BETHEL PARK SOCCER ASSOCIATION

Parents/Coaches Meeting – February 11, 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, Mark Bowman, Richard Chongaway, Bill Harvey, Jack Kun, Dave Porco, Russ Spicuzza, Tom Vater, Mark Vescovi, Theresa Vescovi and Eric Young.

Secretary’s Report: The January meeting minutes were approved and submitted to the website.

Treasurer’s Report: Jack Kun advised of a current balance of $23,078.37. All projected spring expenses are able to be paid with the current checking account balance.

President’s Report: Terry advised of upcoming key registration dates as follows:

Division A Girls are to register in the Gold Room of the City County Building on Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. (enter through the iron gate as the other entrances will be closed due to Presidents Day).

Division I Boys registration is through the mail by Feb. 22. Please find all mailing information on the PA West website.

Boys Division II and III and Girls Division B will register teams in the Student Union Bldg at the California University of Pa. on March 2^nd at 1:30. ALL TEAMS IN THESE DIVISIONS MUST SEND A TEAM REPRESENTATIVE TO THIS MEETING!!! If no one attends from your team, you will most likely not be able to play in the spring. This is a MANDATORY meeting for all teams in these divisions.

Terry discussed the new recommendations of PA West that teams sizes should be downsized to allow players more touches on the ball. Pros and cons of this recommendation were discussed. You can get more information by going to the front page of our website at bpsoccer.org.

Referees: As a follow up to last month’s questions regarding referee reimbursements, Terry advised that referees have typically been reimbursed money spent on training courses and money for one yellow referee shirt after having refereed two games. A motion was made and approved to allow up to $25.00 for reimbursement of the referee shirt.

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: Tom Vater advised that table registration went very well this year as 55 players registered that evening. Registrations are coming in very heavily right now to the Recreation Department. A reminder went out to everyone registered on the website that the early bird fee would expire this week.

Mark Bowman advised that all travel coaches and assistant coaches need to be very vigilant in getting their fall team members registered. Mark gave out a list of fall travel team members who are not yet registered for spring play. Registration will close with a firm deadline of March 3, 2003.

PR/Fundraising: The Board took a short walk down memory lane as Russ brought out some BPSA soccer trophies, shirts and awards from years past. These and many other items will be on display this February/March in the Community Center to showcase the enthusiasm of our players and the commitment of our coaches and board members.

Website: Mark once again handed out a new update on the progression of the website. The site visits increased last month from 750 to 900. This is a very positive increase. Mark advised that he hopes to have a coaches page up and running by the beginning of the season. This would allow travel coaches to go into the admin page on their own and update team information such as schedules, cancellations, etcetera.

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

Equipment: Eric Young asked the board if anyone knew of any new equipment needs for the spring season. All nets and flags are fine for the travel fields, however some of the flight nets are in need of replacement. Bill Harvey will do a flag and net inventory and let Eric know what needs ordered for the flights.

Flights: Bill said he would like the website to reflect that the flight season will run through June 1^st. The Memorial Day Tournament will remain the same, but we will play one more extra week following the tournament. The flight commissioners are all on board and all times and locations are set.

Fields: As a reminder, Terry advised that Village Green is scheduled to be worked on this coming August, and Park Avenue will be closed in October. The board will need to keep these issues in mind when scheduling next fall’s travel games.

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