Date of Meeting June 26, 2007	Time of Meeting 7:30 PM
Date of Next Meeting Sept 11, 2007	Time of Next Meeting 7:30 PM
Attendees St. Marys, Stratford, Mitchell, Dorchester, Waterloo, Guelph, Forest, Chatham, St. Clements, Elora Fergus, London, Tillsonburg, Hanover, Kitchener, St. Thomas, Peter Westelaken, Scott Borland, Donna Jones, Chuck Weber, Janet Logan, Chris Beuglet
Regrets Exeter, Owen Sound, Wellington North, Woolwich, Goderich, Ripley, Seaforth, St. Jacobs, Tara, Woodstock
President Peter Westelaken called the meeting to order at 7:40pm. No new business was added to the agenda. Items Discussed: Changes to the previous minutes: From the Treasurer’s Report The ‘Fines Owing’ was actually fees for the banners. Donna indicated that she has collected both outstanding fees this evening. Clarification to the following points: Any player losing a tribunal will be sent back to their Home Association should read: Any player losing a tribunal may not seek a two team agreement with the team in which they were denied the release. Elora Fergus has declared a Belle AA team but received consent from the group that the team could move to either Guelph or Waterloo without issue should read: Elora Fergus has declared a Belle AA team but if it does not happen for whatever reason, the three associations (Elora Fergus, Guelph, Waterloo) will ensure a team location in the area for the local Belle AA players to play on. An Association President can not refuse to sign a Tryout Release form should read: An Association President can not refuse to sign the Player Tryout portion of the Player Tryout/Release form. Motion by Waterloo, seconded by Chatham to accept the minutes from the May 1st meeting with the above amendments. Motion carried. Meeting Items: Roster Sheets Players listed on the roster sheets that are handed in today can not be cut from the team. A player may ask to be removed from the list and a team can add to their list. The lists could include: Players from your Association Players who have Player Tryout/Release form completed up to but not including the Region portion Players who are in the process of obtaining a completed Player Tryout/Release form The team rosters were read off for each division. The teams were asked to indicate if there were any names found to be on more than one roster during this process. The results were: Tween AA – no issues Jr AA – no issues Belle AA – no issues ‘A’ Team Declarations Membership Services The Tryout portion of the Player Tryout/Release form must be completed and handed in prior to going on the ice. Players should be attending tryouts in the centres surrounding the one hosting if a team is also being offered. This allows the player the most opportunity should they get cut from their nearest centre or the nearest centre folds. The online Tryout Tracking form is to be completed following each tryout. Final release forms must contain the players ORA number. The home association will have this number or it can also be obtained through Janet or Chuck. Each Association was asked to communicate what ‘A’ teams they would be declaring. This is to be communicated on the website. Chatham – Petite, Tween, Jr., Belle, Open Dorchester – Petite, Tween, Jr. Elora Fergus – Petite, Tween, Jr. Exeter – Petite, Tween, Belle Forest – Petite Guelph – Petite, Tween, Jr. Hanover – Belle Kitchener – Petite, Open London – Petite, Tween, Jr., Belle London Ladies – Open Mitchell – Belle St. Clements – Petite St. Marys – Tween St. Thomas – Tween Tillsonburg – Tween Waterloo – Petite, Tween, Belle and 2 Open G & T Report Recruiting Recruiting is not allowed. Coaches can not approach a player or the player’s parents. Parents/Players can not approach the coach. In the example of two Associations looking to combine players or move players around, the initial contact must be President to President or President’s designate. Recruiting violations are to be reported to any Western Region Executive member in writing. Possible punishments if found guilty are: Release denied, Coach removed from bench staff Once a player attends a tryout, the coach/player/parent can openly communicate options. Further points of interest for A/AA Teams If you have an exhibition game prior to your team being finalized, this needs to be reported as a tryout and the online tryout form needs to be completed. Final releases are due to Membership Services by Sept. 15, 2007. The ORA deadline has not changed but Chuck has advised that the earlier date is necessary to accommodate incomplete forms to be corrected. For the next meeting WORL President will send out an Agenda clearly outlining all paperwork requirements for the September meeting. The ‘A’ tryout cut-off is Sept. 9th with the ‘A’ Rosters due at the next WORL meeting scheduled for Sept. 11th. Sept. 11th will also be our scheduling meeting so each association is asked to bring their ice times including black out times. The World Ringette Championships are Oct.31 – Nov. 3 in Ottawa. Associations are encouraged to try and attend this event. Each association is asked to review the WORL A/AA contact page to make sure it is up to date: Association Contacts and Coaches Discussion regarding the ‘AA’ Process Forest is concerned about losing players to St. Marys for an AA team that only has 4 St. Marys players. What can be done to prevent this? Forest did not declare AA but were hoping to declare A but can not now due to a lack of numbers. Forest had a suggestion about spreading teams across the region Further discussion provided the following comments for thought: Is it an option for the Region to control the AA team locations? Could the Region look at the geographical clusters, evaluate players and based on the players location determine where the teams will reside? Do we need to form a committee to address these concerns? There are a lot to consider regarding player movement. Ken Rowe explained to the group that the closest association matrix was put into place to try and provide some clarity for where players should be going to play. Geographical clusters need to work together with positive communication. Group feeling is that WORL and Western Region need to police this more. A concern was raised about tryouts being fairly late into June which causes conflicts with summer sports and exams Waterloo reported that the Tween AA process went fairly well between Waterloo and St. Clements. Misc. Item London has a letter to write to the Region regarding an association issue. Chris informed them that the letter should be addressed and sent to Mary Kaiser. Mary will get Chris involved if necessary. Motion to adjourn by Hanover, seconded by Forest. Meeting adjourned. REMINDER: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September 11th. Meeting agenda to be sent out closer to the date. Have a safe and happy summer!!

Minutes taken by: Helen Fulton – Stratford