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WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL BOYS LACROSSE
ASSOCIATION
Minutes of July 15, 2003 Board Meeting
108: The Board meeting
of the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse
Association was held on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 at
7:00 P.M. at the offices of Steve Corley, Bellevue,
Washington. Present were Dave Low, Steve Corley,
Brandon Fortier, Chris Long, Tony Olney and Gail
Shelton. Present for Lake Washington LC was Glen
Beyer and for Eastside LC was Jim Anderson. Absent
were Vern Smith and Rob Hawley.
109: Dave explained the
Board�s rationale when presented with the new team
proposal from Lake Washington. For several years it
has been felt that there was an opportunity for
growth on the Eastside � at least room for two
teams. It was not up to the League to do that so
when the opportunity presented itself to start a
second team the League was anxious to open the door
for expansion. The Board, admittedly, should have
spoken to the Eastside people when the petition was
presented and before a decision was made. However,
because we do not yet have a process in place, it
allows the opportunity to go back and revisit the
issue with a clean slate.
110: The Board feels
there are enough schools and interest for at least
two teams and has invited representatives from Lake
Washington and Eastside to present their
information. If a solution cannot be reached
mutually, the Board will have to review all the
information and make a decision for the two teams.
111: Jim Anderson
presented the information for Eastside. He
presented a map that showed exactly how many players
come from which high schools for the Eastside team.
Following are the points he made:
�
2003 team - 11 players from North
Shore SD (Bothell, Woodinville, Inglemoor).
�
2003 team - 28 players from the Lake
Washington SD (Redmond, Lake Washington, Juanita and
Eastlake) with 16 from Eastlake.
�
They practice at Marymoor and play
games at Eastlake.
�
Eastside LC has a Board of Directors,
mission statement, by-laws etc.
�
Board is made up of 3 parents from
Lake Washington, 3 parents from North Shore and 1
parent from Bellevue.
�
Hired a non-parent coach.
�
Team is in good-standing with the
League.
�
Previously, weren�t working with
middle schools or the girl�s team, but are working
on that.
�
Future plans: hope to move up to Div.
I; start a Cascade team, as well as varsity and JV;
start a 5th-6th grade team,
focus on Eastlake H.S. where home games are played
�
Asking for respect as an existing team
who hopes eventually to be an Eastlake HS team
�
Agree that a team should be developed
in the North Shore SD.
Questions:
�
Are all seven schools 4A? Yes
�
With 11 players in the North Shore SD,
what are those parents and players doing to grow the
game? That hasn�t been the focus in the past. As a
Board member, Jim talked with the AD at Woodinville
and the opportunity is there to grow lacrosse.
112: Glen Beyer presented the information for
Lake Washington. Following are the points he made:
�
Agree with the Board that two teams
should be formed on the Eastside. With all 7 high
schools being 4A, it is a goal to have a team at
every high school.
�
The Eastside LC didn�t play any games
in the North Shore SD and that is necessary to get
the sport in front of students to grow the sport.
�
Eastside LC emphasizes the varsity
program to the detriment of the JV � sees them as
two separate teams.
�
50% of players on varsity are from the
North Shore SD.
�
Lake Washington Board is made up of 5
voting members and 1 non-voting member � 3 parents
from Eastlake, 1 parent from Redmond and 1 parent
from the International School. The coach is a
non-voting member.
�
Lake Washington Board represents all
players in the District while the Eastside Board is
split along school district lines.
�
LW Board agrees with the liberal
grandfathering allowed by WHSBLA as it gives
Eastside LC the ability to play together in the
future.
�
Eastlake HS will be made available to
both clubs for home games.
113: Steve noted that
the League and the Board for several years have felt
that the Eastside program was holding down growth of
lacrosse. With eleven players, there is a viable
team of North Shore players. The Board�s mandate is
to grow the sport and forming a team in North Shore
SD does that.
