Massachusetts Premier League
Annual General Meeting
(AGM)
October 17, 2016
Forekicks, Marlboro
Commission Voting Member Attendees: S. Robinson T. Filippetti J. Vellucci S. Tower
T. Luongo F. Day G. Reynolds N. Tescione
Commission Voting Member Absentee: J. Barata
Staff Attendees: T. Goodman K. Irwin N. Dunbar
Commission Non-Voting Member Attendees: R. Weaver K. Kelly S. Tsakirgis
Commission Non-Voting Member Absentee: L. Akoghlanian
Member Club Attendees: 65 Attendees; 5 not in Attendance represented by Proxy voting (see Attachment A)
Guest Attendee: M. Borislow, MYSA Executive Director
AGM called to order 7:10 PM
Agenda Items:
1. Welcome and Introductions: S. Robinson, MAPLE Commissioner welcomed attendees and introduced
Commission members.
2. Secretary’s Report: Approval of the minutes from the September 20, 2015 AGM…upon review of the
minutes a motion was made to approve as presented; motion seconded…motion approved.
3. Treasurer’s Report: S. Robinson referred everyone to the Financial Reports provided. He stated that the
league has lost a little over $38,000 as seen on the Income Statement, mainly due to clubs leaving the league.
Noted that the proposed budget is still being worked on by T. Goodman and himself, they are looking at areas
such as restructuring the payroll and will put forth a new budget by the spring. A motion was made to accept
the budget as proposed; motion seconded…motion approved.
4. Committee Reports: Nomination Committee; R. Weaver asked if everyone had received their ballots.
Began with the Treasurer position, J. Vellucci only name on the ballot; asked if anyone from the floor was
interested, no interest expressed. J. Vellucci spoke to his resume provided to the Nominating Committee and
included in the handouts. R. Weaver requested a hand vote from the floor; majority voted to appoint J. Vellucci
as Treasurer.
R. Weaver explained the voting procedure. All clubs will have the number of votes for each position equal to
the number of teams currently registered for the fall season. Proxy voting is allowed for those clubs unable to
attend, so one person may carry all the votes for any given organization as long as prior to the meeting a letter
on club stationary stating such was provided to the league office.
The Nominating Committee had reviewed and endorsed the following candidates, each candidate was asked to
give a brief resume to the membership. Nominating slate for Commission Member 2016; four open positions:
John Barata & Tony Luongo re-election for another term and Eric Redder, Dana Santilli, Marianna Sousa for
two spots.
A nomination from the floor was made for a Commission spot; K. Irwin. R. Weaver explained K. Irwin is an
employee of the league and in accordance with league policy in place since the league was established an
employee of the league cannot be a voting member of the Commission…the floor nomination was retracted.
Each member of the slate spoke to their resumes. Nomination closed, membership was asked to vote.
Results: the membership re-elected John Barata, Tony Luongo and elected Eric Redder & Marianna Sousa.
Motion was made to destroy the ballots…motion seconded…motion approved.
Agenda Items: (cont’d)
5. Executive Director’s Presentation: T. Goodman, Executive Director welcomed the membership attendees
and began his presentation. (see Attachment B… double click to view the MAPLE/NSL Presentation)
O ctob er-­‐17th -­‐2016-­‐
AGM-­‐Execu tive Dir Presen tation Attach men t B.p d f
Talking points to the presentation:
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Working to build Commission to eleven members, increasing the Commission to its full capacity that
will happen at this AGM.
DOC Advisory Group created by N. Dunbar, Technical Director to make decisions regarding soccer
developments that will be passed on to the MAPLE/NSL Executive Director for confirmation and then
to the Commission.
Streamline referee payment system, referees are now paid every two-three weeks.
Develop new payment & registration system; a minimum roster size will be required, if you do not meet
the size at registration the team will be dropped.
Tasks Completed:
- Rebranding MAPLE…new name, new logo etc...
