee in escrow.

If a rink closes due to snow, teams will get a $150 credit for those games.

Canton opens sept 19; closes Easter Sunday; league will probably schedule through Mar 13.

NESC Mar 19 ends; Sat 9/11 opens.

Bedford Sat 9/11 opens.

Scheduler’s report: Jill Depto: Darcy tournament Sept 19; same weekend as all of our rinks are open so it may be a problem with teams asking for that week off.

Do we want to give back Friday ice if we don’t need it on a particular weekend? No one would mind losing Friday night ice.

Eveyone will play late, everyone will play on Saturdays.

Renegades and Cheetahs never got back to Jill. She got info from both teams at meeting.

Concern expressed that NESC Rink 6 is not going to be ready on time, but Jill says that the only hours we have been given on Rink 6 is 3 hours a week on Fridays.

Secretary’s Report:

Minutes from June 2010 meeting approved.

Registration review: all players must be registered before they step on the ice because one unregistered player will void insurance coverage for all the other players on the ice.

Teams must have all their players registered before the first game; must send a USA Hockey roster (not signed or stamped by Oct. 1 and a signed and stamped roster by Nov. 15.

Rules committee Report:

Have been meeting 1.5 months – all ideas welcome; everyone can join.

3 rules that we want to approve tonight as they are proposed; if don’t pass, will take the input and redraft; rule changes require a simple majority to pass.

Vote to waive the 30 day notice requirement – unanimously in favor; waiver passes.

Rule 7 – game sheets 701 players in uniform – 19 years old to play in a game (turn that this year by December 31).

701e a team may use a goalkeeper that is from your division or lower as a sub; C2 is a separate division from C1; they do not have cross over games.

NB teams may borrow from their own organization.

Concern with age restriction – comment that it is based on behavior; should not be age-discrimination;

Limits opportunities for these girls to play hockey; last year there were 15 and 17 year olds.

Monarchs and RI panthers; they would be OK with the proposal if we add that an individual waiver may be obtained from the President for underage players to play.

Vote: 3 opposed to Rule 701; 29 in favor; rule passes.

Rule 702 – player suspended until they are registered with USA Hockey and team forfeits the game.

Vote: unanimous in favor; rule passes.

703 players – only be rostered on one team; can’t add players unless Secretary receives info on roster; no more 5 game rule; aside – can play a non-league sanctioned game

Vote: 7 opposed; 25 in favor; rule passes.

Excessive penalties –old rule 14: once a team gets to 9 penalties, the person who has received the most penalties is suspended for the rest of the game and next game; someone else will sit in the box; goalkeeper penalties – someone else will sit in the box. Minor change B will be struck. Add and shall be suspended for the next game to A. CJ found that 96%of games had 4 penalties or less, 60% no penalties.

Comment – what gives the team the right to kick someone out of a game when they are paying for their hockey; sometimes the referees are too sensitive. You should look at cross-divisional play – because when people play teams who are better, it gets chippy. CJ did not find that to be the case.

Vote: 13 opposed; 19 in favor; rule passes.

Rule 10 division placement; competitive balance of the league; it has been somewhat subjective. Criteria may include GF/GA, etc. Teams with an excess of wins by 5 or more goals may be considered to move up. On average, most goal differentials are around 1. Stoneham will move up to B. Otherwise, teams are pretty close. Proposed rule change gives the President more concrete things to consider and adds division guidelines.

A/B will play A.

Unanimous in favor; rule passes.

A teams will play A/B teams.

B teams will only play B, etc.

We should look long term at divisions – B teams that want to move up but don’t want to play the A teams – need a subcommittee to address that.

New Business: Bylaws committee CJ, Judy , Barb

We will email the date of the next meeting – in Canton.

Meeting adjourned.

SSWHL Meeting Minutes October 14, 2010 Canton Rink

Teams in attendance:

1. Rule Change Proposal - Use of Subs (Rule 704). New version would allow teams to use subs from the same division or a lower division with a limitation on the number of times that a player can sub for a particular team. Goalie subs can likewise be from your division or lower but no limitation on the number of times that a goalie can sub. Rule must pass by a majority vote. Vote: 24 in favor, 4 opposed. Rule change passes.

