March 2016 Minutes - Thurston County Youth Soccer Association

Thurston County Youth Soccer Association (TCYSA)
Bimonthly Meeting Agenda/Minutes
Lacey Fire Station #31 off of Franz Road
March 6, 2016
I. Call to order
Brian Cregg called to order the regular meeting of the TCYSA Board at 1825 hrs. March 6,
2016 at Lacey Fire Station #31 off of Franz Street.
II. Roll Call
Roll call by: Brian Cregg. The following Board Members were present by ☒
☒ Brian Cregg, President
☒ Monica Wilhelm, First Vice President
☒ Kim Sandquist, Registrar
☒ Chet Morrish, VP of Competition
☒ Matt Clayton, VP Development
☒ Kristin Ramos, Secretary
☒ Scott Kee, Treasurer
Club Representatives (** = if represented above)
☐ Ashley Probart
Black Hills Football Club (BFC)
☒ Nick Althauser,
Chinqually Booters Soccer Club (CBSC)
☒ Dave Thomson
**Chet Morrish
Olympia United Soccer Club (OUSC)
Prairie Soccer Club (PSC)
☐ Mike Messenger
Puget Sound Slammers (PSS)
☐ Matt Ashton
Rochester Youth Soccer Club (RYSC) - Excused
☒ Cassie Tafoya
Tenino Youth Soccer Club (TeYSC)
☒ Jeff Smalley (Ben Briggs)
Tumwater Soccer Club (TSC)
☐ Chris DeBell, Manager
Chinqually Booters Soccer Club (CBSC)
☐ David Lott
Prairie Soccer Cub (PSC)
Committees and Chairs:
☐ Carla Borgaard
Nominations Co-Chair
☒ Jani Morrish
Audit Chair/Nominations Co-Chair
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☐ Dave Temple
Discipline Chair
Others:
☒ Wes Abraham
President, PSS
☒ Catherine Cregg
Finance, TCYSA
☒ Debi Matthews
Manager, TCYSA
☒ Sandy Smalley
TSC
☒ Ben Briggs
TSC
☒ Hillary Beehler
Washington Youth Soccer
☒ Kim Calkins
Washington Youth Soccer
☒ Bobbie Bates
TYCA
☒ Sandy Smalley
TSC
☒ Bret Wilhelm
BFC
☒ Matt Scher
CBSC
☒ Tony Ramos
CBSC
III. Approval of minutes from last meeting

The minutes were distributed via email and approved with revised changes as applicable
below:

