• The most contentious issue for the meeting is to be consideration of the venue for the Youth League Grand Final - Castle Hill v Baulkham Hills. It has been drawn for Knights Field on Friday, but Baulkham Hills are not happy, claiming it is not a neutral venue in accordance with usual practice for Grand Finals.
• Castle Hill are Club Champions, Kellyville win the Incentive Shield.

Rep Season wrap:

• The representative season was a good one for Hills. We entered four teams and won three competitions:- U/14 Association Cup, U/12 and U/14 Sydney Junior Championship.

• The Under 16 team finished in fourth place in its competition – losing the semi final 4-3 to Macarthur after leading mid way through the game and looking winners. The team was not assisted by having to play on Thursday night to qualify for the semi finals which commenced the following Sunday and we had a club round and players playing Under 18 in that time.Overall that was a good finish given the position it found itself in midway through the competition.

• Despite winning two of the three competitions that ‘count’ for Brother Lambert Shield we finished a point behind Ryde which had one win and two seconds from its three teams

Winter Development:

• We are suggesting a change in Sunday morning development – traditionally Sunday morning in winter has been Under 12 Development which is open to all players. Last year we ‘lost’ all the better players to the winter competition and numbers fell off significantly.

• What is being suggested is development for 8, 9 and 10 year old players. We should use this time to improve the standard of younger players instead of waiting until they turn 10 to start development. Despite our success in representative baseball this year our standard continues to fall.

• Under 12 Development will be by invitation - midweek at night possibly Tuesday at Knights Field. Clubs are requested to nominate players they consider will meet the criteria of having the ability to play representative baseball next season. The final selection of players will be Hills’ – there is already a short list of players who attended the January camp.

• There will be a cost involved – which is necessary to offset Hills’ costs in delivering the program. Numbers will be limited to 25 players.

• We are yet to negotiate with Kellyville to use its ground for Under 15/16 Development on either Wednesday or Thursday night. This program will be extended to include Under 14 players who for whatever reason choose not to go to the Baseball NSW Development program.

Winter Competitions:

• Initial indications are that the winter competition will be largest ever. Baulkham Hills are entering teams. Blacktown and Quakers Hill both have an Under 14 team. The eligibility date for Under 14 is for players with a 1993 or 1994 birth-date. The playing distance will be 50’x75’.

• We are prepared to conduct an under 15/16 competition IF there are sufficient teams interested.

• We are prepared to find a team for players whose home clubs are not entering teams in winter.

• The question needing a decision is whether there should be a different fee for non Hills players/teams. In previous year’s we have charged a flat fee ($70) per team. That fee will increase slightly this season.

• We are continue to wrestle with the commencement date of the competition. The end date is important with a view to representative team trials and club gradings.

• At this stage the 30 April is favoured as the start date – it is later than we would like however it gets complicated with Easter and School Holidays. With this later start we may play the long weekend in June

Other Matters:

• Trials for representative teams are tentatively set for Saturday 5th August for Under 16 and Sunday 6th for Under 12 and 14. Applications for coaches close 31 July, 2006.

• We had an unexpected problem with the Under 17 Youth League competition when it was discovered that a player was registered and playing for Macarthur Under 18 as well as Quakers Hill Under 17. After last season’s problem we never thought we would have to cross that bridge again. The Executive ruled him ineligible to play in the final series.

• We had a protest in Under 17 Youth League semi final (Quakers v Winston Hills) – one that was extremely difficult to resolve. In the end it was information from independent people at the game that resulted in Hills ruling that another innings being played. That replay did not alter the result.

• Up until a few weeks back we had no need for a Judiciary. Since then we have had a suspension in February and a complaint against a Kellyville coach AND a send off of a Carlingford coach.

• Since the last meeting I forwarded you a note re the fundraising opportunity through the Entertainment  book. Is there any interest in the project remembering that you can ‘take’ books on a consignment basis and returning what you don’t sell? Do you wish Hills to co-ordinate the opportunity?

• There are joint runners up in Kelly League - or that is what we think as we are still waiting for a Kellyville result.

TeeBall Presentations:

The T Ball presentations will be held at Kellyville on Saturday at 10 am.
Koala League presentations will be at Castle Glen at 10am.
T Ball results were:

• Petroff - Premiers Kellyville, Runners up Baulkham Hills.

• Daisley -  Premiers Kings Langley, Runners up Castle Hill.

• Kelly -  Premiers Schofields, joint Runners up Kellyville & Oakville Black.

• Catt - Premiers Castle Hill, Runners up Castle Hill.

• Koala - Premiers Castle Hill, Runners up Carlingford.

Sundries:

There are some matters that we will need to consider very shortly.

• One is to review the dispensation policy. Certainly next season all requests will be considered at the same meeting. This was to be the case this season however clubs, for whatever reason were not organized enough. As part of the review consideration should be given as to whether there should be a different policy for girls. This is a potential policy with Baulkham Hills and Winston Hills teams.

• Need to review the rules. The pitch limits in under 12 are too high especially in Leonard Leagues where continually only one or two players are used as a pitcher with no development of other players. It may be easier if the suggestions for rule reviews are handled in writing. The closing date for the review is 30 April.

