Annual General Membership &

Basketball Planning Meeting

Thursday October 6, 2022 @ 7:30pm

Richmond Library Meeting Room

I hope everyone had a great off-season and enjoyed a beautiful summer.   Some good news, we have a NEW community room floor to play on!  After a couple attempts at repair we (MYAL, BOE, BOS, and school administration) were able to get the floor totally replaced.  We are also having the hoops in the community room serviced and at least one replaced so we can start the season in great shape.

The most important upcoming event is that MYAL will hold our Annual General Membership meeting to elect Board officers and hold a pre-season basketball meeting for the 2022-23 season.  MYAL is a 100% volunteer organization.  Our philosophy focuses on participation, development & enjoyment of youth sports.  We need many volunteers to help us provide a positive recreational experience, both on and off the court, for the youth of Marlborough.  This will be a transition year as we have not held elections for two years due to Covid.  The current elected board needs to be replaced as their children have aged out of the program.  The Board members will work closely with the new board to make the transition smooth.

I know that sometimes volunteering for a position is a little intimidating but I can tell you the rewards of watching the kids play, have fun, get some exercise, learn teamwork and sportsmanship are well worth the time invested.   Watching a child you coached in kindergarten play at the travel or high school level or even pick-up games at Blish park or behind the elementary school will bring a smile to your face.

To make the season possible we need coaches who give their knowledge and time but we ALSO need people to run this decades old volunteer organization.  We are a small town and if not for the last 50+ years of volunteers, our kids would not have recreational level sports.  We've kept things going through a worldwide pandemic, let's not let a lack of volunteers deprive our kids from THAT FEELING of teamwork, camaraderie, winning and losing graciously and making friends that may last a lifetime.

As we discussed at our closing meeting for those who were able to attend,  Terry and I are willing to shadow/assist a new board with anything needed for this season.  Anyone who knows Terry can tell you that she has the organization of everything MYAL down pat and will work with the new board to make transition seamless.  I will work with the new board members on policies, team drafts, and very rarely the administration of sanctions of players that cross the line and sometimes coaches that forget that we are not playing professional sports for both home and away teams.

The following is a brief summary of Executive Board positions and the associated responsibilities:

President – overall responsibility for all league activities, calls league meetings and sets meeting agendas

1st Vice President - town liaison, coordinates gym scheduling, maintains registration records

2nd Vice President – uniforms, equipment & maintains list of active and future capital projects

Treasurer – maintains financial statements, checking and savings accounts

Secretary – records minutes of meetings, publicizes league activities

Member at Large - non-specific responsibilities but usually handles special projects

Basketball Commissioners:

• Travel League
• Instructional, K, 1 & 2
• Eastern League (grades 3-8)
• High School

If you are interested in running for any of these board positions, please contact Alan at [email protected] or reply to this e-mail for information or to include your name on the slate of nominees presented at the meeting.

REMEMBER Volunteers are needed beyond Board members, so please consider offering your time or expertise to help us offer quality recreational programs for our children.  We especially need parents of young players to get involved since many of the current volunteers have children aging out of our program

A pre-season Basketball Meeting will follow the election of officers.  We will discuss pre-season scheduling and other important details of the upcoming season.

Thank you,

Alan Laliberte
President