2. Keri Allan, Girls’/Women’s District Registrar:

States are March 10-13. Entrants (tournament applications were due Oct. 1 no exceptions):

A Assabet, Needham, Nighthawks

B Wizards, Chaos, Renegades

C Storm

No applications received for teams in the 30+ division.

Reminder – for Senior C teams – no Olympians, no D1, D2 or D3 college players, no national team players. League is not using this rule but it is the requirement for Nationals. If you are a C team and want to go to Nationals and you have a player with the above experience, you must request a waiver from Keri (this must be done each year). Club hockey OK, no waiver needed.

For the 30+ division, a team could have former D1 2 or 3 college players but no Olympians or national team players.

There is now a G/W blog on mahockey.org. You can add your email to receive it.

3. Rule change proposal –maximum penalties per game per team (Rule 1304).

Rule that was passed at the last meeting did not meet the requirements set out by USA Hockey, according to Bill Paulsen, Referee in Chief. New proposal indicates that any team receiving 8 or more penalties in one game will be subject to disciplinary review. Rule must pass by a majority vote. Vote: 25 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 abstention. Rule change passes.

4. Schedule – Jill Depto

The November 17 meeting will focus on the second half schedule. Please send Jill (depto@alum.mit.edu) your second half weekend off requests. If you are participating in the State Tournament, that is your weekend off.

If you want to change home rinks, please let Jill know at the meeting.

If you are thinking about requesting to change divisions, please let Jill and Laura Bowser (goal22tend@verizon.net) know prior to the Nov 17 meeting.

Date that our season should be ending at the various rinks:

NESC March 20

Canton April 3

Edge April 10

Milton March 13

5. Contracts – Louise Cardinale

Please send your contracts in ASAP. By the November meeting, we will have all the ice costs in and the overall league cost could go down.

SSWHL Meeting Minutes November 17, 2010 New England Sports Center

Teams in attendance:

1. TREASURER’S REPORT - Louise Cardinale

· After the last meeting when several teams complained about the increased team fee of $4,698, the league went back and reviewed the schedule and gave some ice back. The season will now end in March but each team will have 25 games. THE NEW FEE FOR THE SEASON IS $4,500.

· The November 15 payment of $1,100 is now due.

· THE LAST PAYMENT DUE DECEMBER 15 WILL NOW BE $900.

· The two teams that have paid in full for the season should let Louise know if you wish to get a $200 refund or a credit towards next year.

· Laura Bowser has the revised budget available if anyone wants to review it.

· Several teams still have not returned their signed contracts. Please get your signed contracts to Louise immediately.

2. NESC UPDATE – Nick Cardinale

Some of the problems with Rink 6 scheduling have been avoided because we were able to give ice back.

New USA Hockey rules may have mites playing three games per rink which will create further parking problems at the rink. Players can park across the street, but may want to allow a little extra time.

3. SCHEDULER REPORT – Jill Depto

· The season will now end in March. There will be no games in April.

· Teams should be aware that all teams will have to play some Saturday games, some games in Bedford and some games in Canton or Milton. Teams have complained about the difficulties of fielding a team on Saturday night – but the fact is we have Saturday night ice and all teams will have to play some Saturday games.

· If you don’t mind or you actually like Saturday games, please let Jill know. She will give you more Saturday games which would be helpful with the scheduling challenges.

· A reminder that there will be no games scheduled on Super Bowl Sunday. However, there will be games scheduled for the Friday and Saturday nights of Super Bowl weekend.

4. AB DIVISION RENAMED A2

Jill proposed that we rename the AB division A2. There was some confusion because in the past the AB division played crossover games with both A and B teams. This season, the AB teams only play each other and A1 teams – there are no longer any crossover games with B teams. In addition, there was some confusion that AB players could sub for B level teams. This is not true. The motion was passed unanimously.

