Cathedral CYO Meeting Minutes

Bishop Thompson Room - Sunday, March 7, 2010 – 6:30 PM

In Attendance: Rev. Allen J. Hoffa, Spiritual Advisor; (CYO Board, Members): Tom Dano,
President;

Derrick Shoemaker, Vice-President; Greg Johnson, Athletic Director; Carol Lynch, Treasurer;

Juan Ganchoso, Social Director; Joe Brown, District Representative; John Craig, Secretary; Four
adults and

one student.

Opening Prayer by Tom Dano

Presidents Report (Tom Dano) – Tom thanked those in attendance for their presence, mentioned
that he had

hoped for a bigger audience, but concluded that we are blessed to have all that are present.
Tom also thanked

the Board members for their attendance and for their continued dedication and support of
the CYO.

He stated that communications are his current focus for the CYO. He stated that the CYO
Board has been

given the power to govern the CYO through the mandate of the Cathedral Parish and Msgr.
Baker. He stressed

that the Board runs the CYO, and that at times it seems like the CYO is trying to run the
Board. He is poised

not to allow this to happen, that the Board is entitled to provide leadership mandated by the
church. He mentioned

that the Board members were becoming more comfortable with their roles. He stated that
feedback from the parents

and parishioners is welcome, but that it needs to be channeled through the proper avenues.
The General Meetings

that are held once a month is the place that issues should be brought to light. It is there
that we can listen to the

issue and determine the proper course of action.

Vice-President’s Report (Derrick Shoemaker): Derrick mentioned that he has been devoting his time to
making sure all that

all those involved with the CYO have submitted a Permission to do Background Check form
(….the diocese has

announced that anyone working with children need to submit.) He asked all those present
to spread the word.

He stated that he has also been charged with updating the Cathedral Database (called
Gabriel), which houses the

Participation Information for the children that belong to the parish. Mentioned that the
Website is up and
 running, including the Calendar that lists the various CYO events /games.

Secretary Report (John Craig): John reiterated Derricks claim that the CYO Website is up and running,
and is a good resource

for any informational needs. He stated that the communications that Tom talked about are
very essential. Our

database for emails for parents of Cathedral is strong, that basically, if the family has email,
we have their address.

We are lacking the email addresses for Prep Families. The bulletin is also used for CYO
announcements.

Treasurer Report (Carol Lynch): Carol announced that the current balance in the treasury is
approximately $8,700.00 .

She reminded the group that back in September, the balance was $0.00. She referred to a
few of the big

Revenue events that helped substantiate the current balance, including the Christmas
Basketball Tournament.

Cathedral CYO Meeting Minutes (cont.)

Athletic Director Report (Greg Johnson): Greg announced that the Spring sports sign-ups are winding
down, that there are two

Volleyball teams currently in action. Soccer and Baseball will be starting, and it looks like we
will have enough kids

to support six soccer teams, and one baseball team. He emphasized that we still are in
need of kids and coaches to

make these teams / rosters stronger.

Social Director Report (Juan Ganchoso): Juan announced that starting today, the position and duties of
Social Director

For the CYO Board will be officially shared by he and his wife Ann Marie. He stated that the
snack bar has

been running smoothly.

District Representative Report (Joe Brown): Joe stated that not much has been going-on on a district
level. Mentioned that

the coaches clinic held this past week at Cathedral went well.

Spiritual Advisor (Fr Hoffa): Father declined comment, nothing to report.

***** Meeting opened up to the Floor for Comment *****

Dawn Shoemaker: commented on the opening comments of Tom Dano, regarding communication, and
the issue of

people with concerns about the CYO approaching members of the Board at games or at
practices, or

after church. Dawn views this issue as something good, explaining that the fact that people
are willing to
 walk up to a member of the Board to share a concern speaks highly of the Board.

Father Hoffa followed by saying that although the board members are approachable, it is not fair that
these board members

are put on the spot to offer an opinion or guidance on an issue that sometimes would be
better addressed

after the group of Board Members discussed the topic and formed a group-guided position
on the topic.

The best forum to present concerns about the CYO Program is at the CYO General Meetings.
We cannot

Stress this enough.

Tom Dano added that the course of action might include forming a committee to address the issue,
and one member of the

committee should be the person who brought the issue to light. Then in time, the outcome
of the committee’s

efforts can be reported to the Board by the committee.

Fr Hoffa stated that starting in the fall 2010, all coaches will be required to attend the General Meeting.
If

They cannot attend, they will be required to send someone else to represent the team. This
gives a

Player or parent another avenue to voice a concern. The coach can carry with them any
message of concern

to the General Meeting where it can be discussed. Father asked if Sunday nights are the
problem…..maybe

we need to see if there is a better night to hold the General Meeting.

