In Attendance:
Doug Snapp, Bud Petersen, Gary Alexander, Andy Alexander, Connie Everhart, Marni Nordstrom, Jake Will, Jr., Carol Alexander, Larry
Hunter, Deb Thallman, Janet Craycraft, Callie Ryan, Brad Frick, Terri
Jones, Bill McCabe, Fran McCabe, Shirley Neibauer, Les Varnado, Jr.
1. Call to order
President, Carol Alexander, called the meeting to order.
2. Approval of minutes
Carol asked for approval of the April minutes as sent. Deb
Thallman pointed out that under "Old Business" where it says, "Peg Hanna
from the Western Section office...," it should read, "Peg Hanna from the
Midwest Section office...." Marni Nordstrom moved that the April minutes be approved with that correction; Callie Ryan 2nd the
motion and the motion passed.
3. Treasurer's report
Jake Will, Jr. gave the treasure's report. He said that the GCTA had
$87,659 total assets as of June 30, 2000: Checking--$2,659, Junior
Fund--$4,765, MM-Flex Fund--$53,941, Investments--up from $25,000 to
$31,248, Mansfield Fund MM--$1,294. He also gave us a comparison of revenues for t
he Men's and Women's Leagues for 1999 and
the year 2000. This year the Men's League has generated $8,704
compared to $8,520 last year. The Women's League has brought in $15,080
this year compared to $15,240 last year. The increase in Men's
revenue has offset the slight decrease in Women's. Jake said he was
very pleased to see this because he had been concerned due to the
closure of the Continental Athletic Club and the work being done at
the Olympic Swim and Racquet Club. In light of the fact that the money
that the GCTA uses to support programs comes almost entirely from our
membership dues, Jake was happy to see that we were slightly
ahead of last year. Jake pointed out the increase in our invested money
and said that he will continue to watch this money closely. Carol
asked for approval of the treasurer's report. Gary Alexander
moved and Connie Everhart 2nd; the motion passed.
4. Junior Wightman Cup & Junior Davis Cup
Carol said that she had received information from Mike Uretsky. He had
turned in his budget requests, and they were under the allotted
amount. He also returned 12 cans of tennis ball which can be used for
the Champ of Champions. These were returned because the second
day of the competition was canceled. At that point, the Columbus Jr.
Davis Cup Team had defeated Springfield 3-2, lost to Cincinnati 3-2,
and was ahead of Huntington 2-0. Mike told Carol he was happy to have
had the opportunity to coach the team. Marnie Nordstrom was
unable to take the Junior Wightman Cup Team to Springfield due to family
and work commitments. She was happy to report that Jayne
Sulser took the team for her. Jayne had coached Marni's daughter in
high school, and Marni picked her because she knew Jayne would do
an outstanding job. Marni said that Jayne was confident that if rain
had not halted play, Columbus would have won the competition on the
weekend of June 16 and 17. They had beaten Springfield
4-1 and Cincinnati 3-2. Marni echoed that it was unfortunate that play
was ended; she was also very confident that the Columbus team would have won.
Carol expressed her thanks for a job well done and added that the
results have been placed on the web site.
5. Women's Leagues
Callie Ryan reported that the Women's League is down 13 teams. This
is largely due to the closing of the Continental Athletic Club. That
club had great women's support. However, the Women's League has 130
teams with 1,876 players. Callie is very pleased with this number.
They are only $160 below last year and this is with fewer teams. Obviously,
many of the players from the Continent have gone to other
clubs. The leagues in general are running smoothly. They have tried
to insure daytime players don't dominate the league by now requiring
career teams to have 55 per cent evening only players on their rosters.
6. Men's Leagues
Gary Alexander shared that the Men's League also has fewer teams. It
is down seven teams from last year. The good news is that the
number of players is up. Gary feels that the changes in the Open have
helped. That league is now a three team format rather than the five
team format. Teams had trouble in the past getting enough players and
there had been a number of defaulted courts. This year, there are more
teams and no defaulted courts to this point. Teams have also been added
in the Gold League. Carol thanked Gary for stepping in to take over
the Men's League from Jeff Johnston.
7. USTA Summer Leagues
Terri Jones said that two Women's Divisions are presently in operation.
There is a 3.5 and a 4.0. There was a Senior Men's League, but
there were only two teams and one team has now withdrawn. Callie wondered
how a division with only two teams would work. The plan
was for a round-robin. Deb felt that even though this had been a two
team division that this division will grow in the future. Mixed Doubles
Leagues will start the week of July 17th. Other than the team withdrawing,
there have been very few problems. Marni asked about the Mixed
Doubles format. Terri explained that there is a combined rating format.
The possible combined ratings are 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0. Marni felt that
the Mixed Doubles was a very needed league. It has been several years
since the GCTA has offered summer mixed doubles, and she felt this
league would be received favorably. Les Varnado asked for the total
number of participants in this league. Terri did not know this offhand
but she said she would find that number. Gary said that the GCTA is
being compensated from this league. The fee for playing is $15. Fran
McCabe felt this was high. Gary said that $7 was the USTA fee and $8
of the $15 was the GCTA fee. The $8 is being paid as a service fee
to play in the league; it is not a membership fee. Fran said
she had thought that the GCTA's fee was above the $15 and that is why she
had questioned the amount. Understanding now that the total amount was
$15, she did not think this was too high. Gary said it was in line with
what is paid in the winter.
8. OVTA
Janet said that there would be a replacement for Gwen Dulin shortly.
USTA grant money has been allotted to a number of Ralleyball
programs. These programs are going on now at various sites throughout
the city and/or suburbs. The Ralleyball programs are mainly for
beginners. There are a number of players on the court at a time. The
games go very fast. Andy Alexander said that John Hendrix had done a
similar program back in 1972 with a large number of kids on a court
at the same time. Janet said that if a grant was not awarded, it was most
often due to the fact that the applicant for the grant received other
grant money or donations from another source. Gary said that one of the
grants went to Margaret Farris and her wheelchair program.
9. Umpires
Bud Petersen reported that the umpires have been busy. Most recently
(July 12th) They did a exhibition match at New Albany Country Club.
The featured players were Jim Courier and Jonathan Stark. The Whitlinger
twins also played an exhibition doubles match with their
husbands. Umpires were involved with the USTA National Hardcourts that
were completed this week at Ohio State (July 10th through the
13th). Of course, they were also involved with the Girl's District
and the Area Qualifier. Bud said that the local area needs more umpires.
There will be an umpire training session in central Ohio this winter.
More information will be available later and information will be on the
GCTA web site. The Ohio State Women will be hosting the Big Ten Championships
this spring. This will be another opportunity for
umpires to work. Janet thanked the umpires for all of the help that
they provided for the Qualifier.
10. Parks and Recreation
Connie Everhart reported that the June Tennis Camp was a great success.
The weather cooperated as well. She said they were able to take 16
more students than they planned for. The camp was so successful that
she believes there will be two camps next year. There are 26 NJTL
sites. The Jr. Team has a total of 5 sites. 3 are strong sites, but
the participation at the other two is weaker and these two may be eliminated.
Private funding has been used to put two new tennis courts in at the
Sawyer Recreation Center at 1056 Atcheson Street in the inner city.
Three courts at Schiller Recreation Center will be replaced. Janet
was concerned about the courts at Whetstone Recreation Center. These
courts at the Park of Roses are often used by the Area Qualifier because
of their number. Janet pointed out that they are in need of repair. She
said that the Racquet Club had donated nets to fix up the site again
this year during the Qualifier. Connie pointed out that tennis courts are
very expensive to maintain and replace. Often rec centers are more
interested in turning the hardcourt areas into basketball courts. The courts
are checked to see of their use during the afternoons, and most tennis
courts get their highest usage during the early evening. Tennis courts
have actually been taken out of several of the recreation centers.
Some of the courts that do exist are not playable. Connie also felt that
the Whetstone courts should be given some priority because that is where
the Tennis Camp is run. She reminded the Board that if courts need
attention, we should contact her directly. It was suggested that Carol,
as President of the GCTA, write a letter to the Recreation Director
stating our feelings on the importance of maintaining and improving
the courts. Les suggested that such a letter should also be sent to the
Columbus City Council and to the Mayor. It was recommended that all
the names of the Board of Trustees for the GCTA be added to this
letter. The courts would certainly get more play if they were in better
shape. Carol said she would write such a letter. Connie noted that
Wayne Roberts had replaced Gary Fenton as Director of the Columbus
Recreation and Parks Department. In some sad news, Connie said that Ron Smith's wife had died of cancer. Ron had been on the Board
as CRPD representative.
11. Area and District Qualifier
Carol said that they had a full draw in the District Qualifier. Five
of the 16 girls to qualify to the next level were from the Columbus area.
She thanked the umpires for their time and gave special thanks to Danna
Monsul and Connie Splawnyk. The tournament ran very smoothly. Janet
said that there were 271 participants in the Area Qualifier. She was
a little disappointed that there were only 15 in the Girls' 18. She doesn't
see the interest once the girls graduate from high school. The largest
group of participants was the Girls' 16. Most of the bills are in, but
not all. Upper Arlington High School was used for some of the matches.
They did not charge us for the courts. This should cut down the court
costs. Janet was very appreciative of the volunteers that we got this
year, but she pointed out that both and Billie Meadors and Rita Johansen
will not be involved next year. The GCTA will need to find replacements
for them. Carol emphasized that they had done a tremendous job.
12. USTA Junior Team Tennis
Shirley Neibauer reported that there are 57 teams involved this year.
There are 520 children playing in the program. The playoffs will begin
on July 22nd at 1:00 pm at Scioto Country Club. Shirley invited everyone
to attend. She said there would be good tennis to see. Four teams
from each division will be playing. Scores are being reported and posted
to the web site. According to Deb, this is the first time that scores
have been reported in a regular fashion in three years. Deb commended
Shirley for the excellent job that she has been doing. Marni also
commented on how well Shirley has run the program. Deb added that the
shirts were taken care of right at the beginning; most years, this has
not be the case. Gary asked how many kids are joining the USTA as this
does make a difference in our District representation. Carol echoed
the importance of the USTA memberships because of the percentage of
representation. Shirley said that many of participants had joined. She
thought all of the players at New Albany Country Club had become members.
Everyone applauded Shirley's efforts.
13. Champion of Champions
Callie reported that the dates for the Women's League are August 7th,
8th, and 9th. The rain dates would be the 10th and 11th. Nancy
Russell will be running the event. Gary said that the likely dates
for the Men's League would be September 9th and 10th at Scioto Country
Club. Howard Humphrey might be the tournament director, but he will
need help. Howard is checking to see if he does have that time free.
14. Awards Ceremony
Janet reported that the event will be at the Upper Arlington Municipal
Building on September 24th at 4:00 pm. Graeter's ice cream was well
received last year and will again be provided this year. Janet recounted
the awards from last year and asked for additions. It was suggested
that an umpires award be given. A male and female junior award was
suggested. Deb asked if we could honor some of the Jr. Team
participants. This will be added. There will be awards for the Qualifier.
The USTA Summer Leagues will be included. Carol suggested that
we acknowledge Nancy Russell. Carol also suggested that money should
be used as it was intended from the Margo Mansfield fund to
award a Junior Wightman Cup player for sportsmanship. It was decided
that an award would also be given for a Junior Davis Cup player.
Doug Snapp suggested that a photographer not be hired. He would take
the pictures and post them to the web site and make them available to
the participants. Janet asked for volunteers to make selections for
the awards. Deb said she would help. Janet also asked that someone take
over as the chair for this event.
15. Wheelchair Tennis
Larry Hunter talked about the upcoming PVA Buckeye Wheelchair Tennis
Classic Tournament. It is scheduled from July 28th through the
30th at the Ohio State courts. He thanked the GCTA for their financial
support of the tournament. He thanked Janet Craycraft and Rich Iron
for their help with tents. He thanked Bud Petersen and Kim Forman for
the umpire support. He thanked Doug for the information that was
put on the GCTA web site. He has contacted newspapers, radio, and TV.
He asked for a GCTA banner to be displayed at the tournament.
He invited Carol and a guest to attend the dinner on Saturday evening.
He said we can still volunteer, as there are many jobs to be done.
Larry said he has 13 players committed to the tournament. He is hoping
to get 20. Play will start on Friday. The sit-down dinner is at the
Holiday Inn.
16. Old Business
Carol told of the revisions that the Past Presidents had worked on regarding
the GCTA Constitution. She said that it had not be revised since
1981 and there were parts that were no longer current. She asked Doug
to read the revisions. He went through the constitution explaining
which parts had been deleted. He read the changes in it and he read
the additions to it. The revised constitution had been presented at the
April meeting for the Board to read. Brad Frick had a question about
Article X which is titled Indemnification. He said that after reading the
paragraph, he had no idea what it was saying. Doug said that the committee
had wrestled with the paragraph but had left it unchanged. Brad
volunteered to rewrite the paragraph so that it would be more clearly
stated. Carol said that we would vote on accepting the revisions at the
September meeting.
In other old business, Andy Alexander said that the final Tennis 1,
2, 3 report would be given at the September meeting.
Carol thanked Bart and Doug Snapp for all of their work on the GCTA
web site. She commended them for attending so many events and
getting so much information on the web. Gary asked about the number
of visits that the web site was receiving. Doug said that since the
beginning of June, the site has been getting more visits each week
than it had received each month. It was clear to him that people were
checking league standings on the web. He indicated that scores should
be given to him as quickly as possible so that he can post them. He
said that the Women's League has been doing an outstanding job of keeping
him informed with their postcards. Bud Petersen asked if
anyone had informed the clubs of the web site. He said that people
continue to say that they do not know that we have such a site. Andy
shared that he had contacted the clubs. Callie said that it was probably
like with some of the information that the women send out: it is not
passed on to the appropriate people. Doug asked that he be given any
new information for the web site.
Les pointed out that there is scholarship money available. Specifically,
there is the Tim and Tom Gullikson Scholarships which will award
$2,500 to a male or female player. Les thought that the academic aspects
are probably weighed more than tennis ability.
Janet talked about joining the Ohio State Tennis Boosters. She had
mentioned this at the April meeting. Janet said she did not have the exact
information with her but she felt we could donate any amount. She felt
it would be a good gesture. She said she would get more information
and bring this up at the September meeting.
17. New Business
Deb Thallman said the entry fees for the USTA teams that are advancing
will total $3,495. $3,120 of this is for the adults. $375 is for the
senior men. The GCTA budgeted amount will cover this.
18. Adjournment
Carol asked for a motion for adjournment. Fran moved, Terri
2nd, the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp
Corresponding Secretary