WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP PARKS & RECREATION

							                          WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP PARKS & RECREATION
                                  SPORTS ADVISORY BOARD

                                          Meeting of January 16, 2007


        The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by the Secretary to the Sports Advisory Board, Mary
Schneider. Mrs. Schneider introduced Lisa Bramante, Charlie Muracco and Trey Slough and the newest
members to the Board, Lisa Collins, Frank Ragozzino, Rich Silvesti and Kaydon Stanzione. Also in attendance
were James McKeever, Director of WTMS; Matt Lyons, Chairman of the Sports Facility Task Force; Frank
Scarpato, Liaison to the SAB. Sports Board members in attendance were Bernardine DiStefano, Football; Tim
Niemic, Baseball; Scott Patterson, Wrestling; Dave Robbins, Lacrosse; Brian Scavetta, Track and Field; Steve
Vitola, Basketball; Toni Williams, Football/Cheerleading, Ray Wulk, Soccer.

Nominations for President:
      Mr. Stanzione nominated Mr. Slough; Mrs. Bramante nominated Mr. Muracco.
      Members cast their votes by ballot. Outcome: Mr. Sough 4 votes; Mr. Muracco 3

Nominations for Vice President:
      Mr. Slough nominated Mr. Stanzione; Mrs. Bramante nominated Mr. Muracco.
      Members cast their votes by ballot. Outcome: Mr. Muracco 4 votes; Mr. Stanzione 2.
         There was one vote for Mr. Slough for the office of VP. This vote was tossed out.

Officers: Trey Slough, President
          Charlie Muracco, Vice President

SPORTS FACILITY TASK FORCE
Mr. McKeever and Mr. Lyons have formed this committee at the request of Mayor Moriarty in order to put
together a report on the needs of each of the sport programs. A plan will be put in place to act upon these needs.
The committee will hold their meetings on a Monday night. Which Monday each month has yet to be decided.
Meetings will be open to the public. The committee will break down into sub-committees. Bruce Frazer and
Joe Bollendorf will be members of this committee. The Mayor has stated that engineering services will be used
without cost to the town. The report from this committee is due August 1, 2007 to the Mayor.

REPORTS OF THE SPORTS BOARDS:

The sports board were asked to state when their boards meet:

Baseball – Mondays – usually every other Monday at the Baseball Complex
Basketball – Fourth Wednesday of each month at the Grenloch Community Center, 7:00 p.m.
Football – Second or Third Thursday at the Grenloch Community Center
Football/Cheerleading – Second Monday of each month at the Grenloch Community Center, 7:00 p.m.
Nitros Cheerleading – First Thursday of each month
Lacrosse –
Soccer – First Tuesday of each month at the Municipal Building
Softball – Sunday nights at the Softball House
Track and Field – Tuesday prior to SAB meeting at the Grenloch Community Center
Wrestling – meets November thru March at the Commissioner’s home

FOOTBALL: Mrs. DiStefano stated that the Football season ended with their annual banquet. A Chinese
Auction and 50/50 were held raising $3200 for their charity account. Monies from this fundraiser were given
to Connor Quinn, victim of mauling by two dogs, Shiela Irwin, breast cancer victim and one other person. Mrs.
DiStefano was not sure who this was.
Football asked that their fields be ready by August 1.

WRESTLING: Mr. Patterson stated that the program is involved in two (2) leagues this year: South Jersey
League which is a structured league and a stickler about their bylaws and the Grapevine League which rates
wrestlers 1 to 6 on skill levels with 1 being the lowest. Mr. Patterson explained that he favored the SJ League
over the Grapevine League. In the Grapevine League, the wrestlers are not rated properly, have no starting line
up, and everyone gets at least one match and possibly more.
South Jersey League has formal bylaws and the wrestler must be certified within their weight class. SJ has a
starting line-up, which means if you do not make the starting lineup you are limited to exhibition matches that
day. The wrestlers have no problem with this, but the parents do. South Jersey competes in the “Best of Best”
against the Grapevine League and usually wins. Due to the league losing numbers, every 2 years there seems to
be a change in league ages.
- County Finals are February 25, 2007.
- The program is hoping to have a Division I Collegiate Coach give a clinic to wrestlers in the WTPR, Middle
and High School Programs.
- New officers will be voted on after the season ends. They have another position on the board available.

