Attendance: James Colgan, Kristy Nowak-Lovato, Svenja Ellison, Tom Roelfs, Lydell Brown, Mike Brown, Susie Schillaci, Tony Jaurigue, Mike Tamashiro
We had a discussion with coaches from the girls competitive program regarding the structuring of the teams. The coaches voiced their opinions regarding the U11, U12 an U13 program regarding how the teams were divided. They would like to see an A team and a B team due to skill level. Tryouts for the competitive girls program will be held May 15, 16, 19 and 21. The tryouts will be heavily attended with LAYSL coaches, coaches outside of the girls program and LAYSL board members. The decision on team structure and placement will occur after the tryout sessions. There is a strong desire to ensure players are ready to make the jump from 9×9 to 11v11 and a larger sized field. It is also important to provide a venue for all players to develop their skills to be prepared to play at the high school level.
For the boys tryouts, Lydell Brown will put a flyer together to be posted on the LAYSL website, online, and blasted to families in the program. The U9 boys team will need a coach. We will reach out to the rec coordinator to see if there are any coaches ready to make the transition from recreational to pre-competitive. We have had a few discussions on coaches in the boys program looking for additional help and mentoring. We will promote using the grassroots training program along with an in person coaching mentor to provide help with running sessions and working through disciplinary actions.
There was a discussion regarding U.S. Soccer transitioning from age grouping to grade level grouping in the 2026/2027 season. There was a concern with other states not following this change and possibly affected tournaments. It doesn’t seem feasible for this to occur and we will play it by ear and see what the other states do.
Shout out to the U14 team who went undefeated in the spring after challenging previous seasons. There have been a few instances of aggressive play from other teams in Duke City where coaches are not holding players accountable for their actions. The referees have been doing a good job handling these situations by handing out red and yellow cards where appropriate.
The Easyway Drycleaning and future Carwash business in Espanola has sponsored tournament costs for some of the teams and would like to continue to support multiple teams in future seasons. There will be a banner placed on North Mesa and Dara Jones in support of this community business. This has been approved by Los Alamos County.
The board voted on increasing tuition for the fall 2025 season by 10%. Susie Schillaci nominated the 10% increase, Mike Tamashiro seconded the vote and all remaining board members were in favor. Kristy Nowak-Lovato discussed putting together a new financial aid package that was more aligned with the current needs of the community. She will present the package at the next board meeting.
There are three weeks of recreational soccer left. The end of the season pizza party will include pizza from Dominos. Tony and Danielle (rec coordinators) are looking into a better way to communicate as they share an email. They will discuss the best path forward to ensure they are able to respond to all requests and questions.
We were able to finish all referee points for the season down in Duke City. A question arose as to whether referees in training need to attend an in person training. It doesn’t appear that this is the case. The referee coordinator proposed holding an online session with all trainees in person with the addition of a small outdoor session. All trainees start as ARs and need to gain experience to become a center ref. In order to start the training, an individual must be 13 years of age.
Updates on the county and the recent discussions about fields around the community. There will be no RV park at North Mesa field. The current goal is to realign the baseball fields on North Mesa. The board would like to ensure our messages are heard by the county. We would like to entertain the possibility of converting North Mesa to a turf field. Dara Jones has just received new sod and should be utilized for the next couple of years before going turf. Spirio field is on the plan to be resurfaced, not sure the exact date. The next community meeting with the county will be at Fuller Lodge with a date to be determined.