Winter Meeting Minutes

Minutes
McHenry Christian Fellowship League
Winter Meeting
2/28/09

Present:
1. John Amandes (Shepherd of the Hills 2),
2. Jerry Carl (Fellowship of Faith 1),
3. Gary DeMarchi (Joyful Harvest),
4. Lee (Joyful Harvest),
5. Steve Brown (Shepherd of the Prairie),
6. Andy (Faith Presbyterian),
7. Brian (Faith Presbyterian),
8. Ted Dinkleman (Church of Holy Apostles),
9. Brian (1st Baptist of McHenry),
10. Mark Santner (Fox Lake Community Church),
11. Mark (Willow Creek of Crystal Lake),
12. Brian Claypool (Willow Creek of Crystal Lake),
13. Scott Richardson (St. Patrick’s Catholic Church),
14. Mike Orlando (McHenry Evangelical Free Church of McHenry),
15. Kary Olsen (Alliance Bible Church),
16. Bill Disch (St. Paul’s United Church of Christ),
17. Bryan Zichus (St. Paul’s United Church of Christ),
18. Bill Halstead (Maranatha Assembly of God),
19. Tiffany Umbarger (Shepherd of the Hills 1),
20. Amy Birkhoff (Church of Holy Apostles),
21. Dave Miller (Anchor Baptist Church).

Not Present: The Chapel, Joy Community Presbyterian Church, Harvest Bible Church, Grace Fellowship of Woodstock, First United Methodist Church, Mount Hope United Methodist Church, CrossPoint Church, and Fellowship of Faith 2.

Opening Prayer was led by Bill Halsted

Opening Remarks were made by John Amandes

Introductions were made of all managers.

New Managers present were recognized
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

Reports
Treasurer: We currently have $140.67 in the account.

Discussion
Discussed the Shamrock complex. It is located West of Curran on Dartmoor. It is a city park, so no dogs, no liquor, no litter. There are 2 fields, bathrooms, fields are not lighted. There is an eqipment locker, keys will be provided to the League President, Vice President and Field Managers. Doug is checking into strike mats for the two fields. Base lengths are 60ft, same as Township. Field grooming is done by Ambrose of City of McHenry Parks and Rec. Ground rules will need to be made - there is a playground with 'jungle gym' in right center and left. Insurance certificate requirement, Dave Miller is getting quotes for the league. He believe the total cost will be between $300 -$500. The city requires that someone trained to use an AED be present. Doug is checking into a waiver. Schedules will be made so that each team will have no more than 2 games at the Shamrock Complex.

Discussed this years fee per team. Last year was $100.00 per team. Amount could not be set based on the unknown amounts for the Shamrock fields and the insurance.

Mentioned other fee's from other church leagues found on the net. Fees ranged from $400 to $700, assumed mostly because of the expense of umpires.

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

Discussed enhanced code of conduct form. Deadline Monday April 20th. No player may take the field until they have signed this. All required forms are on the website.

Discussed Summer Tournament changes; Opt in and $10.00 fee. It was requested that dates for the tournament be set in advance so teams can arrange schedules, especially for non-Monday night games. Also brought up other tourney options - limiting to 16 teams, making it single elimination, cutting the tournament and extending regular season play, and shortening the regular season by 1 or 2 games to extend the timeframe for the tournament.

Discussed rainouts, rescheduling, and field options for rainouts. Often Shamrock fields, township fields, Peterson Park, and the Lakemoor fields are available for make ups.

Discussed the batter’s box with the addition of home plate to the strikezone. Consensus was that 3 feet from the top of the plate (about 1 bat length) would be appropriate, and if either foot crossed the line, the batter would be outside the box.

Discussed the distance to the pitcher’s mound and if that should be changed due to the extension of the batter’s box. No consensus reached.

Discussed Twilight games - anyone has the right to stop play for darkness. Should games start at 6:00? Lower the number of innings played?

Discussed Spring meeting date, unclear if April 4th or April 18th. Announced Doug or someone will email the group as to the date of the meeting and how much the fee will be.

Motions for vote
1.) Shall the league have a minimum church member requirement per team based on the size of the congregation
If average attendance is 0-50, then 1 must be a member
If average attendance is 51-75, then 2 must be members
If average attendance is 76-100, then 3 must be members
If average attendance is 101-125, then 4 must be members
If average attendance is 126-150, then 5 must be members
If average attendance is 151-175, then 6 must be members
If average attendance is 176-200, then 7 must be members
If average attendance is 201-225, then 8 must be members
This ballot item passed 12-4

2.) Shall the league revise the strike zone to speed up the games by including home plate in the strike zone?
This ballot item passed 10-6

3.) Shall the league require that any rostered player showing up for that evening’s game be guaranteed to play a minimum of 3 innings every game?
This ballot item failed 5-11

4.) Shall the circuit breaker high score rule (Section 12.2) be retained.
This ballot item passed 11-4

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.
This ballot item passed 13-3

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.
This ballot item passed 13-3

7.) Shall the league retain the umpire’s quick reference sheet that is supposed to be hung on the backstop behind the umpire?
This ballot item passed 12-3

Announcements
Bamboo bats are legal
New ball 2s 375 compress .44 core
Scores need to be submitted to Doug by midnight Wednesday by the winning manager
17 is the age limit, 16 with a waiver from the league
Make sure the umpires you select for the game are educated
Supply an ump before fielding a 10th player
The same person can umpire the entire game if they wish
Bag checks will be done at the Spring meeting
Do not schedule the All star game and picnic on Fiesta days due to traffic; players could not make it to the fields
Do we want to lower the age for an aluminum bat from 55 to 50? Think about for next year
Township fields are available on Mondays staring 4/1/09
The season starts 4/20/09


Respectfully Submitted
Tiffany Umbarger