Meeting was convened at 3:30 p.m. by Chairman Majikes
ITEM 1 Chairman Majikes called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
Absent but accounted for: John Coyle, Chris Gegaris, and John Haas
ITEM 2 Chairman Majikes began the meeting by welcoming the newest member of the PIAA District II Committee, Hal Gabriel, the principal of Wilkes-Barre Couglin High School.
ITEM 3 A motion was made by Jay Starnes, seconded by Joe Farrell, to retain the current slate of officers of the PIAA District II Committee.
A motion was made by Eric Emmerich, seconded by Chad Vinansky, that the nominations for officers be closed. All Ayes
The following officers are in place for the 2018-2109 school year –
Chairman Frank Majikes
Vice Chairman William King
Secretary Mike Ognosky
Treasurer Pat Patte
ITEM 4 Chairman Majikes led a discussion regarding the current status of the committee membership of Pat Patte. With Pat recently being selected as the Director of Curriculum for the Hazleton Area School District, the District II Committee currently has two serving members from the Hazleton Area School District. Although there is not a written by-law prohibiting that situation, past practice by the District II Committee has been to refrain from multiple membership from the same school district.
Following discussion, a motion was made by Joe Farrell, seconded by Brian Durkin, to retain Pat Patte as a non-voting member of the Committee. 3 Ayes, 13 Nays
ITEM 5 A motion was made by Eric Emmerich, seconded by Bill Schoen, to retain Pat Patte as a voting member of the Committee. All Ayes
ITEM 6 A motion was made by Ron Collins, seconded by Bill Schoen, to approve the minutes of the May 8, 2018 monthly meeting. All Ayes
ITEM 7 Pat Patte presented a summary of the current activity in the Treasurer’s Report. With the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2018, Pat completed a financial report for the Committee for their review and approval. As of today’s meeting the current fund balance is $252,566.07 including $172,969.26 in our checking account; $66,834.60 in our money market account; and, $12,762.21in a certificate of deposit. That reflects a decrease of $26,559.21 from the final balance for the previous fiscal year. A motion was made by Brian Durkin, seconded by Ben Tolerico, to approve the Treasurer’s Report as presented. All Ayes
ITEM 8 Pat Patte then presented and reviewed a detailed Financial Report, ending June 30, 2018, for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Included in the report was a complete outline of the total expenses of $352,291.34 with a sport by sport analysis. He also reviewed the total revenue received of $325,732.73 on that same sport by sport basis. He summarized by explaining the key factors in the net deficit for the 2017-2018 fiscal year of $26,559.21. A motion was made by Tim Hopkins, seconded by Ben Tolerico, to approve the report as submitted. All Ayes
ITEM 9A discussion was held regarding the current District II ticket prices for Championship events. Following discussion, a motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Hal Gabriel, to raise the price of Adult tickets by $1 for all championship events. The cost of an adult ticket will be raised from $6 to $7 per event with the exception of the Basketball Championships at the Arena where the cost will be raised from $7 to $8 per event for an adult ticket. The cost of a student ticket will remain at $4 per event. All Ayes
ITEM 10 A motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Pat Patte, to raise the cost per student entry for individual championships from the current $7 per student to $8 per student beginning with the 2019-2020 championships. That will provide member schools to budget appropriately for that increase during their budget preparations for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.All Ayes
ITEM 11 Bill Schoen, Chairman of the Public Relations and Corporate Sponsors Committee, informed the Committee that they will be meeting shortly in order to discuss the addition of other potential revenue streams such as advertisement on the webpage, sponsorship of championship events, etc. He also made a motion, seconded by Pat Patte, that the District continue their agreement with Honor Awards for the production of District Championship Medals and Plaques at the current rate for the 2018-2019 Fall, Winter, and Spring Championships. All Ayes
ITEM 12 Chairman Majikes announced that the 2019 District II Baseball Championships will be once again held at PNC Field. He also announced that the 2019 District II Basketball Championships will be held at Mohegan Sun Arena. Preliminary dates have been established for both of those championships.
ITEM 13 Bill King announced that the 2018 District II Boys & Girls Cross Country Championships will be held at Lakeland High School on Wednesday, October 24th with a rain date of Saturday, October 27th.
ITEM 14 Mike Ognosky presented the format for the 2018 District II Football Championships. The format was reviewed and discussed by the committee. Following discussion, a motion was made by Fred Barletta, seconded by Tim Hopkins, to set the TV/Streaming fees as follows: $2,000 for quarterfinals in all classifications; $2,500 for semifinals in all classifications, and $3,000 for finals in all classifications. All Ayes
ITEM 15 Mike Ognosky then presented and reviewed the District II Power Rating System, which will be put into place for the 2018-2019 Championships. Included in the presentation was an explanation, with examples, of the computations involved in the formula. Also, a sport by sport list of schools and their classifications was provided. Also, an explanation of the various subregional tournaments involving District II/IV/XI teams was distributed. All of this information will be posted to the website in the near future.
ITEM 16 Mike Ognosky informed Committee members that a meeting with the webmaster for the Power Rating System site has been scheduled for Monday, July 30th and will include representation from District IV and XI as well. Following that meeting an instruction sheet will be disseminated to all District II Athletic Directors outlining the procedures to be utilized in entering their sports’ schedules and results to that site.
ITEM 17 Maureen Williams presented the financial report for the 2018 District II Boys’ Volleyball Championships. The total income received was $4,824 with total expenses of $7,776; leaving a net deficit of $2,952.
