Cary Parks Recreation and Cultural Resources Department
Athletic Committee Meeting
April 14, 2008, 2008
6:00pm
Cary Town Hall
316 N. Academy
St., Room 11130

 

Call to Order/Roll Call


Jeff Boucher called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.

 

Members Present – Jeff Boucher, Andy McRee, Louis Eldridge, Randall Bennett, Walker Reagan, Tom Wells, Pete Burke, King Prather, Larry Miller, Christine Nacewicz

 

Absent – Ken Berry

 

Staff – William Davis, Ted Jeffcoate


Adoption of Agenda
The committee reviewed the April agenda.
Action: Louis Eldridge made a motion to accept the April agenda, second by Larry Miller, motion carried by a unanimous vote.

Adoption of Minutes
The minutes of the March 2008 meeting were
reviewed by the committee.

Action:  Larry Miller made a motion to accept the minutes of the March meeting, second by King Prather, motion carried by a unanimous vote

 

Public Speaks Out
None

Reports

League Representatives

Boys Baseball – Pete Burke

Monday, April 14th is the opening night for boy’s baseball (Colt league). Pete will be sending out an introductory email to all the boy’s baseball coaches.  Pete reported that several issues were brought to his attention from the 2007 season and he will bring those before the committee at its next meeting.

Girls Softball – King Prather

Nothing to report

Boys Basketball – Ken Berry

Nothing to report – absent

Girls Basketball – Larry Miller

Nothing to report

 

PRCR Advisory Board Update – Jeff Boucher
 No report, the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory board did not meet in April.

 

Teen Council update/report – Christine Nacewicz
Elections for the new chair and vice chair for the Teen Council are coming up.  Nothing else to report.

 

PRCR Staff Update – William Davis
William Davis circulated copies of the sign plan for Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources facilities for the committee’s review.  William reported that the signs will be phased in over the next 5-6 years. The committee had no feedback.

 

William distributed a 2008 calendar of sporting events that are currently scheduled at all of our venues.  The document is a work in progress and will be updated as new events are added.

William reported that the Cary Road Race held on Saturday, April 14th had approximately 1191 runners registered for the 10K & 5K races and 153 registered for the Fun Run.

 

New Business

 

May 5th Joint Meeting with Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board
Jeff Boucher reminded the committee of the joint meeting in May and encouraged attendance.  More information will be emailed out to the committee.  The Athletic Committee meeting scheduled for May 19th will not be held in lieu of the May 5th joint meeting. 

 

Updates and Discussion

 

Team Distribution – Ted Jeffcoate
Ted presented information on how teams are currently formed in the instructional youth leagues (ages 6-10).  To the extent that it can be done, team rosters are formed and practice/game locations are based on the player’s geographical location.  Players returning to the same league/age group go back to the same team and new players fill in the remaining slots on the roster. Ted reported that this method seems to be working well and asked the committee’s thoughts on ways to improve that system or perhaps geographically group the older leagues where players are drafted onto teams. Louis Eldridge suggested going to a nine digit zip code system which would make the player distribution even more localized. It was suggested by staff that perhaps the Town should be divided into zones and participants should be allowed to register for the zone that they live in and if that zone fills they would have the option to wait list for that zone or register for another zone. A possible issue with that method is that certain zones may have strong teams just because of the numbers of participants living there.  This could also contribute to players trying to register in another zone because the stronger teams play there. Tom Wells asked if registration for a particular zone could be limited by the players address and staff will check into that. Larry Miller felt that the current system seems to be working well and asked if there were significant issues that would constitute a change.  King Prather suggested gathering data from coaches over the next year or two to see how practice/game attendance is impacted by the proximity of the fields to where the players live. This would help justify making a change to the current system. Staff and the committee both felt that the partnerships between the Town and schools to build athletic facilities are important in continuing to provide quality facilities to accommodate growth in Cary. Staff will also be asking the committee to give feedback on the types of facilities that should be constructed in the future

 

Scheduling Software – Ted Jeffcoate

Ted reported that the Town had purchased a scheduling software package which is module of our current registration/facility booking software.  The software should assist with managing team rosters, booking of facilities and generating league schedules.  There are some challenges with the schedule portion of the software; however staff is working with the software company to correct the issues.

 

Current Park Projects

William distributed and reviewed a March 2008 project update for Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources facilities. 

 

 

Adjourned 7:20 p.m.