114: Tony suggested
drawing the line at North Shore SD and effectively
having one team at Eastlake set off alone and one
team at Lake Washington that encompasses the other
three teams from the SD. � Team 1 - Eastlake HS and
Team 2 � LW, Juanita and Redmond. The North Shore
area would then form a third team. It was felt that
the best solution was a North Shore SD team and a
Lake Washington SD team
115: Chris suggested
that 40 players out of 7 school is not enough and
wanted to know why there weren�t more players coming
forward. His question - �Where do we want to be in
3 years?� We need to use this decision as a model
for the future. He asked Glen if he new how tough
it was going to be starting a new team; the response
was that Glen and the LW Board were prepared for the
rough road ahead. Chris� observation was that too
many schools spread out feeding into the Eastside
program is hurting the growth of lacrosse. Our goal
is to put lacrosse into individual schools.
116: Brandon noted the
distinction between Nathan Hale (which was based at
Nathan Hale) spinning off Garfield and Roosevelt
players. Eastside was never centered at one school
� it wasn�t the Eastlake LC.
117: A suggestion was
made to split the teams so that Eastlake was one
team and Lake Washington, Juanita, Redmond,
Inglemoor, Woodinville and Bothell was the second
team.
118: Another suggestion
was to form two teams and let them recruit from all
the schools � no boundaries. It was decided that
this was contrary to our mission and also we are
currently using WIAA guidelines for boundaries as
our blueprint for new clubs.
119: Glen said that as
a compromise, they would entertain a reasonable
number of new players from LWSD who want to play
with friends at Eastside to be allowed to do so �
juniors and seniors. Eastside had commented (June
21 meeting) that part of their recruiting was to
encourage current players to recruit friends to
start playing lacrosse.
120: A decision was
postponed until the Minutes could be sent to all
Board members for review. Then a final decision
will be made and Dave will contact the two groups
with the Board�s decision.
121: The Board
reviewed the information as presented � field
availability to both teams if desired; middle school
team draws from both North Shore SD and Lake
Washington SD; looked at both rosters and the core
group of North Shore players are on the Eastside
LC. Appears the decision originally made by the
Board is still a sound decision although the
addition of the compromise by LWLC regarding
allowing friends to play with Eastside LC should be
added.
122 It was agreed that
the decision would wait until all the Board members
reviewed the Minutes.
123: League structure
was discussed, especially as it pertains to Division
I and II. A discussion followed regarding whether
Div. I should increase by 2 teams or 4 teams. The
observation was made that the League cannot add 4-5
teams a year to Division II and add one team to
Division I because Division II will become too large
to manage. The more teams in Division I, the less
chance of a team going winless for the season. It
was agreed that it would be several years before a
formula for advancement of teams can be developed
because of the huge growth the League is dealing
with now.
124: MOTION
The following motion is to be decided by the Board
by an email vote:
(1) 2004 Season � Increase Division I to 12 teams by
moving the top 2 teams up from Division II, talking
to potential Division II teams and issuing
invitations to move up to Division I; or
(2) 2004 Season � Increase Division I to 10 teams by
moving top two teams up from Division II
125: The Cascade
League was the subject of discussion. The
suitability of a championship game for the League
was discussed. Some Board members felt the League
should be comprised of a Varsity and JV model with
movement between Varsity and JV and the Cascade
League is all other players. Only the teams in
Division I would have the numbers for Cascade
teams. With 12 teams in Division I, games could be
scheduled for Varsity and JV games back-to-back.
Back-to-back games would reduce the complexity of
scheduling both games and officials. This will be
tabled for further discussion.
126: The handbook
outline prepared by Brandon was distributed. Dave
asked Board members to review it and get back to him
if there were any further topics to be added.
127: The off-season
play issue was discussed. Tony said the off-season
runs from the end of spring sports until the day
fall sports begin � August 18th this
year. There is a situation throughout the League
where some players cannot afford the summer league
or the winter indoor league, which puts many teams
at a disadvantage for off-season play. Having the
winter indoor league cost less or be team-driven
would help the situation. Having two or three days
open for jamborees where all kids can play is
preferable.
128: MOTION The
following motion is to be decided by the Board by an
email vote:
Do we allow
limited off-season play?
129: Dave Low was
nominated and elected to serve as President of the
Board for the term of one year.
130: The meeting
adjourned at 9:54 P.M.
Gail Shelton, Secretary
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Washington
High School Boys Lacrosse Association
