WISCONSIN STATE DARTBALL ANNUAL MEETING - Minutes

President: Harry Roecker VP: Bob Leskovar Sec: Scott Peterson Treas: Kevin Kohlbeck

Held at 711 Memorial Drive in Kewaskum, WI on January 12, 2019

Committee members present - 12: Jim Ehnert, Stacy Franzwa, Jerry Gospodarek, Todd Halverson, Kevin Kiesow, Al Komoroski,

Chad Kuhfuss, Bob Leskovar, Scott Peterson,Harry Roecker, Brian Shimanek, Jerry Schulz.

Missing: Bud Bolling, Kevin Kohlbeck, Travis Logsett.

Erv Fiedler has stepped down from the committee, Jerry Mathwig passed away in 2018.

Committee by laws

We discussed making up by laws for the committee on how to add people, conduct business. Discussed having equal coverage from the different areas that host the state tournament. Nothing was decided on.

2018  State Tournament Recap:

Was held April 7 & 8, 2018 at the Indoor Sports Center in EauClaire.  We had 112 teams; they were divided into 4 divisions:  

A - won by Pete & Sons

B - won by V & M Bar

C - won by DJ’s Oconto Lanes

Women - won by Landmark Ladies

Run by Travis and Stacy

Entry fee for state tournament to remain at $75.00 per team.

Number of teams in the past state tournaments:

2018 – 112 (Eau Claire)      2017- 132 (Green Bay)      2016- 126 (Potawatomi)

2015- 118 (West Bend)       2014- 115(Manitowoc)       2013- 104 (Oshkosh)         

2012- 87 (Eau Claire)          2011- 97 (Green Bay)         2010- 90 (West Bend)

2009- 85 (Ho Chunk)

Upcoming locations for State 9 player tourney:

2019 – Oshkosh – New Oshkosh Arena (April 6 & 7, 2019) Kevin Kiesow / Osh. Lourdes H.S.

2020 -  Wisconsin Dells (Ho-Chunk Hotel & Casino) run by Harry & Yahr team

2021- Milwaukee (Potawatomi Hotel & Casino) run by Jim, Todd & Country League

2022 – Manitowoc – fairgrounds?, will decide by next meeting if they can host again

remaining locations: Green Bay, Eau Claire

Possible locations: Discussed Madison as a future location, Todd has talked to a person interested in bringing the tournament to Madison, will express that we are interested in having the tournament there

State 4 Player Tourney Recap:

December 1, 2018 – Sterling Chalet – Richfield by Jim & Todd

Had 46 teams, Eau Claire area teams made it to the finals, went smooth.

Jim said they will continue to host if no other location will do it. Eau Claire said they would like to host at some point, Stacy said he will work on it.

Continue to put on the entry that we accept the first 48 teams, in 3 divisions of 16 teams each

Other known tournaments are on website – use is pretty good, but it was noted to ask tournaments to follow up with results after tournament.

Dartball Hall of Fame:

Voted on new members, had 9 nominations, we elected 6 new members: Bob Boeder, Bob Knobloch, Rich Knobloch, Wayne Kohl, Jerry Schulz, Don Strauch. Will put us at 111 members. We had 18 inducted in 2010, 16 in 2011, 14 in 2012, 14 in 2013, and 17 in 2014, 8 in 2015, 8 in 2016, 3 in 2017, 7 in 2018, 6 in 2019. New members will receive a plaque and pin from the committee at the state tournament. Ceremony will start at 11:45am on Saturday, April 6, 2019. Nominees needed 70% for election, so 9 votes this year were needed.

Internet & Website:

Chad Kufuss - Cost is $400 per year to run the state website. We need to push leagues to get their info on the website. We also discussed displaying information from the state meeting on the website, and asking for feedback or input from the Dartball community.

Chad has built an app that uses an electronic tablet for scorekeeping games. It ties into the Wisconsin Dartball website, to store and display the averages. This will be the way to compile the Dartball averages database we want to have. The Green Bay Wednesday League (16 teams) purchased tablets and starting using them with success. The Tuesday Green Bay League (8 teams) just started to use them as well. The Country Dartball League, the Interdenominational League, and the Waukesha-Kettle Moraine Church League are also partially using tablets. Getting more teams and leagues to use this system will expand our database. The tablets aren’t overly expensive, between $40 and $130 depending on size. Chad offers technical set up and support at a reasonable price. The tablets are easy to set up and use. After some discussion, it was decided that we would like to implement use of the tablets at the state tournament in the future. Chad and Scott will work on a plan to first make the state tournament players aware that we are going to do this in the future, as well as a plan on how to actually get them ready for use. The goal is to use them at state no later than the 2021 tournament. In the mean time we will promote use for leagues and other tournaments.

We also discussed having a check-in social media platform at the state tournament, as a way for participants to display or post pictures from the state tournament. Chad will see what he can come up with.

Dartball Trailer

The committee owns a 2012, tandem axle 16’ enclosed trailer to store all the dartboards, lights, cords, etc. The trailer is being stored for free in a barn, by John Perrone of Sheboygan. Trailer maintenance was done in Eau Claire. All 4 bearings were repacked, noted the brake shoes are ok. The tires are worn on inside edge, it was recommended they be replaced. Kevin Kiesow will try to set up the tire replacement when the trailer is unloaded the Friday of the state Dartball tournament in Oshkosh.

Wood Boards

The plywood Dartball boards were purchased new in 2014 before the tournament in Manitowoc. They get used at the annual state 9 man and 4 man tournaments. They are holding up ok, but some are showing wear. We decided to start replacing the worst boards. We will purchase 6 new basswood boards from Travis Logsett, and sell the 6 worst plywood boards at the tournament at an asking price of $100 each. Discussed protecting the boards better while in the trailer, Todd said he will supply 4’ x 4’ pieces of cardboard to put between the boards while in the trailer. We decided it would be best to staple the cardboard to the front of the boards before they are loaded. Scott will get a stapler to be kept with the trailer equipment. Travis will bring 6 new boards to the tournament in Oshkosh this year.

Darts:

Without notice, Apex Manufacturing went out of business in 2018. They were the only maker of #2 darts used for Dartball. A company called Widdy Dart Board Manufacturing makes #1 wooden darts used for play on round dart boards. They have said they will start to produce #2 wood darts, but it looks like the earliest they would be available is in the late summer/fall of 2019. As a result, there won’t be any darts available for sale at the state tournament this year.

State shoot off

Chad asked if the shoot off on Sunday at the state 9 player tournament could be moved to a different time. In recent years we have been holding Sunday morning games at the state tournament, and there has been a conflict with the shoot off finals on Sunday, ever since we starting doing an A & B division in the shoot off. After some discussion, it was decided the Sunday morning games will start at 9am, and the shoot off finals will begin at 11:15am. Hopefully this will allow players that are in the Sunday morning matches to be done so they can compete in the shoot off finals.

Breaks between games

Discussed ways to keep breaks between games from getting too long. Decided to not implement timers at this time, but to keep posting signs that breaks should be less than 10 minutes between games.

Name Tags

Simple name tags were made and passed out at the meeting for all committee members. They are to be worn at the state tournament, to make state committee members more visible to the participants.

A motion was made by Gus to add John Perrone to the group, and was passed.

 

Meeting started at 9:30am, was finished at 11:57am. Lori Roecker made another fantastic meal for the members to enjoy after the meeting, and Mrs. Leskovar sent a delicious chocolate cake for dessert.

Minutes submitted by:

Scott Peterson

State Committee Secretary.