2006-2007 Annual Meeting

Friday, June 1, 2007
Rules Discussion
The Commissioner asked coaches if anyone had any new rules to discuss. No one had any to bring to the committee. The Commissioner proposed for discussion the elimination of the protest rule and coaches were unanimously against a move in that direction.

Technical Committee Discussion
Ed Reed, Technical Committee member gave an in-depth explanation regarding how video is used in the evaluation process. The discussion demonstrated the new software used to categorize referee calls for more efficient education.

Officiating Bureau - Next Phase
The Commissioner gave an explanation of the history of the CWPA Officiating situation and indicated the improvements made since the league was established. The next phase discussed the role of mission-oriented referees that would be charged with helping to train and mentor younger officials, as well as run clinics at sport club tournaments throughout the country. These officials would be compensated for their additional time above the game fees. An aggressive attempt will be made by the office to use officials that understand and support the mission of the CWPA as much as possible.

Coaching Conduct
The Commissioner made a presentation about the role of a coach in collegiate athletics with respect to education. Specifically the discussion targeted what coaches are modeling to their athletes as educators in the area of professionalism and respect for officials. The challenge to the coaches was to consider their roles in light of how they want their athletes to act. A summary statement proposed for addition to the Code of Conduct would be the prevention of any public criticism of an official. Appropriate forums exist for discussions of this nature and coaches should utilize these avenues.

Women’s Varsity Meeting
Saturday, June 2, 2007

In attendance: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Thomas Tracey, Director of Officials; Ed Haas, Director of Communications; John Benedick, CWPA Board President; Ed Reed, Technical Committee Member; Matt Anderson, Michigan; Erik Farrar, Harvard; John Zeigler, Bucknell; Carl Salyer, Maryland; Alan Huckins, Hartwick; Derek Ellingson, Princeton; Scott Reed, George Washington; Joe McCommons, Queens; Dave Fritz, Grove City; Don Sherman, Gannon University

Proposal VW2-Hartwick made a proposal to realign divisions. After some discussion the proposal was withdrawn. The intent was to provide more crossover opportunities between divisions for like teams. Accordingly coaches agreed that the top six programs based on their finish at the prior season’s Eastern Championship would attend a tournament the same weekend of the ECAC Championship and the next best six teams that are ECAC members would attend the ECAC Championship, with the remaining two teams supplied by the MAAC. The regular season tournament schedule will handle all other meetings between the teams. The coaches in attendance were in unanimous support of the new process.

Proposal VW1-Princeton made a proposal to make the Eastern Tournament a three-day event. The motion was seconded by Indiana. The proposal was amended to start the games on the first day at noon with the ensuing games beginning at 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. with the banquet starting at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, the games will begin at 3 p.m, 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Carl Salyer of Maryland seconded the amendment with the amendment passing unanimously. The motion also passed.

A motion was made to reorder the games on Sunday of the Eastern Championship, to 7th place, 3rd place, 1st place, 5th place. The motion was seconded by Scott Reed of George Washington and passed 6-2.

Princeton made a motion to allow the order of games on Friday of the Eastern Championship be made by the staff to accommodate travel concerns for teams. However, in order to change any scheduled time, all teams involved would need to agree. Scott Reed of George Washington seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Men’s Varsity Meeting

In attendance: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Thomas Tracey, Director of Officials; Ed Haas, Director of Communications; John Benedick, CWPA Board President; Ed Reed, Technical Committee; Erik Farrar, Harvard; John Zeigler, Bucknell; Derek Ellingson, Princeton; Scott Reed, George Washington; Joe McCommons, Queens; Carl Quigley & Mikhail Klochkov, St. Francis; Mike Schofield, US Naval Academy;

Discussion began about the involvement of Salem International. Consensus from the teams present was that Salem International University should be placed in the Western Region of the Division to balance the divisions equally at five in each region.

Proposal VM1-Princeton made a motion to change the format of Easterns to the format approved by the women’s coaches during their meeting calling for a three-day event. Motion seconded by John Zeigler of Bucknell and approved unanimously.

Proposal VM2-MIT made a proposal to create a combined Division II and III Eastern Championship event. Only Queens was available to vote and they indicated support. Commissioner indicated more discussion would need to take place by conference call.

Proposal VMS1- George Washington made a motion (seconded by Bucknell) to revise the manner in which the teams are seeded for the Southern Division Championship. After some discussion the motion was withdrawn and a new motion was made to have all Southern Division Coaches vote at the close of the regular season to determine the seeding for the championship. Bucknell Seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

General Meeting

In attendance: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Thomas Tracey, Director of Officials; Ed Haas, Director of Communications; John Benedick, CWPA Board President; Ed Reed, Technical Committee; Matt Anderson, Michigan; Erik Farrar, Harvard; John Zeigler, Bucknell; Carl Salyer, Maryland; Alan Huckins, Hartwick; Derek Ellingson, Princeton; Scott Reed, George Washington; Joe McCommons, Queens; John Wagner, San Jose State; Carl Quigley & Mikhail Klochkov, St. Francis; Mike Schofield, U.S. Naval Academy; Igor Samardzija, Columbia; Don Sherman, Gannon University

The Board of Directors was reelected with the members of the board slated to expire in 2006 having their terms expire in 2008, while the members slated to expire in 2007 will have their terms expire in 2009. No new nominations were submitted, as John Benedict of MIT, Scott Reed of George Washington, Mark Gensheimer (non institutional), John
Zeigler of Bucknell, Matt Anderson of Michigan, and Marv Christopher of Cal State Maritime Academy were elected by unanimous vote.

The Commissioner presented the Annual Report. In addition, he presented a status report for the current strategic plan for 2005-08, also available online.

General Proposals
Proposal GC01-Board of Review requests made by an institution must be made or endorsed by the appropriate school administrator. Motion passed 34-3 (including mail ballots from clubs)

Dan Sharadin proposed restructuring the selection process for the Technical Committee to give the staff responsibility for filling the personnel, with approval from the Board of Directors. Mike Schofield of Navy seconded the motion. Technical Committee members will serve without term limit at the pleasure of the Executive Board. Nominations for new members will be solicited from the membership and CWPA referees. Motion carried unanimously.

Luis Nicolao, Jason Gall, Ted Bresnahan nominated for Board of Review. Nicolao and Gall voted in unanimously.

Erik Farrar of Harvard proposed holding the Annual Meeting on the first Wednesday of June. John Wagner of San Jose State seconded the motion which passed 10-2.
Note: The change in the annual meeting date must be ratified by a membership-wide vote before it can be official.

Carl Salyer of Maryland made a motion to make select a Rookie of the Year in each varsity division. Motion seconded by Erik Farrar of Harvard and passed 10-2.

Mikhail Klochkov of St. Francis motioned to establish a men’s All-Star game between the All-South and All-North Divisions which would occur at the women’s Eastern Championship. Motion was discussed and does not receive a second. A note was made that if coaches went back to their institutions and determined that sufficient interest exists from their student-athletes to attend a self-funded tournament of this nature, the CWPA office would take steps to organize the event.

Mike Schofield of Navy moves for a Rookie of the Year at men’s and women’s Eastern Championships. Motion seconded by Alan Huckins of Hartwick and passed 12-0 unanimously. A clarification was made after the vote that eligible players include any participant/player appearing in their first Eastern Championship and will not be limited to traditional freshmen.

Discussion was held regarding the host reimbursement policy, but the membership present at the meeting did not feel that it required change at this time.