Tallahassee United Futbol Club
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 @ The Meadows
Submitted by Tanja Clendinen, TUFC Secretary
In attendance:
Tanja Clendinen, Rob Hayes, Eric Lipman, Bill Modrow, Jim Parker, Garland Sandel, Larry Wood, and Director of Coaching Andy Warner
October Minutes: (Tanja Clendinen)
☼Proposed that minutes from the October meeting be distributed for review via email---motion made by Bill that minutes be distributed and approved via email—seconded by Eric—all in favor
Director of Coaching Report: (Andy Warner)
Distributed Director of Coaches Report (copy attached) and briefly reviewed:
☼Training and technical sessions and schedule finalized—will email to Rob to post to website
☼In conversation with Gainesville, Panama City, and Emerald Coast re: competing with them on the academy level (playdates)
☼Excellent coverage from Democrat re: U18Girls college signings
Discussion:
- Rob: issue with individual team managers sending in results separately thus interfering with getting full club coverage—do not want to prohibit hard working managers and coaches from getting recognition for their team and do not want the Board to have to play the heavy on this issue but wanted the Board to be aware of the issue should we later determine the need to put a specific policy in place regarding the issue
- Bill: once we build confidence in the club’s communications machine, the situation will probably improve
☼Girls tremendously successful at the Gator Showcase
☼Coaches are evaluating various outside players—must meet minimum level skill criteria to join
Discussion:
- Garland: remind coaches that need completed player form prior to evaluation for insurance reasons
☼Need cash for refs and field fees for Mar. 1 playdates—Andy will send amount to Garland who will collect from team managers and treasurers and then obtain cash for Cindy to disperse
☼Two coaches meetings on Jan. 16 and Feb. 6 to proactively address several player and team issues:
--Establishing consistent criteria for guesting—maybe two separate criteria for academy and select;
--Improving communication, for ex. payment status information discrepancies, intraclub guesting, etc.
--Player participation/commitment
--Increased expenditures: increasing tournament costs, coaching stipends
☼Met with ODP director for our region—evaluation system cumbersome and not working for our region—recommended ODP scouting day in April in which players evaluated while playing regular position with regular team
☼Pensacola Futbol Club director made verbal proposal re: U13 and U14 guesting with SEUnited (separate club this year)—requested a one page fact sheet, no preselection (open trial), and no conflict with pre-existing TUFC commitments—better situation than last year but process still needs improvement
Discussion:
- Garland: Need to make sure that TUFC gets reimbursed for re-registrations from guesting—also need to have records available re: players leaving in good standing in case request to return
☼Discussion re: rising costs to attend tourneys (hotel, gas, etc.) and attendance is suffering—limit numbers/size?
☼Re: opportunities for outside coaches to work with the club--Andy needs Visa info and credentialing (for insurance purposes)—after consulting with an attorney, has determined that the following is needed: interview, background check, US embassy JI Visa with all details, insurance policy, etc.—since 2001, hosting international coaches has become very difficult and costly so should be considered carefully
Discussion:
- Rob: onus is on the visitor and should expose players to wider range of coaching—why not take advantage of offers that come our way
- Eric: there is are credibility and risk issues to consider—CSA Board not interested either
End-of-Year Banquet: (Bill Modrow)
☼Proposed banquet be held on May 2 at the Civic Center—doors open at 6p and dinner at 6:30—Jane Dobbs is the chairing the event—Andy is sponsoring Thomas Rongen (US U20 National Team coach) as the guest speaker (while in Tallahassee will also be conducting coaching seminars and parent education seminars)—idea had been floated to hold 2 separate events, one for Academy and one for Select, but not pursued for a number of reasons, e.g., need the numbers to generate enough money to keep ticket prices down, would split families who have players in both groups, nurturing club unity, etc.—Tanja made motion to approve plan, Rob seconded, all in favor
Discussion:
- Garland: suggested sponsorships for the banquet to further reduce ticket costs—Rob expressed concern that we not blow sponsorships on the banquet then not have available for other stuff—Andy suggested that the Board set certain annualized events/endeavors as regular, publicized sponsorship opportunities so potential sponsors could choose/plan ahead--Garland further suggested that any excess funds raised for the banquet be put into the scholarship fund for next fall—Garland made motion, Larry seconded, all in favor
- Need to set sponsorship levels with criteria, i.e., name in the program, sign, etc.—Garland will develop levels and criteria—group possible levels of: $150, $250, $500, $1000, $7500
Uniform Update: (Eric Lipman)
☼Once the new vendor (Eurosport) was selected and setup, things flowed smoothly, although, our contact from last fall has left so things have been a little bumpy as the new rep settles in--we currently have a backlog of stock across all age groups that can be returned or sold; however, Eric would like to fill the orders for spring first before returning anything.
