GCTA Board Minutes
April 17, 2003 GCTA Meeting
In Attendance: Harvey Beahm, Doug Snapp, Jake Will, Jr., Jim Hendrix,
Shirley Neibauer, Scott Gales, Kelly Hoffman, Denica Bruce, Connie Everhart,
Carol Alexander, Andy Alexander, Gary Alexander, Ron Linville, Brooks Naffziger,
Eric Sanchez, Vince Solomon, Janet Craycraft, Rita Brown, Dan Witteman
1. Call to Order
Harvey Beahm called the meeting to order. Harvey explained that there had
been a presentation by the USTA on the Columbus Project. The presentation
started at 6:00 and there was plenty of food left from that event. He encouraged
those present to help themselves to the food.
2. Approval of Minutes
Harvey reminded those present that the minutes from the January meeting had
been posted to the web site, emailed to those with email accounts, and sent
to members with no email accounts. He indicated that copies were on the tables
and asked that we take a moment to review those minutes. Harvey then asked
for a motion to accept the minutes as reported. Carol Alexander made such
a motion, Brook Naffziger seconded the motion, and it passed.
3. Treasurer's report
Harvey then asked Jake Will, Jr., to give the treasurer's report. Jake reported
the following as of March 31st. The checking account had $105 dollars. The
flex fund contained $71,040. The Junior fund was $5,295. The Margo Mansfield
fund was $1,436. He added that money should still come in from the USTA for
the Women's and Men's League participants that Rita Brown and Doug Snapp
registered. He asked Chad Docktor of the Midwest Section to check into this.
Chad was present because of the earlier meeting and said he would look into
this and get back to Jake. Jake concluded by stating that the total assets
were $77,876. Harvey asked if there were any questions. Hearing none, he
asked for a motion to accept Jake's report. Brooks Naffziger moved, Shirley
Neibauer seconded, and the motion passed.
4. New Business
Harvey talked about the Columbus Project. This is a test of a marketing program
for the USTA. It is one of only six test-market programs around the nation.
Harvey gave information from the February meeting and teleconference calls
that followed. He explained that there had been a "kickoff" meeting that
began just prior to our Board Meeting. That meeting outlined the program.
He indicated that it was an exciting meeting. He introduced Scott Steiner
from the New York office of the USTA. Scott explained that the Columbus Project
targets the 6-12 year old group of the red division of the Junior Team program.
It is their hope that they can significantly increase the number of participants
in this group; this group is basically a novice group. Clubs and recreation
departments have been contacted by Chad Docktor and Donna Owens, both from
the Midwest Section. It is hoped that through considerable advertising, increased
interest can be created. Scott indicated the our Jr. Team programs already
had good numbers in the white and blue divisions (the older divisions). He
said that they were still looking for a "point person" from our organization
to work with them. Chad Docktor of the Midwest Section echoed that he needed
such a person to work with. Shirley Neibauer said that her time commitments
are now just too great; she does not feel she can take on any added responsibilities.
Doug asked Shirley if she would continue to work as the Jr. Team Coordinator;
she indicated that she would. Doug then said he would be willing to work
with Chad and the others to coordinate the marketing program.
Doug shared an activity sheet of the GCTA web site. Doug passed along the
following information.
Activity Summary of the GCTA Web Site
April 1, 2002 to April 1, 2003
Total number of visits during the 4/1/02 to 4/1/03 period equaled 48,246
visits.
Highest month of visitation and number of visit was July with 6,871 visits.
Most often visited pages on our web site (top 12):
1. Columbus Recreation and Parks Page
2. Local Tennis Information Page
3. Men's League Page
4. Women's League Page
5. Ohio Valley Tennis Association Area Representative Page
6. Find a Court to Play on Page
7. Area and District Qualifier Page
8. Junior Davis and Wightman Cup Page
9. Awards Page
10. Links Page
11. USTA Summer League Page
12. Area Qualifier Information Page
Total number of pages on the web site equals 150.
Number of pictures and graphics on our web site equals 691.
People accessed our web site by (top 5):
1. Direct address connection (they knew the address, entered it or had it
bookmarked) (89%)
2. Searching on google.com (7%)
3. Searching on msn.com (and all the rest: less than 1%)
4. Searching on yahoo.com
5. Searching on google.com.images
Direct access was the most common, but over 440 ways of searching were used
to get our web address and access our site.
The internet service provider of our visitors—how our visitors get online
(top 5):
1. AOL (25%)
2. Road Runner (9%)
3. Ameritech (and all the rest: less than 1%)
4. Ohio State
5. Web TV
Almost 500 different internet service providers were used by our visitors.
Countries of our visitors (top 5):
1. United States (98%)
2. Canada (and all the rest: less than 1%)
3. Germany
4. United Kingdom
5. France
We had visitors from 53 countries.
5. Junior Wightman Cup & Junior Davis Cup
Harvey shared that he had contacted both Steve Ryuse and Michelle Jarrett.
They are both on board as far as repeating as captains. Harvey also indicated
that since no one had come forward to run the tournament, Dave Engle had
agreed to again host it at Wittenberg University, July 11th and 12th.
6. Women's Leagues
Rita Brown indicated that the two kickoff parties were successful. She praised
Shirley Neibauer for organizing the events. Approximately 150 women participated
in the events. They had to turn away a number of players because of lack
of room. Rita felt that everyone had a good time and there were no complaints.
Rita then said that the Women's League had their meeting to pass out materials
in March at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building. April 1st was the deadline
for teams to indicate their participation. May 15th at 7:30 PM will be the
Career League club chairmen and captains meeting. New pros and captains should
report at 7:00 PM. May 16th at 1:00 PM will be the meeting for the Daytime
Leagues. New pros and captains for that group should report at 12:30 PM.
Both meetings will take place at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building.
7. Men's Leagues
Harvey said the men had their kickoff meeting on April 3rd. He indicated
that Bob Hilborn would be running the league this year. He thanked Gary Alexander
for his years of service in running the Men's League. Harvey then introduced
Eric Sanchez. Eric will be helping Bob with the league. Harvey indicated
that Bob was on vacation. Eric said that there had been a good turnout on
the 3rd. The only rule change for the men was in the Platinum and Diamond
leagues where a match tiebreak would be played in place of the third set.
Eric indicated that the sheets indicating team registration were due on Friday
the 18th. Shirley indicated that this was the first that she had heard of
the deadline; New Albany may not have any teams. Eric said to just fax the
team registration forms to him on Friday. The team rosters are due on May
2nd. The GCTA dues are also needed at that time.
8. USTA Summer Leagues
Terri Jones was not present. Harvey asked Shirley if she could make a report.
She indicated that she thought the league would start the end of of May.
She also thought that two new divisions had been added: a men's 4.5 and women's
4.5. She thought that Terri had contacted Doug Snapp with the information
for the web site. Doug said that Terri had and that the information had been
posted. These are the teams that were given to Doug by Terri to be posted
on the web site: 3.0 Women, 3.5 Women, 3.5 Senior Women, 4.0 Women, 4.0 Senior
Women, 3.5 Men, 4.0 Men, 4.0 Senior Men, 4.5 Men, Mixed Doubles (combined
ratings) 7.0, 8.0, 9.0
9. OVTA
Harvey asked Janet Craycraft to make the report. She said that the spring
OVTA meeting would be in Columbus at the Clarion Hotel and Suites; this was
formerly the Trueman Suites. It is located at the corner of Busch Blvd. and
Rt. 161. Coffee and juice would be at 9:30 AM, the Executive Committee Meeting
would be at 10:00, and lunch would be at 11:30. Doug Snapp asked that
those who are planning on attending contact him and he would take care of
the reservations.
10. Umpires
Vince Solomon was in attendance and gave the report. He noted that there
were upcoming training sessions. Doug said that all the training sessions
along with the contact persons for those sessions were listed on the GCTA
web site. Harvey noted that a number of the local umpires have been doing
the OSU matches.
11. Columbus Recreation and Parks
Connie Everhart gave the report. She brought an issue of The Dividend
, a newsletter regarding those who support the Columbus Recreation and Parks
Department. The following article appeared in the winter issue.
Greater Columbus Tennis Association Has History of Giving
The Greater Columbus Tennis Association-GCTA has been a strong supporter
of the Columbus Recreation and Parks for many years--even prior to merging
of the Recreation and Parks Department in the 1970's. In the early years,
the GCTA provided low cost tennis instruction in the Buckeye Building at
the Ohio State Fairgrounds. They also have been instrumental in providing
funding and equipment for our tennis programs for many years. Columbus
Recreation and Parks has been the partner with the GCTA in providing "grass
roots" tennis programs for the citizens of central Ohio from ages 3 to senior
citizens in their 80's.
Since the inception of the great partnership, in excess of $200,000 has been
donated for the betterment of tennis through the public parks programs. Since
1994, more than $10,000 has been committed annually to Columbus Recreation
and Parks tennis programs. Our participants have benefited through programs
such as Pee Wee Tennis, National Junior Tennis League, Junior Tennis Teams,
USA Tennis 1-2-3, Teen and Adult Tennis Lessons and Senior Tennis Lessons.
Our youth participants have had the opportunity to participate in Regional
Tennis Rallies, The Big Bear Tennis Challenge, The ATP in Cincinnati and
the Davis Cup. We have also held the distinction of being the USTA Midwest
Region "Chapter of the Year." Through the years our participants have participated
in clinics offered by Jimmy Conners, Yanik Noah, Anne Grossman, Lilia Osterloh,
The Ohio State Tennis teams and coaches, Al Matthews and many other tennis
greats.
Thank you Greater Columbus Tennis Association for your sponsorship of our
tennis programs! What a great friend you have been to Columbus!
Connie introduced Denica Bruce and Kelly Hoffman. Connie explained that Kelly
will be coordinating the adult programs. He is working out of Woodward Park
Recreation Center. Denica will coordinate the junior programs and some senior
groups. She works out of Carriage Place Recreation Center. Kelly said that
adult programs would be run at 3 to 4 sites; the possible sites are Woodward,
Antrim, Westgate, and Schiller. He hopes to be able to add Schiller this
year. Their courts are in good shape, and there does seem to be some interest
at that location. He was unsure of Westgate. It has been a site in the past,
but the numbers have been down. Most signups are at Woodward. Denica thought
there would be 23 junior sites. Pee wee programs would be run for the very
young kids. There will be NJTL programs for the middle group. They hope to
have Junior Teams for the older youth. Denica commented that they intend
to participate in the USTA's test-market Columbus Project. She feels the
CRPD can involve a number of 6-12 year old children. This is the "red" group
that the USTA is targeting for growth. She added that they are familiar with
"Rallyball" and will be able to use it successfully. "Rallyball" is one of
the formats that USTA would like to see used to work with this "red" group.
Gary Alexander asked if the cutbacks that CRPD has been undergoing will cause
a problem for any of the programs. Denica indicated that at this time their
programs have not been affected. They have been given the "go-ahead" for
all of them. Gary then asked if it would be difficult for the centers to
take calls regarding the Columbus Project. Denica said she will likely be
the contact person and handle all of that. Connie emphasized that the CRPD
is in a position to carryout their programs because of the GCTA sponsorship.
Without that sponsorship, they would not be able to do what they do because
of the cutbacks. Connie addressed the issue of the Champions Tennis Club.
This issue was brought up at the January meeting. There was concern by a
group that Champions was not being run in the way it should be run. That
group met with representatives of the CRPD and the issues were clarified.
One issue was that the courts were not ready for play; it was indicated that
people were showing up before the courts were open and wanting to play. Connie
indicated that Champions is not linked to any of the programs that the GCTA
supports. The only link would be that several GCTA teams play on those courts.
The CRPD contracts those courts to a private individual. This has been Alann
Leinwohl. Alann will be involved again this summer. She said that the CRPD
has issued some stronger parameters as to how the courts should operate.
Connie said the interested group indicated in the meeting that they wanted
to hire more people so things could be done differently. She indicated that
the pay they were thinking of was way below what was possible. She said that
the CRPD has very stringent guidelines because of the unions that are involved.
Vince Solomon said that the cost to play on those courts is very reasonable;
in addition, those courts are hard to take care of since they are clay. Connie
added that the CRPD had made an investment in the courts by putting in a
new sprinkling system. Several Board Members pointed out the poor condition
of the bathrooms. Connie answered that that building was slated to be torn
down. Presently, the CRPD does not have the money to even do that. She added
that the restrooms in the golf course clubhouse are better and not that far
of a walk. Someday the CRPD hopes to replace the restroom facilities by the
tennis courts. She will recommend that Alann put signs up to use the golf
course restrooms. Several people indicated that the people in that building
do not like the tennis people using their facilities. Connie said that should
not be the case and will pass that along to people higher up if that problem
continues. Denica will be working with Alann; Connie said to let Denica know
if there are still problems. Connie concluded by saying that she will
be retiring, and Denica and Kelly will be taking over all administrative
duties relating to the CRPD's tennis programs.
12. Area and District Qualifier
Ron Linville is coordinating the Area Qualifier and gave the report. He admitted
that it will be tough to follow Janet Craycraft. Janet has organized the
tournament for a number of year. Ron continued that with the great help from
Jim Hendrix and Doug Snapp, things are running smoothly. Jim has done much
of the organization work. Ron outlined the tournament giving the divisions,
dates, contacts, and locations: Girls 12, May 15-21, John Fawcett, Players'
Club; Girls 14, May 16-18 and May 27-June 1, Jim Hendrix, Racquet Club; Girls
16, May 16-23, Jim Hendrix, The Racquet Club; Girls 18, May 6-10, Fran McCabe,
Olympic; Boys 12, May 6-10, Fran McCabe, Olympic; Boys 14, May 17-23, Christi
Turdo, Wickertree; Boys 16, May 4-June 1, Kim Carr, Scarborough; Boys 18,
May 4-June 1, Kim Carr, Scarborough. Information has been mailed, emailed,
and post to the GCTA web site. Information forms were also taken to the various
clubs. In addition, high school coaches were contacted. Ron indicated that
Joel Gordon is the referee. Ron said is has only gotten a couple of complaints.
The deadline is the 21st; the draw will be made at the Racquet Club at 7:00
PM on the 24th. Draws will be posted on May 2nd. Jim said that he had had
a number of complaints. Many of these had to do with not being able to access
the tournament online. Jim explained that people are using the TMS site to
try to signup. This is the way it was done; now all signups go through the
USTA web site. This was clearly indicated on the information sheets, but
many people had done it the other way for previous tournaments and thought
it was still possible to access the signup site through TMS. There have been
a number of complaints that the tournament conflicts with school trips. Jim
said he has tried to work around some of this but feels there is no way to
totally get around this problem. Jim anticipates having over three hundred
players in the tournament. Scott Gales asked why we no longer provided T-shirts.
Janet answered that since we moved the tournament to the clubs, the cost
has made it hard to include shirts. Jim added that T-shirts are a nightmare:
you don't have enough or the sizes aren't right. Janet said it didn't seem
to be a problem with not having shirts. Vince mentioned that most tournaments
have cut back in passing out shirts. Janet added that the GCTA still pays
the entry fee of our qualifiers for the next-level district tournament. Harvey
complimented Janet for her years of work on the tournament. Harvey mentioned
that we did have one request for an exemption. It was denied. We have definite
guidelines as to exemptions; the request did not fit those guidelines. It
was well received by the parent.
Carol Alexander reported on the Girls 16 District Tournament. It will run
June 7th through the 11th. Registration will be on June 6th. The location
is Upper Arlington High School. Though school will still be in session, the
seniors will be gone so there should be some parking. Dave Engle will put
the tournament on the computer for Carol. Janet Craycraft, Andy Alexander,
Doug Snapp, and Danna Monsul will be helping with this tournament.
13. USA Junior Team Tennis
Shirley Neibauer reported that she has started contacting clubs. Some clubs
have said they don't want to participate if they have to travel. The two
clubs were Worthington Hills Country Club and the Country Club at Muirfield.
She will try to work out problems.
14. Awards Ceremony
Carol Alexander reported that Jean Shaw had contacted her with information
that the building was reserved. Janet said that it would again be at the
Upper Arlington Municipal Building. She was pretty sure that time was to
be 4:00 PM. The date will be September 28th.
15. Wheelchair Tennis
Doug Snapp reported that he had tried to contact the people at OSU and the
coordinator at the Midwest Section as to an active group of wheelchair players.
He has come up with nothing. He also talked to John Daly, as John was very
active in this area. John had said that there was an active group in the
Mason, OH area but that he knew of nothing in the local area. Doug said he
would pursue contacting Zack Sikora, a player that we honored in 2001, to
see if he can find an active group in central Ohio.
16. Old Business
Gary Alexander had just come back from the National USTA Convention. He spoke
of new computer software that he had seen. The USTA will be using more of
their own software. Gary feels that some of it can be used to administer
our adult summer teams. For example, all roster forms would be on line. This
would save time; it would also mean that no one would have to enter that
information on the USTA site. Doug and Rita did this and it is very time
consuming. It would automatically assign a number to each player; the Women's
League has done this manually in the past. The USTA has been running pilots
of the software in several locations; it should be ready for distribution
in January. There may be a charge for the use of this software. While at
the convention, they talked a lot about the Columbus Project. One of the
reasons that Columbus was chosen for this test market was that there was
an active local community tennis association. They also liked the growth
possibilities of Columbus and they had looked at our web site. Brooks asked
why our web site had not been selected as a winner after being nominated
as an outstanding web site. Doug explained that, as it turned out, the site
would only be considered if were housed in the USTA system. Our site is independent
of the USTA. We have our own domain, web address and we run the site directly.
Brooks praised the site and Doug for his work.
17. Adjournment
Harvey asked for a motion to adjourn. Connie Everhart, Shirley Neibauer moved,
and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp, GCTA Secretary
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