Fall 2007 Minutes

LINKS: OHSWPC webpage ... tuleya.com webpage

Updated Tues, Jan 23, 2008. Questions? Contact me at "tuleya@yahoo.com"

Meeting held August 29th at the Best Western in Salem at 7pm
Unofficial minutes e-mailed out by Lisa Joyce on Oct 2, 2007

A. Introduction & Roll Call

Meeting called to order at 7:00pm by OHSWPC President, Jim McMaster

Mt Hood: Angela Schuerman, Barlow; Bobby DeRoest, David Douglas; Gary Muzzy, Ben Talbott, Parkrose; Shaun Shelley, Brittany Muzzy, Reynolds; Jeremiah Guidos, Centennial; Adam McGowan, Gresham
Pacific: Jim McMasters, Newberg; L'Erin Waterstreet, Jen Hansen, Forest Grove; John Ruzicka, Tigard; Russ Alvarez, Tualatin; TJ Harney, Tammy Ellis, Lake Oswego; Kirsti Neidig, Lakeridge
Metro: Kevin Bebb, Aloha; Emily Schmitt, Westview; Cam Blanchard, Hillsboro; Ryan Chiotti, Nina Munch, Southridge; Matt Bayha, Beaverton; Ann-Marie Lundberg, Lincoln
Valley: Rob Romancier, W Albany; Tom Lonenson, Vanessa Bonham, Woodburn; Ben Weinberg, Andrew Michael, South Albany; Bryan Hill, Corvallis; Mike Rodgers, Brent Culver, Chris Edison, West Salem; Ted Coran, Raquel Moore-Green, South Salem; Rod Ashford, Sprague; Bill Pair, Redmond; Chris Sterry, Summit; Jay Soles, MV; Ray J. Tuleya, Bend
South: Ron Thompson, Christine Thorpe-Turk, Tyler Boyet, S Eugene; Annie Giiagni, Jessica Duggan, Sheldon; Jason Mills, Cottage Grove

No Representatives: Sandy, Sunset, N Eugene, Ashland, Marist, Medford

Non-Voting: Lisa Joyce, OHSWPC Ex. Director; Joe Ritacco, Treasurer; Tim Burke, Newberg AD (Pacific); OWPOA: Kacie Lofstedt, Jeff Jacob, Paul Bauer, Melody McMaster, Brian Parmelee, Eugene Gill;

B. Spring Minutes

Notes by Ray Tuleya:
(this section as left off the minutes that were sent out, but was on the agenda.)

C. Treasurer's Report

1. Working on Non-Profit status, hopes to be done by the end of the season.

2. If any club teams need help with their non-profit status, contact Joe.

3. 2007 school fees - due on or before Sept 10th

4. Brian Parmelee noted that the sooner schedules are confirmed and get to him, the faster he can get the billing done for officials. Oct 1st bills need to be paid for officials.

5. Referees fees went up considerably with OSAA, although the water polo fees are frozen for this water polo season.

D. New Rules

1. Womens suits, zippers must be zipped all the way

2. Many small changes with minor acts of misconduct

3. Suggested for coaches to look through sections of gray in rule book for changes

4. Negotiating Rec. Specs. Rules (no goggles are allowed)

E. General Information:

1. Teams are allowed 3 tournaments, 1 jamboree and 18 games. Players can compete in a total of 6 quarters and seniors are allowed to play in JV if they are 1st year players only.

2. Parents meeting handout - Jim handed out an informational flyer that is helpful for coaches and parents.

3. State tournament - teams are allowed 18 members on the bench, in the team area, at the state tournament.

4. Conduct - Reminder to coaches to be respectful and keep your cool. If you have questions for officials,g just ask.. don't scream. Use evaluation forms for referees. Be professional.

a. If a player is "roled", they are out for the game. If it happens in the last few seconds of the game, the player can be red carded, which means they will be out for the following game also. For red cards, coaches must leave the building. A brutality call will result in suspension from the current game and the following game.

b. Tournament rules may differ. Coaches may choose to exclude a player from the tournament for brutality if they make additional tournament rules.

