I.                   CALL TO ORDER

Eastern Commissioner J. Ferrara called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM PST on Thursday, December 16, 2004.

II.                ROLL CALL

TEAMS REPRESENTED

• Ajax Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) - Brian Boswell
• California Storm (Sacramento, CA) - Jerry Zanelli
• Denver Kickers (Golden, CO) - Steve Rock
• Elk Grove Pride (Elk Grove, CA) - Frank Vellutini, Carrie Vellutini
• FC Indiana (Goshen, IN) ö John Heiliger
• New England Mutiny (Springfield, MA) ö Joe Ferrara
• Northern California Union Football Club (Menlo Park, CA) ö Carine Ireland, Regina Holand
• Northern California Union Football Club (Palo Alto, CA) ö Greg Paker
• *Rhode Island Rays (Wakefield, RI) ö James Kelly
• San Diego WFC Sea Lions (San Diego, CA) - Lu Snyder, Scott Dreher
• San Francisco Nighthawks (San Francisco, CA) ö Dick Cross
• Steel City Sparks (Pittsburgh, PA) ö Chris Quahliero
• South Shore Select of Massachusetts (Rockland, MA) ö Debbie Gordon
• Utah Spiders (Salt Lake City, UT) ö Jamie Schock

TEAMS NOT REPRESENTED

• *Denver Diamonds (Denver, CO) - Scott Dedycker
•  East Bay Power (Orinda, CA) - Ernesto Silva
• Las Vegas Tabagators (Las Vegas, NV) ö Guy Hobbs
• *Massachusetts Stingers (Swansea, MA) ö Raul Reis
• Texas Premier Stars (Houston, TX) ö Luis Labastida

GUESTS
Massachusetts Aztec Soccer (Beverly, MA) ö Mike Kersker
Maryland Pride (Baltimore, MD) ö Skip Chamberlain

*Teams not in good standings.
Established quorum.

III.             AGENDA ITEMS

A.     Welcome to several new teams that joined have us today: South Shore Select of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Aztec Soccer and the Northern California Union Football Club.

B.     Financial Report given by D. Cross.

C.     Discussion regarding becoming a non-profit ö The Treasurer, D. Cross, recommends that the individual teams look into becoming a non-profit as it can help them attain sponsorship, publicity, etc. However, he does not believe that it would be in the leagueâs best interest to become a non-profit. The league would have to restructure its approach and do charitable work, which would be quite difficult to do as a league. S. Dreher of San Diego has a template for becoming a 501 (c) 3 and will distribute to teams that are interested in becoming a non-profit.

D.     New Address ö F. Vellutini motions and B. Boswell seconds that the league approve the new address recommended by C. Hanlon at 3145 Geary Blvd. #738, San Francisco, CA 94118-3316. Voted and carries unanimously.

a.       All references to the old address will be updated and a notice of the change of address will be posted and distributed.

E.      Championship Tournament ö D. Cross motions and L. Snyder seconds that the league accepts the proposal submitted by the New England Mutiny to host the 2005 Championship Tournament. Voted and carries unanimously.

F.      Deadlines for upcoming season:

a.       Eastern Region deadline for new teams to enter will be January 12^th, 2005.

b.      Central/Mid-West Region deadline has not yet been determined.

G.     Uniform Sponsorship ö Roger Smith of Combat Soccer has offered to give a 50% discount off the catalog price on uniforms and equipment for 2 years and the 3^rd year package would be free. Suppliers include Puma, Xara, Kelme, Kappa, Nike, High 5, Admiral and more. Teams would commit individually, not the entire league. In trade they would ask for referrals to club and youth teams. They would also put the teamâs logo on their website.

a.       F. Vellutini will contact Roger to get the details in writing and report back to the league at the next conference call.

b.      All teams with supplier contacts are asked to get information on deals they would like to offer to teams or the league and report back for discussion at the next conference call.

H.     Rhode Island Rays status ö Jim Kelly expects to be paid up on last yearâs balance and this yearâs dues by the end of January. He will contact D. Cross on Monday to set-up an installment plan.Ê He states that his financial and player problems last season had to do with the number of teams in the area and his overwhelming personal financial responsibilities.Ê He believes these problems have been resolved and he will have the players and the money to return next year.

I.        Western Teams for 2005 season: California Storm, San Francisco Nighthawks, San Diego WFC SeaLions, Ajax of Southern California, Utah Spiders, Las Vegas Tabagators, Elk Grove Pride and Northern California Union Football Club. There will most likely be a 14 game schedule.

J.       The Denver Kickers missed the deadline for entry into the Western Division, but may still be considered for placement in the Central/Mid-West Region. The Texas Premier Stars (formerly the SWC Houston Stars) placement will depend on the teams that come in.

K.    Teams expressing interested in joining the Central/ Mid-West Region include St. Louis, Minnesota and Chicago.

L.      Scheduling ö J. Zanelli, D. Cross and F. Vellutini will be in charge of scheduling for the Western Region. Blackout dates and preferences for the Western Region need to be submitted to J. Zanelli as soon as possible.

M.   Cut off of 2 weeks before championship tournament ö Not possible with 14 game schedule.

N.    Utah, N. Cal and Ajax did not receive the Las Vegas Silver Mug information. C. Hanlon will e-mail the information to them. Teams may also download the application from our website at www.wpsl.info/docs/index.html 

IV.              ADJOURNMENT

 Meeting adjourned at 7:32 PM PST. The next monthly conference call is scheduled for January 12, 2005 at 6:00 PM PST.

Minutes respectfully submitted.

Colette Hanlon
League Secretary