11/16/11 CCA Baseball Club Minutes

Board attendance: Andrew Davis, Mike O’Connor, Matt McAreavy, Trevor Bollers, Todd Liddell, Mike Wurth, Marci Armstrong. Absent: Brett Mehman.

Coaches attending: Mike O’Connor, Tim Hertel, Brad Korschgen, Todd Liddell, Chuck Wolfe, Scott Armstrong, Toby Moran, Mike Wurth, Matt McAreavy, Tony Schmelzer, Chad Wood, Mark Dawson, Jerry Suther. Absent: Troy Thomsen, Jon Haman.

Coaches meeting started at 5:30pm. It was emphasized to all coaches to contact everyone on their team roster to find out if players were participating or not. Initial deposit should be sent a.s.a.p. but no deadline was set.

Cosgrove: All coaches were reminded to contact Val Seelman for practice slots if they hadn’t already done so. Coaches will also need to contact Val for keys unless they still have a set from last year.

High School batting cage: Coach Davis informed the coaches of the time available for the CCA Baseball Club teams. Coaches were allowed to sign up for slots. There will not be a charge for use of the facility.

Diamond Dreams: All coaches were reminded about DD 12/9/11 coaches clinic.

Other items:Coach Davis will e-mail a list of the companies/businesses to the coaches that the Board has already contacted. The coaches can then e-mail the Board of other companies to contact for sponsorships. Board will try to present fundraisers to the coaches that they can do at the team level. The Board will continue to update the coaches with the amount the Board has raised through their fundraising. Matt agreed to contact USSSA for the identification # for insurance purposes. Matt will also be the clubs representative for the Hawkeye League. It was discussed to turn the uniform purchases into a fundraiser. Parents, siblings or friends could purchase clothing accessories (hats, shirts, etc.) with the club garnering a percentage. Coaching clinics were discussed. Possible targets—hitting, pitching, base running for coaches, or a pitching clinic for the players.

11/9/11 CCA Baseball Club Minutes

Open forum—No parents attended.

Player Commitments—Reminder was sent as it was discovered not all players received the clarification letter. Deadline extended by agreement.

14U Update—Coach Davis continues to hear from parents with their decision on moving up.

Sponsorships—total to date collected $400.00. Trevor informed the board he is working with Hawkeye foods on a fundraising endeavor. Mike O. is contacting Slims about a fundraiser.

Other items—all coaches will be asked to attend the next meeting on November 16^th at 5:30pm. Agenda for meeting: Team rosters, budget & finance workings, Bylaws, Expectations, Equipment needs, Clinic suggestions, Binders (birth certificate, code of conduct, bylaws, equipment checklist).

Mike O. attended the Cosgrove meeting and had good news as the rental prices have been reduced from last year. Mike has forwarded the available slots to all the coaches with contact information.

It was suggested the Board pick a time to approach the city council for field rental negotiations.

The rest of the time was spent trying to decide board elections and term limits. This is what was agreed upon thus far: Alternates will serve one year as alternates and then will become active board members (initial/current alternates will serve as alternates until current term ends). Active Board Terms will be 2 year terms (3 current members will serve longer to allow the rotation to start). Terms will begin on July 1^st. The first term will end on July 1, 2013. Members McAreavy and Wurth will be the first to end their commitment. Two new alternates will be nominated and voted upon at that time. The new Board will hold elections for the offices. In the case of a Board members resignation the 1^st alternate will become an active member and the Board will vote on the offices. The following year July 1, 2014, three members term will expire. Two alternates and one active Board member will be nominated and voted upon.

Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s):

We would like to welcome you back for the 2011 school year.  I am sure many of you had a very busy summer enjoying all kinds of activities.  I am guessing many of you played baseball this summer as well. We hope you had a fun and enjoyable summer both on and off the field.

Over the past month, we have initiated a new structure for the CCA area travel baseball teams for the upcoming 2012 season.  One of our goals is to create a program that will allow us to participate in a competitive league. There are many preparations that need to be done and we have several items on our list that we need to complete before the beginning of the upcoming season.

One of the first parts of the new plan included creating a board for the CCA Baseball Club.  The board has been busy creating policies and other items needed to get this plan into action.  The new format is going to require the need for “placement try-outs.”  The players will be evaluated on a several facets of the game, which include: fielding/outfield, pitching, speed, and batting.  The panel of evaluators will be high school coaches from CCA and independent individuals who do not know the potential players or parents.  

Each player needs to attend one or both “placement try-out” dates that will be listed below.  If the player feels they did not perform very well at the first try-out, they are welcome to come back for the second. Our panel of evaluators will be using a numeric scoring system to place the players on the proper teams.  The teams will be divided by similar ability levels.

The following information is what has been decided on by the CCA Baseball Club Board. We want parents to know some information upfront to make sure that this is situation is what is best for their son(s).  The cost will be approximately $200 dollars.  The fees will be divided into installments, so the full cost is not needed upfront.  If you divide it over the several months that the players will be working on skills, then it breaks-down to a very small price each month.  The fees will be used for equipment, umpires, fields, and tournament fees.   The time commitment is another item that each family has  to understand.  There will be times that teams will meet out of season to work on skills, but the bulk of the time will come in the April-June.

The CCA Baseball Program is encompassing 11U-14U during the 2012 season.  It is the plan to include 9U and 10U for the 2013 season.   At this time, we are wanting any 9U or 10U players who do not have a team to contact us.  We will work with you to get your child on a team for this coming year before the changes are made.  Please contact Scott Wetjen, Mike O’ Connor, or Scott Armstrong.  We will then compile a list and get the kids assigned to a team.
Scott Wetjen         swetjen@plumbsupply.com
Mike O’Connor         mikeo@southslope.net
Scott Armstrong    armstrong.sl@vzw.blackberry.net

One of the other concerns is what will happen to the Clear Creek Amana Youth Little League (CCAYLL).  The USSSA organization that the CCA Baseball Club will be joining is run separately from CCAYLL.  Both of these leagues will be viable options for different age levels and allow as many players we can get to participate in baseball. This new program will build upon what is being done in CCAYLL.

The following is the website address for the CCA Baseball Club that was created by Trevor Bollers. It will be a hub for the most up to date information. I would encourage you to become familiar with this site and visit frequently. If you have any further questions then there is a place on the site to leave them or you can contact one of the board members that are listed there as well.
http://www.ccabaseballclub.org

Please welcome this change with an open mind.  We are trying to get our youth leagues all on the same page and help create a successful competitive baseball program.  This will give all the players an equal playing field to make a team and combine all of our communities together and become one.  It will give our players several years of playing together by the time they get to high school. We believe this format will allow your son(s) to enjoy the game of baseball, learn how to play it the right way, be competitive and have lots of fun!

Tryouts Date – @ Tiffin Baseball Fields
Saturday, August 20, 2011
13U-14U  10:00-12:00
11U-12U  12:30-2:30

Sunday, August 28, 2011
13U-14U 1:00-3:00
11U-12U 3:30-5:30

Thank you for your time and support,
Andrew Davis
CCA Head Baseball Coach
bravesandbroncos@gmail.com