Attendance: Janet Craycraft, Jake Will, Jr., Mark Anderson, Shirley Neibauer, Erin Ortman, Jane McMeekin, Harvey Beahm, Doug Snapp, Denica Bruce, Kelly Hoffman, Jim Flower, Deena Snapp, Geri Schlegel, Roger Cloern, Cliff Raymond, John Campbell,
1. Call to Order: Janet Craycraft, GCTA President, called the meeting to order.
2. Approval of Minutes: Janet asked for approval of the minutes. It was moved, seconded, and passed.
3. Treasurer's Report: Jake Will, Jr., gave the report. As treasurer, he indicated that the GCTA had a positive balance of about $1,300 for the 2005 year. All 2005 bills have been taken care of. As of March 11, 2006, the accounts were as follows: checking: $294, flex fund: $56,126, junior fund: $5,478, Margo Mansfield fund: $1,485. Janet asked for discussion. Following discussion there was a motion by John Campbell to accept the report; Shirley Neibauer seconded; the motion passed.
4. Junior Wightman Cup & Junior Davis Cup: Janet reported that there is to be a new format this year. It will be more like team tennis. She has not received details to this point. She will contact Michelle Jarrett and Steve Ryuse to check if they will continue as our coaches. The teams came in second at last year's event. This is the event where teams from the different areas of the OVTA compete against each other. Janet indicated that there will be a similar event in Springfield for younger participants. The event in Springfield will be run by OVTA staff.
5. Women's Leagues: Representatives from tenniscores.com were present. They gave a presentation to the members of the Women's League before the board meeting. The Women's Leagues will be using this organization for tabulation of scores and information for the 4.5 league. Next year other leagues will be added. A presentation was given to the Board, and Erin Ortman went through procedures. The tenniscores.com people assured us that our information will be secure. They also indicated that we own the codes to the web site. Harvey Beahm asked for the cost and stressed a need for security of information. The cost will be $10 per team. The GCTA will pay this. The amount that is spent in this fee will the amount normally spent for postage, printing, etc. There should be no additional budget requirement beyond what is presently appropriated.
It was reported that women's Kickoff Parties were a success. Shirley Neibauer and Beth LeCorgne did the organizing. Participation was similar to past years.
Dates of upcoming Women's League meetings were given. These have already been posted to the GCTA website.
There is a change in days that some of the teams are to play. Those changes have also been posted.
6. Men's Leagues: Jake Will, Jr., reported that teams have been contacted. Rosters are coming in. Jake and Doug Snapp are doing the organization of the league. We are still trying to find a men's chair. Janet reported that she has made some phone calls.
7. USTA Summer Leagues: Doug Snapp said Terri Jones did send in information. It appears that the leagues will run much as in the past.
8. OVTA: Harvey Beahm gave the report. The OVTA Yearbook is out and the GCTA ad is in it. Midwest meetings will talk place in April in Indianapolis. Letters have been sent to players for the Midwest Wightman and Davis Cup teams. The USTA will be introducing changes in the mixed doubles leagues. Harvey reminded us that information for the OVTA can be found on their website.
Harvey talked about the problems with the ranking system. The idea was to increase play. Many feel that play has been increased but at a price. Players who are able to travel are able to "buy" a ranking by playing in a number of tournaments that provide a high number of points. Jim Flower agreed that there are some inequities. On the national level it has been good. Since they take the best 8 tournaments kids are playing more. But at the lower level, it is not working as well as it has in the past. The question was asked as to whether the OVTA was on top of the problem. The answers were mixed.
With this in mind, there was lengthy discussion concerning the way that players are granted waivers from the Area Qualifier. It was stressed that the GCTA does not want to penalize players. Much of the problem is the way that the USTA has set up the point system. It has been our attempt to put a set of waiver rules in place that will fit in with this point system. Modifications are likely as we move forward. Janet indicated that a group would be formed to analyze the present situation and then make suggestions as to changes. This is likely to be an ongoing process.
Harvey concluded by saying that Kirsten Flower was the Midwest Player of the Year.
9. Umpires: No report at this time.
10. Columbus Recreation and Parks: Kelly Hoffman and Denica Bruce provided the following information regarding Columbus Recreation and Parks. Youth tennis will be provided at 24 locations. Instructors will visit each site twice, and matches will be played on Thursdays at Wolfe and Whetstone. Three tennis camps are planned. The locations are Whetstone, Wolfe, and Champions. The Champions site will be specific to middle school and high school players. The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department will be involved in the Ohio Wheel Chair Games. These will be held at the new OSU recreation facility, just south of Ohio Stadium. A request for a $500 grant was made to the GCTA. It was pointed out that the GCTA has provided as much a $1,000 per year for wheel chair programs in the past. In recent years, there have been no applicants, so no money was spent. Deena Snapp made a motion to support the program with the requested $500 grant. John Campbell seconded the motion, and the motion passed. Kelly continued, as far as adult tennis, they have 4 sites this spring: Antrim Park, Schiller Park, Whetstone Park, Woodward Park. 35 people registered for lessons this spring. In 2005, they had a total of 30 people registered and they were all at Woodward Park. There are quite a few people who regularly take lessons at Woodward that have not registered yet, so the numbers should increase. CRPD is now doing on-line registration. People can go to the department’s web site, www.columbusrecparks.com and register (they go to the home page, click on Recreation Facilities, then at that page they click on the link “Let’s Play Some Tennis” and then at that page they click on the registration link. They can also go to GCTA’s web site to register, as Doug has the lessons listed there and a link to register. Cost for lessons did increase from $15 per person to $24 per person. Participants have to pay $4.00 per person to Active.com for the use of the on-line system. The CRPD decided to not charge the GCTA fee due to the incompatibility of having 2 different charges on-line. What they will do is for each person who registers, they will take his or her $10 GCTA fee and it will be subtracted from the end of year payment by GCTA to CRPD. Last year, if someone registered for all 3 sessions (spring, summer, fall) they would have paid $45 to the City of Columbus and $10 to GCTA for a total of $55. This year, they will pay a total of $72, $12 of that will go to Active.com, leaving the CRPD with a total of $60 received per person. The CRPD's revenue will increase by $5 per person per year, thus saving GCTA some money. The instructors are Barb Stevenson (Antrim Park), Aaron Jones (Schiller Park), John Cropper (Whetstone Park), and Chris Althouse (Woodward Park). John Cropper comes from the OSU Club Tennis Team and the others have worked in the past. Woodward Park also has Maggie Liang doing youth classes along with John Cropper; both are on the OSU Recreation Club Team.
With the new on-line payment/registration system, they will have spreadsheets that will have detailed info on the lessons and these will be turned in to GCTA after each session. They have had many compliments on this system and once everyone gets familiar with the program, the registration numbers should increase. The Antrim Park lessons have already begun and the other 3 sites begin the week of April 25. Questions should be directed to Kelly at Woodward Park, 645-3158 or kmhoffman@columbus.gov.
Kelly also shared that Columbus Recreation and Parks will again do the Central Ohio Tennis Tournament. Dick's Sporting Goods will be a sponsor. Alan Kinnard will be working with the tournament. Information will be on Alan's Central Ohio Grand Prix website.
Kelly reminded us that they need used balls, clothes, rackets etc. He will pick up items, or they can be dropped off at the Woodward Park Recreation Center.
11. Area and District Qualifier: Janet shared that Jim Hendrix has done a lot of work setting up the Area Qualifier. All is ready for the start of matches in May.
The Girls' 16's OVTA District will again be at Upper Arlington High School. Janet will be running the tournament. She said that everything was in place and ready to go. The tournament will be in early June.
12. USA Junior Team Tennis: No report at this time.
13. Old Business: Doug reported that the OSU Recreation Club Team finished 6th in national competition. This team has been supported in the past with a GCTA grant. No request for a grant was made this year.
14. New Business: The OSU Men's Tennis national ranking and the possibility that they would would be chosen to be a host for the upcoming NCAA tournament was discussed.
Harvey Beahm noted that the dates for the ITA National Hardcourts have been set for July 15th through the 19th. The event would again be held at the varsity courts at OSU.
John Campbell expressed his disappointment with the participation in last year's Men's Champ of Champs Tournament. He favors the idea of providing some incentive to every participant to get more involvement. He suggested hats or t-shirts as such an item.
15. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp
GCTA Secretary