GCTA Board Minutes

GCTA Board Meeting
1/16/03
In Attendance: Harvey Beahm, Doug Snapp, Jake Will, Jr., Jim Hendrix, Les Varnado, Vince Solomon, Carol Alexander, Andy Alexander, Janet Craycraft, Jean Shaw, Michelle Jarrett, Rita Brown, Geri Schlegel, Shirley Neibauer, Jane McMeekin, Dan Witteman, Chuck Merzbacher, John Campbell, Charlie Weisent, Connie Everhart
1. Approval of the September Minutes
GCTA President Harvey Beahm called the meeting to order and welcomed all board members and guests. He explained that he has been actively working to fill some of our needed positions. He has been in contact with Doug Snapp and others to move forward. He emphasized that the people who had been in charge of these areas had done a great job and that the organization is indebted to them. He stated he believes that the new people will continue on with new blood and make the organization even better than before. He pointed out that the minutes from the September meeting were on the tables and asked that those present take a moment to look over those minutes. He added that the minutes had been e-mailed to those with e-mail accounts, mailed to those who do not have e-mail accounts, and posted to the GCTA web site. Harvey then asked if there were changes or additions; hearing none, he asked for a motion to accept the minutes. Carol Alexander moved, Rita Brown seconded, and there was no opposition to the motion.
2. Treasurer's Report
GCTA Treasurer Jake Will, Jr., gave the report. He presented a number balance sheets and breakout sheets of our income and expenses. The breakout sheets had the amounts in dollars as well as in percentages of the total income or expenses. This information will be passed along to an accountant for financial review. He commented that we had a profit of about $2600 for the 2002 year. As of December 31st, the checking account had $345, the flex fund had $72,174, the junior fund had $5,290, the Mansfield fund had $1,432, and the mutual funds were at $0.  The income for the Men's Leagues and the Area Qualifier were up. He thanked Jean Shaw and Rita Brown for the manner in which they had reported their expenses. The GCTA had received a check from the USTA for the information that Terri Jones had entered with regard to the Summer USTA League. He knew that Rita Brown and Doug Snapp had also entered information for the Women's and Men's Leagues. He did not believe that the USTA had issued those checks. The amount of money that we received from the USTA for USTA memberships was also up. Janet Craycraft indicated that it was somewhat confusing how the USTA calculated and presented that incentive money for USTA memberships. There have been years when the amount has been very little; other years have had good amounts. She suggested that Doug Snapp try to get some clarification from the Ohio Valley Tennis Association as to how the amount is determined. Jake concluded by saying that there are some reimbursements yet to be made. Harvey asked for a motion to accept Jake's report. Vince Solomon moved, Carol Alexander seconded, and there was no opposition to the motion.
3. OSU Report: OSU Coach and Board Member Chuck Merzbacher
In introducing Chuck, Harvey complemented the two teams at OSU and their coaches for having improved the OSU programs. He commented that both Ty Tucker and Chuck had been helpful with the ITA tournament that Harvey has run at OSU during the summer. He asked Chuck to summarize the two teams' seasons. Chuck recapped both the women's and men's seasons. He said that in this coming season, Northwestern would likely be the team to beat for the women; Illinois would be the team for the men. Chuck then began to talk about the new indoor tennis facility at OSU. He admitted that this is something that has been talked about for at least 25 years. He now believes that the indoor will be built for sure. Present plans are to either place a six court indoor on the location of the four back courts at Stickney or to place the indoor there along Olentangy River Road. He hoped that no outdoor courts would be lost. It was thought earlier that the whole tennis complex would be moved to West Campus along Kenny Road. However, it was felt that the access to the training facilities at Woody Hayes benefits leaving the complex where it is presently located. Chuck shared that the USTA is leaning on colleges and universities to get more involved with the promotion of growing the game of tennis at the local level. A new facility would help in this area. He continued that Purdue, Iowa, and OSU are the only Big Ten schools that do not have quality indoor facilities. He was asked about the time frame. Chuck thinks that they should be hitting balls in the facility in 18 to 24 months. He shared that Athletics Director Andy Geiger was impressed during his conversation with Jeff Johnston and Doug Snapp. Mr. Geiger likes the idea of community support. When asked about the funds to build the facility, Chuck responded that the money will need to be committed before the project will be started. He thinks the cost will be somewhere between three and four million dollars. There are people in place to begin to acquire the needed money. This is not that big of a project when some of the other university projects are considered. Naming rights would be available. It was pointed out that at one time, the GCTA wanted to build a storage building for the tennis teams at the Stickney Center and that the project was blocked. Chuck made a point of thanking Jim Hendrix for the years of the OSU teams being able to play at the Racquet Club. Chuck said that a quality facility on campus will be a great aid to recruiting. Harvey added that a nice facility will help immensely and from his personal experience knows that it is an important aspect.  
4. Junior Wightman & Junior Davis Cup
Michelle Jarrett was able to attend, but Steve Ryuse was involved with tennis lessons and unable to be here. Both are willing to repeat as captains for the respective teams. Michelle began her remarks by congratulating Chuck Merzbacher for what he has done with the OSU tennis program. She commented that Chuck is working "backwards." Normally, you build the great facility and then the athletes come; Chuck is getting the great players and then building the facility.  Michelle went on to say that this would be her 3rd season as the Jr. Wightman Cup captain. She said she was happy to do it but admitted that if someone else would like to take the job, she would be willing to step aside. She recounted the last two seasons;  we were represented by strong teams both years. The first year, rain ended the tie before a winner could be determined. Last summer, the rain held off and both our teams were the champions.  She appreciated the fact that Doug Snapp followed the teams taking pictures and putting them on the web site. Michelle would like to have a set of written guidelines for determining team members. This would help her and Steve in explaining how the selections are made as to who plays. She thought one of the qualification was to participate in our Area Qualifier. However, she felt that there should be other criteria since there are times when good players are unable to play the Qualifier. Janet Craycraft noted that she thinks that guidelines have been put together. She will try to locate them for Michelle and Steve. Michelle said that one of the criteria should be sportsmanship; after all, these players are representing the GCTA, her, and the team. Behavior should be something we note. Harvey said he will make sure the guidelines are made available; and if none are found, a committee will be established to put them together. Doug Snapp shared that Dave Engle had contacted the OVTA Competition Committee saying that Dave and his wife were willing to allow the competition to be played elsewhere. If anyone were interested, they should contact Doug or Dave Engle. Chuck Merzbacher wanted to know the number of courts and days needed to complete the tie. It was thought that Wittenberg has ten courts and it is done in two days. The format is three singles and two doubles. A super tie-break is played in place of a third set. Not all areas of the OVTA have participated in recent years. Last year, it was thought that five areas were represented.
5. Women's Leagues
Rita Brown said that their organizational meeting would take place at the end of January. Further meeting dates will be set at that time. March 7th has been set as the club chair organizational meeting. Shirley Neibauer shared that the winter tennis kickoff parties have been planned for March 1st and 7th at the Racquet Club. Information will be sent out later in the month and asked that the information not be listed on the web site till the end of January. She gave the information to Doug Snapp, and he said he would update the web site on January 29th.
6. Men's Leagues
Harvey praised Gary Alexander for his work as Men's League Chair. Gary has made it definite that he no longer wishes to work in that position. Harvey announced that Bob Hilborn is willing to take over as chair. Harvey is very secure with Bob's organizational abilities and Harvey has great respect for him as someone who will approach the job in a responsible manner. Bob shared with Harvey that he will have one of his pros involved in some fashion, perhaps as a scorekeeper. Harvey will ask Gary to bring Bob up to speed and give him any of the necessary forms, computer disks, and so forth. Harvey mentioned that we could use scorekeepers to lighten the load that some are carrying. Doug Snapp reiterated that he had entered over 1,000 Men's League participants into the USTA data base. This was no easy task; it took hours, days, even weeks to complete. He praised Rita for entering over 1,700 Women's League participants; that was a huge accomplishment. He said that the GCTA should be receiving incentive checks from the USTA for having done these data base entries. As a further note, he said that our men's data base was updated. A number of players were legally playing on different rosters; there were players playing, for example, 4.0, Gold, Silver, Platinum, etc.
7. USTA Summer League
Terri Jones was not present; Shirley Neibauer said that no information has come from the Midwest for the upcoming season. Shirley said that Terri was still willing to coordinate and would get information out as soon as she received it.
8. Ohio Valley Tennis Association
Janet Craycraft had the OVTA Annual Report with her and gave it to Doug Snapp. She said she had sent it to Dave Engle of the OVTA. We were one of the few OVTA areas to turn in an annual report. She talked about the ad from the GCTA that appears in the OVTA Yearbook. She asked all of us to look at last year's ad; if there are any ideas for a new ad, let Janet know. Doug complemented the ad from last year and said that a similar ad this year would be excellent. Janet shared that there are still grants available. The deadline is February 1st, but they usually extend the deadline. The main purpose of the grants is to grow tennis. She encouraged those interested to apply noting that requests are rarely turned down. Harvey recapped the November 3rd OVTA meeting in Cincinnati. He noted that he, Gary Alexander, Les Varnado, Doug Snapp and Andy Alexander attended the meeting. Ron Linville was also present as his daughter, Kelsey, was given the OVTA Sportsmanship Award. Harvey mentioned that Doug was the Chair of the OVTA Competition Committee and, being an OVTA Vice President, was on the Management Committee. 
9. Umpires
Vince Solomon has been working on a set of general guidelines for people who need umpires. He has talked to other areas and contacted local umpires. He mentioned that last spring Doug Snapp and Jeff Johnston had mailed information to all local high school coaches regarding the need for umpires. Vince gave Doug what information he has as well as a copy of the USTA newspaper for tennis officials. There will be a line school at the Wickertree Tournament; this will likely be the 17th of February. Chuck had questions about the ITA guidelines for officials. Vince said that Dave Engle would know who took the ITA test. These tests must be done every year, and a vision test is now required. Chuck talked about the difficulty of getting umpires. Chuck said there is money for them, but Vince pointed out that people who officiate don't do it, for the most part, for the money.
10. Columbus Recreation and Parks Department
Connie Everhart was in attendance but she had lost her voice and was unable to talk very well. She was able to make it known that plans for summer programs are moving forward. Harvey talked about how the GCTA needs to be more involved in the CRPD programs; he would like to know exactly what is being done, by whom, and what numbers. Doug Snapp talked about the importance of getting our name on everything that is tennis related with the CRPD. A quarter of the GCTA budget goes to this program: the amount is close to $12,000 per year. It has been at this level for a number of years. Connie made it known that a newspaper article would be coming out noting the GCTA contribution to the CRPD. Doug said that he could find nothing relating to tennis on the CRPD web site, let a along a reference to the GCTA. A simple link to our web site would certainly be appropriate. Charlie Weisent and John Campbell, members at Champions, were in attendance. Champions is owned by the CRPD, with the CRPD hiring the person to run it. Charlie and John expressed their dissatisfaction with how things have been handled at that location. They have contacted Connie. They are hoping the Alann Leinwohl does a better job. Many times Charlie, John, and others had to do court maintenance. It was suggested that they contact whoever is in charge of the whole complex and see if they can get some satisfaction. They should address their concerns to a person higher in the CRPD; unfortunately, no one knew who that would be. It was noted that the disappointing point is that these courts could be an excellent facility with the proper management and care. Harvey voiced his sympathy with their concerns and said he would try to find some type of solution.
11. Area and District Qualifier
Harvey praised Janet Craycraft for the work that she has done with the Area Qualifier. She has asked to be relieved of this duty, and Harvey confirmed that Ron Linville is willing to run the Area Qualifier. He will be working with Jim Hendrix who has been so knowledgeable in organizing this tournament. Doug Snapp shared that he has created a data base of previous participants with their e-mail addresses in an e-mail application. Information can be e-mailed easily. Carol Alexander shared that the Girls' 16s District tournament will again be held at the Upper Arlington courts. This tournament will run from June 7th to the 11th. Dates are set by the Midwest. There will be some problems because school is still in session at Upper Arlington for the first part of the tournament. As suggested at the September meeting, Carol has gotten bids for scorecards. She noted that they are good for the people who are watching the matches. Jim Hendrix indicated that he possibly has cards that he can let Carol use. He will check. If he does not have them, a motion was made by Janet Craycraft and seconded by Shirley Neibauer to allow Carol to buy cards. The motion passed. It was noted that Carol has been doing the tournament since 1978.
12. USTA Junior Team Tennis
Shirley Neibauer said that no information has been received for the upcoming season. When the information is sent to her, she will begin passing it along.
13. Champion of Champions
Rita Brown said it ran well listing all the locations that women used. She added that they had good participation and that the women do enjoy the tournament. Doug Snapp said things went fine at Northam Park. Andy and Carol Alexander ran the tournament on Saturday. Doug ran it on Sunday and was responsible for putting the draws together. He said Northam Park had done a fine job. Jake Will, Jr., felt that Mike Haddow and Northam Park would be willing to be the host again this coming summer. Jake noted that the OSU bye Saturday in September would be the logical time to have the event.
14. Awards Ceremony
Harvey said that he was sorry that he missed the event but heard that all went well. Jean Shaw recounted how the event went wonderfully with standing room only. She thanked Geri Schlegel for all of her assistance. Jean related that she was just a little over budget. She thanked the Awards Committee for their work in coming up with the award winners; Jean Shaw (Chair), Janet Craycraft, Callie Ryan, Doug Snapp, and Gary Alexander were on that committee. Jean gave special thanks to Janet Craycraft, Doug Snapp, and Deena Snapp for their work at the event. Doug provided the pictures for the web site. She was especially appreciative to Jeff Johnston for running the ceremony. Jean said that she was happy to have done it and is willing to do it again next year. She checked into reserving the hall at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building for September. The person she talked to said that the room could not be reserved more than two months ahead. Discussion followed with it being noted that many events have been scheduled before the two month period. Several people said they would check into scheduling the room. There was also discussion of a complaint about our use of the building. Doug said that he had talked to the people at the Municipal Building. They indicated that they were not upset with us and were not even sure that we were the ones involved: there were other groups in the building on that weekend. Jean also asked if anyone knew what had happened to one of the GCTA banners. It was thought that the last time it was seen was at one of the Big Ten Tournament events.
15. Wheelchair Tennis
No report. It was pointed out by Jake Will, Jr., that there has been no one to step forward and be involved as our representative since Larry Hunter stepped down.
16. Old Business
No old business at this time.
17. New Business
Andy Alexander said that he is a member of the Midwest Multicultural Committee. The USTA is trying to get more involvement in tennis by minorities. They would like to get benchmark numbers. They would like to survey the local clubs to get an indication of the number of minority participants. Doug Snapp shared that the Midwest has also put emphasis on community tennis development through local community tennis associations. The GCTA as the community tennis association for the Columbus area should be involved in promoting all USTA programs and growing the game of tennis. Doug felt that the GCTA is far ahead of many community tennis associations in this regard. More information would be forthcoming after the OVTA Management Committee meeting on January 19th. Doug also share the GCTA web site had been nominated for a USTA award. He was thanked for his work. He said that there were a number of excellent sites out there. He also noted that if members haven't visited the USTA web site lately, they should. Since June, the USTA has been working to revise the site. Doug feels that their efforts are in the right direction. According to him, the site looks better and, most importantly to him, functions better and quicker. Shirley Neibauer shared that Chad Docktor of the Midwest had told her that she was the winner of the Best Coordinator for the USTA USA Jr. Team program. 
18. Adjournment
Harvey asked for a motion to adjourn. Shirley Neibauer moved, Jane McMeekin seconded, and there was no opposition.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp, GCTA Secretary
Back to the Main Minutes Page
Back to the Table of Contents