Riverside Bradford Baseball Board Meeting Minutes 

February 1, 2021

I. Call to Order 

Meeting held via Zoom on Monday, February 1, 2021 7:00PM. Called to order by Matt Souza, President, at 7:03PM. 

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), Kyle Walker, Jonathan Elwell, Wayne  Knight, Bill McCarthy, Rocky Libucha, Steve O’Connell, and Jason Lahaye.  

Absent: Michael Nutton, Seth Heisler, Randel George, Pat Lavigne 

III. Approval of Minutes  

Minutes for meeting held on January 4, 2021 were distributed and reviewed by Board of Directors. There were no  objections to approving the minutes as distributed.  

Motion to accept made by Jonathan and Rocky, seconded by Jason. Accepted unanimously.  

IV. Order of Business 

A. Treasurer’s Report 

a. Jennifer indicated we’ve seen an increase of $8,500 - $9,000 in deposits from last month. She’s going  through the website and reconciling the registrations. Also need to breakout the Buddy Program  

registrations and move that money to Savings.  

b. Filed 1099’s for any umpires that earned > $600 in 2020. 

c. Jennifer will reach out to our CPA to see what documentation he requires to file our return. 

B. Registration Update  

a. Registration is live and we have 121 registrations thus far. 

i. 51 for T-Ball / Instructional, 21 Major Minor, 25 A/AA, 14 Major 60/70, 5 RB Senior, and 5 for Buddy  Ball. 

ii. Several of the board member’s kids still need to register. 

b. Coaches for all Divisions 

i. T-Ball: Need to assemble a separate meeting to discuss the best way to support these coaches by  showing them how to run a practice, game, etc. There will be no clinic this season so we’re looking  at other options to provide them the support they will require.  

1. Matt proposed we host a virtual coach meeting 

c. Background Checks: SafeSport Background Checks / CORI is required for all coaches participating in the  league.  

d. Senior League 

i. Need to drive registrations for this division; only have 5 kids registered as of today.  

e. Registration Close Date: Hard close scheduled for Wednesday, 3/17.  

C. Equipment Purchases 

a. PJ provided an Equipment Committee update. They emailed our Sales Rep at Dick’s Sporting Gods to  retrieve bulk item pricing. 

i. Baseballs (practice / game for all divisions) 

ii. Pitch counters 

iii. Scorebooks 

iv. First Aid / Ice Packs 

b. Proposal came in at $5,200 for everything, EXCLUDING ice packs (we need to establish a quantity). c. We need catcher’s mitts too. Andy suggested we get some soft mitts and the committee suggested we do  some outreach for used equipment. PJ is going to check the Dick’s catalog as well and get some pricing info.  

D. Uniforms 

a. The committee met on January 14th to review their options. We’re going with Prime Time Sports &  Embroidery in Lawrence. 

b. MLB licensed jerseys w/team name across the front and RB patch/screen on left sleeve.  c. Matching hats will have the puffed RB logo in white letters. Lead time for hats is 10 days and the cost is  $12/each.  

E. Sponsorship 

a. Andy provided an update on sponsors. Requested that everyone on the board look at the list and bring in at  least 1 new sponsor for the upcoming season.  

i. Matt was able to lock-in Bradford Orthodontics / Dr. Ferlito and Haverhill House of Pizza. 

ii. Steve O’Connell locked in Freedom Pest Control as a Gold Sponsor and has a check for Andy /  Jennifer.  

iii. Jon Elwell locked in Renaissance City Church for $300 and has a check for Andy / Jennifer.  iv. Jennifer locked in BBS Financial (her biz) and will cut a check. 

v. Jared is working on Brewster’s Real Ice Cream for $300 and will have an update by next meeting. vi. PJ locked in Commonwealth Collective LLC for $300. 

b. Sponsor Signs: Jared is going to confirm which vendor(s) we’ve used in the past.  

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. Matt spoke with the City of Haverhill and let them know Cashman worked well last year / season.  ii. Still need more fields / schools for the upcoming season / year; the fields available to us will be  dictated by the number of players registered. 

iii. New signage will be installed to update the fields numbers to eliminate confusion between the City  and RB; everything will be fluid going forward.  

iv. The City of Haverhill sent COVID waivers to Jared and they’re now included as part of the  registration packet.  

H. Coaches Manual  

a. Needs to be shored up by early March. Needs BOD review and input to determine what changes need to be  made, if any.  

b. Modifications to the rules have been suggested (i.e. pitch counts, lowering the run cap per inning, etc;  similar to what we did during summer ball to increase the speed of play). 

i. PJ made a suggestion to include an Opening Letter from the President and to include a flyer for the  upcoming golf outing being used to support the Cooperstown fundraising efforts.  

ii. Jason also believes we need to edit the format a bit; for example, the first page of the current  manual is very abrupt and eases in from there, followed by consequences, etc. Looking to tone it  down a bit and make it more warm / welcoming.  

iii. Need to add page(s) regarding COVID protocols.  

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. Pushing for a 30 second highlight video for each player that needs to be evaluated.  Also looking at getting space at Mercedes Baseball Academy in Lawrence in doing evals in-person. Matt is  going to inquire with ownership and report at the next board meeting.  

b. We need 96 kids in A/AA and Major 60/70 to build out Top 4 teams 

J. Insurance 

a. We are rechartered! Need to add additional teams once registration is complete. Have an invoice already  but will hold out until the deadline. 

K. Cooperstown Update 

a. Selling SB Squares; interested parties can reach out to Kevin Doody to secure their spot.  

L. Photos / Plaques 

a. Looking for suggestions / new vendor options 

b. Jason suggested Dinn Bros out of Springfield, MA; plaques are approx. $17/each.  

c. Rocky & Wayne suggested New England Sports Photo and Bishop; need quotes from both of them. i. Jon Elwell will follow-up and request RFPs for 1 and 2-year pricing. 

M. Umps 

a. Spoke with Tim McGonagle and everything will remain the same. Umps will be used for A/AA and Major  60/70. 

N. Major 70 Draft  

a. Requires 4 head coaches, 4 assistant coaches, and 1 player agent.  

b. Jon believes we can use the AmVets space for the draft. 

c. Proposed date is March 25th; registration closes 3/19.  

O. Action Items 

a. March is a two-meeting month, proposing Monday, 3/1 and Monday, 3/15 at 7pm via Zoom.  b. We need to shore up our sponsors and finalize our plans with them. 

c. Matt will touch base with ownership at Mercedes Academy for February vacation availability.  d. Jared needs to send out an email for Major 70 evals. 

e. Also looking for a 4th coach to help out with Major 70.  

V. Closing 

Next meeting to take place on Monday, March 1st at 7:00PM via Zoom. Motion to Adjourn made by Jonathan Elwell at  8:14PM. Seconded by Jared Duemling. Accepted unanimously. 

Submitted, Peter Stoehr, Secretary