5. There was a reminder to coaches that they need to be ASEP certified and OHSWPC strongly suggests doing background checks on all coaches, even volunteer coaches. ASEP has changed to the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching certification. Certification needs to be completed BEFORE games. The new test is less cost and is more aligned with high school athletics.

6. Red Cards - The OHSWPC is implementing the red card fines*, which aligns water polo with OSAA procedures. OSAA fines include the following: 1st red card = $50 fine, 2nd red card in same sport = $100, further red cards result in a $50 increment with each violation with no limitation. 2 red cards also include a 2 game suspension, 3 red cards will result in disqualification, $1000 fine is assessed for any physical contact with a referee. Tim Burke brought up some questions regarding the fines; where does the money go, what is the appeal process, and what happens with club teams that are harder to track without AD's?

Notes by Ray Tuleya:
* (This item has not been voted on by the membership yet. It was discussed at the Spring 2007 meeting and the Board promised to bring a proposal. The Board has NO legal authority in the OHSWPC By-laws to impose these fines, even if OSAA does. See additional info below minutes.)

7. New Coaches - Frisbees for new coaches! Lisa reminded all teams planning on combining for the season that they need to declare now.

Woodburn girls w/ N. Marion girls, Sandy with Estacada, La Pine boys with Mt. View (year 3) declared that they are planning on combining for the season.

a. There was a question regarding co-ed teams. Jim reviewed the rule in the bylaws.

b. Ray stated that in spring of '97, the "membership" adopted the option for a 1 yr extension for teams needing to continue to be combined. Rob asked if the rule has helped add more teams. Lisa read the current rule for combined teams.

c. 2/3 vote issue for spring meeting was brought up. Discussion was held on whether we should have a membership voting by-law change. ie: 1 coach from each league, 1 AD and board members for selections or changes. Another idea was to have a 2/3 vote, or only do voting at the fall meeting. Some people were concerned about voting at the spring meeting since there seems to be a much lower attendance at the spring meeting than the fall meeting.

8. Conflict of Interest (Ted Coran) -

a. Motion (Ted Coran): To allow the referees association to be the ones to identify and remedy any issue regarding conflict of interest, and they would then find the solution to that situation. Bill Pair 2nd the motion. Motion passed (2 opposed).

b. Melody noted that the referees do not agree on some of these issues.

c. Gene noted that each referee is given the chance to declare a conflict of interest each year.

d. Ted mentioned that the referees should be the ones to bring items that need to be changed forward for discussion.

F. State Championship Information

1. Rob Romancier brought up discussion on the 5A playoffs/championships. Albany would host the 5A tournament and Corvallis would host the 6A "playoffs". The referees would be fairly close in location and the two tournaments would not interfere with each other. Lisa noted that each team would have to declare PRIOR to the season (now) whether they were going to participate as a 5A or a 6A team. Some of the teams voiced concerns on why they have to choose one classification or the other (why couldn't they just participate in the 5A tournament if they didn't make the 6A).

Lisa brought up that OSAA rules state that 50% of the teams are needed to hold an additional state tournament in a different classification. Currently, we do not have 50% of teams to participate in a 5A/4A tournament. Bobby DeRoest voiced his opinion that we should just hold the additional state tournament for the teams. Rob went through what the procedures would be for league play with the 5A teams, the state tournament brackets and logistics.

Notes by Ray Tuleya:
(The minutes neglected discussions to the positive of this issue. After Lisa Joyce's point, it was brought up by someone that under this OSAA Rule that Lisa Joyce is quoting, we are not allowed to have "ANY" State Championships. I concurred this information. There was also disagreement whether the proposal should allow 5A/4A teams to choose due to the idea that one tournament would be seen as a JV tournament.)

Ted Coran brought up OSAA rules and how we seem to be picking and choosing what OSAA rules to follow. Jim mentioned that if we followed every OSAA rule, then the club teams would not be able to participate. Jason Mills stated we should just follow OSAA. Tim Burke brought up state seeding and what we want to see at the state tournament. He also mentioned that are also some 6A schools with small teams, it doesn't always have to do with the size of the school in regards to how large or successful a team can be.

