In Attendance:
Doug Snapp, Carol Alexander, Jake Will, Jr., Connie Everhart, Andy
Alexander, Gary Alexander, Shirley Neibauer, Deb Thallman, Terri Jones,
Jeff Johnston, Harvey Beahm, Janet Craycraft, Gwen Dulin, Jeanne Hendrix,
Larry Hunter, Bill McCabe, Fran McCabe, Brooks Naffziger, Marni Nordstrom,
Callie Ryan, Jean Shaw, Les Varnado, Jr., Paul Kobelt, Dan Dickenson
Call to order
President, Carol Alexander, called the meeting to order.
Doug explained that an attendance sheet was circulating and that a
notebook with a printed version of the web site was being passed around.
This was mainly for the people who do not have web access so that they
could see what the GCTA Web Site looks like. Doug suggested that Jeff Johnston
(the new President) keep the notebook in his possession. He could share
this notebook at other tennis functions.
Annual Meeting
1. Nominating Committee Report
Carol asked Doug Snapp to give the nominating report. Doug shared that
the Nominating Committee had met at Carol Alexander’s house. The committee
members present were Carol Alexander, Jeff Johnston, Jake Will, Sr., Gary
Alexander, and Doug. Members not present were Kim Forman, Brad Frick, and
Billie Meadors. After discussion, the committee removed Jim Lathrop and
Mark Vannatta from the Board. Ty Tucker, Robin Comfort, and Ron Linville
were added to the Board. All have been contacted and accepted the nominations
if approved. Doug said that he had contacted John Daly, and John wanted
to be removed as a Board Member. In addition, Mary Sims has asked to be
removed. The other responsibility of the committee was to create a slate
of officers for the coming year. Carol Alexander has completed a two-year
stint as President. The constitution limits the president to two consecutive
1-year terms. A replacement was discussed as were the other officers. The
nominated officers for the 2001 year are as follows: Jeff Johnston, President,
Janet Craycraft, Vice President, Callie Ryan, Vice President, Les Varnado,
Jr., Vice President, Jake Will, Jr., Treasurer, and Doug Snapp, Secretary.
Carol asked for a motion to accept the nominations. Les Varnado, Jr. moved,
Brooks Naffziger second, and the motion passed.
2. Budget Committe Report
Jake Will, Jr., said that the Budget Committee had meet and formulated
the budget for the coming year. Jake went through the budget. There was
a question about the amount to be paid to Terri Jones for her part in organizing
the USTA Adult Summer Leagues. Jake will update the budget regarding the
$1,500 for Terri. Jake sees a possible deficit of around $2,500 to $3,000.
If nothing is done, we may need to cut support to programs. He suggested
the possibility of raising the membership fee from $8 to $9 or $10. To
the best of his knowledge, we have not raised fees for 12 to 15 years.
He continued to explained the budget. There was more discussion about the
apparent deficit. Gary pointed out that many programs often come in under
their budgeted amount. If some of these amounts are lower, the debt projected
by Jake will not be so high. Jake said that is true but he also pointed
out that not all expenses come in before this September meeting. This makes
it appear that we have more money and a balanced budget. He still feels
that we will be short at least $2,500. Jake pointed out that the amounts
for the Qualifier were still very high. It had been hoped that by using
the Upper Arlington courts, there would be a significant drop in the cost
to run the Qualifier. It was explained that we are one of the few areas
where the local community tennis organization pays for the court time and
the entry fees to the next level. Part of the reason for the cost of the
Qualifier not coming down even though fewer courts were paid for was that
the cost of those courts did go up. Even though the expenses had been cut
in some areas of the Qualifier, other costs had gone up eating up any savings.
We had something like 278 players participate in the Qualifier. Jake calculated
that we are paying about $40 per player to participate. The Jr. Team Tennis
line item under Columbus Parks and Recreation was question by Deb Thallman.
The $1,500 is for the CRPD part of the program, Gary explained. This pays
to have instructors run that program. Deb explained the USA Junior Team
Tennis program, and she commented that Shirley Neibauer has done a great
job but certainly could use some financial help with the costs of awards.