Motions
o Approve ☒ as written or ☐ as modified (check one)
o Motion: Nick Althauser to approve
o Second: Chet
o Discussion
 None
o Motion carried - None
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IV. Officer Reports and Club Reports
 President: Brian Cregg
o D7 meeting in February – Adopted the rules as summarized by TCYSA for fall 2016 for
field sizes and ages, with the exception of agreement not permitting slide tackling for
U11 within TCYSA organized leagues as opposed to D7, competitive leagues, and
recreational cup
o Spring last year – silent Saturday with different degrees of approval – the majority of
respondents were in favor of Silent Saturday – thoughts on 2016 – research was
60/40 in favor of Silent Saturday – Chinqually encouraged – perhaps modify that
coaches can talk, but sidelines can’t – PSC says more about fun – older age groups is
more about players talking to each other and applying what they learned in practice
– kids liked it; parents didn’t seem to – there is an 8 weekend spring season – will
there be one for spring 2016? Which age groups? Change guidelines? Keep as is? Not
do it at all? – Continue – Think if this is beneficial to the game – consider more often
if more beneficial – the intent is more for the parents to tone down the comments
 Propose 6th Saturday of the season – Matt Clayton
 Kim Second
 Age groups – U10 and above
 Stick with the current do’s and don’t
 Does not apply to D7 high school girls’ age group
 Motion carried
 Ben Briggs voted as opposed
 Do not tell coaches that this is imposed by TCYCA – All clubs voted in favor
with the exception of Tumwater
o Heading – still waiting clarification – new restrictions U10-No; U11-U13 situation
dependent but discouraged; 14 and up heading whenever desired
o Who will lead education on rules changes – Matt Clayton
o Board email about two coaches for National Finals for Coach of the Year: Angela and
Jessie
 Should the association recognize their achievement? Already on websites –
Monica submitted to Olympian twice and there has been no activity in
response – Thurston Talks is looking for stories – significant to the community
outside of the soccer community – perhaps some recognition at the TCYSA
50th anniversary gala
o WYS player fee for next year – same as this year, with a tiered structure –
competitive more than recreational
o Next meeting is AGM – scheduled for the 1st of May and presidents of the clubs to
formally notify under the Bylaws
 There are three officer positions coming vacant
 Vice President
 Secretary
 Director of Development
o Would like to know in advance who is interested
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o Brian is going into his final year as TCYSA President
 Looking for D7 TCYSA representative – meets four times a year
 Will watch emails for responses
o Need to respond to Hillary’s survey to ensure clubs are compliant with insurance
o Try out dates for Chinqually Booters Soccer Club provided to TCYSA
 Out of compliance due to dates preceding the area’s try out dates
 Chinqually agreed to dates last year and not to conflict with Black Hills
 TCYSA formally adopted May 17 2015 – Nick voted for the compliance
 Exactly the same situation as 2015
 Exception is the two older age groups – the other dates are out of compliance
with Washington Youth Soccer
 Proposal to Board to accept and approve the proposed dates for try outs for
Thurston County United – Discussion tabled until after Competitive discussion

1st Vice President: Monica Wilhelm
o Policy for sexual abuse prevention – adopted and posted to website
o Sent email to Terry Fisher for state level policy – nothing to share yet – will be in
touch as information is available
o There is Black Hills education and input will be forwarded to TCYSA for passing along
to other clubs

Registrar: Kim Sandquist
o Numbers are due on the first – fairly quiet this early in the season – referee fees: last
reviewed two years ago and with new rules, a revisit may be in order – recommend a
raise of $1.00 a game for younger games – U11 U12 a similar bump – similar bumps
up the scale – Higher teens $50 for center and $34 for AR – Scheduler for up to 2.75
per referee – recommend not implementing until September which will give clubs
time to calculate costs for possible registration fee increases – compared to other
areas, TCYSA fees are lower by up to 20% - the further north, the higher the fees –
Lewis County pays lower fees, but will increase to keep up with Thurston County –
fees reflect the socioeconomic status of the given area – Tim Flint can provide a
mentoring program

Director of Competition: Chet Morrish
o No activity this early in the season – involved in all competitive issues – still involved
with disciplinary committee

Director of Development: Matt Clayton
o Spring Coaches Clinic held – 33 for mod – 15 for full field – 35 for goalkeeping –
about 20 goalkeepers – advertised as being supported by TCYSA – needs a formal
motion
 Chet Morrish made a motion for TCYSA support
 Matt will send out an email with funding amount, once determined
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 There will be an email vote for approval
 Previous was $900 for the three clinics plus field fees
o With upcoming changes in the fall, there is a powerpoint developed for club use for
educational purposes for the association – exactly how we are modifying our rules to
align with the national standard
o Recognizing coach of the year
 Why don’t we have an Opening Day?
 Sounders don’t have an opening day
 Other sports have opening day
 Parade of the Teams? Coaches’ recognition?
 Put under New Business
o Could be a fundraiser for the clubs
o Maybe-save for just prior to the fall season, since that is the
start of the year for soccer – or consider summer
 Need a person to take the lead on the brainstorm – WYS has folks who
can represent
o Possibly have a committee – Matt Clayton to take the lead
 Catherine, Jani, and Kim
 Need a facility, such as a high school stadium for parking and field
space

