Fall 2009 CCSL Captains Agenda

Spring 2010 CCSL Captains Agenda March 8 th 2010

1. Commissioner (Sanjay Nayar)  Roll Call  Congrats to season winners

Playoff Champ Reg Season Champ Premier Booters FC Conquistadors D1 Team X Hoover FC D2 Armory Gang Green D3 DC Thunder DC Thunder

 E-mail as primary means of communication ([email protected]) o We suggest that you have more than one team member on the distribution list  Season starts Sunday, March 28th, Makeup date June 13th, Playoffs to start June 19th weekend  If no rain, we’ll start playoffs on June 13th, June 27th for finals.  No games on Easter or Memorial Day Weekend  Field Status – should not have to play on mall or marina all year – turf only, as far as we know.  Thanks to Ramon for helping with Dunbar!!!  Captains Field Guide – last year, sent out a PDF of all of our field permits.  This year, please print it out and put it in your bag. Please call the right place if you have an issue instead of calling Sanjay.  Field equipment o Missing team equipment and process review –continue to carry around your nets and flags even though we play most games on turf – never know when you’ll need it.  Change in Dues Process/Deposit Requirement  Next year we’re hoping to move to online registration to take the captains out of the process.  Summer League Management – We need someone to do summer league. We have fields all summer, we just need help coordinating.  It was a week of work in June to coordinate and contact people and then really not much more after that.  CCSL Store – shirts, water bottles, hats, etc with CCSL logo. Proceeds – small percentage goes to field fund. Link on the website.  Facebook fan page – sign up! It could help us with sponsorship, etc if we have a lot of fans on the page.  DC United – Tailgates, group parties, etc again this year. If your team would like to do something, please contact Brad Snook ([email protected]) for discounts.  Home opener is April 3rd.  Tailgates last year were a success, so we’ll be doing those again this year!  City FC – non profit that Dan Driscoll started in 2007 – geared toward disadvantaged kids in the district who don’t have means to play – combo of soccer, futsal and academic prep to help kids plan for college. They are a volunteer non-profit group looking to do fund-raisers. If you want to donate money, contact Cara. Doing a happy hour at the end of the month that will include prizes.  New Volunteers? – Always looking for more volunteers. If you want to help us out, let us know! We will find a way for you to help. 2. Vice Commissioner (Jim Sadowski)  Update on MDCVSA happenings  Signed a contract for online registration, currently testing with a large league in VA. Works best with a per player fee for registration and has some added benefits: accuracy of player info and captains don’t have to chase players for money.  Should allow flexibility – if you are a team who wants to pay everyone’s fee and then collect money – that should be possible.  Need a national cups commissioner – paid position. $15/hour. You will need to respond to a lot of emails from angry men’s teams about rules and deadlines. There are about 6-8 teams in one division and 10 in another. We’d like this person to stick around for more than 1 cup cycle (starts in Fall, ends in Spring). It’s based on 10-15 hours a week, but this is not guaranteed, since the flow varies based on time of year. This person will be backup for administrator and help with online registration.  Update on USASA happenings  Change in the President. Cara and Jim serve on the National Leadership Committee on which important decisions are being made to increase programs, reduce costs, reduce insurance fee that we all pay to the state association. Want to switch from a mandatory everyone has to pay the full fee to a liability only option.  We need people to support the National Coed Cup – 10/22-24/2010. Last year, we sent 2 teams down there for the Premier Div and Over 30. Our teams would be very competitive if you decide to go down!  Jim has been a part of the Executive Committee of this league for 16 years, and it is time for him to step down as Vice Commissioner to Commissioner Emeritus status. Please step up and help the volunteers fill this position.

3. VP for Scheduling (Lou Chinchilla)  Scheduling requests rules – per Lou’s email, these needed to be in by midnight tonight.  Usually can fill most requests. Sometimes difficult when we have field issues.  Rescheduling guidelines  Policy – The deadline to request a reschedule is close of business on the Wed before the game. He will do best to reschedule. Spring is a little easier than Fall, so sometimes the reschedules are difficult in the Fall. We want to try to avoid weeknights, double-headers, etc.  Full Season Schedule will be completed prior to season start – should be posted by March 15th!  Right now we have 37 teams in 4 divisions (10 teams in 2nd division). Please note that if you do have the option of being promoted, there is the chance that if another team folds, we’ll have to shift things around and you may not be able to be promoted.

4. Treasurer (Andrea Bocanegra)  Budget Snapshot  Slowly building field fund – we have about $65-70k  The original idea was to spend this on helping to build a field and then have some priority on the field. If anyone has any ideas about how to do this, let us know.  Premium fields but we didn’t have to raise the cost.  Team fees $1650. No increase.  $500 due today to be cashed immediately  $1150 checks will be cashed in 4 weeks.

