Meeting was convened at 4:15 p.m. by Chairman Majikes.
ITEM 1 Chairman Majikes called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
Absent but accounted for: Danielle DePietro, Joseph Farrell, Bill Schoen, Jay Starnes, Chris Thomas, Ben Tolerico, and Chad Vinansky.
ITEM 2 A motion was made by Eric Emmerich, seconded by Mary Ruth Tanner, to approve the minutes of the April 3, 2017 meeting as submitted. All Ayes
ITEM 3 Pat Patte, District II Treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s Report and reported a total fund balance of $285, 430.92 as of today’s meeting. That includes a checking account balance of $206,00.55, a money market balance of $66,723.68, and a certificate of deposit account totaling $12, 706.69.
Following the report, a motion was made by John Coyle, seconded by Fred Barletta, to approve the report as presented. All Ayes
ITEM 4 SPORTS REPORTS:
· Baseball (Frank Majikes): Frank Majikes finalized the two day District II Baseball Championship event at PNC Field. There will be three games on Sunday, May 28th with the A Championship scheduled for 1:30 p.m., the 4A Championship game at 4 p.m., and the 5A Championship game at 6:30 p.m. There will also be three games scheduled for Monday, May 29th. The day will begin with the 2A Championship game at Noon, followed by the 3A Championship game at 2:30 p.m. and the 6A Championship game at 5 p.m. The Baseball Committee will be meeting shortly and the entire format will be released to member schools following that meeting.
· Competitive Spirit (Chris Gegaris): Chris reported that the Competitive Spirit Committee met at the recently conducted state workshops and discussed the potential of creating classifications in the state championships that would more closely reflect the classification system of other state championship competitions. He is encouraged by the continued growth and interest in competition at the District II level and strongly encouraged all of the schools in District II to compete at the district level.
· Cross Country (Bill King): Bill reminded member schools that the 2017 District II Cross Country Championships are again scheduled for Lakeland High School. He thanked the Lakeland School District for their efforts and they have expressed a desire to continue as the site for the next two year cycle. This will be a discussion item at a meeting in the near future.
· Softball (Pat Patte): Pat Patte explained that preparations have started for the 2017 District II Softball Championships. Following a meeting of the Softball Committee, the format will be released to the schools.
· Swimming and Diving (Fred Barletta): Fred Barletta thanked all of those that assisted in this year’s championships. A special thanks to all who worked at, and attended, the Diving Championships for their patience due to the interruption of the event due to inclement weather.
· Volleyball (Maureen Williams): All is set for the upcoming championships. District XI has been contacted and preparations have been made for the District II/XI AAA Subregional tournament.
· Track & Field (Danielle DiPietro): Frank Majikes presented the 2017 District II Track & Field Championship Format to the Committee for discussion. Following that discussion, a motion was made by Fred Barletta, seconded by Maureen Williams, to approve the format as presented. All Ayes. The format will be distributed to member schools and placed on the website.
· Officials (Bill Schoen & Maureen Williams): A discussion was held regarding the attendance at the Annual Officials’ Convention in August. Maureen Williams expressed a concern that a number of District II sports’ officials have been asked to make presentations at the convention without remuneration and that they still are required to pay the attendee’s fee for the conference. Following a discussion, a motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Eric Emmerich, having District II pay the attendee’s fee for any District II sports’ official that serves as a presenter at the conference. All Ayes
ITEM 5 Ron Collins, District II Committee member and President of the LIAA, brought an incident to the committee’s attention regarding an injury sustained by a player in a boys’ soccer game during the Fall 2016 Lackawanna League season. He provided the committee with a background on the injury and asked for the committee’s suggestions in dealing with the matter. As this is a league matter, the committee suggested contacting the League Soccer Assignor and seeking a report from the officials working the contest. Also, if there is game film available it was suggested that the film be reviewed as well.
ITEM 6 The Committee acted upon the following requests for eligibility:
· A motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Mary Ruth Tanner, to approve the immediate eligibility of Orion Woodbridge, Scranton to North Pocono, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, principal to principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Eric Emmerich, to approve the immediate eligibility of Cassidy Graham, Wyoming Seminary to Wyoming Area, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, principal to principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. 11 Ayes, 1 Nay
· A motion was made by Ron Collins, seconded by John Haas, to approve the immediate eligibility of Holly Raineri, Meyers to Lake-Lehman, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, principal to principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
ITEM 7 The Committee acted upon the following Foreign Exchange Student eligibility requests:
· A motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Mark Rinaldi, to approve the immediate eligibility of Cristina Kitchin-Velarde, Spain to Wyoming Area, in accordance with Article VII of the PIAA By-Laws, Foreign Exchange Students. All Ayes
ITEM 8 Chairman Majikes informed the committee that a District II member school has reported to him that they had a coach of a spring sports’ team who has violated the 6 day practice rule limit by conducting activities for his team on 7 consecutive days. The District suspended that coach for one game for that violation as well as a letter of reprimand. A motion was made by Mark Rinaldi, seconded by Pat Patte, commending the District Administration for their actions in the matter. All Ayes
ITEM 9 Chairman Majikes discussed with the committee the interested candidates for the current District II Committee. The posting for that position was up on Monday, April 17th and it was required that they be a current administrator from a Wyoming Valley Conference High School. Following discussion, a motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Eric Emmerich, to appoint David Novrocki, Principal of Wyoming Valley West High School, as a member of the District II Committee effective immediately. All Ayes
ITEM 10 Chairman Majikes informed the committee that the State Office has formed a Competition Committee in order to examine all of the current transfer rules and procedures in the by-laws. Chairman Majikes is the District II representative on that committee.
ITEM 11 Chairman Majikes distributed the program for the April 26, 2017 District II Annual Business Meeting and reviewed the contents thoroughly with the members present. Following that review, the program will now be sent to the printers in preparation for next week’s meeting.
ITEM 12 A motion was made by Chris Gegaris, seconded by John Haas, to adjourn the meeting. All Ayes
Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Ognosky
Mike Ognosky
District II Secretary