2006 AGM Minutes

The Annual General Meeting for the 2006 Glen Cairn Men's Fastball League season was held in conjunction with the year-end banquet on Saturday October 14th 2006 at The Kanata Sports Club. For those who were unable to attend, here is a summary of the items discussed, voted on, and agreed to during the meeting.

  1. The Executive Committee for the 2007 season is comprised of:

    President: Eric Rosenquist
    1st Vice President: Trevor Wood
    2nd Vice President: Allan Read
    Treasurer: Duane Bromley
    Equipment Manager:  Mike Vandenberg
     
  2. The financial status of the league was discussed at length.
     
    1. An update on the league's $11,129.29 debt was given, stating that the umpires have now been paid in full for 2006 thanks to two league members. The league will need to repay the members eventually, but at least we'll be able to book umpires for the 2007 season without a 2006 debt getting in the way.
       
    2. Our debt to the city for diamonds in 2006 stands at $3,686.86 (plus monthly interest) and is currently our biggest concern. The city's accounts receivable department informed us that they require some sort of payment before next spring or we will lose our diamond privileges. Several ideas were discussed regarding how to buy some time with the city since we expect that we should have enough money to pay them for both 2006 and 2007 once we collect our 2007 fees. Among the ideas discussed were:
       
      1. Contact higher authorities at the city (ex. councillor Peggy Feltmate or even the mayor) and discuss our situation with them.
      2. Hold an early registration session in late October or November to raise enough money to pay all or part of the 2006 debt.
      3. Increase player fees to $150 per player. Maintain sponsorship fees at $400.
      4. Where possible, use the same jerseys next season. If most of the teams have the same sponsor in 2007 we should only have to purchase a few new ones per team, thereby saving us half or more of the cost of ordering all new jerseys for every player.
      5. Forgo year-end prizes or scale back on the prizes, perhaps offering a small amount of cash to the winners instead.
      6. A few members proposed the idea of players putting up a $1000 bond to help repay those who've covered the league's debt. The league would repay the individuals at a rate of $350 each year for three years, yielding a modest $50 return (1.67% over three years) to the individual.
         
      In the end it was decided that all of the above would be pursued in an effort to make sure that we retain our diamond privileges for 2007.
       
    3. Eric Rosenquist gave a report on the league's 2006 revenue and expenditures. It is available on the website in the Handouts section.
       
    4. Fundraising ideas were then discussed since we will need to pay back the members who've put up some of their own money to keep the league operating in 2006.
       
      1. Dan Murphy mentioned that the Glen Cairn women's league has also said that they will assist us in any way they can, including attending any events and even providing a band.
      2. The eTeamz feature where magazines can be ordered through our league website was mentioned by Richard Culleton (Restore All). As it turns out, that feature is only useful to U.S. customers since the ordering system only supports U.S. addresses and currency. If they broaden the scope to support Canadian subscriptions in the future it looks like a nice idea for our league since it doesn't cost us anything.
      3. Several players mentioned that they have been in touch with people about prizes for our fundraising activities. Ivan Smith (CMG) presented the league with a pair of $50 Wal*Mart gift certificates courtesy of IMCO Tool & Die - the company for which his wife is the Controller. Neil Cooke (Amsted) said that he would donate some Ottawa Senators tickets.
      4. Blaine Maguire (State Farm) and Dan Murphy (Air One) volunteered to head up any fundraising efforts. Updates will be sent out via email and posted on the web site as soon as we have information on specific league events.
         
