09/22/04 Overview and 2005 Conference Meeting on 11/17/04

Head Start 2005 - Overview of 2004

Once again we had an excellent year on competition. Brentwood a won the Cup, Brentwood B lost a hard fought match against the Cordova Wolves in the finals of the Bowl. Riverdale makes it to the bowl competition losing to the eventual champion Cordova. Team hosting was at an all time high, several teams solidified their numbers. Quality of play was excellent and a pleasure to watch. Many squads have many young players returning. We lost Warren County but have begun the process of targeting other schools for entry into the league. The girls program lead by the Nashville women’s club and Cowboy has gotten off the ground with considerable interest. Following is what we’ve done this year and where we’re headed

1. Administration:

2004 - this year we CIPP’ed all our players, all teams were current on their dues by the first game. All teams filled out medical release forms, code of conduct forms, player participation forms and paid for uniforms.

2005 - This are underwent vast improvement from the previous year. With some minor tweaking I don’t believe much needs to change. Scheduling continues to be our Achilles heel. Everyone will be asked to spend more time up front to help develop the schedule

2. Safety:

2004 - after starting the first games without trainers we hired Baptist Sports Medicine who did a great job for us. The one area that was not covered was Upper man High. This one issue I believe was the single best thing we did to better our conference.

2005 - we have the ability to use Baptist next year, however there is some potential to use an organization that one of our Old Boys (Mike “The Snake” Usury) is associated with. We will explore that option and have some idea by Sept. as to how we will proceed. Field Management with respect to injuries went well, however each team still needs to have clear understanding as to whom on the club is responsible in injury management. Our biggest change next season will be concussion management. Training and reporting will be part of the new plan, but it must be addressed for everyone concerned.

3. Competition:

2004 - Except for a couple of situations we’d have to say it was a very successful year. Many home teams provided drinks and food after the games, the code of conduct was a blueprint for us to work by, coaches, players and parents did an excellent job holding down the constant chirping that was prevalent the year before.

2005 - We will set up a Discipline Review Committee made up of delegates from the conference, we need to amend the by-laws to allow for quick reviews, we need to track yellow and red card offences. We will set up definitive policies as to the number of offences allowed and actions that are clearly understood by all participants.

4. Parent Involvement:

2004 - This was our first year to really incorporate the parents and gain their insight. Several parents had a positive impact on recruiting, hosting and administrating. Besides trainers this area was one of our largest victories.

2005 - Working off the momentum gained in 2004 we look to expand the role of the parents, we again will have a summer Parent Committee meeting to access their views and thoughts, we ask that prior to the end of the school year you designate your 2005 representative so we can add them to the list and begin to update them on issues concerning the league.

5. Sponsorships:

2004 - This year we welcomed Beareware as our first Corporate Sponsor, they gave us 750.00 worth website and software help, have done an excellent job hosting our site and adapting it to our needs.

2005 - We fell considerable short of our goal of 3500.00 in fundraising and sponsorships. It is our opinion that unless we have a driving force that’s main focus is fundraising that we will continue to flounder. Last year we asked for Volunteers but it’s a tough job that no one seems to want to tackle. We had offers from a magazine, could have made some money on concessions, and probably didn’t access enough people to make anything happen here.

6. Recruiting

2004 - We had several teams that made some excellent inroads in their schools, using the Bryant Model and having in school videos and sign-ups really began come to fruition. Some teams have solidified their futures with this effort, bringing in younger players expanding their numbers and ready to make next years run.

2005 - Recruiting must start now, if we wait until the beginning of the season it’s too late. There are things that can be done this summer i.e. getting potential players involved in some summer sevens activities, meeting with parents and school officials to map out a plan for next year, requesting prior to the end of this school year who the school sponsor might be and accessing them.

We will try to add two teams again this year, Steve McClamrock and Dace Shuck have indicated an interest in coaching. Already players have contacted us to enlists our aid at Overton which is actually the second year this had happened

7. Schedule for 2005

Item - Date Needed By

New Team Commitment - October 15

Blackout Dates - October 22

Field Use Verification - October 22

Preliminary Schedule - November 8

Parent Rep. Identified - November 8

Fall Meeting - November 17

Final Schedule - December 15

Schedule Distribution - December 15

Training schedule - December 1

School Sponsor Identified - December 2

Season begins - Feburary 25, 2005

Bids for State Tourn. Feburary 1, 2005

E-mail Conference Director Mike Rayburn at director@mtrugby.com.

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