Winter Meeting Agenda

WHAT to bring on the 28th.

Copy of the agenda.
Copy of Rules.
Code of conduct form.
Roster submission form.

(I'll have just a couple extras above. So please help me out and bring
your own!)

Opening Prayer

Opening Remarks

Introductions of new teams and new managers.

New manager for First Baptist of McHenry, Blane Barnett
New manager for The Chapel. ?
New Assistant Manager for Joy Community, Tracy ?
New church team Harvest Bible Chapel of McHenry managed by Brian and
Sarah Safstrom
New church team Willow Creek of Crystal Lake managed by Brian Claypool
New church team Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran of Huntley managed by
Steve Brown
New church team Joyful Harvest Lutheran of Johnsburg managed by Gary Demarchi
Restart of church team Grace Fellowship of Woodstock managed by Jim Korzak.

Discussion of Shamrock complex;
Location. On Dartmoor west of Curran road on West side of Town.
Ballfield description. 2 fields with backstop and dugout with benches.
Base lengths. 60ft, same as Township.
Bathroom Facilities. Just port-a-poties.
City rules. No dogs, no liquor, no litter.
Equipment locker.
Keys. Everyone gets one. A key deposit of $5.00 per key will be
collected at the Spring meeting.
Field grooming. (Ambrose of City of McHenry Parks and Rec.)
Strike mats?
Ground rules - Playground with 'jungle gym' in right center and left
center between both ballfields.
Insurance certificate requirement?
AED issue.
Scheduling, balance with MOST games at Township and a goal of no more
than 2 at Shamrock.

Report from treasurer.

Discuss this years fee per team. Last year was $100.00 per team.

Mention of other fee's from other church leagues found on the net.

Discuss enhanced roster submission process (Phase II). Mandatory
meeting between manager and pastor. Rosters must be submitted by
deadline Monday April 6th.

Discuss enhanced code of conduct form. Deadline Monday April 20th. No
player may take the field until they have signed this.

Discuss Summer Tournament changes; Opt in and $10.00 fee.

Vote on 7 ballot items below.

1.) Shall the league require that a minimum of 4 players be a regular
attender of the church whose team roster they are on and present at
every game?
(Submitted by another manager last fall.)

2.) Shall the league revise the strike zone to speed up the games by
including home plate in the strike zone?
(Submitted by yours truly, DWP.)

3.) Shall the league require that any rostered player showing up for
that evenings game be guaranteed to play a minimum of 3 innings every
game?
(Submitted by another manager last fall.)

4.) Shall the circuit breaker high score rule (Section 12.2) be retained.
(As promised, I'd give this one season and put it to a vote - DWP)

5.) Shall the league modify the tie breaker standards to lowest runs
allowed? (Tie breaker rule is used to determine final standings and
thus playoff seedings.) Explanation: "The run differential tie
breaker for the standings could be replaced with "fewest runs
allowed". We have the slaughter rules in place to avoid any team
piling on another team. By using fewest runs allowed rather than run
differential, you avoid any team concerning themselves with how much
they need to win by, etc. at the end of the year for the standings."

As currently understood, tie breaker rules is 1.) Who won a head to
head? 2.) If no head to head, higher total of run differential runs
scored minus runs allowed.

As amended, would be; 1.) Who won a head to head? 2.) If no head to
head, team with lowest runs allowed.
(Submitted by another manager this winter.)

6.) Shall the league require a bulletin announcement once a year in
the March timeframe reminding each churches congregation of the
existence of the church softball team?
EXPLANATION: This would benefit congregants of larger churches with 2
or more services a weekend that may not attend the same service as the
manager and thus may not be aware of the opportunity of the church
softball team.
(Submitted by yours truly - DWP)

7.) Shall he league retain the umpires quick reference sheet that is
supposed to be hung on the backstop BEHIND the umpire?
(Submitted by yours truly - DWP)

Talking points;
Field breakdown. STOP throwing bases any which way in the shed! Stack
them neatly on the shelves ALONG with the strike mats.
Striping fields.
Substitute runner from home. Was not followed correctly last year.
Batters box rule.
Bamboo bats. They are wood!
Twilight games.
Load balancing playing time among your players.
Game scores. Some slippage last year in reporting on time. No grace
period this year.
Picking umpires and educating them.

Bag check. Check at Spring meeting will be MORE thorough and include
a check list for the checkers.
Check list will list these mandatory contents for your bag.
First aid kit, fully stocked.
At least 2 chemical cold pack. If you have old ones, check the
expiration date if applicable.
Tape measure of PLUS 60ft length, preferably 90ft length.
Tool to scrape out base recepticles at Township.
Small hand spade to dig out base SPIKES at Shamrock.
Scorebook with extra pencils.
Umpires safety vest.
Umpires ball strike cicker.
Spare bases and strike mats for makeup games at the soccer field or wherever.


Q and A.

Final remarks, announcement of Spring meeting date. April 4th. Bring
cash or check for league fee's. Game balls will be handed out on the
4th. Schedule will be ready as well.

Closing prayer.