  3. The issue of declining player enrolment was then discussed.
     
    1. Everyone was in general agreement that a registration session in late October or early November would allow us to acquire some funds but could also yield us some players that might miss out on spring registration. In general, there was support for more and earlier registration dates.
    2. More advertising is also expected to help in getting the word out. Rather than waiting until next spring we need to put up flyers in arenas, pubs, etc. over the winter and allow players to register without having to wait until February or March.
    3. On the issue of reducing the number of teams from 12 down to 10, most felt that keeping 12 teams would be best, and if the registration numbers are still too low next spring we'll have a captains' meeting and deal with the issue then.
    4. Having a league-wide mailing list was mentioned and most of the players felt it was a good idea. Some of them were not getting league news items forwarded to them by their captains.
    5. In an effort to promote the recruitment of new players, Mike Brown (Air One) proposed that teams be allowed to bring one new player directly onto their team, bypassing the draft. Such a player must not be a returning player (i.e., they must be "new" or "legacy" status) and they would not be allowed to pitch. The proposal (called "new blood") was voted on and carried by a 15-7 margin. Such players must be registered and paid in full in advance of the season; the actual date will be determined by the executive, but the idea is that it should be before the traditional first registration date in mid February.
    6. The "new blood" rule was then further discussed, and it was proposed that teams which are rebuilding and would therefore be protecting fewer than six players be allowed to bring in additional "new blood" members. The proposal was to allow up to three additional "new blood" members to make up for a protection list with less than six returning players. Teams would be allowed to protect 0 to 3 and bring in 4 new players, protect 4 and bring  in 3 new players, protect 5 and bring in 2 new players, or protect 6 and bring in one new player. The proposal carried 19-0.
       
  4. Rules regarding pitching were the next topic of discussion.
     
    1. There was considerable discussion of what it meant to be a starter vs. a backup, and in the end, a motion was tabled that stated that a team's backup pitcher(s) would not be allowed to pitch more than 9 outs (3 inning's worth) if the team's designated starting pitcher is in the team's line-up. The motion carried by a vote of 23 to 5.
       
    2. A motion was tabled that would have placed all pitchers in the draft rather than deciding ahead of time which twelve would be starting pitchers and then matching teams to pitchers separately. The motion was defeated by a vote of 26 to 2. As in past years, returning starting pitchers are automatically given one of the twelve spots unless they opt to step down.
       
    3. Three alternatives for pitcher-team selection were then voted on. In the first round of voting, "team picks pitcher" garnered 9 votes, "pitcher picks team" got 15 votes, and "pitchers in the draft" received 7 votes. The second round of voting saw "pitcher picks team" defeat "team picks pitcher" by 19 votes to 13, so the end result is that that 2007 pitcher-team selection method will be the same as 2006. As in 2006, teams will be given the option of declining their pitcher from the previous season should the pitcher select them again.
       
  5. The 2006 playoff format was discussed, with some people in favour of it since it makes the regular season games that much more significant, but most people were against the idea of excluding teams from a chance at the championship. A vote was taken on returning to the pre-2006 format where all teams make the main playoffs and it carried by a vote of 20 to 7.
     
  6. Topics related to the mid-season tournament were the last item on the agenda.
     
    1. Given the financial state of the league, it was unanimously agreed that the league would not provide food or beverages for the Friday pub night of tournament weekend.
       
    2. The issue of umpires for the tournament was discussed, and using one umpire all the way through the finals was proposed as a cost-saving measure. The motion was defeated by a count of 17 to 3, meaning that we'll stick with the current system of using one umpire for round robin games and two umpires for semi-final and final games.
       
    3. Some members expressed a desire to return to the A.Y. and J.C. diamonds to be closer to KSC and to allow neighbourhood residents additional exposure to the league. After some lively debate about the pros and cons of both sites, it was decided by a vote of 17 to 5 to remain at Bridlewood Core Park for the 2007 tournament.
       
    4. The league rule whereby we always play out the bottom of the 7th inning of round-robin games for the purpose of run-differential was discussed and voted on. It was decided by a vote of 14 to 3 that we would not play out the bottom of the 7th inning any longer; meaning that being the visiting team could be an advantage when it comes to run differential.
       
    5. Current tournament rules stipulate a time limit of 1 hour 40 minutes for semi-final and final games. Most players were against the idea of time limits for playoff games, and in the end it was voted 20 to 0 to remove the time limit on "Sunday" tournament games.