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Minneapolis Youth Lacrosse

Board Agenda
May 9, 2019 @ 6:00 p.m. Community Gathering Space (36th & Bryant)

Members present: Nikki Gilbertson, Eric Elgin, Ashlee Miller, Staven Bruce, Karen Bruce, Molly Myers, Nick Lucca, Charles Johnson-Nixon, Rob Bedeaux

Meeting called to order 6:08 pm.

Secretary: Notes from the April meeting were reviewed.  S. Bruce moved to approve.  K. Bruce seconded.  A vote was taken and the motion passed. 

Registration Update:  As of May 8th, Miller said that there are ten girls signed up for summer at 14U, five at 12U (the 12U players can be pulled up to play with the 14U team), six at 10U (need at least ten), and two at 8U. Elgin will contact St. Louis Park to see if they have 10U girls that would like to play with Minneapolis. Elgin reported that the boys summer teams have two players at 8U (will just run scrimmages instead of playing YLM), five to six at 10U, twenty at 12U, and nine at 14U.  Levels coordinators for both boys and girls should send an additional reminder to parents to remind them to register.  A bring-a-friend-to-practice event for the girls will be scheduled for May 29thand new participants will receive a free t-shirt. K. Bruce asked if we can continue to offer six Dibs to family if a player is recruited for summer, and Elgin agreed.

VP of Lacrosse: There are two dads that are coaching full time at the 10U level.  The group discussed whether parent coaches should be paid. The group agreed that parent coaches should get their Dibs requirements fulfilled for coaching teams.

VP of Administration: Johnson-Nixonwill be getting new turf for the manhole covers at Bassett’s Creek. Creases have been purchased.  The game boxes will be set up at Bassett’s and Elliot fields, once the Parade games are completed.  Two new airhorns will be purchased.  

Fields/Scheduling:The YLM season starts on June 3rd, which overlaps with the GNLL season for boys.  Games will not start until June 10thto help alleviate game overlap.  

Boys Program: S. Bruce reported that at the 12U level, there are concerns about parents knowing how to do their volunteer jobs.  Parent volunteers should be told to review their game jobs on the website before they get to the field.  A laminated diagram of the fields should be put in the field boxes. Additional jerseys will be ordered next year for late registrants, as there have been issues for new players.  Boys 10U is going well overall (the teams are split evenly, but there may be a couple of kids that should have been split up). The 14U teams are short on players, but it seems to be working fine.  

Girls Program: Miller noted that 10U co-op is going well.  K Bruce reported that the 12U/14U teams are four games in and the girls are playing well. Better instructions are needed for set up/take down of the fields at Bassetts, and more than one parent should be assigned due to the heavy goals and large equipment box.   There also needs to be more information for parents on doing stats/score and recap.   The Spring MSLax tournament is scheduled for June 1st- 2ndat Centennial High School, and the Summer MSLax Tournament will be held August 2nd– 4th in Woodbury. 

Open House:  Myers suggested that an Open House happen for 2020 to have kids register, buy spiritwear, have a parent meeting, etc. to get people excited about the upcoming seasons.  Gilbertson noted that the school flyer would need to be ready for distribution at the beginning of January to get new families onboard. Elgin would like to tackle this in a future meeting.  A Trylax event could be tacked on to the front of the Open House.

Treasurer: Elgin noted that the Slaugthers are working on the budget process for the future.  They are also working on the tax returns that may need to be done for past years.  If anyone knows CPAs that have pro-bono hours, please let Elgin know.

Volunteering:Melanie Faulhaber relayed that board positions will be added to the Dibs system for board members to claim. Faulhaber has emailed picnic volunteers three times, but has not heard from them.  Families are doing Dibs for most teams and games, and managers need to keep reminding families to sign up.  Parents who state that they can’t figure out how to work the system will be charged, as there are many volunteer opportunites that are going unclaimed.  A new Volunteer Coordinator is needed to shadow Faulhaber so she can move on from the position next season.  Level coordinators should also be asking parents to step up to take over board roles, as several members have kids that are aging out of the program.  

Recruiting:   Myers would like to schedule Trylax events on June 9thor 12th, July 14th, and August 11th/14th. If the events are on Sundays, the sessions should be as late in the day as possible to encourage people to attend as they are coming back into town from weekend events.  The thought is to charge players a $10 participation fee.  Coaches will be recruited once fields are secured.  High school players may be able to help out with coaching once their seasons are completed.  From a marketing perspective, Myers would like to set up a table at tournament to hand out flyers to highlight the clinics.  We should continue to post events on Nextdoor and Facebook. Surveys should continue to be used, and it might be best to use hard-copy surveys that could be given to the parents at the end of the clinics, as well as at the summer picnic.  Lucca will be looking in to see how other states are recruiting young players, and Myers will research how hockey gets players involved at such a young age.  

Marketing:   Bedeaux will look into getting yard signs and car decals sourced. A consistent look for the logo is key. A suggestion was made to give small helmet stickers or temporary tattoos to players as incentives for good play.  

Meeting Space:  Gilbertson will look in to using meeting facilities at SportsEngine or Bremer Bank so that board meeting time could be pushed back to 7:00.

Team Manager Training:  Elgin would like to have team managers trained on how to use the SportsEngine app, as well as all of their responsibilities as managers.   K. Bruce can give feedback to Bedeaux on what should be used.  

A motion to adjourn was made by S. Bruce.  Johnson-Nixon seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 7:54 pm.

Next meeting: Thursday, June 13th, 2019 at 7:00 at SportsEngine