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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-02-07 - Parks and Rec Advisory Council Meeting Minutes MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COUNCIL 938 KING STREET RYE BROOK, New York 10573 February 7, 2012 Convene Meeting: Chairman Marc Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 9:00pm The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Marc Zimmerman, Ken Frankel, Frank Carbone, Kevin O'Neil Brian Funtleyder, Jamie Schutzer, Adam Berman, Glenn Brettschneider Absent Council Members: Sari Jablon Recreation Department Member: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant Public: Carey Liebman, Rye Brook Resident 1. Minutes: Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to accept the January 10, 2012 Minutes. Committee Member Schutzer made a motion to accept the January 10, 2012 Minutes and Committee Member Frankel seconded the motion. The January 10, 2012 Minutes were approved and accepted. Committee Member O'Neil abstained from voting on the Minutes. II. Public View Points: Chairman Zimmerman said he became aware that a Rye Brook Recreation 15% discount is available when shopping at Modell's, of which 5% comes back to Rye Brook Recreation. Chairman Zimmerman suggested sending an e-mail out to the residents to let them know of the discount and the benefit to Rye Brook Recreation. The program is called Team Weeks and runs for about a month at different times during the year. III. Superintendent's Report a. Rec Basketball Superintendent Bertolacci stated that the basketball playoffs are taking place now. Boys and girls championship games are Wednesday and Thursday of this week. There will be two more weekends of basketball for the younger grades, this coming weekend and March 3rd 1168377.1 Janice will be announcing the County Center basketball teams via e-mail the beginning of next week. Only Notification of all players who have made the County Center team will be sent via e- mail. If a player is not notified, that means he or she did not make the County Center team. Superintendent Bertolacci said the coaches pick 5 players and the Rec Department staff picks 5. In the past the coaches picked 8 and the Rec Department staff picked 2. Practices for the tournament will start after the winter break. The tournament dates are March 12 - 28. Janice will send out an e-mail letting the public know when the County Center teams are playing to drum up additional support. Committee Member Schutzer commented that the younger basketball kids had a terrible referee at last Saturday's game, and that the kids were not having a good time. He suggested that the coach go over the rules before the start of the games, especially if where there is a referee that has not worked our games before. Superintendent Bertolacci said we hire the referees for the basketball games and they are supposed to go over the rules before the start of the games so they know about the specific rules such as the blue line and press. Carey Liebman, resident, commented on the issue of how the Rec basketball teams are formed and stated that, based on tonight's play-off game, Janice did a great job putting the teams together. Committee Member Frankel said you can not base an opinion on one night's game, but that we have to look at the whole season and at every grade. b. Metal Bats Superintendent Bertolacci confirmed that, as long as a metal bat is "Little League Baseball" approved on the bat, it is not an insurance issue for the Village. Committee Member Schutzer said it is the job of the umpire to check the bats before the game to make sure they are in compliance. Committee Member O'Neil asked if there was any discussion to limit the bat differential (the number differential assigned to denote the difference between the length and weight of the bat -- the greater the differential; the lighter the bat as related to its length) as the kids get older. Chairman Zimmerman said he did not think that issue was discussed, and had not read any reports about limiting differentials. Although bigger and stronger kids are going to hit the ball harder, that also is the case with wood bats, but better weighted metal bats allow more kids to get the bat through the hitting zone so they can be successful at batting. Chairman Zimmerman noted that Committee Member O'Neil's point was a good one to discuss for the older aged kids. IV. Old Business a. Little League Sub-Committee Committee Member Carbone reiterated that at the last meeting we discussed having a 5"' grade coach for the Major League so the following year's 5"' grade coach would move up with the kids and we could fill the team with the following season's draft. This framework will give the team additional continuity. 1168377.1 Committee Member Berman said we talked about also having a 7th grade coach on the Major League teams. Committee Member Carbone said that 7th grade coach would have to be with a 5`h or 6'grade coach. Committee Member Carbone also stated that coaches would be screened more thoroughly. A coaching clinic will be held on March 5th. if a coach can not be there on that day, he/she should let Superintendent Bertolacci know beforehand so other arrangements can be made. A coaching application also will have to be filled out. Superintendent Bertolacci said we will have 3 coaches for the Minor League as we had in the past. Committee Member Carbone would like to make the procedure for rating the Major League more challenging. He suggested that the Blind Brook High School Varsity boys can help Kyle with the ratings. Also, he invited anyone on the Council interested in helping with the ratings to participate. Committee Members Carbone, Schutzer, Funtleyder, and Frankel volunteered to help with the baseball ratings. Superintendent Bertolacci said opening day for our Little League Parade will be on April 21st at 12:30 p.m. The players will meet at Ridge Street School and walk to Pine Ridge Park. b. Recreation Basketball Committee: Committee Member Berman said the Rec basketball program is running smoothly from what he has observed at the games he has attended. He said he was aware of an issue at one game where a parent said something to the coach about his son not having enough playing time. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that he handled the issue and that parent was reprimanded. i. Three Point Line Committee Member Berman suggested that the elementary school gyms have a 3 point line so there is continuity among all gyms where Rec basketball is played. He suggested speaking to Jim Spano, Athletic Director, about installing a 3 point line at the elementary school. Superintendent Bertolacci told Committee Member Berman to send him an e-mail regarding the 3 point line and he will speak to Jim Spano about it. ii. Uneven Rosters Committee Member Berman commented that he thought a lot of roster problems could be solved if the Rec Department allowed the basketball sub-committee to look at the rosters. He said that the subcommittee would not tell Janice who to switch where, but could add input that one team is stacked while another may not be as competitive. Superintendent Bertolacci said if you bring anyone into that room before anyone else gets to see the rosters, you are opening Pandora's box. You will always get criticized that only certain people got to see the roster before anyone else and were permitted to make comments. Carey Liebman said he agreed with Committee Member Berman that there should be somebody or some group looking over the rosters seeing if the teams are balanced. Another way to tell if the teams are balanced is by how many kids from one team get picked for the County Center 1168377.1 Tournament team. There could be one player picked on one team and there could be four players from another team. Committee Member Brettschneider said that there was a lengthly discussion about this last year, and that the Rec Department does the best it can to make the teams as close as possible. It's never ever going to be an exact science. This is not AAU, CYO or CYP, its rec and we try to get the teams as even as we can. Committee Member Berman said the suggestion to have the subcommittee look at the rosters for this year was turned down and the basketball committee will revisit the issue for the next season. iii. Coaches Complaints to Rec Staff Chairman Zimmerman said he is aware that some Rec basketball coaches have complained to the Rec Department staff regarding referees and uneven teams, and asked for some input as to the appropriate procedure for these issues. He suggested the possibility of instituting a "24-hour rule" as a mandatory cooling off period before a non-emergency issue is discussed with the Rec Department staff. iv. Height of Rims for 2nd and 3rd Grade Program Chairman Zimmerman commented that the basketball rims for the 2nd and 3rd grade are too low and suggested the basketball subcommittee discuss this for next year's program. The rims do not have to be ten feet high, but they are too low to allow for meaningful instruction at present. v. 4`h and 5th Grade Playoffs Committee Member Schutzer asked about whether there could be playoffs for the 4`h and 5th grade program. Superintendent Bertolacci said that would be a discussion for next year. V. New Business Chairman Zimmerman said there was no New Business on the agenda to discuss but opened to the floor if anyone has something to discuss. Committee Member Brettschneider said he drove by the park and the back of the scoreboard looked empty. Superintendent Bertolacci said there are going to be trees planted which will address that issue. VI. Adjournment Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Berman made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member O'Neil seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. The next meeting of the Advisory Parks and Recreation meeting will be on March 6th at 8:00 p.m. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick. 1168377.1