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Gotham City Thunder and Red Lion Important info.
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Topics asked about:
Topics in ABC order then Information:
2 boards:
Gotham City Thunder is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). Red Lion Youth Lacrosse program has its own board of directors that operates under the corporate umbrella of GCT, LLC. Red Lion Youth Lax needs to have people involved to make sure the program continues to grow & progress with each passing year to insure that we continue to provide a successful feeder program to the high school. If you would like to be more involved please let us know. We would like someone from each team to meet with us to help everyone stay connected.
Apology:
We do apologize for any misrepresentation and we do realize that parents don’t like the term “customer” but just like the saying goes we want to keep the customer happy & most are. Our philosophy has been and will continue to be, that we exist to provide the best possible lacrosse knowledge, experience and learning opportunity for all ages and abilities. We cater to those athletes who strive to excel in every aspect of the game of Lacrosse. We will teach your child the fundamentals of the game, but also a greater understanding of the concepts and practices that go into becoming a great lacrosse player. The staff and directors pride themselves on providing individual attention to each player and delivering one of the best lacrosse experiences in the area. Our coaches have decades of experience of the game and truly love the sport.
Care for all the players:
We provided all the things we’ve had in the years past and helped to insure that lacrosse got into the high school. We also provided a place for the high school teams who didn’t get into their school, a place to play till they could. So we feel that we’ve cared for our players & more.
Communication:
We have a coaches meeting, parent meeting, & send emails with updated information about the league. With our website, you can find out most needed information or get contact information so help is available when you need more.
Equipment:
We donated as much as the school would take to help insure that lacrosse got into the high school. Therefore we needed to purchase pipe for goals (that we made ourselves because Hagan had the tools and the knowledge), nets, balls, ball bags, sticks and other equipment. A ball wall and pitching machine (to train goalies) and goalie equipment was also purchased in order to train more goalies per team (something that parents & coaches wanted). These items were extra, but really improved the kids’ skills.
Fee’s:
With this year’s registration for spring, we tried to be very clear and communicate all that was included. Last year’s ref fees ended up being more then we expected and we were charged for more refs then we actually were supposed to have.
Fields:
We ensured that we had enough area for all the teams to practice & potentially play a game if needed. Then when we were uncertain if we would have any place at the schools, we expanded the practice area at Hagan’s personal home. We were able to work with the school and WARC to have a field for home games & a field for the girls to use during the season & through the summer.
Failure to be Informed:
Please let us know how we can keep you better informed and what you feel like you’re missing out on or would like more information about? Information & communication are tricky because if you continually flood people with emails or meetings, they tend to not read anything so we just try to give you the “need to know” information with a few highlights because everyone is too busy with work & family to give up time for multiple meetings.
Insurance:
A bond before only covered the money, now the insurance is a General Liability policy which covers GCT and anything under it including the money, all coaches, team moms, fields, personal property and the board.
Lanco:
Lanco is a GCT venture. We use GCT to allow more players from clubs that don’t have an indoor team. We also set the price at $125 because you can’t always insure that you will be able to fill all the spaces on a roster. We just break even with 12 players.
Separate money:
We have only had one account because most of the transactions were associated with Red Lion Youth Lacrosse. A budget can change throughout the year and Red Lion Youth’s went through many changes. But in the end, the budget came out with little to the good. A great example of this is U9 only paid $100 per player. Granted they didn’t have as many games, but they did have fewer players. The ref fees were, again higher than we were told (same as U11) and they didn’t assign refs the correct way. For example: U9 only needs 1 senior ref at $50 or 1 senior ref at $50 & 1 jr ref. at $35, totaling $85. Each team is responsible for half, so $25 or $42.50. They would send 2 senior refs totaling $50). U9 & U15 didn’t play as many games as the other teams and most of that is due to not every team in York County has that age group and last year most of the teams were only scheduling to play each team once because of funds.
Split up:
Our goal is to continue to provide a strong unified feeder program to both our girls and boys high school teams. So far, with the numbers growing every season and the overall records of our teams, I think we are doing just that.
Treasurers report:
What would you like to see for expenses, players charged vs player’s cost. We have tried in the past and will continue to charge the lowest possible amount to the families. We’ve made some changes along the way to help make the cost lower, like uniforms that we use over each year instead of buying new ones. We used to do fundraisers to help cover costs but it was suggested to us that parents preferred to just pay and play, rather then take extra time and effort to sell stuff. Please let us know if you would like to reconsider fundraising to help cover your cost to play. As lacrosse parents & paying parents it is our goal to keep the costs down. Last year another organization charged $225 to play at all age levels. We’re classified as “for profit” because it was the easiest way to get started. There is a lot involved in becoming non-profit. We are NOT making a profit; this venture is actually costing the board of director’s time as well as personal money.
Trust:
We want to be trusted and want to continue to provide all we can for as many players as we can with the least amount of cost to parents.
Under RL Recreation:
Let’s be clear on what we found Red Lion Recreation did for us, when we checked the previous finances. They charged us $11,000 per year that was supposed to cover supplies and uniforms. They only provided us with Nitchkey Field until baseball started (about 2 weeks) and advertising. We paid for uniforms, equipment, paint for the field and Port-a-Pots. Where did the rest of the money go? Any money earned that was not used for lacrosse was placed in the general account to subsidize other sports (ie: baseball)
Uniforms:
We did donate the needed uniforms to the high school which depleted inventory especially in shorts. The girl’s uniforms were returned so we have all of those.
YCLA-York County Lacrosse Association:
Many times league rules can hinder our goals as a club and we are often fighting behind the scenes for what we feel is best for our league and players (ie: refs last year). This year the other teams in the league want the same. Most of the time we are fighting for the concerns and opinions that you, the parents and coaches, have shared with us. Our main and first goal is the safety of our kids, followed closely by their progression in the sport of Lacrosse.
Youth back to community:
As we realized once we tried to get copies of the “old” Red Lion Lacrosse legal papers, there weren’t any. Legally Red Lion Lacrosse never really existed. A group of people existed but we could barely get enough people to make a board & coaches. We then split our efforts to make a high school booster club and a youth program. Very few people have the time, money, land, storage or patience to put up with all the behind the scenes activities and duties. We’ve heard many complaints, but only from a select few, about the 2009 season (we have actually heard more good comments and praises, then complaints). But because the emails keep being sent to everyone and discussed amongst the few that are upset, it appears that the Youth program is being run into the ground. If the proper people are talked to, one would find that the program is as strong as it once was, if not stronger and growing stronger every season.
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