There appears to be no item to cover such expenses. Gary said Ohio Valley
is putting some money into the program and the kids do pay, and the fees
that they do pay do not go to the GCTA but to the USTA. It was pointed
out that there were 97 new USTA memberships just this year from this program.
Those memberships do help us with our representation in the Qualifier to
the next level. Further, most of these kids have parents who are playing
in our adult leagues. Gary said then that those membership fees do indirectly
support programs that we support. Dan Dickenson had a question about the
payment of USTA team entries to the next level. It was suggested that such
a discussion would be better held in the next part of the meeting. As a
final comment on the budget, Andy said that the Women’s Winter Tennis costs
should probably be put under the item Leagues: Women. Jake said that he
was just following the form that had been used in the past and that he
could make that change. Carol asked for a motion to accept the 2000-2001
GCTA suggested budget. Brooks Naffziger moved, Janet Craycraft seconded
the motion, and the motion passed.
3. Constitution Committee
Carol gave background on the work of the Constitution Committee. There
was discussion of the suggested changes to the GCTA Constitution. Carol
said that the purpose of the changes was basically to make the constitution
more up to date and make it more general. This would allow the constitution
to be more in line with the way the organization is run. Brooks asked about
substantive changes. Carol pointed to the change in the area of officers.
Previously the Vice Presidents had specific duties spelled out in the constitution.
Many of these duties are no longer applicable. The new constitution just
states that there be three Vice Presidents. Their duties will be determined
by the President. Les pointed out that another one of the substantive changes
was that the board members would be the direct voters to issues and be
the direct voters as to future amendments to the constitution. There was
a question as to the feeling on the indemnification clause as it stands
in the suggested constitution. It was noted that Brad Frick had questioned
this clause. Les said that he thought that Brad had said that he was going
to do a rewrite of that clause. Brad did not do the rewrite. It was pointed
out that Brad was the one who had difficulty with or questioned that clause.
Les said Brad saw it as an unnecessary clause especially because of the
word “legal.” Discussion continued: if Brad was the only one who found
fault with the clause, maybe we should accept it as is. It was stated that
the committee had wrestled with the clause at the time of the rewrite but
had accepted it as written. After further discussion, Carol asked for a
motion to accept the proposed constitution as written. Janet Craycraft
made such a motion and Shirley Neibauer seconded. The motion passed with
no opposition.
4. Annual Meeting Adjournment
Carol asked for a motion for adjournment of the annual meeting. Connie
Everhart moved, Brooks seconded, the motion passed.
Carol shared that the meeting dates for the coming year had been set. The dates are 1/18/01, 4/19/01, 7/19/01, and 9/20/01. These are all Thursdays. The meetings will be at the Swim and Racquet Club on Kenney Rd.
Regular Meeting
1. Approval of Minutes
Carol asked that we take a moment and look at the minutes from the
July meeting. She commented that they had been e-mail or mailed to all
board members. She asked that there be a motion to accept the minutes.
Callie Ryan moved, Jean Shaw seconded and the motion passed.
2. Treasurer’s Report
Jake Will, Jr., shared that the balance sheet as of August 31, 2000
showed the following amounts: Checking $2,214.00, Flex Fund $43,957.00,
Junior Fund $4,813.00, Mansfield Fund $1,301.00, Mutual Funds $25,000 (FMV
equals $31,265.00). The organization has a total of $77,285.00 in assets.
Carol asked if there was discussion of Jake’s report. Hearing no discussion,
Carol accepted his report.
3. Women’s Leagues
Callie Ryan said that the season had ended smoothly. She shared that
there would be a meeting on October 13th at 1:00 pm at the Upper Arlington
Municipal Building. It will be a meeting of the Women’s Board and Club
Representatives. They will discuss problems or suggested rule changes.
She said that any agenda item would need to be submitted in writing prior
to September 29th.
4. Men’s Leagues
Gary Alexander reported that overall membership was up slightly. Even
though we have gone to a three team format in the Open division, there
were more teams that participated. The Open Division was the last division
to finish their season. The awards have been upgraded so that there will
be team awards and individual awards. Gary thanked the score keepers for
the job that they had done. He said there had been few problems during
the season. In part, he attributed that to the work of the score keepers.