Secretary: Kristin Ramos
o Nothing to add
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Treasurer: Scott Kee & Catherine Cregg
o Financials are below for last year and next year, and profit and loss statement
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o TCYSA is essentially a pass through organization
o Catherine’s proposed budget is approved by Scott, with a $300 surplus
o Some overages have been reallocated back to the clubs - $6,300 surplus currently
 Be careful with distribution of funds back to 501C3 to not comingle for profit
with non profit clubs
o Motion made by Scott Kee to distributed funds back to the clubs
 Second by Chet Morrish
 Discussion – None
 Motion carried
o Final balance sheet will reflect the reduction or redistributed funds
o TeamSideline is the scheduling system being used by TCYSA for scheduling games
 Invoice for the coming year is about $1100 – if paying for two years, will
provide a $220 credit
 Scott Kee made a motion to pay two years fee to receive the discounted rate
 Kim Sandquist second
 No discussion
 Motion Carried
o Scott Kee made a motion to approve the budget
 Kim Sandquist-Second
 Discussion None
 Motion Carried
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
Manager: Debi Matthews
o All schedules – Rochester U12 needs to be scheduled – Elma wanted to do a last
minute age switch – the manager does not need to juggle to accommodate – there
are no additional fields – there are games scheduled out to 6PM with no room for
movement – coaches need to plan ahead and not submit last minute changes – the
weaker orange division has a mix of players, so Elma should be fine – summer
looking at no games at the complex due to light installation – Olympia might be able
to provide 1-2 schools that might not be in bad shape – possible Marshall or
Jefferson – Once the lights are installed and fields reseeded, the club will be in great
shape

Discipline: David Temple
o Not present

Audit: Jani Morrish
o Nothing to add

Blackhills: Scott Kee for Ashley Probart
o Took second in state, lost in finals – under the lights program at a no cost program –
invites feedback from the recreational programs – open invitation – doesn’t want to
impede on recreational programs – six new coaches, with one A licensed coach and a
B licensed coach, with another B licensed coach interviewed today – June 5th at
South Sound Stadium at 4:00 PM Sounders visit – last year more difficult due to
schedules of Black Hills teams being in Oregon – 3 Black Hills players were on a
national team

Chinqually Booters: Nick Althauser (TC United activities included)
o Tony Ramos official president of club – Matt Clayton stepped up as Vice President –
Chris Crowe took treasurer – hiring auditor over Chinqually and TC United – Dawn
Jones as Secretary – 15 board members – challenge will be having a quorum – club
managed in a consensus format – Matt Scher is chairperson – Manager is Debi
Matthews – auditor sees no problems getting information to IRS – good standing
with Washington – website registration still open – older age teams are formed and
practice has started – 501C3 status is suspended rather than revoked – donations are
not tax deductible until reinstated – Nick does not believe their status is a reflection
of TCYSA – does not anticipate any problems – Chinqually is a member of TCYSA, and
TCYSA is a member of Washington Youth Soccer – 501C3 status is pertinent to TCYSA
– the issue is how funds are received and handled – problems with status could be a
negative impact on TCYSA – concerned about circumstances surrounding the
delinquency of filing tax returns – sharing of information is vital for any learning
experience to assist other clubs in avoiding this situation in the future – this is a
common occurrence with non-profit organizations – perhaps hire an auditor to
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ensure all clubs in the league to prevent this situation from occurring – Chinqually
has hired an auditor to ensure a non-repeat of a pulling of a 501C3 status – similar
situation as the sexual harassment situation – use the situation for education for
prevention – help each other to keep this from reoccurring – Washington Youth
Soccer requires writing to club treasurers to ask for end of year club returns to ensure
proper filing occurs – WYS representative welcomed inquiries – every board member
is subject to nonprofit laws – a 9-90 is required to be received – each year the
document needs to be reviewed before submission – each club board member needs
to be aware of this requirement

Olympia United: Dave Thomson & Carla Borgaard (Dave)
o Full registration – new representative will be Candice Boch – will be at the next
meeting – committed to assisting Dave Temple with discipline issues

