CLIPPERS BASEBALL CLUB MEETING
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Opening:
Clippers Baseball Club meeting was held on Thursday, August 22, 2019 at Tiffin City Hall in Tiffin, IA at 6:00pm.
Club Members Present: Golda Monohon (Secretary)
Others Present: Bryan Monohon, Brandon Schrock, Ryan Haughey, Jen Stotler, Jamie Etscheidt, Dan Etscheidt, Travis Weber, Matt Carlson, Ethan Smith, Sarah Seidl, Trevor Bollers, and a few more. There were ~24 in attendance.
Board Resignations:
At 6pm, Golda started the meeting by discussing recent board resignations. Adam Zupancic regretfully submitted his resignation with the board since he will be relocating from his current work location. He and his family will be moving away from the CCA school district.
Wade Good also submitted his resignation. His son plays on a team that decided to go independent on August 9th, 2019. Therefore, he decided that he should no longer serve on the Clippers Baseball Club board.
Finances:
*Please see board to view additional meeting minutes due to the sensitivity of the information.
Currently Golda and Nick have access to the new account, but as soon as new board members are added the access will be moved over to the appropriate officers. The remaining board members will have viewing access to the new bank account as well.
Tryouts
Golda stated that now that tryouts are complete, we have 6 teams remaining with the club: 7U, 8U, 9U, 10U Blue, 10U White, and 12U. Trent DeKoter’s 14U team decided to not play for the 2020 season since they only had 10 players for this past season and 2 players decided to quit baseball after the state tournament. Brad Curtin’s 8U team decided to leave the club and go independent. They used the least amount of funds among all the club teams during the 2019 season and they still experienced a returned tournament check. Jake Smith and Trevor Johnson’s 13U teams also decided to go independent. Although it was unfortunate to lose those teams, we are still operating with 6 teams which is more than we expected back in June. In addition, all rosters are full with the exception of 10U White however we currently have 8 players committed along with 2-3 more players interested in joining. Jen Stotlar was in attendance and stated that her husband is willing to hold extra practices to help find additional players for the 10U White roster. Trevor Bollers has also been helping to find players as well.
Nick Pfeiffer’s Letter:
Prior to this meeting, Nick had made arrangements to watch the Cubs play with his son in Chicago. Therefore, he wrote the following letter before the meeting and requested that Golda read it out loud during the meeting:
Clipper Baseball Board
From: Nick Pfeiffer
August 22, 2019
To all current Board members, Board members emeriti, potential Board members, and general members,
Sorry that I cannot be there tonight. My son and I are taking in a couple of Cubs games in Chicago before school starts back up.
There are a few things that I wanted to address prior to the elections. First of which is that I am willing to serve in any capacity on this Board. That can be President, Treasurer, or any other general Board member capacity. I prefer that I only serve in this role for the next year.
Secondly, you may call this a manifesto, memo, or vision statement, but these are the changes and structure that I envision and suggest for this Board going forward. Certainly all are up for discussion and should be given more detail. I think all will provide more clarity and transparency, cause less drama, and position the Club for growth in the future. Some of these ideas will require changes the bylaws. Don’t let bylaws get in the way of progress.
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- A parent from each team is required to have a seat on the Board. It shall be an expectation that each team provide at least one parent.
- The President of the Board does not have access to Club finances/bank accounts.
- The Treasurer and at least one other designated Board member will have access to club finances. MidWestOne Bank’s online banking system allows for all Board members to have online viewing access to the Club’s account(s) in which they can do nothing more than view it. Each Board member should be set up with this access.
- The Treasurer shall provide a copy of the monthly bank statement at each monthly Board meeting. If the Treasurer cannot make the meeting, he/she will provide the copy of it to the rest of the Board via email within a day of the Board meeting.
- Each team will designate a team treasurer. If at all possible, this should be a parent that is not a coach. This will allow for oversight between the head coach and team treasurer. The team treasurer should open a bank account at their choice of financial institution. The team treasurer should provide a copy of the monthly bank statement to the Club Treasurer. This will allow further oversight between the Club and each team.
- Each team will be provided a lump sum in February (the current amount discussed is $3,600 per team of 12, certainly open for discussion). The remaining $600 is held by the Club for school usage fees, field fees, insurance, USSSA registration, overhead costs, and team banner.
- Teams holding their own fundraisers should deposit their earnings in their own account. If the Club as a whole holds a fundraiser, it will be predetermined if the proceeds are divided equally among the teams or based on a scale of participation.
- At the end of the baseball season, any funds remaining in the team bank account should be divided equally among the team. The account should be closed out by August 1. If funds are minimal, the team can decide what to do with the funds (host a team party, etc.).
- *Please see board to view additional meeting minutes due to the sensitivity of the information.
- At the November Board Meeting set the dates for the 2021 evaluations. Post them publicly.
- The Head Baseball Coach at Clear Creek Amana High School should be invited to sit on the Board as an Ex-Officio (non-voting) member.
