GCTA Board Minutes

4/13/00
In Attendance:
Doug Snapp, Bud Petersen, Gary Alexander, Andy Alexander, Connie Everhart,  Marni Nordstrom, Jake Will, Jr., Deb Long, Carol Alexander, Kim Forman, Chuck Merzbacher, Larry Hunter, Jean Shaw, Deb Thallman, Harvey Beahm, Janet Craycraft, Callie Ryan, Rich Irion, Torrey Stiles, Mary Skubik
1. Call to order
President, Carol Alexander, called the meeting to order.
2. Approval of minutes
Carol asked for approval of the January minutes as sent.   Janet Craycraft moved,  Connie Everhart 2nd. Carol approved the minutes with no corrections.
3. Treasurer's report
Jake Will, Jr. gave the treasure's report. He reported that the GCTA had $78,719 total assets as of March 31, 2000: Checking--$4,190, MM-Flex Fund Jr. Development--$4,709, MM-Flex Fund--$42,749, Investments--$26,031, Mansfield Fund MM--$1,040, Accounts receivable--$0.00. He also gave us a balance sheet. Jake said that the proper tax forms have been filed. Jake added that Billie Meadors’ account for the Qualifier has been set up. In light of recent activity on the stock market, Jake said that he will continue to watch the invested money closely.
Carol asked for approval of the treasurer's report.  Callie Ryan moved and Bud Petersen 2nd; the motion passed.
4. Junior Wightman Cup & Junior Davis Cup
Carol said that Marnie Nordstrom will handle the Junior Wightman Cup Team on the weekend of  June 16  and 17. Mike Uretsky  will again do the Junior Davis Cup Team. The events will take place in Springfield and be a round robin format. Carol said that the schedules for these events can be picked up at the OVTA meeting in May. Marnie added that she is hoping to field a team with some of the best central Ohio players.
5. Women's Leagues
Callie Ryan indicated that meetings are set for the Women’s Leagues. The career women will meet Thursday, May 18th at 7:30 pm at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building.  The other league meeting will be May 19th at 1:00 pm, again at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building. Callie said that it looks like we will be down a few teams in the career league but not in the other leagues. Callie asked if there was a chance to get a break on the price of the USTA rule book, A Friend at Court.  Each Women’s League team has been given this book in the past as part of their league package. The price for this book has been $2.50, but it appears to have gone to $5.00 per book. At this price, it becomes a rather expensive undertaking to provide the rule books for the team captains. Callie said that they order approximately 150 of these books. Kim Forman said that she had to pay $5.00 per copy for the umpires. Deb Thallman said she would check to see if the OVTA could get them at a better price. It was also suggested that the GCTA check to see if they could get some type of organization discount. It was suggested that copies be run, but it was added that this could violate copyright laws and it would be a substantial cost, probably more than purchasing the books through the USTA.
6. Men's Leagues
Carol shared that Jeff Johnston has a daughter playing in a number of tournaments and that his house is in the process of being remodeled, so Jeff will not be continuing as Men’s League Chair. Carol said that Jeff had done a fine job. Carol announced that Gary Alexander will take over the Men’s Leagues as Chair. Gary said that the packets for the league have gone out and that registration forms should be coming in soon. The season will start after the Memorial Day weekend. Gary said that there will be the same leagues as in the past. Gary feels, however, that there may be a need to add an A and a B division to the Gold. There was a question as to whether there would be enough players at several clubs to have the Gold divided into an A and a B. Gary said that this would be something that he would need to check out; if the captains don’t want an A and a B division, there will not be such a division of the Gold. Gary also talked about converting the Men’s Leagues to USTA named programs. He said we will go to USA Team Leagues as the name for our Men’s League. This will just be a name change: it will not change the format of the GCTA leagues. The reason for doing this is twofold. 1) It brings our Men’s League name in line with the USA Team program; this adds affiliation to the USTA. 2) The USTA will give our organization $25 for each team that we have in this category. Again, this will be a change in name only, not a change in format. Members do not need to be USTA members.
7. OVTA
Janet said that there is grant money available. She told that they had reviewed a number of requests for grants. They awarded quite a few. She said that Ralleyball at Northam Park will probably get started because of this type of grant. The purpose of many of these grants is to try to bring tennis to new players to grow the sport. She has grant forms available, but the next deadline of April 20th is coming up very quickly. She said to contact her or Gary about grants if there are groups interested.
8. Umpires
Kim Forman said there was a good turnout for the March 11th and 12th umpire’s school held here in Columbus. We will have 28 officials for  this area. Kim added that she had  only used $250 of the budget proposed for umpires.
