Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-03 - 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 March 3, 2009 Convene Meeting: Chairman Steve Schoen called the meeting to order at 8:1Opm. The following members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Steve Schoen, Richard Gutner, Marc Zimmerman, Debra Tempesta Jeff Komblum, Sari Jablon, Ken Frankel Village Board liaison to the Advisory Council Paul Rosenberg Absent Members: Glenn Brettschneider, Steve Epstein Recreation Department Members Present: Robert Bertolacci, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Members of the public Rob Becker I. Minutes: Chairman Schoen recommended that the approval of the minutes be tabled until the next meeting because they were not distributed for review. Il. Public View Points: Robert Becker addressed the council on some of his concerns with the baseball rules and how they are ignored by most of the major league coaches. His concerns were with the rules regarding (1) all players must play in the infield and outfield prior to the 4th inning and (2) that every child must sit one inning before a child sits a second inning. Mr. Becker suggested that all coaches sign-off that they have read and understand these rules at the coaches meeting and that the Rec. Dept. lay out the repercussions for abuse of the rule. Mr. Becker also suggested that the pitching rule of 6 innings per week and 3 inning max per game was too many innings, and that it left an opening for coaches to allow only two pitchers per game almost every game. Mr. Becker said this could be particularly abused in the early part of the season where games may last only 4 or 5 innings due to darkness. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that, for the record, the pitching rule used to be a max of 5 innings per week and 3 innings per game until last season when the Little League Subcommittee proposed the change to 6 innings, which was approved and implemented by the Rec. Dept. 1 Council Member Tempesta suggested that the coaches abide by the code of conduct and at the draft, have each coach sign-off on code of conduct and rules. On a motion made by Committee Member Gutner and seconded by Committee Member Jablon, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Council recommended to the Superintendent that the following two rules should be enforced with a warning for the 1st offense, a 1-game suspension for the 2nd offense and suspension for the season for a 3rd offense (or, at the discretion of the Superintendent, should the offense occur late in the season, a suspension for the following season): 1. Infield/outfield rule 2. Everyone sits once before any player sits twice In addition, it was further recommended to the Superintendent that coaches need to sign the coach code of conduct and acknowledge that they have read and understand rules, or not be allowed to coach until such time (consistent with the process for children where children are not allowed to play until the parent code of conduct is signed). All were in favor. On a motion made by Committee Member Gutner and seconded by Committee Member Zimmerman, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Council recommended to the Superintendent that the pitching rule should be amended to read a maximum of 2 innings per game. The Council's thought process was that a team does not typically play more than 3 games per week under any circumstances, even with rescheduled games, so the 6 inning per week rule was not as significant. The purpose of the proposed change is to provide more children the opportunity to pitch in each game. All were in favor. III.Superintendents Report a. Tennis Courts Superintendent Bertolacci updated the council on the work to be done at the tennis courts at Harkness Park. Chairman Schoen suggested that a fifth court be added to those tennis courts if they are going to be rebuilt. Superintendent Bertolacci advised the council that he has suggested to Jim Spano that he submit a letter stating that the school needs additional courts if they do need them. The Village itself does not have a need. b. Spring Registration Superintendent Bertolacci updated the council that registration began March 2nd at 9:30pm. There were a couple of issues with soccer and tennis which people were unable to register. They have been rectified. These issues were errors made by us because it was our first attempt on our own entering the criteria for registration. 2 There were a few programs that were maxed out. Our contractors will be making phone calls to accommodate those people that were closed out. IV.Basketball a. Season Overview Superintendent Bertolacci mentioned that he had heard that the teams were very uneven. The Council discussed some of the potential causes and agreed that one of the major factors in the inequality of the teams is the fact that kids are added after the teams are made, which throws off the balance of the teams. On a motion made by Committee Member Gutner and seconded by Committee Member Jablon, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Council recommended to the Village Board that a $50 late fee be charged to baseball and basketball participants who register after the stated deadline in the brochure. The purpose of the recommendation is to address the problem of late registrations which contribute to unbalanced teams. It was also noted by the Superintendent that this approach is consistent with the current practice of the Recreation Department where it imposes a late fee for summer camp registration after a stated deadline. All were in favor. b. County Center Teams There was discussion of how the teams are created for the County Center recreation tournament. Currently, all coaches submit a ballot where they select 10 children per grade, but none from their own team. The Recreation Department takes the 8 children in each grade with the most votes and has the option of replacing the final two, at its discretion, if it believes that a child has been unfairly slighted through the process. The discretion was provided to the Recreation Department based on its knowledge of the relative skill level of the players because they see them in action every week, as well as to prevent the coaches from voting for each other's children, which was a problem several years ago. As an alternative, Chairman Schoen suggested that midway through the season, each team (not each coach) could nominate 3 kids in each grade from their own team (6 children from each team) and make them eligible for consideration over the balance of the season by the Recreation Department, and that the Recreation Department would form the teams; however, he also noted that Janice and Kyle really don't need the input at all because they already know the relative skill level of the children by the 5th grade. Committee Member Jablon suggested that the coaches not be involved in the process at all and the burden of the placement should be solely on the Recreation Department. Superintendent commented that he thinks it can be helpful to have the coaches be a part of the process. Superintendent Bertolacci will get feedback from Janice and Kyle on how they think the teams should be formed. Chairman Schoen suggested that we put this on the agenda for discussion at our next meeting. V. Old Business a. sponsorship 3 The council members updated the Superintendent on the progress of sponsorship b. birthday celebration A meeting was set up with the superintendent for next Monday at 7pm to discuss the contents and criteria of sponsorship. c. scholarships Chris Bradbury and Superintendent Bertolacci will meet next week to discuss scholarships for recreation programs and put together a policy to recommend to the Village Board for consideration. VI. New Business None VII. Adjourn Motion made by Committee Member Gutner and seconded by Committee Member Tempesta at 10:10pm. The next Advisory Council meeting will be held at Bpm on Tuesday March 31st. 4