2003-2004 Men's Conference Call Minutes

Atlantic Division	New York Division
Florida Division	North Atlantic Division
Great Lakes Division	Northwest Division
Great Plains Division	Ohio Valley Division
Heartland Division	Pacific Coast Division
Mid Atlantic Division	Southeast Division
New England Division	Southwest Division
	Texas Division
New England & North Atlantic Joint Calls

CWPA Conference Call Minutes for Collegiate Men’s Club Teams, 2003

Atlantic Division

February 3, 2004
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Duke University, Jacob Opoliner; North Carolina, University of, Erik Severinghaus; Georgetown University, Darrell Zlotnick; James Madison University, Paul Rukenbrod; Virginia Polytechnic University, Justin Ward

The Commissioner opened the meeting with a discussion of potential new members. University of North Carolina requested to move from the Southeast to the Atlantic Division and all of the teams agreed. Wake Forest was also mentioned as a possibility and the Commissioner indicated he would make contact with them.

The first item of business pertained to the schedule. The Commissioner explained that there were two competitive options with nine teams. One option required teams to split regionally for one of the regular season weekends, playing against teams within their region. During the second weekend teams from opposing regions would compete against each other. That would necessitate four teams playing three games one weekend and five during the crossover weekend, while the remaining teams would play an equal number of games each tournament. The second option would bring all of the teams to each site, with teams playing four games per weekend. While the first option would require a fourth site and an unequal number of games per weekend for some of the teams, it would reduce travel and hotel costs for everyone. Coaches voted unanimously to approve the regional split for the year. Everyone agreed to the following regions:

North: Georgetown, VA Tech, Virginia, Richmond, James Madison
South: Duke, NC State, North Carolina, East Carolina

Coaches then discussed the sites and dates and determined the following schedule, provided pools are available at these dates:

Oct 2-3 Crossover at VA Tech
Oct 23-24 Duke and JMU regional tournaments
Nov 6-7 North Carolina

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The Commissioner mentioned that the Code of Conduct is found on the web site and that it covers an area of behavior the league takes very seriously. Copies of the Code of Conduct should be made available to each athlete to ensure everyone understands what is expected.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date. He also stated that new coaches should take the tutorial now available in the Coaching Resource Information section.

Florida Division

December 2, 2003
Attending: Dan Sharadin, Commissioner; University of Central Florida, Jeremy Roberts; University of Florida, Casey Sapp and Javier Sierra

The meeting opened with a discussion concerning the number of teams and the fact that no new schools are planning to join next year. The Commissioner indicated that a division comprised of three institutions is not a viable division. All teams agreed that the best alternative was to merge with the Southeast Division until more teams are involved. The Commissioner then indicated they should call back during the Southeast Division call.

Great Lakes Division

December 10, 2003
Attending: Dan Sharadin, Commissioner; Ball State University, Meredith Dalenberg; Grand Valley State University, Derek Whittington; University of Notre Dame, Brian Coughlin & Jay Diemel; University of Toledo, Pete Dankert; Western Michigan University, Mark Mattox; Miami University (OH) A & B, Doug Reisenfeld; Ohio University, Jason Rittenberg

The Commissioner opened with a discussion regarding the lack of teams in the Ohio Valley Division. The Board of Directors indicated they would no longer be given an automatic bid for the National Championship in light of the fact that they only have three institutions participating (Miami has two teams). After some discussion, teams asked the Commissioner if they would be able to remain split if Toledo moved to the Ohio Valley. The Commissioner indicated the Board of Directors was meeting later in December and he would take the proposal to them.

Teams agreed to reconvene a conference call following the Board’s decision.

Teams were issued an email in late December indicating that the Board had granted their request.

January 20, 2004
Attending: Dan Sharadin, Commissioner; Ball State University, Meredith Dalenberg; Grand Valley State University, Derek Whittington; University of Notre Dame, Brian Coughlin & Mike Grow; University of Toledo, Pete Dankert; Western Michigan University, Mark Mattox; Miami University (OH) A & B, Doug Reisenfeld; Ohio University, Jason Rittenberg

The Commissioner opened the meeting with a brief summary of the situation. Since the last meeting, the Board had approved the request to keep the divisions separate if another team joined the Ohio Valley. However, Toledo indicated their desire to see the two divisions merge together. Ball State echoed Toledo’s position, while the other teams on the call requested that the divisions remain separate. Based on the fact that no other teams were willing to move to the Ohio Valley Division at the time of the call, the Commissioner requested that all concerned would go back to their teams and discuss the situation to determine if anyone was willing to change their opinion. An additional call would be held next Tuesday to discuss the alternatives.

January 27, 2004

Attending: Dan Sharadin, Commissioner; Ball State University, Meredith Dalenberg; Grand Valley State University, Derek Whittington; University of Notre Dame, Brian Coughlin; University of Toledo, Pete Dankert; Western Michigan University, Mark Mattox; Miami University (OH) A & B, Doug Reisenfeld; Ohio University, Jason Rittenberg

The meeting opened with a brief polling of those on the call with respect to whether they would like to see the division combined or remain split. Only Toledo indicated an interest in combining into one division. Peter Dankert from Toledo stated they would be willing to move to the Ohio Valley under the circumstances to keep the two divisions intact.

The next order of business was the establishment of the schedule for each respective division. Ohio Valley determined that their championship would be held November 6-7 at Ohio University. Miami deferred their option to host and Toledo agreed to do so. The regional date was set for October 9-10.

The Great Lakes schedule was tabled until after the general business was discussed in order to let the OV teams move off the call.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The Great Lakes schedule was then discussed. Notre Dame agreed to host the National Championship and opted not to host another event during the year. Ball State indicated their pool is shallow throughout and therefore not a reasonable facility. Western Michigan indicated their hockey schedule had not yet been released and they could therefore not determine when their pool is available. Grand Valley stated they would need to rent a local facility and after some discussion, agreed to do so. Dates could not be determined on the call, so the Commissioner requested that GVSU and WMU email the dates to him and he would finalize the schedule.

Great Plains Division

November 18, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Iowa State University, Dustin Tomhave; University of Nebraska, Meghan Gardner; University of Minnesota, Ian Wagan; University of Kansas, Kevin Gates; Washington University, Steve Bourque; Western Illinois University, Scott Krasinski

The meeting opened with a discussion of splitting the division into two divisions due to the geographic concerns. Teams indicated that the present distances require 14 hour drives between members. While no one knew of any teams planning to join, they felt it would be best to reduce travel time. Scott Krasinski made a motion that the division be split along regional lines. Motion seconded by Ian Wagan and passed 5-1. The Commissioner noted that the Board of Directors would need to approve the realignment.

The next item of business pertained to the schedule. It was decided each division would plan a schedule in the event the Board approved the realignment. Accordingly, the Eastern Region determined their championship would be held at Washington University, with Northern Illinois and Lindenwood hosting the regionals at dates to be determined. The Western Region decided that Minnesota would host the championship on October 30-31, with Nebraska hosting October 9-10 and Iowa State September 25-26. Each of these dates is tentative until confirmation from the schools is made.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

At the end of the call, Steve Bourque asked teams if they wanted to move to a two-tournament format with only four teams in the division. The other teams indicated they wanted to remain with the current format.

Heartland Division

November 18, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Carleton College, Aaron Palash; Knox College, Jonathan Powers; Macalester College, Bob Pearson; St. John's University, Peter Przekota

The Commissioner opened the meeting with a discussion of potential new members. Someone mentioned Saint Olaf and the Commissioner indicated they had not applied for reinstatement as of yet, following their no-contest in 2002.

The first item of business pertained to the schedule. It was decided that the championship would be held October 16-17 at Macalester, with the regular season events at Saint John’s and Grinnell. Grinnell was not represented on the call and will need to inform the office if they plan to host. St. John’s chose to host on October 2-3 for one of the regular season events.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

Under new business, Bob Pearson made a motion that teams must have shot clocks and a visible game clock to be eligible to host the championship. Motion seconded by Peter Przekota and passed unanimously.

Bob Pearson made a motion that the all-Conference selections for the division be limited to men during the fall season, since women have their own opportunity in the spring. Motion seconded by Peter Przekota. Motion passed 3-1.

A question was raised regarding the schedule and the number of weekends. Teams then affirmed their desire to have three weekends within the league structure.

Mid Atlantic Division

December 2, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner/Villanova University; Bloomsburg University, Rob Robitaille; Carnegie Mellon University, Dan Sunday; Penn State University, Ed Silverman; Lehigh University, Mike Sale; Millersville University, Wes McMichael; University of Pennsylvania, Alex Sun

The meeting opened with a discussion of the number of teams with respect to the competitive format. Everyone decided to merge into one single round robin format if there are nine or fewer teams in the division. Otherwise we would maintain the regions.

For the purpose of the call, teams would play one tournament regionally, one crossover against the opposing region, and one championship.

The schedule for the western regional was determined to be at Carnegie Mellon, October 9-10 or October 2-3. The crossover will be at Penn State October 16-17, with the championship at Widener and Villanova November 6-7. The eastern region would continue to play their games locally prior to the crossover.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date.

New England Division/North Atlantic Division Joint Calls

December 10, 2003; January 25, 2003; February 3, 2004
Attending (at least one of the conference calls): Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Mac Clonan, Wesleyan University; Bates College, Erik Baker; Bowdoin College, Bill Alto;
Dartmouth College, Jim Wilson & Julie Morshedi; Middlebury College, Brian Goodwin; Tufts University, JD Devan; Amherst College, Charles Clinton; Yale University, Chip Spear & Andy Lewandowski

The two divisions held joint conference calls on several occasions for the purpose of discussing realigning the teams within each division. Emails and other correspondence were circulated over this period with different options presented. During the final meeting the teams agreed to maintain the same alignment that exists now, with the hope that either Boston College or Tufts University would agree to move to the New England Division for at least the 2004 season. If not, the division memberships would remain the same.

The North Atlantic Teams agreed to set their schedule immediately (click here for call minutes), while the Commissioner indicated the New England Division could handle their schedule issue on either another call or by email (Call was held on March 2, 2004. Click here for call minutes).

New England Division

March 2, 2004
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Mac Clonan, Wesleyan University; Tufts University, JD Devan; Amherst College, Colin Porter; Arian Salinas, Williams College; Yale University, Chip Spear & Dan Conner;

The Commissioner indicated that Tufts had agreed to move from the North Atlantic to the New England Division for this season to balance the numbers.

The first item of business pertained to the schedule. The Commissioner explained the championship dates and the teams voted unanimously not to conflict with the Division III National Championship. Accordingly, the New England Championship will be held either October 30-31 or November 6-7 at Williams. The remaining two sites will be held October 2-3 and October 16-17 at Yale and Amherst, with Yale responding to the office with their availability and Amherst taking the other date. In the event the DIII Championship moves to any other date, teams voted to keep the NE Championship October 30-31.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date and to take advantage of the web site in order to promote their team and individual athletes.

New York Division

December 1, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Lazar Muster, Columbia University; Jim Henning, New York University; Greg Horrocks, John Zaffino, Andy Milinchik, Seth Sealfon, RIT

The Commissioner asked those on the call if they would like to reconvene when more institutions were represented. All on the call agreed. Commissioner indicated next call would be scheduled in January.

January 20, 2004
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Columbia University, Lazar Muster; New York University, Devon Wheeler; United States Military Academy, Oliver Schrang; Binghamton University, Sandra Keefer; Rochester Institute of Technology, Seth Sealfon; SUNY Geneseo, Art Lilienthal

The meeting opened with a discussion of the schedule. All teams decided to maintain the same format in light of the fact that no new teams have chosen to join. After some discussion, teams agreed to move the championship to a location further east and Army was given the first opportunity to host. Army was unable to confirm their ability to secure the pool and will not be able to do so until later this spring. In the event they are unable to host, NYU will receive the opportunity, followed by Columbia. Teams decided to make the date take precedence rather than allowing Army to seek another time if they have a conflict with October 23-24. RIT was selected as the crossover location on October 9-10. The regionals were determined to be at SUNY Geneseo and NYU on September 25-26. If NYU ends up hosting the championship, Army would have the opportunity to host the regional event in September.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

North Atlantic Division

February 3, 2004
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Bates College, Erik Baker; Bowdoin College, Bill Alto; Dartmouth College, Jim Wilson & Julie Morshedi; Middlebury College, Brian Goodwin; Tufts University, JD Devan

North Atlantic Division coaches determined the following dates and locations:

Oct 2-3 regional events at Colby and Dartmouth
Oct 16-17 crossover event at Bowdoin
Oct 30-31 championship at Middlebury

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date.

Northwest Division

November 18, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; University of Oregon, Matt Bauman; Oregon State University, Adam McGowan; University of Washington, Brandon Baer; Washington State University, Adam Carr; Western Washington University, Brandon Printz

The Commissioner opened the meeting with a discussion of potential new members. He noted that many new teams had expressed interest, but none had followed through at the present time. He stated the office sent information to Portland State, but they had not confirmed their intentions.

Teams then discussed revenue sharing for hosts. Brandon Baer indicated that the current schedule with two hour breaks between games was too long and required too much money for teams hosting events. He also thought teams should pay more to assist the host. His last situation required his team to bear significant costs. The Commissioner noted that the league follows NCAA rules that mandate a two hour rest period, but that the division membership could modify that requirement as they pleased. After some discussion, Brandon Baer made a motion to reduce the rest period between games to 45 minutes. Brandon Printz seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Brandon Baer then made a motion that the host should bear 60% of the costs and the teams the remaining 40%. The motion did not receive a second. The Commissioner then asked teams if they felt that any cost sharing was appropriate and the schools affirmed their position that the host should bear all costs for their own hosting.

The next item of business pertained to the schedule. It was decided that the championship would be held November 6-7 at King County Aquatic Center. Due to the fact that University of Oregon will use an outdoor pool, they elected to host October 9-10 at the Amazon Aquatic Facility. Oregon State indicated they will reserve the Osborn Aquatic Center on October 23-24. In the event any of these teams were unable to host, Adam Carr indicated Washington State was willing to do so.

The Commissioner reminded those hosting to complete the Pool Reservation Form found on the web site. He also went over the no contest policy and explained that the Participation Contract must be completed by the club supervisor. This form is also available on the web site.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

Ohio Valley Division

See Great Lakes Division Minutes

Pacific Coast Division

December 9, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; University of California, Los Angeles , Sam Bakhshandehpour; Fresno State University, Sean Smith and Greg Sanchez; California State University, Maritime Academy, Timm Torchiana; Cal Poly State University, John Marsh; St. Mary’s College, Nick Rex; California State University, Chico, David Rich

The meeting opened with a discussion about new teams. Sam Bakhshandehpour indicated that USC is expecting to play next season and Timm Torchiana stated that Northridge is planning to join as well. Cal Poly stated they will definitely have a “B” team and UCLA indicated they might as well.

The Commissioner then explained a few of the competitive options. John Marsh asked if the division could split into two separate divisions and the Commissioner explained that splitting a division is based on geographic concerns and having a viable number of teams participating. At the present time, the Pacific Coast Division does not have enough teams to split, but it looks like it will after this year and would have a legitimate case to do so at that time. He also indicated that anyone from the division could write the Board and request it for this year, but it was unrealistic to expect it to happen considering the current number of members.

Based on one division, the teams decided to split into two regions for the purpose of competition. One tournament will be held in the region, one will be a crossover where teams will play opponents from the opposite region, followed by a championship. Regions were aligned as follows:

South:
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Los Angeles
California State University, Northridge (tentative)
University of Southern California (tentative)
Fresno State University

North:
California State University, Maritime Academy
Cal Poly State University A&B
St. Mary’s College (CA)
California State University, Chico

Sites and dates were then discussed. Teams decided to host their regionals in the geographically distant locations, while hosting the crossover and championship at a central location. This means that Cal Poly and Fresno will serve as the two locations for these central tournaments. Fresno was then chosen to host the championship on November 6-7 at a 30 meter pool in the area (Central HS). Cal Poly will host the crossover on October 23-24. The northern regional will be held at Cal Maritime (Cunningham Park) on October 9-10. UCLA will receive the first chance to host the Southern Regional, followed by UCSD. If both are unable to secure a pool, the bid will go to one of the new teams joining. Sam indicated that he thought USC would be able to host.

If the new teams do not join, we will reconvene another conference call to discuss a revised schedule.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

He indicated that hotel information will be posted and urged teams to stay at the league hotel in order to help save money, since officials receive comp rooms when the league reaches a minimum number. This in turn keeps league fees low.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date.