• The latest issue of the Hills Newsletter was distributed yesterday.

• There will be players added to the under 12 and 14 squads for City v Country just to be able to comply with the rules.

•  Oriole Stadium has again been ‘trashed’.

• There are ongoing events in an attempt to recover monies owed by D. Dawes.

• S. McFarlane and J. Yard have been requested to appear in court case in Alice Springs as a result of a fatal accident they witnessed.

• The Brother Lambert Shield was delivered – BNSW are displeased with the policy of providing a new shield.

• Application for JBL coaches invited. Invitations to trial for teams have been issued.

• There is an ongoing rumour that Baseball NSW will remove the Kenko ball from Under 12 competition.

• The BNSW Board of Directors recently overturned a Major League subcommittee decision.

• There is a request that people who are interested to input suggestions on how JLSC should operate.

• Representative of Womens’ League addressed the meeting as to the role of the Womens’ League as it “connects” to Juniors. There is concern at the overlap of responsibility; and the spread of ages.

• There is a coaching clinic for girls at BOP on 17 March.

• It was agreed that Associations could add players to their playing rosters for City v Country.

• Competition was to be played under Country rules, but now have JLSC pitching restrictions.

• Need to update MyClub information especially the information relating to club officials.

• There will be a debrief meeting of Rep Coaches/Managers on 12 April at BOP. 7.30pm start.

• Proposed to split the responsibility for rep competition administration out from the main JLSC, leaving that body free to deal with player growth.

• Mr. Catt moved a motion objecting to the statement re discrimination by the CEO and supported by the Chairman of Baseball NSW. The motion was carried 6 – 0 with one abstention.

• J. Kovacs has resigned from JLSC.

• Statement of Financial Position tabled and accepted.
• Accounts for payment approved.

• Nothing presented

Dispensations: Mrs. Sloggett raised the question of granting dispensations for girls to play down an age group. Mr. Schmidt stated that Hills would like to review the dispensation policy as a block. The aim is to have the policy made ‘more user friendly’.

Change in presentations: Mr. Tossell requested that the T Ball presentation for the Schofields team be moved to Castle Glen where Schofields Under 14 Street South team is playing. This was agreed.

Entertainment Books: There was no interest from Clubs in the entertainment books.

Nomination for Development: Mr. Bergan nominated Cameron Power for Under 12 Development.

Youth League Grand Final: There is a disagreement between the Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill clubs as to the venue of the Youth League Grand Final. Initially the venue was scheduled for Knights Field. Baulkham Hills complained, wanting a neutral venue – proposed change to Bensons Lane. Castle Hill then objected to that change.

• Mr. Yard stated that there were reasons why Friday night was chosen. The competition is a Friday night competition; it is easier to obtain umpires; from a promotion point of view it is clearly the best choice; it ‘frees’ up families to attend who have other commitments on Saturday.
• Mrs. Fox stated that Baulkham Hills do not feel that Knights is a neutral ground. The size of the field is a problem as are the toilet facilities. Queried how many games Castle Hill have won away from Knights. Why was game played on Saturday last year?
• Mr. Yard replied last year’s Youth League grand final was poorly attended and lacked atmosphere. As an organisation we try to share Grand Finals around but always are acutely aware of the efforts clubs provide to the Association - Castle Hill = venues for development, camps etc. Kellyville = hosting representative games. This commitment cannot be ignored when the Association can offer something in return – it would simply be unfair.
• Mr. Bray stated that 90% of the Youth League games are played on Friday afternoon or night. Baulkham Hills have played there five times this season, plus a couple of Hills representative games. The same problems re toilets exist with Laybutt. He did offer that if the toilets were a problem Castle Hill would hire “porta Loos’. As to the size of the playing field – Castle Hill have only hit one home run there this season.
• Mr. Yard stated he would be very reluctant to move any venue for Grant Finals outside the Hills clubs – it would be a slap in the face to all clubs. There is absolutely no guarantee that the diamonds would be prepared or there would be adequate facilities (canteen, parking, toilet).
• Mr. Schmidt stated that our problem is that there is only one ‘lit’ ground. He felt uncomfortable about the situation as in this dispute there is no fix that will satisfy both clubs. He asked whether either club cared if it was a Saturday afternoon game rather than Saturday morning IF the decision was to play Saturday instead of Friday night.
• Mr. Borg stated that being objective it would create a dangerous precedent with every future decision re venues being queried. Mr. Rymer agreed that it would create a dangerous precedent – his opinion is that the decision of this type rest with Executive Mr. Schmidt stated that the Executive have taken the matter seriously, and considers that the Association as a whole has to make the decision.
• The options put to the meeting were a matrix of:
   - Play at Knights Field or "Elsewhere", AND
   - Play on Friday night or anytime Saturday
  The result of the secret ballot was eight votes to three in favour of playing at Knights Field on Friday evening. There were two abstentions – Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Yard did not vote.
• Mr. Schmidt thanked Mrs. Fox for the manner in which she delivered Baulkham Hills’ views. He was disappointed that Baulkham Hills did not have a team representative in attendance, but in fairness, neither did Castle Hill.