BETHEL PARK SOCCER ASSOCIATION

Parents/Coaches Meeting – January 14, 2003

Terry Bove, President of the Bethel Park Soccer Association (BPSA) called the meeting to order at 7:00pm in the Council Room of the Bethel Park Municipal Building. Also present were Tom Boss, Rich Chongaway, Bill Harvey, Jack Kun, Russ Spicuzza, Tom Vater, Mark Vescovi, Theresa Vescovi.

Secretary’s Report: The December meeting minutes were approved and submitted to the website. All members registered under our website will receive a notice advising them that the current month’s meeting minutes are available on the website.

Treasurer’s Report: Jack Kun advised of a current balance of $26,406.57. A discussion was held on the reasons behind this year’s difficulties in obtaining our registration fees from the Recreation Department. Hopefully with the firm registration deadline that we are imposing this spring, the delays of last fall will not be repeated.

President’s Report: Terry began by thanking Mark Vescovi for a great job with the bpsoccer.org website. Many people have responded positively to the website’s content. Terry also discussed what occurred at the Coalition meeting. The Recreation Dept. is considering closing the Park Avenue field on Labor Day and keeping it closed throughout the fall for major field repairs. Once again, the department is applying for a grant to repair Village Green’s drainage problems. Terry handed out a comprehensive list of everything the Recreation Dept. has completed in the last two years.

Referees: A discussion was held on reimbursement of recertification fees, as well as the limit for referee equipment reimbursement. Jack Kun, Russ Spicuzza and Terry Bove are going to look into the history of referee reimbursement in the BPSA before making a final decision. A clear limit needs to be set on how much will be reimbursed.

Coach/Player Development: Bethel Park will host a “Y” License course on March 21-22. All Flight Commissioners should encourage their coaches to attend this very worthwhile training session. This license focuses on learning how to teach age-appropriate soccer skills, as well as how to make soccer FUN for our youngest players (5-10). This course will be free for all Bethel Park flight and travel coaches.

Registration: Table registration will be held on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22^ND from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Registration may also be obtained through the Recreation Department during regular business hours. Registration will close with a firm deadline of March 3, 2003.

PR/Fundraising: Russ Spicuzza distributed a copy of the press release from Uniroyal Tires which advised of their donation of over $2,350.00 to the BPSA. Scott Bruce of Bruce Brothers Tire, has been very supportive of our organization and deserves our support in return. Russ also advised that the large display case at the Community Center is available to the BPSA for at least two weeks beginning on February 17, 2003. If anyone has any large pictures, trophies, old uniforms, medals, etcetera, please bring them to the next BPSA meeting on February 11^th. If you can’t make it to the meeting, but still would like to place some items in the case, please call Theresa Vescovi at 833-8219.

Website: Mark Vescovi distributed a handout which detailed our website’s use over the last few months. The report showed a dramatic increase in the number of visits to the site. Please spread the word about the website to anyone seeking Bethel Park soccer information.

If anyone has any suggestions (big or small) for the website, please do not hesitate to contact Mark Vescovi at mvescovi@adelphia.net.

Equipment: Jack Kun brought a catalog for a company that will commit to never allowing a uniform to go out of production. Even if the company stops taking any new orders for a certain style of uniform, the company will continue to produce “filler” uniforms for previous customers. A decision on uniforms must be made within the next two meetings.

Flights: Bill Harvey reported on the Flight Commissioners meeting which was held last Sunday evening. During the meeting the following dates were established: March 3^rd is the last day to accept registrations, Don Snyder will get the registration information to the Flight Commissioners by March 7^th; the Commissioners will get the team lists to the coaches by March 14^th/15^th. The coaches will get the information to the parents/players by March 25^th. The first date of Flights is scheduled for April 5^th.

Bill also talked about the need for more definite referee assignments for the Flight 4 age group. This is the age group that leads into travel and should be given priority when scheduling referees.

Flight 3 also requested the presence of an MLS representative at their practices/games. During the Commissioners meeting, it was recommended that the MLS representative should have the ability to stop games while in progress to instruct the players. This would directly benefit the players.

Due to the very positive feedback and ideas received at the Commissioners meeting, it was decided that they would meet before and after each fall and spring season to bring further positive development to the flight program.

Travel: A suggestion was posed to invite all Flight 4 players who are considering playing U-10 travel soccer next year to a regular weekly practice and/or a Sunday U-10 boys or girls travel game (current U-10 or U-11). This would enable parents and players to ask questions and see for themselves how much fun the Bethel Park travel program is!

Monthly Meeting: The next meeting will be at 7:00pm on February 11, 2003, at the Municipal Building. EVERYONE IS WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS.