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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-12-04 - Parks and Rec Advisory Council Meeting Minutes DRAFT MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COUNCIL 938 KING STREET RYE BROOK, New York 10573 December 4, 2012 Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:22pm. The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Jamie Schutzer, Frank Carbone, Brian Funtleyder, Adam Berman Glenn Brettschneider, Jennifer Wohl, Christopher Dutra Absent Council Members: Kevin O'Neil, Adam Zahl Rye Brook Residents: Scott Tillison Kenneth Frankel Recreation Department Members: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant 1. Minutes: Chairman Schutter asked for a motion to accept the November 6, 2012 Minutes. A motion was made by Committee Member Berman to accept the November 6, 2012 Minutes and was seconded by Committee Member Brettschneider. The Minutes were approved and accepted by all. II. Public View Points: Scott Tillison said he would like to discuss one of the rules for basketball which states that kids have to play a zone defense. Scott thinks that a man to man defense would be a better consideration for that age group, which is 2nd and 3rd grade boys. Committee Member Berman said that from years past the kids played 1/2 or 1/4 man to man and the rest was an option to play zone. The problem arose that there is multiple substitution at this age and would be magnified more with 2nd and 3rd grade especially for kids just getting out there for the first time. It takes away a tremendous amount of playing time from the kids. I don't disagree that man to man might be easier if the same kids were playing the entire time with only 1 or 2 substitutions. Superintendent Bertolacci said it's been my experience that it's always been easier to teach your kid to play an area of the gym as opposed to following someone around the gym for the entire time. It's easier for a kid to cover a certain area especially when they are just starting out to play basketball. Scott said our goal of Rec basketball is to teach the kids the fundamentals of basketball. My first exposure this past Saturday, is that you have 5 kids standing in the lane and all that promotes is a 1168377.1 lot of dribbling around the outside, and you can't get anywhere inside. Next thing you have a kid trying for the basket who could hardly reach the rim. Committee Member Brettschneider said if you have 5 kids out there playing man to man, you would realize that there is really one good player on the team. At this age it's more exposure for the kids. If they were to play man to man those players would never touch the ball. The way it is set up now they would get a pass and that's what it is for 2nd and 3rd grade. Committee Member Berman said we are trying to teach positions and the basics of zone defense. When they get into the higher grade they learn man to man. Committee Member Berman said Scott's point is well taken and that we can discuss this issue further for the next season. Scott asked if there were any changes made for the upper grades. Committee Member Berman said we made a change two years ago; it was the first half they played zone and the second half you had to play man to man, then we left it up to the coaches' discretion. The max anyone can play is 3 1/2 periods and the least is 2 quarters. Ken Frankel said last weekend there was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament for 6`h, 7ffi and 8ffi grade at Teen Night. It's a great tournament and the kids have a lot of fun. One of the issues before the tournament is that many of the kids were left out of participating and they wanted to participate but their friends didn't ask them to be on a team. Basically, you have a bunch of the better basketball players forming teams with other better basketball players and the mid-level and lower-level are not being asked to play. The parents got involved and asked other kids if their kids can be put on their roster. Maybe we can open the tournament to everyone and the Rec Department can draw the names out of a hat and teams can be formed to give everyone a chance to play. Committee Member Carbone said he has kids in both grades and he saw what happened. It didn't happen as much in the seventh grade. There seems to be a problem in the 6th grade. My son and his friends didn't play because they said they were just going to get beat because all the better players already made their teams. Committee Member Berman said last year his seventh grader got together with their friends and only would play with their friends. You are always going to have that situation. It's like when Dads coach, there are dads that don't get asked to coach and they don't want to be thrown on a team because they don't know the other dad. So do we want to get all the coaches and put them in a hat and place them on a team randomly? Committee Member Brettschneider said maybe the balance is not to form your own team and not randomly assign teams so you play the same team, maybe throughout the tournament you rotate the teams and keep rotating so everyone plays every team. Superintendent Bertolacci said if you are going to call it a tournament, its going to be a tournament, if you want to make it an open gym, its going to be an open gym. If it is going to be a tournament, Rec is not going to make the teams. Superintendent Bertolacci said you are always going to have issues when it is competitive program. 1168377.1 Committee Member Berman said it's a tournament and if you want to participate you play otherwise, you don't participate. You can have a 3 on 3 tournament and the next week have an open gym for whoever wants to play. Committee Member Funtleyder said it's completely socialistic and it's picked out of a hat randomly or it becomes competitive and they make their own teams. Committee Member Berman said another alternative is that everyone who wants to participate puts their name in and the Rec Department who knows the kids can form the teams. Some of these kids probably won't come back it they can't make their own teams. iii. Basketball Sub-Committee Report a. Update on Week 1 Committee Member Berman said the system of checking the pre-draft worked out and some changes were made. It was somewhat beneficial and it gave us a look at the rating system and a look for as close a parity as we can get. As we get into the next few weeks, kids don't show up for various reasons; sickness, other games, conflicts etc. There were also a couple of technical fouls on parent coaches. We have to reiterate to the coaches and its incumbent on Kyle and Janice to send e-mails out that the coaches understand that a second incident warrants that the coach comes before the committee or the Superintendent. Committee Member Berman said when a ref makes a call, even if it's a wrong call, you are coaching 10 and 11 year olds you have to be the adult and respect that call. If you bark at that ref, what example are you sending to those kids? I think it's warranted that anytime anyone gets a technical it has to be addressed and we have to make sure the referees are aware of the rules and if someone has a problem with a referee, they should talk to the Superintendent about it. if it's consistent, they won't use that ref anymore. Committee Member Berman said we reviewed all the rules but we didn't see the 8th and 9th grade. I saw them on-line and the only difference is that there is currently no overtime. Since we switched the 6th and 7th because there are playoffs and standings, it shouldn't end in a tie. If you have playoffs and standings for 8th and 9th there should have a 2 or 4 minute overtime. Superintendent Bertolacci said if there is a tie, they do play overtime if time warrants. Committee Member Wohl asked who monitors how much time someone sits or how much time one plays. I have gotten some complaints that certain kids have not played enough and one coach was called out on it. Committee Member Berman said this issue has been a problem for years. I have coached 8 kids, worked the rotation and coached them playing and tried to watch the other coach to make sure all his players got to play. If I see that happening, I would go over to the Rec person who is working and inform them of the situation so they can keep an eye on that coach. if the Rec staff sees a situation like that, they would call out to the coach of that team and let the coach know that all players should play a certain period of time. Superintendent said if it becomes an issue with one specific team; bring it to Kyle's attention. For the next couple of games, Lauren, Meagan or Kyle will watch that specific team and make sure that coach does what he is suppose to. 1168377.1 IV. Superintendent's Report: a. Hurricane Sandy Update Superintendent Bertolacci reported that there is still damage in our parks. The park staff has been clearing the road with the Department of Public Works. Rye Hills Park is still a disaster area. Hopefully, Central Tree will be coming in to clean up some of the debris. b. Carnival Update: Superintendent Bertolacci said he is getting prepared to recommend to the Village Board to authorize a carnival company at a location to be determined. We are working on 900 King Street which is right behind our building. i sent out 5 RFP's and got four back and one declined to bid. He didn't want to take a chance with the weather and the fact is, he was coming from Pennsylvania. Three quotes were good and one not so good. Superintendent Bertolacci said he checked the references of the companies and checked the rides that they offer. We are trying to get this item on the Agenda for the next Village Board meeting on Tuesday, and hopefully we will have a carnival company on board. Then we can work out the specifics with the site. The company will add the Village as additionally insured on their policy; also the state comes in to check the rides before the actual dates of the carnival. They also have to get permits from the building inspector here with a site plan to make sure there is emergency access. As far as parking, we plan to use part of the carnival site and the Blind Brook High School lot. The dates for the carnival are April 12, 13,and 14. On Opening Day, the first baseball game will be played on the Rye Brook Athletic Field, and after the game, we will march over to the carnival. c. 3-on-3 Tournament Feedback Discussed under Public View Points. d. Request to Host Baseball Tournament Superintendent Bertolacci said he has a request from a baseball team to host a tournament at Pine Ridge Park, Garibaldi, and the Rye Brook Athletic Field. it is to be held on Saturday, June 29th which is 1 or 2 weeks after our Little League program ends and in the middle of our tournament schedule. if we give them that date, they will be taking all our fields off line for our teams to practice. We are talking about trying to host some Little League games this year also. Chairman Schutzer suggested that this team hold their tournament a week earlier. Superintendent Bertolacci said you are still handicapping our Little League teams. Chairman Schutzer asked what we would get if we rent the fields to this baseball team. Superintendent Bertolacci said we would probably get around $1500 to $2000 because they would be using our grass fields not our turf field. Superintendent Bertolacci asked do we want to handicap our Little League teams by renting out our fields and thus our Little League can't use the fields for practice. Committee Member Dutra suggested that we offer the fields but we will take a 2 hour block for our teams to practice that weekend. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would tell TagEm tournaments that the weekend of the 29th is out and if he wants to hold the tournament on the 22nd we would make our fields available with the exception of the two hour slot. Superintendent Bertolacci said a motion has to be made 1168377.1 because it has to go before the Village Board for approval because there is a 90 day window that they can't request anything prior to use of the fields. Committee Member Funtleyder made a motion for TagEm Tournaments to rent our fields the weekend of June 22nd with the contingent of a two slot in the morning of that weekend for our Little League to practice. Committee Member Carbone seconded the motion and all approved. V. Baseball Sub-Committee Report Committee Member Carbone said he held off on a meeting because he didn't know if a new committee is appointed each year. He didn't want to assume that he was chair again but he would volunteer to chair the baseball sub-committee. Superintendent Bertolacci said the Chairman of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee reappoints the chairman of the sub-committee and there should be only 4 members including the chair. If there are 5 members or more Minutes have to be taken at each meeting and the meeting must be publicly noted. Chairman Schutter appointed Committee Member Carbone to be chairman of the baseball sub- committee. The other members for the baseball sub-committee were appointed by Chairman Schutzer, and the members are Adam Zahl, Kevin O'Neil and Chris Dutra. Committee Member Carbone said you have an option of having an 1 1 through 13 year old division, which is not feasible for us. We don't have enough 13 year olds to play because they all play modified and Junior Varsity. Chairman Schutter would like to recommend that the baseball sub-committee have a conversation with Port Chester Baseball about merging the baseball program. Superintendent Bertolacci said you can't merge with Port Chester because it's two separate districts. Superintendent Bertolacci said our Little League baseball clinic will be held the first four Wednesdays in January. The first two clinics will be dedicated to hitting and the last two clinics will be dedicated to pitching and throwing. The clinic will be in our winter brochure and we will also send out an e-mail. VI. Old Business: a. Village Field Usage Chairman Schutzer said he would be attending the Village Board meeting on December 11`d to discuss our field usage in the Village. Chairman Schutter said there was an article in the Westmore News stating that the Blind Brook School District is considering letting the public use their school fields. Committee Member Funtlyder said that you can now rent their fields. They will have the same rules for insurance and $75.00 for 2 hours. Chairman Schutzer asked if we could find out the number of people allowed on the field without a permit. Chairman Schutzer said we will table the Village Field Usage until the next meeting. b. Concession Stand Chairman Schutter said in last month's Minutes we were going to think about the concession stand for the next meeting to decide whether to recommend it to Bert about including this item in his budget or just drop it. 1168377.1 Committee Member Brettschneider said it would cost a lot of money and he doesn't think you we would get the people to come there. The concession stand at the turf field wasn't open for the fall soccer program. i don't see it as getting enough business even in the summer. Kids bring their own little cups and water bottles. Committee Member Brettschneider asked who would run it, who would stock the food and who is doing the inventory? I don't see it being viable. Chairman Schutzer said you go to the turf field and you're in and out in an hour for a soccer game. There is a lot more opportunity at Pine Ridge Park because it is a busy park. Committee Member Carbone suggested carving out a little space without losing a parking space and has a truck like Franks' Franks come in and see what business he does. We can give him a schedule of games so he knows when the park would be busy. Committee Member Dutra said he runs a concession stand selling hot dogs, soda, candy and coffee on a Sunday for about 7 hours and he grosses about $1,000. Superintendent Bertolacci said that when the concession stand was open during fall soccer he grossed about $350. Committee Member Brettschneider said some of the high school kids wanted to form a volleyball club and their request was denied by Principal Healy. The club wanted to do some co- ed travel tournaments and the bussing gets to be a big money issue. One of the coaches suggested going through the Rec Department and using the school gym once a week for practice. There was a girl's volleyball program in the winter under Reek, and I thought maybe we could do the same type of program. Superintendent Bertolacci said there is no travel involved with the girl's varsity volleyball program. Once you get involved with traveling, it's a liability issue. Committee Member Brettschneider asked if there is any way to go through Rec where the kids can sign up for the gym for an hour or so, or can we rent the gym. Committee Member Funtlyder said you could probably rent the gym because the school just made the fields available for rent. Committee Member Brettschneider said he would talk again to Principal Healy and explain that there would not be any traveling involved. Committee Member Brettschneider asked if this doesn't work out with the school can we go through Rec. Superintendent Bertolacci said to put a program in place, bring the proposal to him and he will review it. Vii. New Business: a. Men's Basketball (Number of Weeks) Superintendent Bertolacci said there are two programs for men's basketball. The fall program runs until February and then there is an 8 week program that runs until April. The attendance was very low for the 8 week program. They would like to try and have one program from October to April. Superintendent will combine the program in his budget for next year. Committee Member Wohl asked if the kindergarten and 1St grade basketball girls and boys be separate programs. The girls' aren't signing up because they don't want to play with the boys. 1168377.1 Superintendent said his concern is that we only have one gym. We can try having kindergarten girls and 1St grade girls together and kindergarten and 1St grade boys together and see how the number are. VIII. Adjournment: Chairman Schutter asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Brettschneider made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Dutra seconded the motion and all approved. The next Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will meet on January 8, 2013 at 8:15pm. The meeting adjourned at 10:00pm. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick 1168377.1