5. VP for Referees/Assignor (Jesse Rosenthal)  Last week, Jesse sent email to request the names of the referees for this season. Only 15 of 37 teams have given the name of their refs. You’ll need to add a referee to your roster. Please send the email address to Jesse so he can add he person to the Yahoo Group.  Policy Change: Rosters must be brought to each game with designation of captains (and alternate captains) – At the time of the coin toss, you must have the team captain and the alternate identified on the roster.  Team Referee Requirements and Policy Review  Constructive referee feedback always welcome via email

6. VPs for Registration (Jennifer Roberts)  Team Captains list – if you are a new captain or your info has changed, please let Jennifer know. The Captains list is emailed out by Jennifer but not posted on the website.  Rosters will be due by the 4th week of the season – if Jennifer doesn’t get it in time, you will forfeit your next game. It is only submitted after it has been emailed to Jennifer.  No roster, no playing from the 4th week onwards.  Acceptable Roster format – this will go out tonight or tomorrow morning. Please make sure that you note any new CCSL players on the roster form.

7. Recording Secretary (Suzy Hebert)  Constitution changes and where to find documents – Constitution is on the website under Documents. Please review each season and bring a copy with you to games so you can refer if you have questions.

8. Web Site Guru (Rich Wickersham)  Online Roster Updating – last year was the best year so far in terms of adding rosters to the website. You can use the site to keep track of stats. o Rich replicates the roster for every season, and emails the captains to remind them about updating the players’ stats.  Suggestions for improvement/utilities

9. Field Management (John Loy)  Field opportunities – if you have ideas about new fields for CCSL, please let John or Sanjay know and they will follow up.  Please help us follow the rules at every field that we play at. These venues could be pulled for any reason, so please respect the rules.  Question: What are the average field fees that we usually pay? – We currently pay less than $40/hr for Ridge, but that will go up quite a bit after this season. Wilson is $150/hour. $150 is pushing bounds of what we can afford. Typically we can afford $90-125/hour.

10. Discipline Committee (Chief Justice Eric Lurie)  Who we are and what we do  Fall Season Post-Mortem o 8 red cards (only 2 were double yellows), 50 yellows. 1 fight, 1 punch, 1 kick. Over 10 games total in suspensions. This is bad for the league, but it taught us that our disciplinary process is rather informal and could be strengthened.  The “no jackass rule” – none of the captains were involved in the fighting, but we need to ensure that we’re all keeping our players in line. We are out there to have fun and have a couple beers afterwards. It is up to the captains to control the players on your team and keep them in line.  Reinstatement of Hall of Shame – Eric will provide list of yellow, red, and “jackasserie” to Rich who will post it on the website. Things that you can remind your players.  DC Process Changes – This takes it from an informal process to a standardized process with a form. Captains can see game report right off the bat. You will be able to talk with the involved parties to get testimony from them and pass it to the DC. o Probation – What is Probation? We know who you are and if you have a repeat problem, we could take a more stringent action. 11. Social Committee Report (Matt Dershewitz)  League Happy Hours/Tailgates  We only send messages to the Yahoo group. We don’t want to SPAM people but the Captains are a bottleneck. Please forward it on. The league pays for food and beer, there’s no reason not to show up.  Facebook Fan page  Other Social Ideas

12. New Business (see below for discussion items)

13. Collection of Team Fees

14. Adjournment

New Business:

1. Promotion/Relegation

Article XII/Section III: All possible promotions and relegations will be discussed at the pre- season meeting. Within each division, the regular season winner and the playoff winner will be the first two teams to be considered for promotion. If these teams are the same, the second-place regular season will be second in line to be considered for promotion. The two lowest-ranked teams within a division, based on the regular season record, will be the first teams considered for relegation.

1 st Choice 2 nd Choice Relegated from Relegated from Promoted to Promoted to (Last Place) (2nd to Last) (Reg Season (Playoff Champ) champ) Premier Hoover FC Team X Backdraft MallRats (stay in D1) (up to Premier) (down to DI) (stay in Premier) D1 Gang Green Armory DC Divided Taz Devils (down (up to D1) (up to D1) (down to D2) to D2) D2 DC Thunder Tsunami Prism Quicksilver (up to D2) (up to D2) (down to D3) (down to D3)

2. Slide Tackle Rule

Article XIII Rules of the Game, Section 9

Current Text:

There are no slide tackles. A slide tackle is punished with an indirect free kick (or a direct free kick if also a foul under FIFA Laws of the Game). The referee has the discretion to issue a caution (yellow card) for a slide tackle. A slide tackle in the penalty area by a defender against an attacker will result in the award of a penalty kick and a send off (red card) if the slide tackle denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

Proposed New Text: There are no slide tackles. A slide tackle is punished with an indirect free kick (or a direct free kick if also a foul under FIFA Laws of the Game). The referee has the discretion to issue a caution (yellow card) for a slide tackle. A slide tackle in the penalty area by a defender against an attacker will result in the award of a penalty kick.

