A description of the meeting, who was there, action items and the next meeting date.

Note: all minutes are marked “Draft” until official approved by the next committee meeting.

VPA  FOOTBALL  COMMITTEE
Thursday, June 5, 2008
VPA  Office

Members Present:  Bob Davis, Steve Stoddard, Bruce Wheeler, Jim McLaughlin, Mike Hatt, Mike O’Day, Bob Hingston, Tom Conte, Mike Norman, Bob Johnson

Minutes:

1. motion by Bob H., second by Mike H., to approve minutes of 10/29/07 and 5/9/07. Vote – approved unanimously.

2. correspondence – review of championships last season. Overall, things went smoothly. Some concerns at Brattleboro about clock not working and miscommunication between officials and time keeper. Some concern expressed about officials who have not worked together before and the distance they are traveling. Everything at Burlington HS went well. Great facility! Also discussed why we were not using officials preference list. This used to be done. Bob H. as VIFL Commissioner will implement this again. Also recommended that officials assignments for play-offs be done a week in advance.
   
   Committee was made aware that MSJ is planning on playing a Division I schedule next year even thought their numbers are extremely low. Bob J. and Mike O’D met with Marty McDonough and Paolo Zancannaro (Principal) to discuss options. MSJ notified Bob last week that they would be playing DI. Bob J. did express concerns about safety and numbers. Motion by Bruce, second by Bob H., to formally state the committees concerns about safety and numbers  in a letter to MSJ. Vote – approved unanimously.

3. review of 2007 season – crowd control issues at Milton. Bob J. was aware of this and has spoken to the AD and teams involved. AD was at he game, but need to be more visible. Coaches are not completing on-line evaluations of officials. We need to stress that with the coaches. Sportsmanship talk prior to the game. Should it be done with the captains or with the entire team. No formal action taken.

4. NFHS Rule Changes – Bob D. reported there were no major changes. Most issues were to clarify existing rules.

5. discussion on tournament sites for 2008. Middlebury College and Castleton State will be putting in artificial turf (along with Rutland HS). This may expand the
   number of possible sites. Bob J. will e-mail all schools in the fall to see who is
   interested in hosting. Burlington HS will be in consideration again.

6. revised football guide.

7. VIFL will be doing football alignments in the Fall.

Adjourned.