Northwest Chargers Hockey Association  Board of Directors’ Meeting

August 20, 2007

Regular Meeting Minutes

 The regular meeting of the Northwest Chargers Hockey Association was called to order at 6:40 pm. Present were Linda Becker, Lori DeCarlo, Russ Fitton, Doug Grupe, Melba Hartman, Lori Sall, Chris Sciortiono, Mike Silenzi, and Jim Zeman. TomRitondale was attending the NIHL meeting. David Miller was absent. Also in attendance were Ken Smith and Pat Smith.

 Old Business: The regular minutes and the executive minutes of the regular meeting held on July 9, 2007 were unanimously approved

 Tom Reibel: Tom met with the Board and discussed his background. He has been involved in coaching youth hockey since 1975 principally working with goalies. Tom plans to do individual goalie sessions with each team. He will  also do sessions with coaches to help them with coaching their goalies. Each team will have six sessions. Tom also plans to video goalies so that they can learn from seeing themselves.

 Communications: The process of on-line registration is working well so far. It may be to our advantage to create some sort of monetary incentive to encourage greater participation in the on-line registration process. Mike noted that Mark Loewenstein has been responsive to concerns that arise and is also very attentive to detail. Mark is planning to attend the managers’ meeting. Mike has been soliciting sponsorships for the website. We have purchased the .com domain name for $50. The old web site is now redirecting people to the new one.

Mike noted that the sample jerseys from OT have still not been located. The Board agreed to pay the cost for these since they can not be found.

 Equipment: No report.

 Fundraising: The Makray was booked for the evening that we wished to use it, so Chris has made arrangements for November 2 at the Belvidere. The Belvidere is located near Devon and Rohlwing roads. The event will begin at 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. The cost to host the event will be approximately what it was last year. We will have a second room for the silent auction. Linda has a contact with a memorabilia dealer who may be more lucrative for us and will report back to us. Chris will post on the web site to solicit volunteers for this fundraising event as well as other fundraising we may be able to do.

 Leagues: No report.

 Registrar: Lori is working with the new on-line registration process. There are 147 registrants so far.  Lori has set the picture day for September 24, 2007 from 5:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

 Rules & Ethics: Jim went over the process for having parents read and acknowledge the zero tolerance policy at the beginning of the season.

 Scheduler: Ken projects that we may have an extra 3 hours of extra ice per weekend. The Board discussed and agreed that we should sell AHAI a Wednesday night slot for sled hockey. 

Treasurer: Russ gave the treasurer's report noting the receipts so far from registration.

 Tournaments: No report.

 New Business:

Parent and Managers’ Handbooks: The Board went over additions and deletions that will need to be made to the handbooks before try-outs. The mileage reimbursement rate will increase to $0.485 per mile. A motion was made and seconded to require teams to provide reimbursements for up to three non-parent coaches. The motion passed 6 to 2.

 Palatine Fest: We are planning on running a shooting lane in conjunction with the Renegades. A radar gun will be used and winners will be awarded a certificate. Volunteers are needed to set-up and then run the shooting lane.

 Charger Apparel: Jerry’s will stock anniversary Charger wear with the anniversary logo such as hats, t-shirts and boxers.

 Give Hockey a Try Day:  We will need volunteers. The day will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 7:30 p.m. There will be a sled hockey game at 1:20 p.m. and we will sell chuck-a-puck for the game.

 Try-outs and pre-conditioning: Linda went over Board assignments for the clinics and try-outs. Try-outs will begin the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and end on Monday. Players must pay the try-out fee whether they use the ice or not.

 Golf Outing: Rory Daniels has offered to run a golf outing for us and has booked May 22, 2008 at Glendale Country Club.

 Credit card usage: The Board has the use of a Chase credit card for organizational expenses. The Board discussed the advisability of extending the use to teams for extraordinary expenses and agreed not to authorize this.

 Our next meeting will be held on October 8, 2007 as the managers’ meeting will be held in September. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted,

Lori DeCarlo, Secretary