The Tomcat Board of Directors, and other involved Tomcats, took part in the annual meeting last evening at the Soup-R-Dome in Tecumseh. In attendance for the meeting:
Rocky, Soupy, Sunny, The Rake, LaBamba, Chevy, Skippy, Kamikaze, Doc and Snowpants.
Stevo, Hollywood and Green Giant provided some thoughts ahead of the meeting but were not able to attend.
Here are key decisions made for the 2024-2025 Season:
– The hall is always in question so backup options are trying to be identified in case we need to pivot
– Season Dates: Start September 17th. Last night in 2024 is December 17th. First night back in 2025 is January 7th, last day of season is April 12th (read below
– Costs: $60 to start (up $5 from last year), still $5 per night.
– Start of Season Gift – Hollywood has a cool idea and the BoD approved. All will have to wait and see.
– Tournament: Big, Big change here. Stevo’s Christmas will not be the last Saturday in February. We will play the tournament on Saturday, April 12th and will finish the season with the tournament. This will give more lead time for commitment and hopefully be easier for more to attend.
Captains will be:
The Professor, Killer, Kamikaze and Skippy
Captains will draft honorary Coaches from a list of available retired Tomcats. A great way to have all Tomcats take part in our special day. Other retired players will also still be asked to take part per usual.
The longer format of playing each team twice will occur with 10 min periods and 3 min half time breaks. ALL GAMES MUST BE PLAYED on tournament day.
Rule Changes: No new rules but rules will be clarified and reminded to all Tomcats at start of season including: slap shots (waist height/stick parallel to floor at max), high stick is shoulder height, no chopping of sticks of any kind, no attempting to play ball if goalie is about to cover it.
– Other Tomcat events:
Christmas gathering in early December at Schooley’s bar – informal but agree on date and time and everyone shows up
Look to merge some of the various golf outings as there are too many related to Tomcats. No official Pantalone de Neige Tournament for 2024 being planned.
Special Nights – 2 Big Net Nights planned – one in fall, one after the New Year.
– Recruiting: More young talent needed. Players such as Toretto, Hobbs, Splitter,Sunny’s boys considered for full time status. Falcon’s boys, still being teenagers will be considered key fill-in players. Tomcats are asked to consider their friends for good Tomcat-like guys and potential invite out. Snowpants and Skippy have identified one potential candidate.
Franchise Player Tag – The BoD approved Sunny as the Franchise Player. Motion put forth by Stevo and unanimously approved. Sunny did not vote as that would be a conflict of interest.
Finner Award: The Rake was awarded the Finner Award. This award is given out from time-to-time to a Tomcat who goes above and beyond off the floor. Even though retired, The Rake showed up to help clean the Kapusta before the season, brought out snacks and drinks for the boys during the season, agreed to be a coach at the recent tournament, prepared a feast for the last night of hockey, came to the board meeting last night. This guy still bleeds Tomcats even though he had to hang up his gloves. An award ceremony will occur in the fall. Congrats Rake!
Other items stemming from round table:
– floor needs a deep cleaning. Looking at options
– need light solution for Tomcat room
– we will be donating unused sticks from Tomcat room. More details to come by sticks will be move to other side of stage, guys will have a defined timeframe to claim sticks, only allowed to keep two in the room, and all others will be donated to a charity.
– no politics on stage. Tomcat hockey is a break from the BS of the world. Zero reason to debate on anything politically charged or polarizing on stage. This is our happy place!
– Most Improved Award – new award to be given out at tournament recognizing a regular Tomcat player that has elevated his game during the season (not measured in goals or wins)
– Tomcats need to call themselves out if they make a bad play. If you high stick, hold yourself accountable and stop play. Get too physical, call it out. We are adults, we are mature and we should not act like teenagers trying to get to away with something to gain an edge.
– new players will be asked to bring an initiation 1/2 case on their second night
– Tomcats to stock a slush batch of beer to account for guys missing their beer nights.
– Doc and Rake offered to come out and help even though not playing. Doc agreed to ref on a routine basis. If we have a ref, ball drop after each goal. If no ref, then the team who just got scored on starts with ball
– Skippy approved to borrow Sparky clock this June for his special tournament that raises money for a local charity
That is all for now
Enjoy the summer all!