Rationale:

The purpose of this change is to add clarity for the referees. It’s a move toward restoring some of the previous language of 2008, where a slide tackle resulted in an indirect free kick anywhere on the field. The inconsistent enforcement of the existing language has resulted from ambiguity about the slide tackle restart inside the penalty area where the criteria for denial of obvious goal scoring opportunity are not satisfied.

Discussion: What about the goal keeper? The keeper is unaffected by this rule. Within the penalty area, we give the keeper some latitude. If they slide at the ball and make contact with a player, we will punish the foul. If the keeper is outside the penalty area, they will be punished like any other player. Why this change? Existing language did not afford any discretion – inconsistent enforcement. Opinion seems to be that the current language is clear enough and that denies goal-scoring opportunity should be left in. Motion to pass – seconded. Question – It seems that we are expanding the amount of incidents where there will be a penalty shot. The old language did not do this. Is this correct? – yes. Goal keeper – if the goal keeper makes contact with the ball before the player – would that then lead to a card and kick? This rule would not affect what the goal keeper does. Motion to close debate – 2nded. Carries

Vote – motion fails, current language stands

3. Forfeit Fine (Internal Policy change but Captains Can Override by 2/3rds Vote if desired)

Current Text:

Section 5. If the team wishes to reschedule a game for personal reasons, a special request must be made before schedules are set at the start of the season. Requests for re-schedules for personal reasons made after the schedule is released may, but are not required to be, accepted with the consent of the Scheduler and, Referee Assignor, or anyone else designed with these roles by the Executive Committee by close of business Wednesday before the match. Changes after that garner a $200 fine.

Proposed Text

Section 5. If the team wishes to reschedule a game for personal reasons, a special request must be made before schedules are set at the start of the season. Requests for re-schedules for personal reasons made after the schedule is released may, but are not required to be, accepted with the consent of the Scheduler and, Referee Assignor, or anyone else designed with these roles by the Executive Committee by close of business Wednesday before the match. If, after the Wednesday deadline, a team is not able to field a valid team resulting in a forfeit, that team must pay a $200 fine which is due within 4 weeks of the end of the season. Of the fine payment, $100 will go back to the league and $100 will be credited to the account of the team against whom the forfeit was called. In the case on non-payment by the forfeiting team, no credit will be given.

Rationale:

The forfeiting of a game hurts not only the league but also the team that is playing against the forfeiting team. Given that teams are guaranteed a minimum of 8 games for their dues, losing out on 1/8 (or $206) is not fair, thus this policy change helps to offset some of that lost cost. While everyone really just wants to play soccer, this at least lessens the impact.

Discussion – (none) Passes without objection

4. Disciplinary Committee Process (Internal Policy change but Captains Can Override by 2/3rds Vote if desired)

See attached Policy Document

Important points – - 1e if you send something to the DC – it is now public to the league. Please take off all personal info (phone number, email address, addresses, etc.). If the testimony contains expletives, those will still be shared. - Captains are responsible for the players on their teams. You have no special duty to yell at a ref, dissent with a ref, mouth off to a ref, etc even if you are the Captain. If the ref says at the beginning of the game that you can talk to him/her, it must be respectful, calm, short, to the point, etc. If something happens on the field, you need to control your team. You are in charge of the team whether you are playing or not. You are also in charge of those people cheering for you. - The rationale for this policy – clean up provisions in the constitution. The only thing that is a big deal is the $100 fee for appealing the disciplinary decision. The appeals should be limited and rare. You need to trust the people on the DC to do a decent job. If it’s a 2 game suspension or less, no appeal. A fight is likely to have a suspension of 3-5 games. You are not entitled to a full trial. The DC needs to be able to make the call quickly and responsibly, and get the players off the field so that we have a safe environment.

Question - Is there a process in place for bringing a problem with the referee? You can bring that to the Assignor – Jesse. The respect issue is out there, but in the heat of the game, there are things that come up and the refs are people too; they make mistakes. Sometimes it can seem as though they are on a power trip, and there needs to b e a way to bring that up. - If you think there needs to be a process for refs, please draft something and tell us. - Jesse – if you find that the law of the game/league is not being appropriately enforced, please let me know. If you feel that the game was not officiated professionally, please give me the specifics. The goal is to protect the safety of the players and the rules of the game. - Nick notes that the best thing to do if you’re upset about a ref – become a ref yourself. Nick notes that he used to complain a lot, but he complains less now that he’s a ref. - If there is a more formal process for players, there should be one for the refs as well.

Back to proposal: Part 1, F – wording changed to “If a team or participant involved in an investigation fails to provide a Response or a written statement, the Committee may accept as true the allegations in the misconduct report(s) and/or treat the allegations as conceded.”

Motion (with language change) passes without objection. Reminder about Part 3, D – unknown participant – Let’s make sure that we don’t need to do this! Please ensure that the roster is up to date with the players’ numbers before the games.