Prairie: Dave Lott - Jani Morrish
o 21 Teams – supermod still open – renting sportsman club field in Rainier – needs help
with field development – field is big enough for at least two full fields- four teams are
practicing at a time with more than enough room – burned in the past by other clubs
(not PSC) – PSC is working to build up trust with them again – no rent – the field
owners are just looking for a “thank you” – Tenino can also use the fields – working
on improving the fields enough to hold games

Puget Sound Slammers: Wes Matthews/Mike Messenger (Mike)
o Going to shut down Puget Sound Slammers after next season following merger with
Black Hills

Rochester: Matt Ashton
o Not Present

Tenino: Cassie Tafoya - Substitute
o Eight teams – same as last year – nothing additional to add – field insurance
documents needed

Tumwater: Jeff Smalley (now Ben Briggs)
o AGM Beginning of March – two new board members – 36 teams in spring – player
count up 30% from last spring – six coaches attended training over the weekend
o Ben Briggs is now President of Tumwater and representative on TCYSA Board
V. Old Business
 N/A
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VI. Open issues
 N/A
VII. New business
 Town Hall Meeting Results and Competitive Policy Discussion - President
o Proposals to address how the competitive process should be discussed and
promoted
o Summary report distributed by Jeff Smalley and included below
o Overlap in market trying to serve making difficult to serve
o Barriers to implementing a one club model
 Don’t align with mission and goals
 Why should they combine?
 Clubs saw the other as inferior
 Clubs not aligned financially
o 250 appeared at the meeting
o One follow on meeting
 Black Hills, Chinqually, Tumwater, TC United unanimously agreed a
one club model would benefit the community
 Chinqually would not support a merge at this time due to lack of
information provided about the merge specifics
o Town Hall indicated mistrust among different clubs
 Constituent to constituent differences of opinion
 Agreed to try to work better in the future
 Summer camp without club colors put on by club Directors of
Competition (DOCs)
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 No formal recommendation
 Majority vote is that the clubs should merge, but there is dissent
o From May 2015 or March 2013
 Have come along further, with the exception of the Chinqually club
tryout dates
 A merger is possible at some date
 Time is needed for the Chinqually Board – perhaps Board Member
turnover
 Chinqually Board wants to know
o Fees
o Fields
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o Teams
o Coaches
 There are recommendations for bylaws and charters and how
teams could look, but nothing to satisfy Chinqually desired
specifics
 Black Hills is not interested in having additional discussions because
all the information that can be provided has been provided but
Chinqually Board is not necessarily being reasonable
 The Chinqually Board should provide a proposal instead of the other
way around
 The parents and constituents are perceived to have been the
ones providing push back
 Slammers and Black Hills believes this can work out, but Chinqually is
pushing back
 Chet Morrish – with all the discussion, there must have been a
proposal – Jeff Smalley put together a PowerPoint – to sell a one club
model
 Specific positions and slots were not identified or filled
o Kim Sandquist
 Can the clubs combine to have a portion select and a portion
premiere? – Is legal – at the state level – making a singular
competitive structure
 (Kim-WYS) There are a lot of teams in similar levels unable to
play each other
 Proposed to approved a single competitive structure –
simplified for parents and families
 What does a good soccer program look like? Most important –
approval for singular structure – play off of created standards
– develop standards for different levels of play – from soccer
piece to governance piece – in place by spring AGM –
architecture will be presented next January, with
implementation of fall, 2017
o Catherine was under the impression there would be a pyramid model
 Discussion over the rolls within the pyramid structure
 TC United would fill the select model
 Black Hills would be the premiere model
 Neither has transpired
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