BASEBALL: The Baseball bylaws were to have the second reading tonight, but due to the fact that the four
new SAB members have not had a chance to review them, their approval was tabled until the February meeting.
A change in age groups for the intramural program and the travel program came under discussion with pros and
cons expressed. Mr. Muracco stated the bylaws should not be distributed until approved by the SAB.
- Mr. Niemic informed the SAB that Steve’s Law may take effect in the next year or so. This law requires
wooden bats only be used for players under 19 years of age. There would no more aluminum bats allowed in
New Jersey.
- Mr. Niemic questioned the procedure for paying umpires. Mr. Scarpato will look into the matter.

BASKETBALL: Mr. Vitola had nothing to report. The Basketball Board handed in their Financial Report.

FOOTBALL/CHEERLEADING: Mrs. Williamson stated elections will be held in February for Board
positions. Currently there are three open positions: Secretary, Equipment Coordinator and Fundraiser
Coordinator. These openings will be advertised.
- The bylaws will be submitted at the next meeting. One change to the bylaw will eliminate the position of Co-
Commissioner. The board will have 9 members.
- The program will participate in the “Friends for Friends” charity event. The program has raised $500 to help
with the expenses of redoing the Ronald McDonald House Room at Kennedy Hospital. 150 toys have been
donated as well as all supplies to spruce up the room.

NITROS CHEERLEADING – No one was present from this board.
LACROSSE: The bylaws will be reviewed and changes voted on at the February meeting.
- Mr. Robbins is setting up the teams with a certain amount of players per grade. The program belongs to the
Olympic Conference. There are A and B teams for each grade.
- Mr. Robbins stated that a number of first grade students want to be part of the program. Therefore, he would
like to offer the program to these students.

       Mr. Stanzione moved that the Lacrosse program add first grade students to its program. The
       motion received a second and was approved.

- Fields for Lacrosse have been limited to 1 field at Washington Lake Park and the use of the high school’s turf
field for games.

SOCCER: The Spring Clinic program has been tabled unto 2008. Spring Soccer sign-ups are now going on.
- The program is preparing for their large tournament in April. There are four (4) new U8 teams. These players
are those just coming out of Clinic 3.
- Due to the inclement weather, the Clinic Soccer Fest was held at Skater’s Choice. With such a great response,
the program may hold it there again next year.
- The Soccer Board is now interviewing coaches for the U8 teams.
- The lighted fields at the County House Complex will be used 7 days a week/4 hours per day. There are not
enough lighted fields. Washington Lake Park Field #3 is to be lit.

SOFTBALL – No one from this board was present.

TRACK AND FIELD - This is the third year for this program. The program is limited to use of the track at
Washington Township High School when available as high school activities take precedence. The program has
300 participants and is the largest program in the state. Six children competed in the Junior Olympics.
- Mr. Scavetta has been in touch with the high school and has agreed to help with the purchase of items needed
for both the high school and the WTPR program. They would like to have a small storage facility at the high
school to store the equipment. Mr. Wulk stated that Soccer had recently secured a cargo container at a
reasonable cost from a firm in Pitman to use to store their equipment.
- The program is hoping to host state meets. The program could realize a profit of $20,00-$30,000 from these
events.
- Mr. Scavetta that they would like to hold two (2) fund raisers, a bowling outing and a Beef and Beer. The
profits from these activities will be used to purchase new equipment and new high jump padding.

       Mrs. Bramante moved to approve the bowling outing and Beef and Beer fundraisers with
       profits being used to purchase equipment and padding for the program. The motion
      received a second and was approved.

- Mr. Scavetta asked if the sports insurance would cover participants in the pole vault and javelin venues. He
was told to speak with Kathy Wenzel at Parks and Recreation.

OLD BUSINESS

MEGAN’S LAW – According to this law, all adults having any contact with children involved in a sport
program need to have a background check. Mrs. Kanka has designated $18.00 per person to offset a portion of
the costs to have this done. The SAB and Sports Boards questioned just how far back do you go in a person’s
life and how often would this need to be done. Mr. Stanzione having a background in security matters will look
into the cost of a private company. Mrs. Collins will contact Cherry Hill as they have a program in place.
They will both report their findings at the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.


                                                           Mary Schneider
                                                           Sports Advisory Board Secretary


Baseball Bylaws
Minutes of December Meeting
Sports Advisory Board Listing
Sport Advisory Boards Listing
WTPR Basketball Booster Club Finances for Year Ending 2006
  (These items were distributed at the meeting to SAB members and liaison.)


The Sports Advisory Board continued with a Closed Session.