- Create partnerships w/Sports, Education companies…we have partnered with NIKE, WeGotSoccer.
We are going to work closely with MYSA as they are an excellent educational resource.
- Office Space… have contracted with Regus Group and now have a professional office space located in
Marlboro.
- Developed a communication & marketing strategy and now working to complete the social media piece.
- Developed NSL Protocols…Protocols for Coaches, Parents, Players; what each should be doing will be
brought to the Advisory Group for fine tuning.
Task in Progress:
- Redefine current Staff roles, responsibilities etc.
- Developing education programs.
- Designing new Elite Division which involves inter-state play.
- Redesigning the league website for enhanced usability.
NSL New Structure:
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There will be four divisions; Elite, Premier, Championship & Developmental
Elite will be 13U – 18U and will be made up of the top 4 teams not the 4 top clubs.
T. Goodman opened the floor for discussion/questions:
v The exact how do you move to Elite etc., the Advisory Group is working on this now. Will be
based on merits and standards, not weighted yet.
v The CT play will start in the spring… we will start with CT then contacting NY for possible
participation.
v U10 discussion…members expressed interest in going back to playing every week…T. Goodman
asked for a show of hands and the membership in favor.
v U9 going back to every week, asking for a show of hands appeared ½ the group yes & ½ no.
v 19U & 20U can technically play spring 2017; six months of players that would have basically aged
out…T. Goodman will bring to the Advisory Group in November, they need to discuss concerns.
T. Goodman thanked everyone for their input and asked that they contact him with any questions/concerns
they may have.
Agenda Items: (cont’d)
6. Vote on Constitutional Name Change: S. Robinson noted the membership must vote on a Constitutional
Name Change. A motion was made to vote for a Constitutional name change from MAPLE to NSL… the
motion was seconded.
Discussion/questions from the floor:
1. What is the alternative to not accepting this?… per S. Robinson we stay the same.
2. The name MAPLE will no longer exist?... Yes per S. Robinson.
3. S. Robinson noted that we will be getting legal advice for changing any Constitution changes…membership
costs will not go up due to the name change.
Following discussion S. Robinson then asked for a vote via cards handed out at registration…green card a yes,
pink card a no. Cards were collected for count. The membership overwhelmingly voted to change the name of
the MAPLE league to the Northeast Soccer League (NSL), effective January 1st, 2017. Motion approved.
A motion was made to approve the actions and decisions of the Commission and League employees during the
past business year….motion seconded… motion approved.
Meeting Adjourned 8:35PM
Attachment A
Member Club Attendees
Alliance FC Hookset
America FC
Boston Rams SA
Boston Storm
Boxford FC
BSA North Shore
Capital Soccer Club
Chestnut Hill SC
Condors SC
CSP United
DFC
East Bay United
Explosion FC
FC Blazers
FC Swampscott
FC United
Fortis FC
Franklin County FC
Franklin Soccer Club
FSC North
Fuller Hamlets
Galway Rovers
Greater Lowell United
Greenlions
Hammer FC
Hampshire United NH
Harvest SC
JBSA
JSSA
LPDA
Lusitano
MFA Soccer Academy
Mariner Youth Soccer
Mass City FC
Melrose United
Middlesex Phantoms
Mill City FC
Mutiny FC
Nashoba FC
NE Navigators
New England Rush
Newton Academy
Nor’Easter FC
Nova
Old School
Pioneer Valley Storm
Portsmouth Pirates
Rhode Island Rush
SF Vikings
SSU Blazers
St Michael Youth
Strikers United
Taunton Eagles
Taunton Sports Club
Total Soccer
United SC
Victoria SC
Victory SC
Vipers
VSA United
Wakefield SA
Western Mass FC
Weymouth United FC
Wildcats
World Cup Soccer Nashua
WSA Force
Member Clubs Not in Attendance … Represented by Proxy Vote
DFC Dragons
Euro United
Dream Team FCA
Easton United
Tidal Wave SC