He said that USTA roster forms are presently being filled out so that we
can benefit from having identified our Men’s Leagues as USTA USA Leagues.
He is hopeful that this will bring some additional funding to the organization.
Gary said that one thing that is being considered for next year is a suggestion
to expand the Men’s League to include a 3.0 level of play. We presently
have 3.5, 4.0, Open, Gold, Silver, and Platinum as our divisions. The addition
of a 3.0 would not only open another opportunity for play, it would possibly
create more income to be used on our other programs.
5. USTA League
Terri Jones reported that the USTA Summer Leagues had completed their
local competition. The divisions were Women’s 3.5, Women’s 4.0, Mixed Doubles
8.0, and Mixed Doubles 9.0. Dan Dickenson noted that mixed leagues were
jammed into one period of time rather than being spread out. Terri said
part of the problem was the small number of teams and the fact that the
startup was slow this year. This was due to the fact that these leagues
were new. There was discussion that the mixed league was a needed league
and that it should grow. Jean Alexander pointed out that we had a mixed
league for three or four years. They had worked well as long as we had
a coordinator. Dan said he would like to see a true GCTA mixed doubles
league started again. Carol said that if a coordinator could be found,
the logistics of such a league would be discussed. Dan said he hoped such
a league would start with maybe fewer playing dates--perhaps a match date
every month--but more teams involved.
6. OVTA
Gwen Dulin gave the Ohio Valley report. She said that there would be
a meeting Sunday morning November 5th at Cherry Valley Lodge near Newark.
They would be announcing the awards for this year. Everyone is welcome
to attend. Just let Gwen know by calling the OVTA office and letting her
know the number of people to expect. She said that the local clubs have
also received notice of the meeting. The meeting format would be much the
same as it is with the GCTA meetings. They would also be voting on nominations
for officers for the coming year. Janet Craycraft said she is looking into
the awards for the central Ohio area. There have already been several selections.
Nominations can still be made, but Janet thinks the deadline is the 1st
of October. Gary pointed out the Gwen is resigning and we will be losing
that benefit of having her here locally. The Ohio Valley office will be
moving from Columbus to Springfield. Deb Thallman will remain here in Columbus.
Harvey praised and thanked Gwen for the work that she has done. There was
a round of applause for her from the members present.
7. Parks and Recreation
Connie reported that the youth programs are finished for the season.
The adult programs are still running. There will be an adult blitz in October.
Connie was pleased to announce that they were able to get scholarships
for two players in the NJTL summer program. These scholarships would pay
for the membership at the indoor level. They would also pay for 50% of
the weekly fee. The two scholarships had been awarded by the Olympic Swim
and Racquet Club. It is up to the parents to get the players to these lessons.
Connie has a list of alternates if it turns out that the players are not
attending. Connie said the CRPD hosted a tennis management seminar. Excellent
teaching tips were presented at this seminar. A lot of ideas on tennis
skill development were shared. One of the topics was that of the involvement
of the local Community Tennis Association. In light of what was said at
the seminar about the involvement of a CTA, Connie was very pleased with
the CRPD’s involvement with the GCTA.
8. Area and District Qualifier
Carol shared that the list of qualifiers is already posted on the web
site. This list will also be in the program at the Awards Ceremony. It
is also planned that there will be an award for the top girl and top boy.
9. USTA Junior Team Tennis
Shirley Neibauer reported that the program had run very well. It had
been a long summer and a lot of work. There were close to 500 players who
participated in the program. Shirley had set up schedules and kept the
teams informed of the standings. There were 53 teams. Of the 500 participants,
about 250 of them were USTA members. Shirley added that there were 97 new
members. These numbers of USTA members will help us in our representation
at the next level after our GCTA Qualifier. She thanked Doug for helping
post standings to the GCTA Web Site.
10. Champion of Champions
Gary explained that he was out of town at the time of the Men’s Champ
of Champs but everything ran smoothly. Gary thanked Doug for the preliminary
work with the draws, the match times, and the posting to the GCTA Web Site.
