A Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Senior Softball Association was called to order by President Bob Vandergrift on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 1:00 pm at the Elks Lodge. Board members Bob Vandergrift, George Hawley, Joe McCarthy, Russ Jeanes and Bill Bloom were present. Pat Murphy and John Bartell were not able to be present.

There were no guests at the meeting.

George moved and was seconded by Russ to approve the June minutes as presented. This was carried by a 5-0 vote.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Bob distributed copies of the May bank statement. Bob stated that he will be preparing a preliminary budget for the coming year. He said he’ll have to use today’s rates for field usage as he doesn’t yet know what the new charges will be. Bill moved to accept the report. This was seconded by George and was passed 5-0.

OLD BUSINESS
A. Summer League:
1. Bob passed out updated rosters for both the Monday and Thursday leagues. Several players have been added to teams who lost players due to injuries and the like. Some of the more notable injuries were Ray Rogers’ heart attack, Del Cota’s broken hand, George Hawley’s hip replacement, Ron Klingensmith’s bad heel, Cesare Favio’s neck tumor, Mike Colario’s bicep and eye problems. Space does not permit a full list of injuries. None of us are getting any younger out there. That can be taken as both a good and bad thing.

2. The Thursday league experimental rule of having a pinch-runner from home plate has been met with considerable objections. By a vote of 1 yea, 2 nays, and 2 abstentions, the rule has been discontinued effective with games scheduled for this coming Thursday, July 27.

3. Bob stated there are about a dozen people who have not paid their $5 fee for the summer league. He will be talking to those people in an attempt to collect the dues. Several folks had remarked that the $5 fee was more difficult to collect than the $50 fee for the regular winter season. Next year there will just be a single fee to incorporate the summer season.

B. With our new rule change lowering the age limit for the upcoming winter season to 58 years olds, Bob reported that he had player data sheets for 3 or 4 new players. Bill stated that a few players from the Venice area had shown interest also. Bob will be preparing an ad for the Sarasota Herald Tribune announcing our new, reduced age limit and a call for new players. The ad will run in mid-September.

C. The preliminary Player Rating Sheets were passed out for Monday and Friday 60’s, Monday and Friday 70’s, and Tuesday and Thursday players. Nine current or ex- managers rated the 60’s, three rated the 70’s, and two rated the Tuesday and Thursday players.
Pat Murphy and Bill Bloom will now sit down and refine the 60’s ratings.
Russ and George the 70’s.
Joe McCarthy and John Bartell the Tuesday and Thursday players.
Bob will oversee all three rating groups. The goal of this rating list is to assist managers who, while drafting, may not know a certain player. The overall intent is to have leagues that are as well balanced as possible.
Bob also asked Board members to think about 70’s playing in the 60’s leagues and whether we should limit that number. The premise is not to have too many 70’s play down into the 60’s thus leaving the 70’s as a rather “weak’ league. Our goal as Board members is to try to make all the leagues and the teams within them competitive. This will be a top agenda item for the next meeting. Any and all players are urged to contact a Board member with ideas on this subject.

D. The notification of players due to rain and/or wet field conditions is improving. George has been going to the fields prior to 7:00 am on days when there may be a question as to field conditions and making a determination as to whether or not play is doable. He now will carry a roster so he can contact managers directly, if necessary.
Managers should make an effort to ascertain which players live the furthest and thus have to leave their homes earliest if order to contact those folks first. Managers may also want to enlist a helper who would be contacted first and could then notify half the roster.

E. The rule about the opposing team supplying a catcher for a team with only ten players has been overturned. While somewhat controversial, the Board voted 3-1-1 to discard this rule. Any team now with only ten players must play with those ten players and will not have the luxury of having a catcher supplied by the other team. That ten player team must supply their own catcher and pitcher. Any other positions are at the manager’s discretion. Managers are also reminded they may pick up a player on game day assuming the added player is on the call-up list and adheres to the rating rule.

F. Bob stated that we are now on the IRS’ radar since we have an interest bearing CD at a local bank. We could pay a one-time $750 fee to the IRS for tax exempt status or just pay taxes on an ongoing yearly basis. As part of Bob’s preliminary budget et al, he will estimate what our taxes might be on a yearly basis. Since most of the fees we collect go for the use of the fields, balls, banquet, etc., the guess right now is that our yearly taxes would be minimal. We’ll have a clearer picture of this when the preliminary budget is presented.

NEW BUSINESS
A. A player questioned a Board as to whether or not the Board would be interested in having a politician address the players. After some discussion, the Board feels we should remain apolitical and not agree to a situation that might be viewed as backing a certain candidate or party. Politicians are welcome to come to the field and “kiss babies” but we will not set aside time for group assemblies.
B. Bob and George will send letters and pictures to current sponsors showing teams wearing their uniforms and asking for their continued support. The fee for a new sponsor is $300 and approximately $150 in subsequent years. The bulk of this fee is for shirts and hats with their company name and logo. Sponsors also are invited to our annual banquet at no cost to them as a show of appreciation for their support.
Russ will prepare a list of additional shirts for the next meeting that will need to be acquired for the upcoming winter season. Each team will need 13 shirts so we may have to purchase some more. New hats will be purchased each year.

C. A lengthy discussion took place about the possibility of our acquiring a defibrillator. George has had some experience with them since his development currently has two units. The cost is approximately $1,500.
Battery life is estimated at 5 years in an air conditioned environment. Should we get a unit, it would have to be stored in the shed at the field. The expected battery life would drop from 5 years in ideal conditions to perhaps as low as two years exposed to the rough conditions in the shed.
We would want to have about 20 people get CPR training which would include the use of the defibrillator. The cost to get those folks trained may be as high as $35 per head. We need to ascertain how many folks have had recent CPR training and/or would be willing to take the class. The goal would be that on any given day, be it a game or just batting practice, that the odds are extremely good that a CPR-trained person is there if needed.
A certain player who has had a painfully close call has offered to buy the unit if the league will conduct the training and ongoing maintenance responsibilities. For now the issue has been tabled, but will be a top item for the next meeting.

D. Bill presented his “wish-list” of having the water cooler at the field repaired so it dispenses cold water and to have the outfield dragged to remove the dew. Bob volunteered to talk to his county contacts on fulfilling these “dreams”.

The next Board meetings are tentatively scheduled for August 11th and September 8th.

There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 pm.

Bill Bloom, Secretary