ITEM 18 Jay Starnes informed the committee that there will be meeting in the near future with officials of the Kingston Armory in preparation for the 2019 District II Wrestling Championships. Also, Jay discussed the potential for a weekend pass for the Wrestling Championships as opposed to a daily entry fee. Discussions on that potential will continue at a future meeting.
ITEM 19 Bill Schoen acknowledged Maureen Williams for her service over the past year as one of the officials’ representatives to the PIAA Board of Directors. Mr. Schoen also updated committee members on activities involving officials including the upcoming Officials’ Convention in Harrisburg on August 3 and 4 where one of our district’s wrestling officials, Mr. Ken Decker, Sr., will be receiving a meritorious service award from the PIAA. Mr. Schoen and Mrs. Williams also advised members of on-going litigation impacting officials as well as heightened discussions at the state level concerning officials’ representatives officiating in district and state playoff contests. This has not been the practice in District 2 and members agreed to sustain this policy.
Following discussion, a motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Maureen Williams, that District II continue to share the expenses for that room with District XI for the 2018 Convention.All Ayes
ITEM 20 Chairman Majikes provided the committee members with correspondence from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference to the Pennsylvania Legislative Athletic Oversight Committee, outlining their position regarding current discussions regarding the public/private school competition issue in the PIAA State Championships.
ITEM 21 Chairman Majikes provided the committee members with the following informational items regarding the recent discussions regarding eligibility and transfer rules and playoff equity –
· Correspondence to the PIAA State Office from State Representatives Jake Wheatley, 19th Legislative District, and Ed Gainey, 24th Legislative District, encouraging the scheduling of public forums by the PIAA in order to gather parent input on those issues.
· Informational items regarding the Playoff Equity Summit held on July 24, 2018 at State College, including a letter from the sponsoring group to the PIAA and General Oversight Committee outlining their mission, beliefs, and schedule of events for the Summit.
· Press release from the PIAA outlining the provisions of the changes in the student transfer regulations and a potential PIAA proposal to address the issue of competitive balance in the playoff structure.
· Information regarding the new transfer policies and procedures recently enacted by the PIAA Board of Directors.
ITEM 22 Chad Vinansky, Sportsmanship Chair, provided an informational handout which provided a school by school analysis of disqualifications for the 2017-2018 school year. District II had a total of 63 disqualifications at PIAA District II events during the year, including the removal of 12 coaches from contests.
ITEM 23 Chairman Majikes distributed the current PIAA District II Committee Members Directory and asked that all members review the information and get back to him with any changes.
ITEM 24 Chairman Majikes distributed the Directories for the Athletic Directors in both the Wyoming Valley Conference and LIAA for the 2018-2019 school year.
ITEM 25 Chairman Majikes presented a review of the July 18, 2018 PIAA Board of Directors meeting. The summary of that meeting can be found on the District II website. Chairman Majikes highlighted the following items of importance –
· Encourage member schools to provide student recommendations for attendance at the NFHS Student Leadership Summit held annually in Indianapolis. The PIAA covers all expenses for student attendance.
· Encouraged all Athletic Directors and Principals to visit the PIAA website and view the two training videos on “How to Use the new Eligibility Web Portal’.
· All Districts will be required to have an official pitch counter for all District and Inter-District Baseball contests.
· PIAA enforces a $100 fine per sport for schools not submitting eligibility lists in a timely fashion and prohibits participation in postseason competition until the fine is paid.
· Approved the request for cooperative sponsorship for Susquehanna and Blue Ridge in boys’ and girls’ soccer as well as MMI and Holy Family in girls’ soccer.
ITEM 26 The Committee acted upon the following requests for eligibility:
· A motion was made by Bill Schoen, seconded by Chad Vinansky, to direct the Chairman to schedule a hearing regarding the transfer of Leah Hodick, Pittston Area to Riverside. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Bill King, seconded by Jay Starnes, to approve the immediate eligibility of Campbell Kelly, Scranton Prep to Wyoming Seminary, 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 Ben Tolerico, seconded by Chad Vinansky, to direct the Chairman to schedule a hearing regarding a request for waiver of the age by-law for Manuel Lareynaga, Elk Lake. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Maureen Williams, seconded by Bill King, to approve the immediate eligibility of Breidan Ma, Homestead (Calif) to Wyoming Seminary, 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 Jay Starnes, seconded by Eric Emmerich, to approve the immediate eligibility of Mason Mendygral, Wyoming Valley West to Holy Redeemer, 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 Dave Novrocki, seconded by Tim Hopkins, to approve the immediate eligibility of Jacob and Joshua Noone, Dallas to Pittston Area, 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 Schoen, seconded by Fred Barletta, to direct the Chairman to schedule a hearing regarding the transfer of Kaitlyn Ritsick, Crestwood to Wyoming Seminary. 11 Ayes, 5 Nays
· A motion was made by Mary Ruth Tanner, seconded by Hal Gabriel, to direct the Chairman to schedule a hearing regarding the transfer of Joseph Rossi, Scranton Prep to Holy Cross. All Ayes
· A motion was made by Brian Durkin, seconded by Bill King, to approve the immediate eligibility of Francis Williamson, Red Land to Wyoming Seminary, in accordance with Article VI, Transfers, Residence, and Recruiting, principal to principal sign off, of the PIAA By-Laws. All Ayes
ITEM 27 Chairman Majikes presented a potential meeting schedule for the PIAA District II Committee for 2018-19 and asked members to review it carefully for discussion at our next meeting.
ITEM 28 A motion was made by Tim Hopkins, seconded by Ron Collins, to adjourn the meeting. All Ayes
Meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Ognosky
Mike Ognosky
District II Secretary