Executive Board Meeting: Wisconsin Dells, December 6, 2008.

Present: President John Ball,1st VP Bob Gawlitta, 2nd VP John Matera, Treasurer Tom Wilson, Secretary Marty Paulsen, Clinic Director Mark Fuller, Awards Coordinator Ron Kading, Publications Director Joe Waite, All-Star Classic Chair Tony Gerharz.

1. Paulsen/Waite: Minutes from 2008 Executive Board Meeting were read and follow-ups discussed. Clarifications: FCA will contact us regarding the Breakfast, three year committment to Marriott in Madison, though discussions of how Madison is more expensive for rooms and for transportation regarding speakers, etc. Combine Excel and Showtime Sports language conflict is apparently resolved. Ball has compiled the data on sectional sites and gave it to Deb Hauser, who said that she would do her best to use that information to pick quality sites for sectionals. Ball and Gawlitta went to the summer's coaches meeting regarding combining summer and spring seasons. Ball has had dialogue with Dave Anderson regarding that the WBCA would like to be involved with any discussions. Matera said there was talk of changing the State Tournament site from Stevens Point to Waukesha or Germantown, but no dialogue with the WBCA regarding combining the summer and spring seasons. Ball said Ball said The WBCA will continue to work with the WIAA and its new leadership in conjunction with the possible combination of two baseball seasons. Motion to approve by Kading, 2nd by Gawlitta.
2. Treasury report (Wilson): Recorded a profit of over $9000 last year, bolstered by liscensing agreement with All-American Liscensing and All-Star Classic. Motion to accept by Paulsen, 2nd by Wilson.
3. WIAA Advisory Committee (Matera): Discussed preseason leagues by primarily summer teams, and also fall leagues. WIAA has put a moratorium on participation, but anticipates that there will be a 'hard roster limit' within one year. Five inning games by junior varsity and freshmen teams... goes against WIAA rules. Complaints about players hitting during other games, includes tournament games. Pitchers and Catchers starting early... discussed pitchers and catchers starting up to two weeks early. Dave Anderson support this to reduce injuries. Waite put the question on the survey for Baseball Wisconsin entries... Feedback so far has been in strong support for early reporting. Minimally would like to have five 'contact days' like other sports.. Anderson also directed Matera to find scientific studies that supports this in favor of kids health. Anderson now understands that you can't coach pitching every day because of the nature of the position. Could possibly go into effect for the 2010 season. Anderson concerned that adding two weeks to coaching would force school districts to pay their coaches a bigger salary. Fuller will contact three different state's associations to see what they have for their rules, and if they have any data that supports it. Monitoring is as it always has been... self-monitoring, and if there are concerns, the WIAA would get involved. Also discussed was the WIAA rule that games can be played on only on school days 14 times. The WIAA has dropped this rule and is leaving it up to schools to monitor their own programs. Division II, III, and IV schools are moving up their starting tournament game up because of graduation, etc. WIAA is recommending that those games still be played on Friday, but the games can be moved up to early afternoon. Regarding Sectional Sites, they suggested that Sectional sites either have lights or not start the Championship game after 4:00. Summer seed meetings. They had a number of schools that did not want to host the meeting, which is getting the WIAA to consider to drop the seeding format and return to random placement. The WIAA still wants face to face meetings for seeding. Fuller reported that many members are frustrated with seeding because of the politics of some dominant conferences, and would just as soon go back to random seeding. Wilson said we wanted this and got it, but we are being self-destructive because some coaches aren't being fair when it comes to seeding, especially when the seeding meeting is dominated by one conference. The WIAA said that if no school is willing to host, the WIAA will seed teams alphabetically. Ball directed Matera to speak at the Business Meeting in February to report this information to the membership. Wilson said that this should be brought up to the membership at the business meeting, and Fuller said that he will write an article about it for Baseball Wisconsin.
4. Scholarships (Gawlitta): Picked six quality student athletes for a pool. The program is going well, and each player receives $500 upon receival of grades.
5. Website (Waite): Going well, no changes.
6. All-Star (Gerharz): All-Star Classic set for EJ Schneider Field in Oshkosh for June 26-27. Gerharz and Waite will work on updating packets. Discussed going from seven inning to eight inning games, so all players can play four and four innings, with a maximum of ten innings for extra inning games. Discussion ensued with positives and negatives being discussed. Decided that no changes be made. Gerharz said the DVDs from When We Were Young productions were very will made. Would like to have an area at the clinic where the games could be played on a TV. Fuller would like to see greater participation for the golf outing the day before the Classic. It is a great time for camaraderie, etc, and would like to encourage more coaches to come and play.
7. All State (Kading): Reported that the process is going well overall. Some districts would like to pick the coach of the year in the fall meeting. Waite reported that he does not receive All-District teams from some District Reps.
8. WBCA Awards (Kading): After today, Kading needs addresses and pictures of Hall of Fame winners. If winners are from your area, they need to be reported to Kading so that he can start making the Awards.
9. All Area Meetings (Ball and Fuller): Discussed going back to four sites as participation is down at the six current sites.
