Meeting Minutes - 31 January 2010

So we're back after the holidays! We met again at the gracious Finks'. In attendance: Jon, Chris, Reuben, B-Lo, Dusty, and Tom (via conference call). Absent: Trey.

Fools Fest: Again, this is not an official event, but we're gonna try send a group of locals to haev some fun and play some disc. Tom is gonna submit a bid. We've even come up with a spectacular idea for the team's theme... but i'm gonna keep you all in suspense until the bid's submitted and accepted. We've gotten a good response so far, so we're gonna cap the roster at 21 people. Still email me (B-Lo) if you're interested, and i'll put you on the waiting list. It's likely we'll have a few people splitting duty on multiple teams.

Selection Committee: All 11 candidates have been contacted and all expressed interest along with a desire for more details. We discussed important determining factors in picking the final SC such as availability, dynamic, representation, objectivity, ultimate intelligence, etc. Our plan is to have the core meet with the SC candidates on 21 February to hash out the tryout process and discuss roles.

Leadership: Pardon the obvious, but considering the nature of this venture, strong leadership is critical to our success. The core members don't want to presume they are the best people to lead the team beyond June. At the same time, we want to avoid a clumsy leadership transition from spring to fall. Nothing has been decided, but we're discussing different models of leadership including: single captain, co-captains, junta, coach w/ field captains, coach w/ junta, etc. Please feel free to share your opinions with the core.

Schedule: The schedule has been updated to reflect the most current intelligence we have. Keep in mind that there's still plenty that's not set in stone. If you expect to have difficulty making events, then you must let a core member know as soon as possible.

Second Team: We need to have a game plan to ensure a second team exists and is supported. In our meeting with the SC, we will discuss how to coordinate/manage practices/tryouts. The core will assume responsibility for submitting bids to tournaments for a 1st and 2nd team for the time being.

Other random things that came up: It was proposed that we hold a town hall style meeting for people to come ask the core questions and pick our brains.

Meeting Agenda - 31 January 2010

Here's a list of things we're gonna discuss at this weekend's meeting.

• Schedule: Henlopen and ME Regionals have announced dates. Bell Crack seems to be honing in on a date too.
• Coordinate with PADA for Bell Crack.
• Organize a team for Fools.
• Move ahead with SC selection. Candidates have been contacted. We need to hash out roles and dynamic.
• Discuss leadership during spring and transition in summer.
• Get out mission statement.
• Fix core googlegroup.
• Coordinate off-season training.

This is all very general, but again, if you have something to share, contact a core member.

Tentative Schedule

So we'll keep making updates to this post so people can quickly access it from the Permalink at the top of this page. Please note: If you do not think you'll be able to attend enough events to give yourself an adequate opportunity to be evaluated through the tryout schedule, then notify Coach Jeff Snader.

If you need directions to the fields click here. Note that Edgely Ballfields and Edgely (Clubhouse) are two different fields.

April

• April 10 - Tryout - 8:30-2 - Edgely Ballfields (Not regular Edgely)
• April 17-18 - Tryout - Both days will be 8:30-2 - Edgely Ballfields
• April 24 - Tryout - 1-5:30 - Edgely Ballfields

May

• May 1 - Optional Workout run by the Coach - 8:30-12 - Edgely
• May 8 - Tryout - 8:30-2 - Edgely Ballfields
• May 9 - Tryout - 8:30-2 - Edgely Ballfields
• May 15-16 - Bell Crack
• 22-23 May -
• 29-30 May - We're off for Memorial Day/College Nationals. Again, please consider observing or spectating. We'll try have some informal pickup for those in town.

June

• 5-6 June - Cazenovia/CUT. Bring around 30 tryouts.
• 12-13 June - Tryout/practice.
• 19-20 June - Practice.
• 26-27 June - Boston Invite.

Meeting Minutes - 13 December 2009

Meeting number 2 in the books. Everyone was in attendance: Jon, Tom, Chris, Reuben, Trey, B-Lo, Dusty.

Googlegroup: We have over 90 people signed up already, but there are still a lot of people who've yet to sign up. Once we have most of whom we're expecting signed up, we will crosspost information here and there. Sign up at http://groups.google.com/group/philly-tryouts-2010

Schedule: I'm gonna make a separate post with just the schedule that we'll update. The permalink at the top of this page will always point to that schedule. But here's a list of the important changes we decided on tonight.

• Terminus has just been announced will be coed only. So that looks to be out.
• We're gonna take off the 1st and 29th of May. 1 May will presumably be MetroEast regionals. This will allow us to provide observers. May 29th is college nationals and Memorial Day weekend. Rather than mandatory practices, we will hold optional pickup. We will double-up the weekend of 15-16 May to run a combine style weekend. This will allow us to not require commitment every weekend in May without losing much field time.

College Tryouts: So one of the issues several people raised was how to handle college tryouts who may not be in the area until June if we're looking to finish the tryout process after CUT (5-6 June). Our goal is still to have the team finalized before Boston Invite. If a tryout is not available until later in the spring, he'll still have 3 weekends in June to impress the selection committee. We certainly want to accommodate college players, but the spring schedule will not cater to them. If a good player knows he'll have trouble making enough events to be fairly evaluated, he should let the core know asap.

Selection Committee: We talked a good deal about this in terms of what the dynamic of this group should be, what qualities we'd want in people on the committee, what the players and core's role might be, who would be good candidates, etc. We came down to a list of 11 people we think might be a good combination of experience, game-intelligence, objectivity, while also keeping an eye on having a diverse group of perspectives. Not all core members are included in that list. The core is not committed to any of these 11 people (we'd ultimately like a group between 5-9 people), but we will begin reaching out in the next 2 weeks to possible committee members to find out if they're even interested/available. If anyone has someone they think would be good for this role, please let us know.

Second Team/Other Teams: We also spent a lot of time talking about this. The tryout process will be designed to produce a second open team. The relationship between the teams will evolve. At best, we'd like to see a 1st/2nd team relationship where resources such as strategy and structure are shared. At worst, we'd like to see another open team come together with whom we share an amicable and respectful relationship.

If you're interested in coaching or captaining a second team, or if you have suggestions, please let us know.

It should be stressed again (and again) that we will emphasize a respectful tone toward all area teams in all divisions. The disrespect and condescension that has come out at times in the past when individuals talk about other teams/divisions has led to some non-constructive animosity. Beyond simply assembling one very good men's team, we want to improve the relationship between all the local teams. A rising tide can lift all ships.

Team Identity/Name: Expect a statement in a week or so regarding how we plan on handling this issue including a mission statement.

Sustainability: Our goal through this process is to ensure it's not simply an experiment but that we plant seeds for a team with staying power. This perspective will inform our approach to player selection, scheduling, attitude, focus, and priorities.

Recruiting: Keep telling us who's out on the market. We will be sending an email to MetroEast college teams soon.

Next Up: Finish mission statement. Get a selection committee. Create guidelines for team selection.

Up!

The google group is up. Go and join now.

http://groups.google.com/group/philly-tryouts-2010/