Gary also thanked Andy and Carol for being on hand to run the tournament
on September 9th and 10th at Scioto Country Club. Carol added that Doug
was there too. Gary thanked Shawn Walton, the Scioto tennis pro, for the
great job that he and his staff did. The tournament was interrupted by
rainy weather, but Shawn and the staff were able to get the courts ready
and play was resumed. Gary also thanked Scioto Country Club for the use
of the courts. Carol echoed Gary’s thanks and commented on what a great
job Doug and Shawn had done. Gary said that the awards for the Champ of
Champs would be given out at the Awards Ceremony on September 24th.
11. Awards Ceremony
Janet shared that invitations are being sent out for the September
24th Awards Ceremony. There was discussion about the Margo Mansfield Sportsmanship
Award and its relationship to the Wightman Cup. This award has not been
formally given for a number of years. Jeanne Hendrix gave some background
as to how the award came about. She affirmed that money had been donated
in the name of Margo Mansfield and that the award was definitely for sportsmanship.
This was an area of importance to Margo. Carol gave us some history as
to Margo’s involvement in local tennis. Marni Nordstrom said that Jr. Wightman
Cup players had been named for this award but an actual presentation of
the award had not taken place. Janet wondered if we were limited to awarding
it to a Jr. Wightman Cup participant. She would like to be able to present
the award to an outstanding player or players at the Awards Ceremony, but
there are years when a particular player who demonstrates the characteristics
of the award does not play on the Jr. Wightman Cup team. It was discussed
and stated that the intent was for it to be local award considering sportsmanship,
character, and ability. By local, it was felt that the player should have
at least participated in the GCTA Qualifier. Brooks moved that the award
could be given following those criteria, Harvey seconded the motion, and
the motion passed.
12. Wheelchair Tennis
Larry presented the GCTA with a plaque for our help and support with
regard to the PVA Tennis Tournament that was held in July at the OSU courts.
Larry personally thanked Carol Alexander, Andy Alexander, Doug Snapp, Jake
Will, Jr., Kim Forman, and Bud Peterson for their efforts with regard to
this tournament. He said that they had 24 players participate in the tournament.
Larry thought that maybe next year they would try having the tournament
at Upper Arlington High School rather than the Ohio State courts. The tournament
will again be late in July, maybe starting around July 20th. Things went
so successfully this year that Larry is looking forward to working with
us next year. In a personal note, Larry recently won the National Clay
Court Tournament held in Wilmington, Delaware. Larry also shared some of
the information about the wheelchair team that John Daly took to France.
Information on the PVA Tournament and the team in France is also posted
on the GCTA Web Site.
13. Old Business
Andy talked about the USTA USA Tennis 123 program. He said that approximately
700 or 800 persons were involved. He said that it may even end up with
about a 1000 in the clinic phase. He would be pleased with at least around
700. He noted that it has been frustrating getting info from those who
are involved. As frustrating as it has been this year, it is better than
last year. Andy gave a detailed explanation of the USA Tennis 123 format
for those who were unfamiliar.
Les gave information from USTA meetings that took place in New York
at the time of the US Open. He reported the concern that the USTA is operation
with a large deficit. It was projected that this deficit could be as large
as $1.4 million. This projection is contingent upon how well the US Open
as a tournament does. Preliminary reports are that the tournament has done
very well financially. The USTA as an organization hopes to break even
in 2001. Les reported that ways to improve and/or eliminated the projected
deficit were discussed. These included investment diversification as well
as tighter control of expenditures and investments. Les said that the USTA
supplement that appears with the Tennis magazine has been done away with.
He noted that paying off the debt on the new stadium in New York has been
a large burden to the USTA. In other news, he reported that the USA League
committee’s discussion of the rating system has been put on hold. There
was a general discussion of the rating problem at our local level. Fewer
verifiers have been suggested. Dan Dickenson would like to see more cross
rating. This would be accomplished by bringing someone in from outside
our area to get a better picture as to where we stand. Deb said they already
do this at the next level of play. Dan reiterated that this was the problem.
Dan does not see a level playing field when it comes to the ratings. Players
play at a particular rating at the local level; when they go to the next
level, they are often beaten badly. 4.0 players at the next level are much
better than what we call 4.0 at our local level. Deb said that part of
the problem is that people play up at a higher level during the summer.
Some of the problem is done to the teams themselves.