10. Hall of Fame (Fuller): Reviewed guidelines of Hall of Fame qualifications. The Hall of Fame committee agrees that the candidates should be judged on their contributions to the game. Lobbying on behalf of candidates has become more intense, but the Committee agreed that comments should be considered but should not be taking solely. The Hall of Fame Committee suggests that the Hall of Fame remains for people who have achieved great success as a coach and/or have made contributions to baseball, and that it should not become a "good guy" Hall of Fame. Discussed that almost every town has a man that has been intrigual to baseball in their community. Agreed that many men across the state have made contributions to their communities, but that the qualifications of the Hall of Fame should remain true to the original intent. Most candidates are under consideration for several years before induction, and that no candidate is eliminated after being nominated. All agreed that the HOC and the Executive Board should not succumb to political pressure from small groups of passionate supporters. Fuller then presented the Hall of Fame Committee's recomendations to the Board. The HOC felt that some men are more qualified to receive "Distinguished Service Awards" rather than be elected in to the Hall of Fame because their career records or contributions to the state in general simply don't merit it. Discussed upgrading Distinguished Service Award to make it a better award and more prestigious. Individual candidates were then discussed. Motion to accept the four nominees by Gawlitta, 2nd by Matera. Motion approved. Inducted were Robin Schrank (Greendale), Tom Lechnir (UW-Oshkosh), Pete Swanson (Viroqua), Mark Simon (DC Everest). Ball directed that if any board member receives calls or letters from supporters, that they respond by saying that once a candidate is nominated, he will be considered every year thereafter.
11. District Area Meeting Nominations (Ball): Coach of the Year nominations (DI Larry Villiard, Bruce and Casey Eckardt, Eau Claire Memorial), (DII Steve Warren, Marathon), (DIII Ken Van Egtern, La Crosse Central), (DIV Ryan McGinnis, Kimberly and Joe Rukamp, West DePere), (DV Dave Thomas, Madison Memorial), (DVI Tom O'Connell, Catholic Central and Matt LaBuda, Kenosha Bradford). Gawlitta motioned to accept Steve Warren as State Coach of the Year, 2nd by Wilson. Approved. Already decided: Summer (District VII Chuck Ihle, West Salem and District VIII was Adam Dobberstein, Pewaukee). Summer State Coach of the Year was named Chuck Ihle.Assistants of the Year: Steve Maufort Appleton East, Tom Krause, Burlington, Mark Dobberstein, Pewaukee and Pete Kowalski, Pewaukee. Players of the Year: Brad Schrieber, Kimberly and Paul Hoenecke, West Bend West. Man of the Year: Motioned by Fuller, 2nd by Paulsen for Tim O'Driscoll, Arrowhead. Approved. Umpire of the Year: Motioned by Fuller for co-awards for Tom Barth, La Crosse and Louie Eisenman, Wausau. 2nd by Paulsen, Approved. Media Man of the Year: Motion by Paulsen for Bob Bradovich, 2nd by Kading. Approved. Motion by Fuller for Gene Delisio, Marshfield and Gary Mackenzie, Dodgeville, 2nd by Wilson. Approved. College Coach of the Year: Motion by Fuller for John Vodenlich, UW-Whitewater, 2nd by Matera. Approved. Volunteer Coach of the Year: Fuller motioned for co-awards for Shane Jahns, Fond du Lac, and Paul Dimmeg, Middleton. 2nd by Gawlitta. Approved. Woman of the Year: Motioned by Fuller for Shelly Burling, 2nd by Wilson. Approved.
12. Banquet program. Agreed to upgrade the program by including more biographies.
13. Distinguished Awards: Discussion centered on what qualifies as a distinguished service award... is it somebody that has coached for a long time, is it a person that has been involved with youth programs and building projects, or both. After discussion, motioned to accept five nominations which include Bob Wilcox, Winnebago Lutheran, Jerry Guth, Algoma, John Feldner, McFarland, Lee Schierkolk, Prairie Farm, and Mike Morris, Unity, by Matera. 2nd by Fuller. Approved.
14. Area Meetings (Ball): Agreed that the Districts and Areas need to be revisited because of geography.
15. State Clinic (Wilson): Registrations and memberships. Discussion: expenses are up but clinic costs are up due to more expense in Madison and natural inflation. It was agreed that membership fees should go up $5, to $40. Prices set at Membership Only ($40), Clinic Only ($55), Membership/Clinic ($80), At the Door ($90). All-Star Classic is now showing a profit and helping the organization. Fuller reported that this might be the best Clinic ever based on the quality of the speakers. Waite will be posting information and registration for the clinic and membership the day following this meeting. Paulsen reported that accommodations are in process. Vendors, ten have responded to Matera so far and is on schedule. Gawlitta will be getting raffle tickets from Wilson. Hot Stove is on schedule according to Paulsen, except that Madison is more expensive than Milwaukee. Motioned by Ball, 2nd by Kading to approve. Approved.
16. Business Meeting (Ball): Items discussed that need to be brought to attention to the membership by President Ball. Wilson will be looking into video services for the Clinic. Looking to find a service that can take that over so it can be offered to the membership. Agreed that Wilson will look into it.
17. ABCA Hospitality Room (Ball): Decided to offer it on Saturday night (January 3rd)of the National Clinic in San Diego.
18. Nominations for 2nd Vice President: The vote for 2nd Vice President is an elected position by the membership. Nominations may come from the Executive Board, on the floor. The 2nd Vice President shall be elected by majority vote of the membership present at the clinic business meeting. Waite will be posting a notice on the website that reads "Anybody interested in running for 2nd Vice President should email President John Ball with their qualifications or resume."
19. Wood Bats (Ball): Mark Weber would like to put a table up discussing the use of wood bats. The Board agreed that he should be able to do that.
20. MGP Revenue Sharing for Official Fundraising (Matera): The Board agreed that it is not something that should endorsed by the WBCA as their proposal states.
21. Hall of Fame (Ball): Are there other ways to recognize past Hall of Fame Members. Discussion ensued. Decided to make WBCA HOF badges for Hall of Fame members that are in attendance at Clinic.
22. Proposal by Jim Meier Radio Show: Fuller will meet with him and say that it has been tabled.
23. Vendor Area (Matera): Agreed that all vendors should be inside the vendor area and that nobody should be outside the Exhibit Hall.
24. Motion to adjourn by Wilson, 2nd by Gawlitta. Meeting Adjourned.