NHD2 Little League
District Meeting Minutes
August 30, 2023
Present on Zoom: Jon Sebasco [LR; ADA], Derek Mercier [Concord], John Kneeland [NMHLL], Matt Petersons [Suncook], Sarah Fuller [Somersworth], Jeff Ross [UIC], Nik Uhlir [Portsmouth], Kathie Lynch [DA]
Zoom meeting called to order at 8:10 pm.
Minutes:
May meeting: Nik Uhlir moved, Derek Mercier 2nd to approve the minutes of the May meeting as distributed; no discussion; all approved.
Finances:
1. Kathie reported $725.59 in district account
2. Red Sox foundation check has arrived and once tournament costs accounted for remainder will go to Somersworth as an EFT from the bank.
3. Bank of NH changing checking account with implementation of a $6 monthly fee for occasionally used accounts; will investigate moving funds to a bank with no fee for non-profits.
4. All leagues asked to send check to Kathie’s address no later than December 1, 2023 for the 2024 year [2ndyear] of the PCA contract. Kathie will check with Vanessa on interest in D1 and if so that will reduce league costs. Without D1 involvement cost remains at $400/league.
5. LLI is in the process of changing its fiscal year to January 1 to December 31; this change does NOT require any changes in the October 1 to September 30 fiscal year for chartered leagues, but leagues have the option of altering to a calendar year if so desired. If making this change leagues need to account for the period of October 1 to December 31 in making the change – check with an accountant to be sure that making this change meets IRS requirements.
Website Update: It is time to move the website vendor to Sports Connect so that access and use is easier than the google host that is currently in use. Any suggestions for a person, paid or volunteer, to help with this change is appreciated. Kathie can then keep the site up to date, especially during tournament. Greg Wainwright has done a great job for the district in the several years he has administered the site; he has become busy with many other obligations and moving the site to a user-friendly site will help facilitate communication.
Fall Ball: Concord, NMH, and Suncook all participating in D1 organized fall ball program.
League Elections: During the months of September and October leagues should be conducting elections for the 2024 season. The process for these elections is specified in each league’s Constitution so be sure to review the sections on how to conduct your elections to remain in compliance with local league bylaws. Once elections are held NOTIFY Kathie with the league president and contact information AND enter this information in the Data Center.
The general membership meeting is a good time to review the league Constitution and make suggestions for changes that reflect the reality of the way the league is run. It is highly recommended that a method for electronic communications and elections be added if not currently in the document and that any communication methods that are no longer used or are expensive [e.g., league wide mailings] be removed. It is also recommended that reasonable, attainable quorums be chosen and that membership be addressed to include parents of players so that all involved parties have input into the overall administration of the league. Kathie is available to assist with any questions on elections or amending the Constitution.
Kathie would like to attend a Board meeting of each league in the late fall and early winter to get to know the Board members, provide any guidance requested, and review the league Constitution. Presidents are asked to send her the dates of planned meetings in November, December, January, and February so she can arrange to visit each league.
Softball Interest: Concord may be adding a softball division to its charter in 2024; all other leagues are encouraged to consider adding softball as a division should an inquiry be made. When this happens the softball division should have its own VP overseeing functions along with a player agent, scheduler, coaching staff, and other volunteer support. The league president would oversee the baseball and softball divisions [and Challenger] and should consider the day-to-day operations of each division being assigned to the division VP.
2023 Tournament: Tournament went well this year with no specific suggestions for changes. Kathie brought up the challenge of field assignments in the double elimination round when the higher seeds in both divisions are from the same league and so Kathie is asking the presidents to consider a change to the 8-10 tournament by eliminating the double elimination championship round and reverting for this age group only to the top 4 seeds playing a semi-final [Seed 4 v Seed 1; Seed 3 v Seed 2] on Day 1 of the Championship round and the Championship game on Day 2 [most likely a Saturday and Sunday]. Suncook has volunteered to host the 2024 District championship as part of its 50th year celebration – all agreed.
Umpires: Jeff Ross remarked on the number and success of NH umpires from both D1 and D2 in officiating regional and world series tournaments. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the umpires in NH and especially the work of the UIC’s in both districts. More umpires are needed, and leagues are asked to call for volunteer umpires and forward the names to Jeff. An umpire clinic is being planned for NH for 2024.
Combined Meetings with D1: Once Vanessa officially begins her role as D1 DA we will work to hold some combined meetings, especially regarding PCA, special games, and tournament. A meeting schedule will be planned and shared later this fall.
Next Meeting will be a Zoom meeting in November/December time frame.
Meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathie Lynch