Riverside Bradford Baseball Board Meeting Minutes 

January 4, 2021

I. Call to Order 

Meeting held via Zoom on Monday, January 4, 2021 at 8:00PM. Called to order by Matt Souza, President, at 8:03PM. 

II. Roll Call 

In attendance: Matt Souza (President), Andy DiPietro (VP Administration), PJ Panneton (VP Baseball Operations), Jared  Duemling (Player Agent), Jennifer Duemling (Treasurer), Peter Stoehr (Secretary), Michael Nutton, Jonathan Elwell,  Wayne Knight, Randel George, Pat Lavigne, Bill McCarthy, Rocky Libucha, Steve O’Connell, and Jason Lahaye.  

Absent: Kyle Walker, Seth Heisler 

III. Approval of Minutes  

Minutes for meeting held on 12/7 were distributed and reviewed by Board of Directors. There were no objections to  approving the minutes as distributed.  

Motion to accept made by Randel, seconded by Jonathan. Accepted unanimously.  

IV. Order of Business 

A. Treasurer’s Report 

a. Reviewed by members in attendance, no questions or concerns. 

b. Wayne made the motion to accept, seconded by Rocky. Accepted unanimously.  

B. Registration Update  

a. Registration is live and we have 26 registrations thus far. 

i. 14 for T-Ball / Instructional, 5 Major Minor, 4 A/AA, 2 Major 60/70, 1 RB Senior. 

b. Coaches for all Divisions 

i. The BOD needs to put a process around adding coaches / additional coaches to a roster. 

1. Are they credentialed? Do they have any experience? 

2. We have too many coaches right now. Although this is a good problem to have, we need  

to figure out what criteria must be met to select the final coach(es) for each team. 

c. T-Ball Practices 

i. We will not be offering a clinic due to the large numbers and COVID-19 restrictions still in place. ii. Discussed creating and offering a training course for the instructional coaches to help get them up  to speed and provide the best possible experience. 

d. Senior League 

C. Equipment Purchases 

a. Equipment Committee (Wayne & Bill) to meet and create a PO for upcoming expenditures. 

b. Need to order additional practice balls and other gear as needed. 

i. PJ has an updated inventory list. 

ii. Jennifer researched the financials and found an expense in the amount of $5,040 in 2019 for 18  cases of baseballs. Also found an expense for $459 payable to Play Ball for an additional three (3)  dozen baseballs and equipment bags.  

iii. Total equipment expense in 2019 was $7,258. 

iv. Matt indicated he has eight (8) T-Ball bats available for instructional use (26” x 4, 27” x 4). 

D. Uniforms 

a. Jared reached out to three (3) vendors to get lead time and pricing information on 300-500 hats and jerseys  with team names and sponsors: 

i. Todd’s Sporting Goods, Beverly, MA: multiple attempts to contact someone at Todd’s have been  made and Jared’s calls/emails have not been returned. 

ii. Prime Time Sports & Embroidery, Lawrence, MA: Jared heard back, and they require a 14-day lead time. 

iii. All Sports Heroes, Lowell, MA: they are not MLB licensed but have some vendors with access to  some teams but not all. 

1. Andy’s good friend owns All Sports Heroes and he indicated they’re experiencing supply  

issues due to COVID-19 and need to get orders in ASAP to meet the demand. Most, if  

not all, other leagues have already submitted their orders at the time of this meeting.  

Andy will provide Jared with the owner’s contact info.  

E. Sponsorship 

a. We need a list of current and former sponsors; PJ and Jennifer have lists and will forward to Andy to  manage. 

b. Sponsorship pricing levels have already been set and approved. 

c. Every BOD member has been tasked with bringing in at least one (1) new sponsor suggestion. i. Jon Elwell is going to check with the AmVets for sponsorship again this year and ask his church too  to see if they have any interest in sponsoring a team.  

F. Opening Day 

a. The season is scheduled to start the last week of April, on/around Monday, 4/26, and will go through  approximately Friday, 6/11. 

b. Alternatives to Opening Day in-person festivities include: 

i. Live Stream 

ii. Rolling Rally / Parade 

iii. Open to suggestions 

G. Fields 

a. Divisions and potential fields 

i. PJ will check Ben Delaware, Recreation Director, and Matt will check with Vinny Ouellette, Human  Services Director, to see what our options are for fields this season besides RB and Swasey.  

ii. We need more fields and need to determine what can be rehabilitated and put to good use. 

iii. Cashman Field would be a great addition; need options for A/AA, Major Minor, and Major 60/70 b. Renaming 

i. The fields at RB will be renamed to match how the City of Haverhill currently has them designated  to eliminate any confusion going forward. 

H. Coaches Manual  

a. Matt will send out what he has currently so the BOD can review and provide feedback. 

I. Winter Evals 

a. The board openly discussed the probability of having evals and the ability to do so with COVID-19  restrictions in place.  

b. Suggestions were made…but not voted on yet. 

i. each player creates a short 30-second highlight video. 

ii. player’s parent(s) provide an honest eval of their player. 

iii. Rent space at Batter Up and hold evals. 

iv. Other ideas  

J. Insurance 

a. We need an accurate count of the number of players participating to have a policy written by our agent. b. Matt needs to get insurance cards from the website. 

c. Additional knowledge transfer from Randel to Matt to complete this process. 

K. Cooperstown Update 

a. RB Night at Fenway Park is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 11th at 7:10PM.  

b. $45 for RF Box Seats (if available) and $25 for Bleacher Seats  

L. Open Floor 

a. A $300 donation was made by New Balance via Rocky Libucha. 

i. Randel will give the check to Jennifer Duemling tomorrow for deposit into our account. 

b. Matt has proceeds from the wreath fundraiser that need to be deposited; Jennifer will ensure the funds are  put into the correct account. 

V. Closing 

Next meeting to take place on Monday, February 1st at 8:00PM via Zoom. Motion to Adjourn made by Jonathan Elwell at  9:13PM. Seconded by Michael Nutton. Accepted unanimously. 

Submitted, Peter Stoehr, Secretary