Can each club fill the roles that were agreed upon in 2013?
Can the two clubs be independently managed but with cooperation?
Catherine asked Tony if there was anything that could be done to
alleviate the Chinqually Board concerns
 Nick Althauser: Parents and Coaches feels TC United program
was initiated to create a select option within Thurston County
– a single club will not happen overnight
o Clubs are not aligned financially – 40-60% military
families in Chinqually – economic level is lower than
the left side of Olympia – less expensive option with
elevated level of competition
o Biggest problem with merger idea is geography – local
to the people who want to be in it
o Written descriptions from each program should be
made public on websites, with an approved format, for
recreation and competitive
o Some parents didn’t know what their options were
o Brian
 Are the competitive clubs willing to cooperate?
 Each club will write their own script and the clubs will be marketdriven
 Include what each club charges and what each club will charge
to play soccer
 The vote was unanimous that a one club model would benefit all of
Thurston County
 Should TCYSA adopt the one club model as the preferred model?
 What are the consequences of adopting as a club model
 Clubs went back to their boards, but decision making was not
executed
 Is Chinqually prepared to change the tryout dates? “Not at this time”
– Tony Ramos
 By holding tryouts prior to the WYS tryout dates, Chinqually is out of
compliance with TCYSA policy
 Brian Cregg mandated to write to Chinqually Board to see
agreement not to conflict with TCYSA Policy
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o Monica
 What are we doing about tryouts? We don’t want parents and
families to be in conflict
 Tony Ramos – want kids to be able to try out for both clubs – doesn’t
feel tryouts can be made at a level to leave kids outs – not US Club
only
 TCYSA has governance
 Chris Crow and Bob Miller were told that Chinqually is subject
to TCYSA bylaws – TCYSA is not affilicated with US Soccer
 TCYSA requirement is for clubs to make a reasonable effort to
play in an approved league
 Chinqually is not in compliance and is duplicating the same
issue as last year
 The TCYSA policy is not to have tryouts prior to WYS tryout
dates – requested Chinqually do that
o TCYSA held an emergency meeting with Bob Miller and
Chris Crow and announced Chinqually would comply
and gave confirmation to the TCYSA board that
Chinqually would comply
 Whether the new Chinqually Management will follow policy is
another story
 Black Hills told its players and coaches that no decisions for
tryouts will be made until after all club tryouts are completed
o Jeff Smalley
 TC United feels they are just as competitive as Black Hills or the RCL
clubs
 TC United believes they can offer all levels of highly competitive
soccer
 There should be just one club to service the community
 All three clubs felt they could service the same part of the pyramid
 Combining of resources could increase the likelihood of being highly
competitive – no multiple clubs have been proven to benefit
o Decision regarding tryout dates –
 Does the Board move to change the policy – No motion
 No club within TCYSA will have tryouts prior to the WYS tryout
dates – no tryouts at the same time – no commitments or
offers until after all tryout dates
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



What does the board wish to do with the non-compliance?
 Communicate that Chinqually should change the date or face
sanctions.
 Nick Althauser (Chinqually Rep) suggested a letter be sent to
the club stating the dates are unacceptable and the Board has
responsibility for the TC United Club
Referee Status – Brian Cregg
o Referee clinic with 30 referees – good shape for spring season
TOPSoccer Symposium April 1-3 @ Embassy Suites Sea-Tac – President & Registrar
o Friday 5:00 PM, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning
o Kim Sandquist will attend, along with Jani Morrish
o TCYSA needs to be more engaged
o Jani/Kim proposal:
 $435 to pay for Jani and Kim to stay in the area for the event
 Kim and Jani will provide assistance to the clubs to hold TOP Soccer
events in the respective areas
 Motion to approve – Brian Cregg
 Second – Monica
 Discussion
 Motion Carried
th
WYS 50 Anniversary Gala 9/9/2016 & Association visit (tent/swag) - President
o Donations for silent auction – Carla/Jani/Monica
 Determined that each club is responsible to come up with a donation
for the event, with Monica offering to help coordinate donations so
that clubs may collaborate together if desired
o TCYSA event to start off season/tournament, etc.
o Nominated Kick in the Grass as one of the oldest events
o Could purchase a table or two as an opportunity to reward individuals
o Have participation of ten to go to the event - $2000 for table of ten
 TCYSA is the sixth largest club in the state of Washington
 The club should represent to be considered for potential grant
funding
o There will be a silent auction – can items be generated for the silent auction
an open auction – “usual suspects” will assist with volunteering
o Does TCYSA want to purchase tables?
 Jeff Smalley suggested using the extra surplus funding to purchase
tables – cancelling previous proposal – to purchase three tables
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