9. Parks and Recreation
Connie Everhart said that yellow cards for the USTA USA programs had been turned in and that the Columbus Recreation and Parks got over $1,300 for these cards. Connie shared the CRPD’s booklet on all park’s programs and highlighted the tennis programs. Terry Gee is coordinating the lesson blitz. Connie is hoping to have good returns from the USA 1,2,3 program. Andy Alexander said that Terry had turned in his schedule for this program. Andy said that advertising will start and they will follow with play. Connie said that spring tennis programs are already started. She said that there will be a tennis camp in June. The response to this camp has been so good that it is already full. She thought that if they  could get more instructors, they would be able to add participants to this program. She continued that there is always a need for balls, racquets, tennis clothes, etc. for their programs. If anyone has used or new items, these ccan be dropped off at 460 W. Whittier St. Callie said she has Champ of Champs water bottles dated 1999  that she will donate. Connie said that these and other such things would be greatly appreciated. Such items can be used as prizes in the different programs. If people have trophies that they no longer need, these also make great prizes. All she needs to do is change the plaques.
10. Area and District Qualifier
Janet Craycraft reported that Upper Arlington High School is letting us use their courts for free. Carol said this will be a great savings, but she felt the GCTA should make a donation to the school. Even with a donation, there will still be a big savings to our organization. Carol is quite impressed with the Upper Arlington courts. Janet said play for the Area Qualifier begins on Saturday,  May 6th. Janet also said that they are having trouble getting people to help with this tournament. She stated that Billie Meadors and Rita Johansen are doing a great job, but Janet feels a paid person is needed to do some of things. This tournament is a big job. Janet listed a number of people who are helping her, Billie and Rita: Ron Linville, Karen Frame, Robin Comfort, Mary Beth Davis, Pat Anderson, Rick Sulser, Jayne Sulser, Dick Klitch, Joan Klitch, Ann Marks, Barb Woods.  These people deserve a great deal of thanks from our organization and the tennis community.  Entry forms for the tournament have been dropped off at clubs and mailed to USTA members. In an aside, Janet congratulated Chuck Merzbacher, Ohio State’s women’s tennis coach, on the two great wins over the weekend against two tough teams: Northwestern and Illinois. She mentioned that the organization might want to support these players through fan support and/or belonging to the Baseline Club. Doug Snapp echoed Janet’s congratulation, and Carol said that she would consider the suggested support of the program. Carol reported on the Girl’s 16’s District Tournament. She said this tournament will be at the Upper Arlington site from June 10th through the 14th. Carol thanked two people, Danna Monsul and Connie Splawynk, for their help with this next-step tournament.
11. USTA Junior Team Tennis
Deb Thallman reported that there will be two separate leagues: one for the parks and recreation departments and and one for the clubs. Within these leagues, there will be divisions as to ability. Aimee Worley will run the parks and recreation leagues and Shirley Neibauer will be doing the clubs part along with Deb. It is hoped that the club division will start in May. Deb explained how the teams are made up. A concern was voiced about some players being at a level too good for other players and that this would be rather unfair to those players of a lower level. Deb explained that that is one of the reasons for having two separate leagues: the two leagues do not play against each other. Deb also said that players don’t have to belong to the USTA. This is strictly an option. Torrey Stiles made the suggestion to try to donate racquets, balls, clothes to the recreation division. Deb said that ads would be appearing promoting the program. Connie said that rather than contacting high school coaches as had been done in the past, Aimee Worley would be contacting high school and middle school athletic directors. Doug Snapp was rather skeptical of the follow up on the part of most athletic directors when it comes to a sport like tennis. Connie said that Amy was quite energetic and hoped that this made the difference.
12. Champion of Champions
Callie said that plans are not set firmly yet, but the Women’s Leagues will probably be doing their Champ of Champs during the week of August 7th. Their playoffs will be the week of July 31st.
The Men’s Leagues will be later because they start later. No date has been set at this time for the men. Carol asked for volunteers to help with the Men’s Champ of Champs. She said that Doug and Gary could use any and all help. She suggested that some of the new faces in attendance think about helping in this area.
13. Awards Ceremony
Carol praised Janet Craycraft for doing  such a beautiful job last year. Janet said that September 24th has been set aside for this ceremony. The time will be from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building. Janet would like to keep the awards that we have but she would also like to have more awards. She would like to have suggestions. There are some awards listed in the Ohio Valley Yearbook. She that we look at those and maybe make some similar awards. Janet suggested that we not put dates on items that we award so that we can use the left over items another year.
