Michigan Senior Women's Hockey League
Meeting Minutes ~ August 24, 2005

Meeting Overview
President Joanne Lukasik called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.  July meeting minutes were available for review.

President's Report
In the opening remarks, Joanne said there were more positives than negatives last season; more teams in the Ruicci Cup (thank you, Stingrays!) and success at Nationals.  We are looking for a host team for the Ruicci Cup!  The league has continued to grow, and this year there will be 38 teams as we have received notice that the Windsor Rush will not be playing.  With the growth comes a new league name to reflect who we are - Michigan Senior Women's Hockey League - along with a new logo.  She asked the Board of Directors to introduce themselves, and added she would be goaltending for the Polar Bears this year.  Ann Dobija will continue as web master for the league site.

Treasurer's Report
The league continues to break even, and will not raise the league fees this year.  Paperwork for the bank account will be forwarded to Joanne.

Vice-President's Report
V.P. Terry Mathews created team packets, including a handout for the rule changes, an application form for league registration, and preliminary rosters.  The Acknowledgement of Rules & Regulations must be signed by a team representative and returned by September 30.  Rosters for Canadian teams need to be in by October 1.  Preliminary rosters for all other teams will be turned in next summer in place of the letters of intent.  This year the rosters can be sent to Joanne along with the official USA Hockey roster.  Please make copies for the Division Directors and/or Statisticians.  

The player eligibility rule goes in to effect next year.  The Board MUST evaluate College/club level players next season if they want to enter a division below Advanced.  The Master Schedule runs through March 31, and teams are obligated to play games scheduled after the Ruicci Cup.  If your team does not show for a game, it will be considered a forfeit; three forfeits are grounds for suspension from the league.  A reminder to all teams - to use the Goalie Borrowing Policy, it needs to be recorded on the score sheet that there is a sub goalie.  To be eligible for the Ruicci Cup, a player must have been in 10 league games.

V.P. Amy Martin talked about the Developmental League the MSWHL is going to run this season.  The clinics will be instructional in format, focusing on skill development.  There will be an average of two clinics per month, costing $200 for the season, or $20 on a drop-in basis, in addition to the USA Hockey registration fee.  The clinics will be in different locations depending on what area participants are coming from.  Deb R. mentioned we would like to collect some equipment to loan out to skaters.  The first clinic is September 11 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at the Eddie Edgar Arena in Livonia.

MAHA/USA Hockey Report
MAHA Rep. Carrie Sirola informed the group that all USA Hockey registration is now online.  The cost is $30/player and there is no team fee this year.  Please check with your District Registrar to see what process they are using.  The State Tournament will be March 3-5, 2006 in Lansing, and Nationals are March 23-25 in Buffalo, NY.

Old Business
President Lukasik put all teams on notice that high penalty minutes will not be tolerated this season.  A few teams accumulated an extraordinary number of penalty minutes and this is not conduct endorsed by the league.

New Business
The division structure and team placement list for 2005-06 was handed out.  Players are encouraged to select a Director, Scheduler, and Statistician for each division.  The Board would like to see more representation from the teams.  Each division is asked to schedule games for ONLY the first half of the season, around mid-December.  Complete schedules must be sent to the Director, President, and web site to be posted.

The CFL 30+ League will be playing again this year.  Please contact Michele Monson at monson@voyager.net for more information. 

The next league meeting is Tuesday, September 13, 7:00pm at Eddie Edgar.

Honesty and Respect Always,
Renee Dobrzelewski
MSWHL Secretary
