Verona Area Soccer Club Monthly Meeting - January 16, 2001

Present: Bob Blasdel, Mary Buckman, Scott Clement, Jeff Petersen, Brian Severson, Jon Sutcliffe 

Corrections to Meeting Dates
The minutes for the October 23, 2000 meeting listed dates for subsequent meetings.  There was an error in two dates.  Please note these changes.  All Club members and interested parties are welcome to attend the monthly meetings!February Meeting: Tuesday, February 20, 2001March Meeting: Tuesday, March 20, 2001.

The "third Tuesday of the month" standard meeting time will be revised when the high school soccer season begins in April to allow attendance at Tuesday night games.

Verona 5 v 5 Tournament
Mary reported on progress in organizing the upcoming tournament.  The tournament will be held April 28 and 29 at Reddan Soccer Park.  All teams will finish play in one day.  The tournament will be hosted jointly by VASC and MAYSA.  MAYSA and VASC will equally split any funds earned on tournament and concessions.  MAYSA will schedule league games so that there will not be conflicts in entering the tournament.  Fields will be provided at no charge for the tournament. 

VASC is responsible for producing the tournament brochure.  The brochure is in the proofing stage and should go the printers soon (special thanks to Neal Kunde for his work on the brochure set-up and to Jan Norsetter for coordinating printing at Park Printing).  Sponsors will include Park Printing, Innocorp, and we will be seeking other sponsors who's logo would appear on tournament t-shirts. 

VASC will also be responsible for providing goals, for providing volunteers for field marshalling, registration, clean-up, etc.  MAYSA will mail all brochures, schedule games, hire referees, and will enlist the services of a local Boy Scout troop to help with parking, field supervision, etc.  The tournament will be open to both youth and adults. 
Verona coaches: Please support this tournament by entering one or more teams!!!! 

Footskills Clinics
Brian reported on a very successful start to a set of footskills clinics being held at Sugar Creek. The coaching directors from Yahara Soccer Club are putting on the training sessions.  Currently some 50 kids are participating.  VASC is picking up one-half the cost of the clinics with the other half from participants.  The cost is $40 for a 5 session series.  A second set of clinics is being planned. 

VASC Standard Uniforms
In response to a nearly unanimous vote by coaches at the fall mandatory meeting, the Club has met with two vendors to decide on both uniforms and vendor.  A subcommittee of the Board met with Stefan's Soccer Supply of Milwaukee and with Middleton Cycle and Fitness of Middleton.  After reviewing the proposals from both vendors and displaying the proposed uniforms, the Board voted to go with Stefan's as it felt Stefan's had the edge with respect to buying power, turnaround of purchases and service. 

The Board selected two uniform kits from which teams may choose.  The cost of the two choices (including jersey, shorts, alternative t-shirt, socks, and screen printing) will be approximately $55 for the higher-end uniform and $40 for the more basic kit.  We will be developing a procedure for fitting uniforms and placing orders that will allow a centralized and coordinate effort.  Stefan's will also offer discounts on balls, bags, and other equipment and the Board will work to get details on this aspect of the partnership.  Any teams looking at purchasing new uniforms for this Spring should contact Scott Clement or Brenda Schmidt immediately. 

U-16 Team
The Board discussed how to deal with a U-16 Boys team wishing to register with the Club for the Spring.  Despite efforts to work with the team representatives to comply with the Club's policy requiring mandatory open tryouts, the team did not follow through with commitments.  The Board discussed whether or not it should refuse to register the team or what other sanctions - if any - should be imposed.  It was decided that refusing to register the team would be overly punitive toward the players, who had nothing to do with the lack of compliance and cooperation.  It was decided that the Club would prepare a letter describing the non-compliance issue to be mailed to parents of all kids registering with the team.  The team will be put on notice that if they wish to field a team in the Club next spring, the policy will be adhered to completely or they will not be allowed to register. 

Board Positions
Prior to the beginning of the spring soccer season, there will be several openings on the Board and it will be critical that individuals be identified to take the open positions.  Bob Blasdel will step down as President, Brian Severson will complete his term as Treasurer.  Secretary Barb Smith, Coaching Director Jon Sutcliffe, and Volunteer Coordinator Mary K. Bishop have also all fulfilled their commitments to serve, so it is imperative that we find new people to serve if the Club is going to be able to function.  Please contact any member of the Board or the Club Administrators if you would like to find out more about what this entails.  IT IS TIME TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE! 

Scholarship Request
An informal request was received to provide a scholarship to a U-16 boy for the Spring.  The Board tentatively agreed to grant the scholarship to allow the opportunity for this boy to participate in a competitive team.  The policy of the Board is that all scholarship requests must be submitted in writing to the Board by the team's manager or coach in order to be formally considered.  Once this is provided, the request will be granted. 

Jeff Petersen
Verona Area Soccer Club Administrator
(608) 848-7616
VASC Phone/FAX line