14. Wheelchair Tennis
Deb Long reported that she and Larry Hunter and others went to Florida to participate in a wheelchair tournament. Larry made it to the quarters. Deb was a consolationalist and a finalist. They are planning in participating in other tournaments. Larry has been working on plans for a tournament at Ohio State from the 28th of July to the 30th. Larry would like to have an additional amount of money. $500 is a line item in the GCTA budget. Larry presented the projected costs of the tournament. He is hoping to get other sponsorship and additional donated funds. Larry said he will talk to Janet about grants from the OVTA. He informed us that help is needed in all areas for the tournament: umpires, ball persons, balls, prizes, tents, vans with lifts, etc. There was discussion as  to places to try to get vans and other wheelchair accessible transportation. There was discussion as to the use of tents at the OSU facility. Carol read the request and said that since we already have $500 in budget, anything above that will have to be voted on. The July meeting is really too late for a decision to be made. Tory Stiles  made a motion to grant them an addition $500. That would be a total of $1,000 Kim 2nd the motion. Gary had a concern that with our projected numbers being lower because of the closing of CAC and the fact that Olympic will not be available this summer, we might be in a deficit situation. Jake had voiced a similar concern at the last meeting. Jake, however, felt that with the money that we would likely be saving by using the Upper Arlington courts for the Qualifier, we will not have a problem. Plus he pointed out that Wheelchair Tennis had not used any of their $500 dollars from last year. And even though money does not carry over, it would be most fair to grant the $1,000. Jake also felt that this would promote the GCTA. There was some discussion as to how this would promote the organization. Information about the tournament could be put on GCTA web site, the GCTA banner will be displayed at tournament, and the GCTA will be mentioned in all materials relating to the tournament. Jake said that is probably more information than is given for the Qualifier, but it was pointed out that it is clearly stated on the Qualifier entry that the Qualifier is underwritten by the GCTA.  Larry said that if the media does come, they will be made aware that the GCTA is involved. The vote was taken and the motion passed to grant Wheelchair Tennis a total of $1,000.
15. Old Business
Andy talked about the USA Tennis 1,2,3 meeting that took place on April 5th. Peg Hanna from the Midwest Section office was here to kick off the program. Andy said that though the grant was smaller than last year, he felt that the money could be concentrated in the best possible uses. Andy explained the 1,2,3 program. It is called Tennis 1,2,3 because there are three steps to the program. The first step is a free lesson. The second step is to involve participants in clinics. The third step is to get the participants into team play or league play. This is a 5 year growth program with money coming from the USTA and Tennis Industry. Andy said that since we only  have half of the advertising budget from last year, he will focus on getting clubs and rec departments flyers, counter cards, and signs. He is hoping to have at least 16 sites this year. Many are the same sites as last year. Some of those did an outstanding job. He said that one problem is getting the cards back from the sites so that the money can be divided. The USTA said that last year there were 260,500 new players. The next Tennis 1,2,3 meeting will be April 27th.
Carol told members of the constitutional meeting that was held where most of the past presidents were in attendance. A revised constitution has been put together. Copies of the old and the revised constitution were presented to members. The members were instructed to read these and the revised version will be discussed at the July  meeting. At that time, it will be decided as to whether the revised form will be voted on at the September meeting. Doug said he will mail copies of the two constitutions to members who were not present. He will tell them of the time line and ask them to respond to the changes if they cannot attend the July meeting.
Doug reminded members that we need to continue to update the web site. As soon as leagues know how the divisions and teams will be set up this summer, Doug would like to have that information. Callie asked if he would want partial information. He said that would be good because it would give him a change to start working on the web pages.
16. New Business
At the March 29th meeting of the executive committee, the introduction of USTA Summer Leagues was discussed. Paul Kobelt of  New Albany feels strongly that such leagues are needed. He is hoping that someone in the GCTA will run these leagues. Both our Men’s and Women’s Chairs stated at the meeting on the 29th that this was too much to take on at this time.  The committee felt, though, that we as an organization need to explore this as a possible playing option for our members. The committee, though, does not want this playing option to conflict or cause a problem with the existing summer leagues. Members of the committee felt that it is also unclear as to how much interest is out there for such USTA leagues.  The committee suggested that with a coordinator other than our present Chairs it might be possible to offer this as a playing option on a limited basis for this summer. If interest exists, the program could then grow over the next summers. The committee suggested that $1500 be set aside to pay such a league coordinator if one can be found. To play in such a league, the players would need to be USTA and GCTA members and they would need to be rated. Possible leagues could be in the mixed, men’s seniors, women’ seniors, and  women’s 4.0. It would be the coordinator’s responsibility to set up the leagues and make sure they do not conflict with what is in place. Deb Thallman said that participants could register both at the USTA web site and by the Touch Tone USTA telephone connection. For those who are USTA members, there would be no additional USTA fee, but the participants would still have to pay a league fee.  These leagues would need to be finished before the end of July. There was a question as to the number of courts and court times available at some clubs. This question was also brought up at the committee meeting. This is a concern, and this would be the responsibility of the coordinator to find court times and locations. It was pointed out that MOITA (Mid Ohio Tennis Association) leagues had been offered years ago by the indoor clubs as an alternative to summer GCTA leagues. This alternative has pretty much deteriorated. Still, it is felt that not only would these USTA Summer Leagues offer players another playing alternative, they would also offer a different format. It would be the same format as in the winter. This would give singles players an opportunity to play. It was pointed out that if these leagues did increase the number of USTA members for this area it would help our representation numbers for advancement in the Qualifier. It was pointed out that we need to protect our summer leagues. As an organization, we get very little money from the USTA. Our programs are run from the money that is generated by our leagues. As an organization, we would want to make sure that our leagues continue. Money that we get from the USTA is based more on programs and it is almost always just enough to run that program.  Callie said she does not see a problem as long as there is no conflict with Women’s GCTA leagues. There was a motion by Gary Alexander that the GCTA offer USTA Summer Leagues in a number of leagues and that we pay a coordinator $1500 to start and oversee these leagues. The coordinator would have to be approved by both Men’s and Women’s Chairs. Harvey Beahm 2nd the motion. The motion passed.
Doug explained that he is a member of the USTA/Midwest Section Communications Committee. Six areas have been identified as important communication issues. 1) The USTA/Midwest Section hopes to increase use of communications to grow tennis. They want to get the word out about USTA programs like the USA Tennis 1,2,3 program and the USA Junior and Adult Team Tennis programs. 2) The committee wants to evaluate the USTA 2000 Yearbook. Questions as to how important and useful the information in this yearbook is have been raised. The Midwest Section has also received suggestions that much of this information could be put on the USTA/Midwest Web Site and thus save considerable money. 3) The committee will evaluate and look at how to enhance the USTA/Midwest Web Site and make it more interactive. 4) They will strive to use well-known volunteers to support and publicize USTA activities. 5) They will be analyzing all current publications and discussing ways to enhance them. 6) They will create and work with speaker bureaus to promote USA Tennis programs across the board. To this end, Doug said he would be contacting GCTA Board Members from time to time with questions that will help with the analysis of present and future communication issues at the Midwest Section level. He has already contacted GCTA Board Members regarding their ability to access the present USTA Web Site (www.usta.com). There is an issue that not all browsers are capable of accessing this USTA site.
Doug told the group that the USTA/Midwest Section will be offering free housing of web sites at a future date. Local Community Tennis Associations (the GCTA is our local CTA) will be allowed to house their web sites free of charge. Doug said that he had discussed this issue with members at an executive committee meeting on March 29th. There are two positives to the free USTA housing: 1) it is free--we presently pay about $25 a month to have our web sited housed; 2) it would strengthen our affiliation with the USTA. Doug explained that there are a numbers of negative issues. 1) There is an issue of accessibility. Older browsers and computers are not able to access USTA web sites because of the use of certain software like Java Script. Web TV users have not been able to access the USTA sites. It is unclear at this time if this would cause a problem with our present site. People at the USTA level seem unaware that the problem of accessibility exits. 2) The Midwest Section has been talking about getting web sites up and making space available for some time. Our site is up and their sites are still not up. The latest statement is that they will be available in May, possibly. We want our site for the summer leagues to be ready to report standings and scores. It is likely that the Midwest Section housing sites will not be available. 3) Presently, it is very easy for Doug to update the GCTA site, it is unclear if this would be the case with sites housed by the Midwest Section. 4) Our domain name is of the highest (simplest) level. Domain names are addresses for web sites. Our web address or domain name is : gcta.net. This makes it an address that is easy to remember. It is not clear at this point, but it is likely that our web address would change to something like: usta/midwestsection/columbus/cta/andsoforth. This is more difficult to remember and/or tell someone when compared to our present address (gcta.net). We own our domain name for another year and a half. After that, we will need to pay $35 per year to maintain that name. In the future, it is possible that both addresses would work; the gcta.net address would just transfer to the more complicated address without the user ever knowing. This would be the best case scenario, though. 5) The present web site housing provider offers technical help in designing, maintaining, and troubleshooting our GCTA web site. It is unclear at this point how this would work with the Midwest site. 6) An e-mail account is provided with the present situation. This gives the GCTA at least an internet contact address. Doug feels this is important since we do not have an office or an official phone number. This internet contact address allows him to carry out many activities as the secretary of the organization. It is unclear whether such an e-mail account will be provided under the Midwest site. Doug suggested that we continue with what we have and reevaluate at a later date. On March 29th, those present at the executive committee agreed to maintain what we have and monitor what comes available to our organization.
Deb Thallman made us aware of a tennis fund raiser project that is suppose to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation The actual event will take place in Cincinnati. Deb gave us the web site (www.tennisnetwork.com/smg) and suggested we check it out.
17. Adjournment
Carol asked for a motion for adjournment.  Janet moved,  Connie 2nd, the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp
Corresponding Secretary
 

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