Discussion:
- Garland: for financial reasons, we should return overstock, including concern that would be viewed as income
- Larry/Rob/Tanja: as long as not sold for a profit (just to cover expenses of merchandise, shipping, etc.) would not be a problem
- Larry: suggested that teams that often have guest players might be interested in purchasing a spare uniform rather than having to borrow
☼One manager is adamantly requesting a refund for a backpack that was ordered in the fall (approx. $28)—claims that it was not delivered in a timely manner, although Eric repeatedly notified him/her in the fall that it had arrived and was available to be picked up—consensus was that the backpack could be sold to someone else and not worth the aggravation of forcing receipt of the merchandise—Tanja made motion that the money be refunded and the backpack returned to the Club merchandise stock—Rob 2nd—all in favor
Treasurer’s Report: (Garland Sandel)
☼Final outcome on IRS 2003 late filing—penalty forgiven so nothing owed (copy of determination/adjustment letter attached)
Discussion:
- Board members present expressed their appreciation to Garland for his time and effort in bringing this issue to a positive conclusion
☼Per the recommendation of the IRS, Garland requested that the bylaws be changed to reflect that the club’s fiscal/tax year will be January through December in order to ease some of the reporting difficulties caused by the existing fiscal schedule—if the Board is amenable, Garland will draft the change and distribute by email for final approval—Rob made motion, Bill seconded, all in favor
☼Provided figures on income, expenses, and balances for main account and benevolent account (copy attached)—questions regarding the Carlos benevolent fund re: what was it initially set up for, what is its current purpose, should this be a separate account outside TUFC, etc—Andy suggested that Garland check with Alex Morris as to details
☼Questioned whether players not returning for the spring are liable for their fees:
Discussion:
- Should be up-to-date on their development fee but team fees are for field rentals, tournaments, coaching fees, etc. so if not playing, not incurring—are occasional exceptions to the rule, for ex. when a player starts in the spring, they are only responsible for half of the development fee—Tanja made motion to discuss establishing guidelines at a later meeting, Eric seconded, all in favor
Registrar’s Update: (Bill Modrow for Dena Day)
☼Has recently processed over $200 in new player passes
Website Update: (Rob Hayes)
☼Has drafted a web policies document and would like feedback—distributed site map (copy attached)--has some additional documents and updates to share but will handle via email--almost all the team managers/coaches have contacted him for access to the website
Discussion:
- Eric & Tanja: need to have an internet image release form for coaches/managers to complete before posting a player’s picture on the site—U11Girls have an interim form until standard club form can be developed and posted—can also use Leon Co. Schools form as model
- Larry: would like to post health-related info re: knee and ankle injuries, heat exhaustion, conditioning, etc.
☼Requested that given Eric’s work with uniform orders, he take the lead on establishing a website store for TUFC paraphernalia as a way to raise funds, supply uniform requests outside the regular seasonal bulk orders, etc.
Discussion:
- Eric: expressed concern that he would have the time to take on such a project in the near future—Rob suggested a plug-in module from Demosphere is probably available that would make the task more manageable
- Tanja: might be advisable to make sure that the core components of the site are solid before adding on
- Garland: expressed concern re: sales tax collection/income liability if we charge above cost—Larry: based on his experience with other 501(c)(3)s, not taxable as long as any “profits” go toward the mission of the club
Nominations Committee: (Larry Wood)
☼All the current Board members are willing to continue to serve so there are no vacancies at this time; however, propose that we build a pool of pre-screened individuals to pull from when a position comes open—has asked Jim Parker and Tanja Clendinen to assist with building this pool and requested suggestions for potential individuals
Discussion:
- All present in favor of proposal
- Tanja: suggested that objective selection criteria be set prior to beginning the vetting process—would provide clear, objective grounds for selecting/rejecting “applications”—also, can post on website to provide clear guidelines for individuals wishing to become eligible for consideration—all present in favor—Larry: via email, Larry, Jim and Tanja will develop draft criteria and circulate to Board for approval
☼Feels that the club would benefit from having working committees (2) for the Academy program and the Select Program following the business model of “segmenting customers”—would like to discuss this idea more fully at the next Board meeting
Discussion:
- Tanja: this idea would dovetail well with the request for Board liaison assignments for each team
New Business:
☼Tanja: Given the costs and “hoops” associated with FYSA and the very limited participation by club teams in State Cup this year, would like to discuss the club’s participation in FYSA next year (08-09) at the next Board meeting
Meeting adjourned.