Tom Dano added that it is not fair to the Board members to approach them while they are attending a
game, watching

their child play.

Cathedral CYO Meeting Minutes (cont.)

Father Hoffa stated that we will react to any feedback….depending on the nature of the feedback we
will respond. If the

Situation warrants immediate attention, such as a player being abused, it will be addressed
immediately. If

It is a situation that can wait til the next General Meeting, then it should.

Maria Buskirk stated that she thinks the CYO needs to address the fact that we are developmentally
behind when it comes

to our Basketball Programs….our program is too lax compared to local Township programs.
She stated that

the township programs start their program /practices earlier in the year. And she doesn’t
understand why the
 more common infractions in basketball such as “walking”, “double-dribbling”, aren’t called
as much as in the

township league games. She also questioned the absence of our football program this year.

Father Hoffa responded by stating that improving / turning around our entire CYO program is going to
take time. He

stated that he comes from a winning program (Cathedral in Reading), and that he wants to
replicate that

program here.

Derrick added that we are fixing a broken system, and that programs will improve in time.

Tom Dano stated that we have come a long way, that we are fixing a broken system….picking up the
pieces and trying to

Bring back a winning program. Added that flag football was not available this year due to
#’s (not enough

People signed up for the program).

Fr Hoffa added that we do plan to get football back up and running, with the potential for a tackle team
that would play in

Fall / 2011. (Greg added that it would be like a Little Vikes Program)

Maria Buskirk asked about the decision of the CYO Board that the 7th and 8th Grade Boys Basketball
Team was not allowed

to wear the basketball warm-up shirts that were gifted to them by their coaches. She
wanted to know why the

boys were told they couldn’t wear the shirts to CYO events. She stated that they wore to the
first game of the

year against St. Thomas and that the boys received lots of compliments. She added that
she is upset with the

decision.

Father Hoffa explained that there were rules established early in the school year that were established
to make it fair for all

Players, that any purchases made for the team must be approved by the CYO Board. He
mentioned that this

Rule was expresses to all the coaches in the Pre-season meeting held in the Walson Center.
It is also stated in

The CYO Bylaws. He contended that he thought the gesture on the part of the coaches was
a good one, but

he thinks the timing of the gift and the way the coaches went about the process was not
good. He stated that

his father was a coach at Cathedral in Reading, and that he bought gifts for his team every
year. But the gifts

were presented at the end of the season…

Tom Dano added that his son also received a shirt, but that he agreed with Father, the gift was great,
but it wasn’t done in
 the right fashion. It is not fair to the other teams such as the 7th and 8th Grade Girls team.

Cathedral CYO Meeting Minutes (cont.)

Derrick Shoemaker added that he was approached by parents of players from other teams, and the
parent wanted to know

when their child was getting ‘their’ shirt. He agreed that it was not fair to the other teams /
players.

Maria Buskirk concluded that she still didn’t think it was fair or right that the boys were told that the
shirts couldn’t

be worn.

Maria Buskirk stated that the uniforms that were distributed for the ¾ grade boys basketball team were
very unappealing, and

an embarrassment. The fact that they were soccer shirts and had tape covering the soccer
ball insignia was

not good. Why can’t better uniforms be provided?

Greg Johnson contributed that he was the one that thought we could make it through the year without
buying new uniforms.

He stated that the 3rd and 4th grade basketball program never had uniforms, that they
typically used (Cathedral)

gym shirts / uniforms and they worked just fine. He mentioned the only reason numbered
shirts were useful

is to help the defenders to know which player they had to cover. With the potential for a
transition into a

possible new team name, we felt that the gym shirts would be adequate for this year. We
are considering new

uniforms for next year.

Father Hoffa added that we are moving in the right direction.

Jenn Tomel asked the Board with the schools (St Paul’s and St. Francis) merging with Cathedral this
Fall, are the CYO’s

for the school’s also planning to merge?

Tom Dano responded that this is very probable, that it is the direction we are headed.

Mrs. McKee mentioned that she was there with regard to the issue of the 7th and 8th grade boys
basketball gift shirts,

(see previous minutes)….but had another question ….she questioned the competence of the
refs that are

Scheduled /used at CYO games. She asked if there was an evaluation process that existed
to decide whether

Or not a referee was competent.

Fr. Hoffa acknowledged the issue as legitimate, but dismissed the issue by stating that there is a
shortage of referees as it is,
 That the league does try to assign the better referees to the older grades, and that we
should be happy with the

Current situation, there are other leagues that have a real problem getting referees….in
some cases they need

To get parents to come off the bleachers to volunteer as Referees, and this can become an
ugly situation.

Fr. Hoffa concluded the meeting with a prayer and a blessing.