Board members present : F.O.V.S. Monthly Board Meeting Minutes from meeting held on July 10th, 2014 David Wallis, Manny Estrella, Jeremy Provost, Kristen Reiman, Trip Wadleigh, Richard Bennett, Peggy Stone, Brad Poulit, Primo Lombardi, Oliver Holmes, Matt Poole. Parents in attendance : Paul Garcia, Marcy Bettencourt, Mike Saunie, Alexis Garcia, Peter Knight, Alicia Knight, Sue Zarba, Jessica Estrella. The President opens the meeting and welcomes board members and parents. He announces the names of all board members present and parents also say their names for the recording. Matt Poole and Trip Wadleigh were not in attendance when meeting opened but are expected shortly. Due to technical difficulties, we do not have our agenda showing on the wall. David Wallis asks to approve the minutes from our June meeting. A motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously. David Wallis goes over the agenda for the evening and apologizes for the technical difficulties. He also apologizes that more board members are not present. He states that he has spoken to all of them and that they would be here if the could. David Wallis is the only officer present. They YMCA has asked that we leave by 8:50 p.m. Presidents Report : David goes over the U12 time frame regarding the incident in question. He mentions that this is based on his recollections. Peggy points out that some of David s dates are off. These corrections were noted. David reads the email out loud to everyone. Corrections made :
Alexis points out that Steve s email was only sent to the Blues and a few select board members. It was not sent to the Hammers. After looking at a print out of this email, that was confirmed. Trip states that we decided to have the Hammers forfeit the game. This was not done by the SCSL. When they heard of our decision, they applauded us for our decision. Trip begins to read Steve s email from 6/21 but then questions wether or not it should be read out loud. Instead, a brief overview was given. David Wallis states that everything here is an open book, nothing is hidden. He feels we acted in a timely manner, which was needed, and that this meeting is about all 3 in question, not just Steve. David then reads Steve s reply to the 4 questions that were sent to him. Peggy mentions that Steve did not attend out June meeting to defend himself and questions why he was not here. Richard again states the importance of notifying the league asap. All members knew of the June monthly meeting and those in question chose not to attend. Oliver says he told Steve that parents want to talk to him and Steve reply was no. Alexis states that she sent a private email to Steve and received few words in reply. When the suspensions were handed out, his reply to her was we have all been suspended, are you happy? Trip reminds us that Steve may have not been involved in the game fix. Sue states that in the real world you lawyer up when you are accused of something. She says she would have done the same thing. David Wallis states that if he was accused of this, he would absolutely talk. Jeremy states again that we did the right thing here and acted accordingly. Alicia states that at the June meeting we had some knowledge and evidence to act the way we did. Jessica States that Steve chose the role to manage both teams and that it s his responsibility to communicate to everyone.
Mike states that he talked to Matei after the game. Matei stated that Euro teams do it all the time. He also states that Damon made a comment to the parents as well. ( I missed his comment at the meeting, I know that what he said Damon said was important. I can review the recording if you don t find it ) David states that with the evidence we had against the 2 coaches, it was necessary to suspend the manager as well. David asks that we deal with the next step, which is : Suspensions continue. Suspension ends. We put a time frame on the suspension. Paul mentions that Matei has admitted guilt and that is unfortunate. Trip also mentions Matei s admission of guilt but states that he would be open to him returning at some point. Primo mentions that we have recognized that the teams will need a coach - asst coach - manager. These 3 in question are valuable to the program and he doesn t want to lose them. How do we figure this out. Sue asks if the BOD has the power to act on this. The answer to that is yes. She then mentions that the boys would be devastated if Damon and Steve do not return next year. Jessica responded to this by saying don t speak for my son. David reads Matei s resignation letter. The board accepts this and no vote is needed. He is now done as coach and board member. Damon has no interest in explaining his position to us. Primo states that if the 3 are reinstated, they could end up coaching a different age group of boys. Paul mentions that he has tried to contact the AD at the high school to find out about Damon s firing as head coach. Trip states that there is no connection between us and them and says that he should not contact them at all. The high school would never tell you why he was fired. Even that parents, though they have the suspicions, don t know the real reason. Damon is a pied piper with the kids. He does have his faults but the high school decision should not affect our decision. Brad questions Damon s desire to return because he hasn t communicated with us. David knows that he loves coaching. David mentions that board members not in attendance feel strongly that all 3 should be treated equally. Others say this isn t right.
David mentions that if no decision is reached tonight, that is ok. Richard : He considers the 3 separately. Matei - admitted guilt. Possible return after 1 year. Damon - No admission to the board about any involvement. Steve - no smoking gun connecting him to the fix. His statements are confusing and inconsistent. His actions put him in a confrontation with the board and he can t communicate with the parents. Possibly write a letter of apology regarding his character but due to his actions and his letter, the suspension continues. Sue wants clarification and disagrees with Richard. She defends Steve as a manager. Alexis has defended Steve on many occasions. David asks if Steve s suspension should continue? Trip states reinstating Steve to the board but no apology issued. Manny seconds this. Ollie makes an amendment that we state Steve s name is cleared and say that he wasn t part of the fix. Richard seconds Ollie s amendment. This only effects his BOD status. Brad says the issue is that we really don t know what happened on that day. He teaches his girls to respect everyone and every aspect of the game. If he found out this was true, he would be very upset. Oliver then goes over what we all know. David says we shouldn t apologize for what we did but apologize for any undue stress this has caused. Kristen makes and amendment that we apologize for undue stress and reinstate him to the board. Paul mentions he spoke to Steve the morning of the meeting. Steve said he had absolutely nothing to do with it. He also stated that Robe told him he blew the kick. We then went back over the motion at hand. Apology for undue stress. Manager status will be discussed at next meeting. His name be cleared of wrong doing related to the game. Manny questions the motion. David mentions that a vote and moving on is in our best interest.
Jeremy asks if the board has any concern that the game was postponed due to league standings. David mentions that Steve came to see him at the gallery and explained that he wanted to reschedule. Matt suggested that we be silent on the wrong doing and just apologize for the undue stress only. Finally Trip goes back over what we will be voting on. Apology for undue stress caused to him and his family. Reinstate him to the board. A vote was called and the tally was 9 in favor, 0 apposed and 1 abstention. Damon s status will be delayed until he shows any interest in talking. His suspension will remain until that time. Richard then covers the fall league ( see Richard s email for details ) Trip has questions : Registration issues Register for 2 teams in Got Soccer Coaches Uniforms should be different Refs Richard will address these and we will all communicate by email. Meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m.