5. DIVISION REALIGNMENTS

Several teams requested that they move up or down one division:

· East Coast Wizards (currently B division) requested to move up to the A2 division – passed unanimously

· Lady Monarchs (currently C1 division) requested to move up to B division – passed unanimously

· RI Panthers (currently B division) requested to move down to C division – Teams present at the meeting felt that the style of play of the RI Panthers was more consistent with the B division (more youth and physicality). While the RI Panthers had several games where they lost by 5 or more goals, these losses seemed to be the result of a short bench and strong team members missing the game. While the Panthers did have a lot of losses, most games were close and competitive. The proposed move to the C division was unanimously rejected. The RI Panthers will remain in the B division.

· Nighthwawks Red (currently C1 division) requested to move down to C2 division – passed unanimously

· These changes even out the divisions and should make scheduling simpler. Summary of changes:

East Coast Wizards B – move up to A2

Lady Monarchs – move up to B

RI Panthers – remain in B

Nighthawks Rd – move down to C2

6. SUB RULE DISCUSSION

· Laura reminded players that subs may only be used to bring the total number of skaters on a team to ten. There was an instance where a team had 3 subs with a total of 10 skaters. One of their regular skaters showed up late for the game which would have given her team 11 skaters – so she ended up deciding to sit out the game. In a case like that (when a skater shows up late and brings the number of skaters to more than ten), one skater must leave the bench – either one of the subs or the player who showed up late. There should be no more than ten skaters on the bench if a team is using subs.

· All subs must be written in on the game sheet with their name and jersey number. Laura and Stacey review game sheets before posting stats and are seeing too many cases where a goal or assist or penalty is assigned to a player number that is not listed on the game sheet. It is particularly important for the league to be able to track which players are receiving penalties.

· If a team notices that their opponent may be violating the sub rule (e.g., they are using a sub who normally plays for a higher division, that a sub is not written in on the game sheet, their opponent has more than ten skaters and is using subs, etc.) then that team should raise the issue with the other coach and report it to Laura after the game.

· Laura is reviewing game sheets and has spoken to several players who were not adhering to the new sub rules.

7. CORRECTING LABELS ON GAME SHEETS

The discussion of the sub rule raised several issues about crossing players off the game sheet:

· If you are sure that a player will not be coming to the game, you should cross them off the game list.

· However, If there is some chance that a player may be late but will make it to the game, you should NOT cross them off the game list until the end of the game. See bullet below about why this is important.

· Under USA Hockey rules, a player can come into a game as long as there is time on the clock and they are listed on the game sheet. However, if you crossed that player off or they were not listed on the game sheet and they enter the game, then it is a bench minor penalty for every change that you make to your game sheet.

· Timekeepers are trying to count skaters at the end of the game and cross off those skaters who are still listed on the game sheet but are not on the ice. DO NOT GIVE THE TIMEKEEPERS A HARD TIME FOR DOING THEIR JOB. At the end of the game, the timekeepers are supposed to cross off those people who not on the ice.

· If you have a problem with any of the timekeepers at NESC, please call Nick.

8. NON-PLAYERS ON THE BENCH

Bill reminded teams that there are strict rules about who can be on the bench during games:

· Only coaches who are registered with USA Hockey as coaches may be on the bench. Boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, etc. are not allowed on the bench unless they are rostered and USA Hockey registered with your team.

· Injured players on the bench, if they are not registered as a coach for your team, must wear a helmet on the bench. Only registered coaches are not required to wear a helmet.

· Players can not bring their kids on the bench, even if they are wearing helmets.

9. A REMINDER TO PLEASE SIGN YOUR GAME SHEET

· Be sure to sign your sheet

· Please sign under the game labels so that it goes through to every sheet

10. PENALTIES

The number of penalties league wide have declined. However, while the number of penalties has come down, the type of penalties is still a problem. Laura wants teams to know that the league is watching several players who have a high number of penalties and/or consistently nasty penalties (body checking, etc.). This league is about having fun not hurting people.

NO LEAGUE MEETING SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER