Next Board Meeting: Tuesday, November 2nd
Meeting at 8:15pm, Lake In The Hills Village Hall, lower level
2011 YAA Board Election Results
Dear YAA Member,
At the October Board of Directors (BOD) meeting, the general election for the three (3) open seats on the Board of Directors was held. This year there were 23 votes cast. While this is small in consideration of our membership, which is over 600 families, it was the largest number of votes cast in any given year of the YAA's existance. As a reminder, members earn the right to vote by attending at least 3 board meetings in the prior year before the election.
A special thank you to two of our outgoing Directors. Craig Gawart, who was also responsible for the Director of Softball position, was on our Board for the past 4 years. His desire to increase enrollment at all of our softball levels was accomplished along with the creation of a new level (ponytail), which has given our girls another stepping stone in their development. Craig's daughter, Alyssa, was fortunate enough to make the 12u Crystal Lake Tidal Waves this past year and we hope she will enjoy much success there. His son, Nicholas, continues to play in the YAA as a 2nd year myte. Craig, thank you for making YAA softball what is has become today.
Eric Coss, Director of Baseball, accepted the Board's appointment into a role that was vacated by past BOD, Kevin Tarpey, last year. Though his daytime job did not allow him to give as much time as he would have liked, his assistance at the annual evaluations, draft and all-stars was greatly appreciated. His son's Alec and Peyton continue to play in the YAA and his youngest Jack is close to lacing his spikes up for real. Eric, thank you for the time you were able to give the YAA in your otherwise busy life.
Elected to the BOD for a 2nd full term are Tim Beese and new faces, Lori Baczewski and Todd Damasky. Tim actually became involved in 2006 as an assistant to then 2nd Vice President and Asst VP - Field Maintenance, Scott Smith. Tim learned under Scott's wing what it take to maintain our 14 fields, inventorying and handling our equipment order all while serving as BOD and Secretary before taking over as 2nd Vice President in 2007. No one is more concerned that our fields are well groomed and that our kids have great uniforms and equipment to use while playing here in LITH.
Lori has worked closely with Craig over the past few years and has taken the LITHYAA Lightning Strikes tournament under her wing. This past season the tournament nearly doubled in attendance. She has a passion for working with our young ladies and has a great relationship with many of our girls. Lori, congratulations and welcome.
Todd comes to us from Huntley Baseball. His two boys, Tyler and Josh, have now been involved in the YAA for the past two years. In Todd's first year as a coach in the YAA, he led our 11u All-Stars in the BKM, Mt. Prospect and Grayslake tournaments. His style as a disciplinarian has been well received by his teams. I know from speaking first hand with Todd that he wants to provide the best experience for all of the kids at every level.
Over the past 3 weeks since the October board meeting, the BOD selected individuals that either were nominated or volunteered to handle various responsibilities of our program. Below is the list that the BOD has elected. Thanks to each of you for wanting to assist us in 2011 and continue to make this program what is has been recognized for by other communties. Where you see "Open" in the list below, we are still in need of a volunteer.
Finally, just a few quick notes on some projects that we have been working on before shutting down for the winter. We are planning on the continuation of the dugout project with dugouts scheduled for Guy #1 & #3 next spring. This past spring, we raised another $30,000 from all of our efforts with the Pick 4 Lottery. We anticipate having to run this fundraiser one more time this spring unless another idea is hatched. The good news is that we contracted with Copenhaver Construction this fall to handle the excavation and cement pads & footings for this fall for $17,800.00. This is approximately 25% lower per dugout than what Team Reil charged us for this phase of the project in 2009.
We will be looking to secure quotes for the masonry work, fencing and purchase and installation of the poles, roofing and benches this off season. If you can provide us with any assistance in locating contractors or are a skilled laborer that could perform this work, then please do not hesitate to contact us.
The second project we have agreed to complete this fall is the sod project at Guy Park. Last year we repaired all of the baselines on the grass infields at Sunset and Ryder Parks and laid sod in the foul area between the foul lines and the fence lines of Guy 2. This fall we have once again contracted with Ryco Landscaping to lay sod in the same areas on Guy #1 and #3 along with removing the lips on all 3 fields at Guy Park. The result will be a better looking and safer ball field for our kids to play on. This project will cost us approximately $8,000.00.
The last project we got involved with this fall was to assist the Village in replacing our storage shed at Sunset field. In early August, the porta-johns were set on fire and the fire spread to our shed resulting in a 70+% of content loss. The Village's insurance company recommended that the entire shed be replaced and issued them an $8,400.00 check for a new shed. The new shed will be larger (16' x 24'), which is over 200 sq' larger than the old 11' x 16' shed. The YAA's insurance covered all content loss around $4,000.00 and we are awaiting the installation of the new shed before ordering new field materials, tools, etc... The YAA donated $800.00, half of which came from Ken Raines 11u Thunder team, in material costs for the new cement slab the shed will be installed on.
Thanks to everyone for a great 2010. I'll look forward to seeing you all at the annual parent meeting in March.
Mark Lonigro
Scott Model
Tom Johnson
Tim Beese
Bob Bencko
Lori Baczewski
Todd Damasky
| President | | Mark Lonigro |
| 1st Vice President | | Bob Bencko |
| 2nd Vice President | | Tim Beese |
| Secretary | | Scott Model |
| Treasurer | | Tom Johnson |
| Director/Baseball | | Todd Damasky |
| Director/Softball | | Lori Baczewski |
| Disciplinary | | Harry Russman |
| Travel Coord/Tournaments | | Mark Lonigro |
| Asst VP/Umpires | | Open |
| Asst VP/Concessions | | Deb Bencko |
| Asst VP/Scheduling | | Mark Lonigro |
| Asst VP/Pictures | | Lexi Seisser |
| Asst VP/Uniforms | | Dina Tenayuca |
| Asst VP/Equipment | | Fred Tenayuca |
| Asst VP/Field Maintenance | | Open |
| Asst VP/Awards | | Open |
| Asst VP/Website | | Julie Damasky |
| Asst VP/Website Publicity | | Dana Wiley |
| Asst VP/ Sponsorship | | Jesse Paplanus |
| Asst VP/Registration | | Lee Mauer |
| Asst VP/Fundraising | | Carrie Carollo
Mark Lonigro |
| Asst Director/Midgets | | Jeff Kolozsy |
| Asst Director/Mytes | | Jim Pellegrino |
| Asst Director/Minor Boys | | Todd Martin |
| Asst Director/Major Boys | | Bob Thomas |
| Asst Director/Pony | | Frank Gatz |
| Asst Directory/Senior | | Brad Stoltenberg |
| Asst Director/Fillies | | Aaron Ratner |
| Asst Director/Ponytail | | Mike Marte |
| Asst Director/Minor Girls | | Pat Bigham |
| Asst Director/Major Girls | | Don Schultz |
Sincerely,
Mark Lonigro
President
LITHYAA