Jim McMaster suggested to hold the 5A tournament as their 3rd tournament if they would like to hold it.

Motion: Rob Romancier - To hold a 5A state championship separate from the 6A championships. Motion 2nd by Ben Weinberg (South Albany), Vote: 7 for, 17 against. Motion failed.

2. Tournament Contracts for State - Those who wish to run state championships or state playoffs need to contact Lisa for an application form. Co-hosting is also available. The job includes selling t-shirts, working the gate at playoffs, at the state championships there are more duties involved.

3. Advertising - Reminder to teams that if you want to help advertising in the state program, 60% will come back to your team.

4. All Tournament Selection and Committee - Rob Romancier is in charge of the all-tournament committee and selection. Those coaches who are able to help out, contact Rob. (Coaches from South Salem, Tigard, Douglas, Reynolds, South Albany, Forest Grove, Redmond and South Eugene showed interest in helping out).

Notes by Ray Tuleya:
(Per the OHSWPC "Duties of Officers", the Secretary, Angela Schuerman, is supposed to be in charge of all-tournament voting.)

G. Development Report

1. Ron Thompson would like team budgets handed into him to help fill out grant requests. When filling out budget information, please include transportation cost and pool costs.

2. No new teams for this year. There have been reports of low numbers this year.

3. Lisa Joyce mentioned there are balls for sale from the past few years of state championships. Cost is $10 per ball.

H. 2007 League and Tournaments

1. Jamborees - Sept 8 Woodburn

2. Tournaments
- Newberg; Boys Sept 21-22, Girls Sept 14-15
- Sandy; Varsity Boys Sept 28-29, Varsity Girls Oct 19-20
- Parkrose; Varsity Girls Sept 15, Varsity Boys Sept 22
- Cottage Grove; Varsity Girls Oct 12, Varsity Boys Oct 13
- JV tournaments - Newberg and Douglas, tba

3. Redmond Jamboree - Ted mentioned writing a letter to the Redmond Aquatic Center to consider staying open a weekend later in order to hold the tournament there again. Some of the dates with the jamborees were not within the OSAA guidelines. Lisa is going to discuss with OSAA as to what safety issues to take into consideration as teams request to hold the jamborees earlier in the year than what OSAA states.

4. Referee availability (Lisa Joyce) - Later game times will help get more referees to games. Lisa is the assignor for the North. Any changes in game dates or times, contact Lisa immediately. Lisa also requested that coaches help recruit referees as much as possible. If Lisa doesn't have your current email address, please make sure she gets it right away.

I. Executive Director Report (Lisa Joyce)

1. Take a look at the timelines handed out and pay attention to it.

2. Any mid-season eligibility needs clearance. Athletes still need to be cleared whether they come out at the beginning or the middle of the season.

3. Hardship process - Coaches need to follow protocol for hardships otherwise the result end is forfeitures.

4. State roster deadlines - Oct 19. There will be gate fees assessed for those not on the roster by the deadline.

5. Any red card will result in expulsion from the venue until suspension is served.

6. Reminder to coaches to communicate with Lisa if needed and let her know of any changes.

J. Referee report

1. Those with outstanding officials bills need to get paid up immediately. Make sure to get the officials bills taken care of on time.

2. Melody - Referee evaluations can be emailed in or sent in to OWPOA. They are working on getting the evaluations on reftown. The evaluations really help and they don't take that long to complete.

Adjournment

Meeting Adjourned 9:15pm
Minutes submitted by Angela Schuerman, Secretary OHSWPC

Red Card Fines

Notes by Ray Tuleya:

The OWPOA website document on "Red Cards" claims the OSAA language was "adopted by OHSWPC Fall meeting August 29, 2007".

Again, there was no vote taken, it was only announced. The OWPOA website includes "OHSWPC – all funds accumulated as a result of ejection fines shall be used to further the sport of water polo in the state of Oregon."