Overall, the affect of these changes will make each team seemingly independent. To be honest, some of the changes will be a pain in the neck. But they provide checks and balances that we didn’t have before. The onus of the Board becomes one of oversight, alignment, pride building, and forming a community around Clipper Baseball. The only reason this Club is still here today is because so many parents spoke up and said they wanted their son to play for the Clippers. There is a lot of pride in wearing blue and white. That pride is what will help us build this club as strong as ever. Thank you for having the strength to stick it out with us. Together we will #RightTheShip!
Thank you for your time and consideration. Go Clippers!
Nick Pfeiffer
Some members in attendance did ask if Nick planned on serving on the board for only a total of 2 years. Golda stated that the letter seemed to state that he was willing to serve as an officer, but only prefer to do this for the upcoming year. However this would be clarified with Nick during the next board meeting.
In addition Golda shared the announcement that Coach Henry resigned as the head coach for the CCA High School baseball team. His replacement has not been announced yet but once this position is filled, we will invite them to Clippers Baseball Club board meetings and work to build a relationship between the two organizations that might include camps, clinics, etc.
Ballots and Voting Results:
The members present were issued ballots with the following question:
- Who do you nominate to the Clippers Baseball Club Board? Ideally a representative from each team will be nominated. Write 1-2 nominations please.
Golda tallied the results. Those who were in attendance either accepted or declined the nomination immediately. Those who were not in attendance, Golda stated that she would notify them through email.
- Jamie Etscheidt – x2 – accepted the nominations
- Josh Oswald – x1 – declined the nomination
- Matt Carlson – x1 – accepted the nomination
- Nick Berning – x2 – accepted the nomination via phone
- Charlie Plathe – x1 – declined the nomination via email
- Kelly Weber – x6 – accepted the nomination via phone
- Bridgette Schares – x1 – accepted the nomination via email
- Nick Pfeiffer – x5 – pre-written letter stated that he would be willing to work as an officer on the board for the upcoming year, even as the President or Treasurer
- Ethan Smith – x2 – accepted the nomination
- Sarah Seidl – x2 – declined nomination at first, but then decided to accept before the end of the meeting
- Jeremiah Herdliska – accepted the nomination via email
- Ryan Haughey – x2 – declined the nomination
- Dave Houselog – x1 – declined the nomination
- Justin Schares – x1 – declined the nomination
It was decided that instead of holding an election for each nomination, members present requested to have one blanket vote to elect all accepted nominations onto the board. The majority of members present voted yay.
Fundraising:
Some fundraising ideas were discussed. Nick Pfeiffer has reached out to Sean Keller in hopes of setting up a fundraiser with Mosley’s. We would like to do this fundraiser in combination with the Clippers Baseball Club Yard Sale. We would accept donations such as sports equipment to sell at the yard sale, then hopefully those patrons would then stay for lunch or dinner at Mosley’s.
Trevor Bollers stated that for next year, we can collaborate with him, the Clippers YSF football team, and the Jamboree to host another yard sale at the bottom level of the white building. This year, on Saturday, Trevor stated that 20+ teams will be in attendance for the Jamboree which would be great for raising money for the baseball club.
Nick also found out that Pancheros holds a “Queso For A Cause”. The Club would promote and advertise for patrons to eat at Pancheros on a specific day, then the club would receive a percentage of the sales.
Both Mosley’s and Pancheros do not require parents or players to wait on tables. Some members asked if we could set up the Pancheros day immediately before we meet as a board again. This could raise ~$300 for the club.
Another idea is to host a 4-man best ball tournament and call it the “Clipper Classic”.
Tiffun Creek Fest would like help next year with the bouncy houses and the fences (set up and tear down). For taking care of both the bouncy houses and the fences, the club could earn $1000. 12U took care of fences this year and earned $600 for their team.
Clean-up at Kinnick stadium is another idea. 10U Blue is doing that this year for the press box.
Brandon Schrock stated that it has been approved through the NLYBS league that they would like to donate their 2 rainout weekends to the Clippers Baseball Club. This donation still needs to be approved through the City of North Liberty during their November board meeting. Golda asked Brandon if members of the Clippers Baseball Club should be in attendance at that meeting. Arrangements and details will be solidified as the date gets closer.
Upcoming Board Meetings:
Due to CCA homecoming, the Clippers Baseball Club monthly board meeting has a conflict on Thursday, September 19th with the parade. Golda will contact the City of Tiffin to see if we can reschedule. Trevor Bollers asked that we schedule it the week earlier on Thursday, September 12th.
The club will need to hold a special meeting specifically for assigning officer roles to new board members. With those present, it was decided that Wednesday, September 4th would work best for everyone nominated onto the board.
*Please see board to view additional meeting minutes due to the sensitivity of the information.
Action Items:
- Golda
- Call City of Tiffin to move next monthly meeting to September 12th
- Call City of Tiffin to schedule next board meeting for September 4th
- *Please see board to view additional meeting minutes due to the sensitivity of the information.
- Get catching gear:
- Brad Curtin
- Trevor Johnson
- Jake Smith
- Trent DeKoter
- Nick
- Set up new GroupMe account for the new board members
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 7:20pm. The next meeting will be Wednesday, September 4th at 6pm and the location is TBA.
Minutes submitted by: Golda Monohon, Secretary