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

Second by Chet Morrish
Discussion None
Motion passed
 Thirty seats now available for all the clubs
 Each club needs to identify 2-4 people to fill the tables by the
first of September
o Scott Kee to track potential attendees
o How does TCYSA get donations together
 Monica will coordinate donations
US Soccer Federation Academy Program – President
o Eight RCL clubs, likely boys 12/13 for early roll out
WYS Competitive Soccer Committee/New Model by 2017 – President
o Communicated out via email
o Will significantly change the soccer structure
District 7 will run two recreational tournaments in 2016.
o The Champions' Tournament has been state sanctioned and will run in early
June (flyers will be available shortly)
o The Recreational Cup (District round) will probably run in early November.
o TCYSA team participation in the CT has been low and in the RC has been very
low.
o Ascertain from coaches what changes would encourage greater
participation? (Price, timing, other demands etc. If TCYSA considered
subsidizing teams will participation increase?
o Review options
Nominations for "Of the Year" awards should be sent to Dawn at
[email protected] as soon as possible
o Initial nominations will be considered by the District and, for those being
forwarded to Washington Youth Soccer, nominators will have the
opportunity to enhance the proposal with letters of support etc
o This simplification of the initial submission should encourage greater
participation
o Final submissions to WYS are due in April so time is short; last year TCYSA
clubs set the bar high with two national nominations
Recreational Cup participation needs improvement
o District is prepared to make changes to help improve participation
o Provide feedback to Brian Cregg
TCYSA / Chinqually Manager Hiring Discussion
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o Chinqually Board determined no conflict of interest at Chinqually level
o TCYSA discussion: conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest –
weight of combined jobs with considerable overlap, especially at the start of
each season
 Oly United Board is okay with the situation – concern over field
scheduling – needs to have a mechanism in place – Cathy does
scheduling for Black Hills and Debi does TC United – no conflict
 Debi was PSC and TCYSA manager positions simultaneously
 If a perceived conflict of interest, deal with the situations as they arise
 PSC concern is the workload because Chinqually is larger than PSC
 Debi is swapping one part time job for another – kids are not
at home, so there is more time to dedicate to the job
 Monica’s concern is the number of hours – 1500 estimated for TCYSA
 Wants a win-win for both clubs
 Debi’s estimation of workload is cyclical, with information
coming in not different from current status
 How will Debi’s situation be monitored, such as if she is being
overwhelmed, turnaround time, etc.
 If the teams don’t come together, there would be a problem
 Debi would not have taken the position if she could not
handle the workload
 All are working toward the same common goal – a quality
soccer experience and getting the kids on the field
 Tony Ramos added that Debi Matthews has the vote of outgoing
manager, Chris DeBell and Tony Ramos will support the dual position
 The total number of Chinqually hours in unknown at this point
 Catherine has concerned about the number of hours in a work week
to run both clubs and stay within a 40 hour work week
 By resigning the bus driving position, her schedule will open up
 Tony Ramos said he can be open to contact if there are any
issues
 Scott Kee is concerned about the workload and problems can be
addressed as they occur
 Jeff Smalley is concerned that there may be a perceived conflict as
Debi will likely received inquiries from parents as to which Club they
should contact to play soccer
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
TCYSA items will be handled through the TCYSA mailbox, and similar
with Chinqually
 All work hours need to be identified with no co-mingling
o Catherine suggested a four month review and Tony Ramos does not feel the
need for review
 TCYSA will conduct a review and discuss with Debi how the workload
is being handled – July Meeting review
VIII. Next Meeting
 Next meeting to be held on May 1, 2016 at 6:30. (1st Sunday)
 Debi to obtain location.
IX. Adjournment
 Motion to adjourn
o Click here to enter text.
 Second
o Click here to enter text.
 Brian Cregg adjourned the meeting at 10:15 PM.
 Minutes submitted by: Kristin Ramos
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