Lastly, the Commissioner urged everyone to read the proposals and vote by the deadline. John Marsh briefly explained his proposal and the meeting adjourned.

Southeast Division

December 9, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Auburn University, Patrick Charles; Georgia Tech University, Rich Bourgault; University of Tennessee, Jenna Stubbs; University of Florida, Casey Sapp and Javier Sierra; Central Florida, Jeremy Roberts; Florida State University, Terrell Woods; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Erik Severinghaus

The meeting opened with a discussion of merging the Florida and Southeast Divisions together until more teams join from Florida. The Commissioner stated that the current Florida Division is not a viable division with only three institutions. Teams indicated that all were in agreement to add the Florida schools.

Erik Severinghaus from North Carolina stated they would like to move divisions based on geographic concerns and planned on joining the Atlantic Division for the fall season.

The next item of business pertained to the schedule. It was decided that the regions would be maintained and teams would play one tournament regionally, one crossover against the opposing region, and one championship. Tennessee, Central Florida, and University of Florida would be eligible to host regional events, while Auburn, and the Atlanta schools could host the crossover or championship due to their central locations.

The schedule was then determined to be Emory during September 18-19 or 25-26. If Emory was unable to host the crossover, GA Tech would receive the opportunity. The regionals would be at Tennessee and Florida State on October 9-10. The championship will be at Auburn November 6-7.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date.

Under New Business, Jenna Stubbs explained why Tennessee proposed the eligibility rule and teams discussed the issue. The Commissioner reminded everyone to get their votes in before the deadline on Thursday.

Southwest Division

December 9, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; University of Arizona, Sean Devlin; University of Colorado, Taylor Brock; University of Utah, Brian O'Neill; Colorado State University, Per Wigand

The meeting opened with a discussion about new teams. Colorado State indicated they planned to participate in 2004. New Mexico State was mentioned, although nothing had been confirmed about their participation. Colorado stated they may have a “B” team again next year if the numbers are there.

The next item of business pertained to the schedule. It was decided that the competitive regions would be maintained and teams would play one tournament in Arizona, one in Utah, and one in Colorado. Arizona was chosen as the site for the championship on November 6-7. Teams indicated their desire to return to USAF if possible for the Colorado regional. Brian from Utah indicated he was not sure what dates were available for University of Utah to host. Since the dates for USAF and Utah were unable to be confirmed, the Commissioner stated he would let people know when we have more information. Colorado requested that no tournament be held October 2-3 due to their break.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

The web site was discussed and the Commissioner encouraged teams to ensure their school profile information was up to date.

Texas Division

November 18, 2003
Attending: Daniel Sharadin, Commissioner; Rice University, Aaron Hammer; University of Texas, Austin, Sean Murray; Trinity University, Jim Yates

The Commissioner opened the meeting with a discussion of potential new members. University of Houston is expected to join and Texas Tech was also mentioned as a possibility.

The first item of business pertained to the schedule. It was decided that the championship would be held October 23-24 at either University of Texas or in San Antonio, run by Texas. The first regular season date was determined to be September 18-19 at Trinity University, either at their outdoor pool or at Palo Alto College. The second date was set for the Houston area, either at the Medical Center or at University of Houston, on October 9-10. Teams also indicated that in the event someone is unable to host, the date would take precedence rather than the host, meaning we would need to locate another site rather than switch the date.

Officiating issues were covered and the Commissioner reminded teams they can evaluate the referees on their games by completing the form on line.

He indicated that hotel information will be posted before September and urged teams to stay at the league hotel in order to help save money, since officials receive comp rooms when the league reaches a minimum number. This in turn keeps league fees low. Jim Yates mentioned the Howard Johnson’s in Houston was not acceptable and someone else noted their ability to get a cheaper hotel in San Antonio. The Commissioner encouraged everyone to let the league office know in these instances at the time they occur.

Under New Business, Sean Murray indicated he wanted to discuss another alternative to the random draw currently used to establish the schedule. Sean also asked if teams were interested in playing more than four games per weekend. After teams talked briefly, it was decided to wait until we knew which new teams were planning to join and if necessary, we would convene a conference call next year to further discuss the issues.