Board Members present
-Dave Pender – President
-Michelle Yurko – Treasurer
-Jennifer Coy – U6 Director
-Ricardo Duarte – Boys Director
-Jim LaSalla – Girls Director

Board Change – Karen Sweger has resigned from the Board position of Registrar for personal reasons. Please join me in thanking her for many years of service in this position which can be incredibly stressful at times… Especially during open registration. The Board members present voted unanimously to appoint Mike Radle to the vacant position for the 2012 calendar year.

EPYSA Annual General Meeting – The AGM will take place on Sunday, March 4th in Philadelphia. The President and Registrar will be attending on behalf of SYSA and will provide a briefing at the March SYSA Board Meeting.

2012 Newsletter Edits – We are currently in the process of preparing the newsletter that will be sent home with students in area schools. We are planning for distribution to schools the last week of April/first week of May.

Calendar of Events – A tentative schedule for events leading up to the beginning of the season was laid out and is now pending logistics working out with the Township and other sports activities in the area. Item on the schedule include walk-in/offline registration, coaches meeting, rosters, uniform orders and several other steps that need to happen before the August 1st start of the practice season. Once dates and details are confirmed, this information will be published to the Calendar Page.

Registration Database Vendor – the discussion surrounding the selection of the registration and database provider for SYSA was short and to the point. Those present agreed there was no reason to replace our current vendor based on usage, pricing and familiarity.

The monthly Board meeting for February will take place Thursday, February 9th at 7:30 PM at the Swatara Township Administration Building.  This is the first full meeting of the year and will kick off planning and preparation for the Fall 2012 soccer season.

At the December meeting, both important measures passed unanimously to realign the board.  The position of U6 Coordinator was made a full voting Board member and, as a result, the Executive Board was dissolved as it is no longer needed in the event of a tie vote on matters pertaining to the Club.

Board nominations remain open until the start of the meeting on Thursday.  If you wish to nominate someone (including yourself) for a Board position, please email Dave Pender.

The following nominations have already been made:
Girls Coordinator – Jim LaSalla (position vacated by Kevin McCollum)
U6 Coordinator – Jennifer Coy (position vacated by Jim LaSalla)

The following individuals have expressed interest in staying on in their current positions:
President – Dave Pender
Secretary – Keith Graham
Registrar – Karen Sweger
Treasurer – Michelle Yurko
Boys Coordinator – Ricardo Duarte

The agenda should be short and sweet with the opening of the nominations window for positions on the 2012 board and review of year-end financials. Also, a vote will be taking place on Board reorganization. This has been discussed at many of the meetings this year and, if approved, will go into effect for the 2012 calendar year. The two proposed reorganization items are listed below:

-Promotion of the U6 Coordinator Position to full-voting board member (currently, non-voting volunteer). This will bring the number of voting board members to 7.
-Should the above be approved, dissolution of the Executive Board. The purpose of the Executive Board has been mostly to break ties in voting by the regular, six person board. With a new structure of an odd number of votes, the Executive Board becomes redundant.

On the second point above, to my knowledge, the Executive Board has not had to vote in a tie-break situation in many years.

As always, parents, coaches and other Myers of the public are welcome and any input (good or bad) is encouraged.

Thanks,

Dave

I’d also like to single out Kevin McCollum, our outgoing Girls Coordinator, for his many years of dedication to the Club and the kids. On behalf of all the kids, over all the years, thank you!

Games will not be rescheduled by SOLD, if you would like to reschedule with your opposing coach, please feel free to do so.  I’ll be happy to work with you on field availability… assuming they are not covered in snow.

The plan remains to play this weekend as scheduled despite the rain and cold. Please plan accordingly and dress the kids with the following notes in mind:

-Sock hats ARE permitted, however, they must be tight-fitting and NOT have any “dangles” like a snowboarder would wear or ear flaps with a tie for around the chin.

-Pants are permitted but must be worn UNDER jersey shorts and OVER shin guards/socks.

-Gloves are permitted, as with hats, they should be tight-fitting and NOT have straps or hooks that hang freely and can get caught on another player.

-Hooded sweatshirts should be avoided, however, if they are worn, the hood MUST be tucked inside the jersey shirt.

-Jackets, or other items that may have a zipper, can be worn on the sidelines but must be removed prior to going on the field.

None of us have ever had to deal with weather quite like this affecting the soccer season, thanks to everyone for your flexibility and understanding as we try to get the kids out there as much as possible.

Our U6 program will play as scheduled on Sunday.