In another matter, Harvey Beahm said that he had been asked to experiment
with the scoring system for the tournament this summer. Under this scoring
system, if you split the 1st 2 sets you play a 1st to 10 tie breaker game
in place of a 3rd set. In doubles, there is just an eight-game pro set.
14. New Business
There was discussion regarding an increase in dues. Jake reiterated
that we have operated in the red for the last two budgets. He said he will
look at all of the financial statements to get an exact picture. Often
bills come in and are paid after the September meeting, so they don’t show
on our yearly budget that is presented at the September meeting. It is
his belief that we are operating at a loss of approximately $2,500 a year.
He feels that a one to two dollar increase in dues would cover this loss.
Both Terri and Shirley said the average member is unaware as to what we
do as an organization with our money. The members are unaware as to what
programs we support. There was discussion as to the effect of the web site
informing people as to our programs. There are members who do not have
web access. There are members with web access that only check updates on
standings. There was discussion of the use of a newsletter to inform members.
Jake and Jeff feel that most members are not interested in what we do as
an organization as long as we provide league play. As a supplemental income
item, Deb said that there is $25 per team in the USTA Leagues that we still
should get. This could amount to maybe $4,000. Callie asked if the USTA
will continue to provide this $25 per team return or is this just a one
time incentive. Gary does not think that it will continue or that the USTA
will make restrictions so that we would not benefit in the same way for
these programs. Brooks said that he agrees that we do need a increase but
thinks that a raise to $10 is too high. It was pointed out that we have
not had a raise in dues for maybe 15 years. Jeff said that if we raise
the fees a $1 each of the next years, this could also cause problems. Callie
said that in some places there is a team fee and a individual fee. She
feels that we need to go to $10 per member. There was discussion that if
we want to support the number of programs that we support now, a $2 raise
would make more sense. Callie indicated that we are already having trouble
finding volunteers to run some of our programs. If we need to go to a situation
where we are paying people to run these programs rather than have volunteers,
we will definitely operate in the red or need to cut programs. Carol asked
if there was a motion to increase the dues from $8 to $10 effective for
the 2001 year. Gwen moved, Fran second, the motion passed.
In an item related to the Jr. Team Program, Shirley Neibauer said she
had bought the awards for the USA Junior Team Program. She requested that
the GCTA reimburse her for these awards. She explained that she had received
as payment for her efforts an entry fee of $20 per team. Her expenses (including
purchasing the awards) just about equaled what she got in entry fees. Again,
there was discussion that there will be a $25 rebate per team coming from
USTA for the Jr. Team Program. It was expressed that there was some doubt
that the $25 rebate would actually be paid. It was also pointed out that
in the future there may be no such rebate. In further discussion, it was
pointed out that the GCTA has never financed the Junior Team program on
its full scale. Our financial involvement has been more through the CRPD
Junior Team. That program had existed before the USTA program. The CRPD
program is now one part of the USA Junior Team program, but the CRPD Junior
Team does function on its own and has a line item in the budget. Gary would
like to see from Shirley a breakdown of costs to the request and a budget.
He said the budget would need to be reviewed for there to be a line item
for the whole program in our yearly budget. After additional discussion,
Callie moved that we reimburse Shirley. Brooks seconded, and the motion
passed. Jake Will, Jr., wrote Shirley a check for $350.
Dan Dickenson asked that the USTA 9.0 Doubles have their $135 entry
fee for the district be paid by the GCTA. It was pointed out that we have
done this for other USTA teams and that there is a line item in the budget.
Dan was reminded that the members of this team need to have paid the individual
GCTA participation fee. It was said that all had paid this fee. In discussion,
it was stated that in the past we had budgeted to pay for the winter teams
at the next level. We now support the summer teams so this fee will be
taken care of. The 8.0 Doubles may also be asking for entry fee payment.
Carol asked the members present how they felt about joining the OSU
Baseline Club in support of OSU tennis. The feeling was that individuals
should probably join, but the GCTA as an organization would not join.
15. Adjournment
Carol asked for a motion to adjourn. Connie moved, Brooks 2nd, the
motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp
Corresponding Secretary
Next Meeting
Thursday, January 18, 2001 at the
Swim and Racquet Club on Kenny Road
Meeting time is 7:30 PM