GCTA Board Meeting Minutes
9/21/06
Attendance: Terri Jones, Shirley Neibauer, Doug DiRosario, Jane McMeekin, Andy Alexander, Carol Alexander, Kelly Hoffman, Harvey Beahm, Rita Brown, Rebecca Hancart, Janet Craycraft, Deena Snapp, Jim Hendrix, Art Haus, Doug Snapp, Mark Anderson
Annual Meeting:
Janet Craycraft called the Annual Meeting to order.
1. Nominating Committee Report: Shirley Neibauer gave the report. She had meet with her committee, and the following suggested changes in the Board of Trustees were given. Vince Solomon, whose term was up, was removed; Doug DiRosario was added to the Board of Trustees. Doug's term will expire in 2009. Shirley added that Jake Will, Sr., had asked to be removed as a Trustee. His term will not be up until 2007. Joel Madenwald was added to complete Jake's term. As far as the Executive Board is concerned, Shirley stated that Jake Will, Jr., will continue as Treasurer and Doug Snapp will continue as Secretary. Rita Brown, Jane McMeekin, and Geri Schlegel asked to be removed as Vice-Presidents: none had interest in moving into the office of President. In their places, Art Haus, Erin Ortman, and Dan Witteman were added as Vice-Presidents. Janet Craycraft has completed her two-year commitment as President. She will be replaced with Jim Hendrix. His term will be for two one-year terms.
Janet thanked Shirley for her report and asked if there were questions or discussion regarding the recommended changes. Hearing none, Janet asked for a motions to accept the recommendations of the Nominating Committee. Deena Snapp moved, Terri Jones second, and the motion passed unanimously.
2. Budget Committee Report
Janet then asked Doug Snapp to give the Budget Committee Report. Doug thanked the committee members: Deena Snapp, Jake Will, Jr. Denica Bruce, Erin Ortman, Dave King, and Janet Craycraft. Copies of the proposed budget were on the tables. (Click to download a copy in pdf format.) It was asked why the amount of income from the OVTA was so much lower than last year's actual. Doug said that it was a very conservative estimate; that way the GCTA would not be caught short if the OVTA amount was actually much lower. Hearing no other questions, Shirley Neibauer made a motion to approve the budget as presented, Rita Brown seconded, and the motion passed.
3. Adjournment of the Annual Meeting
Janet indicated that that concluded the Annual Meeting. Before asking for a motion for adjournment, she said how much she enjoyed being president of the GCTA. She hoped that the organization can continue to grow tennis involvement in the central Ohio area. She also indicated her support for a strong commitment to the increase in USTA memberships for Columbus. She thanked all those who had worked with her toward those goals during her presidency. Her words were greeted with a round of applause in thanks for her efforts. Jane McMeekin made a motion to adjourn the Annual Meeting, there was a second, and the motion passed.
Regular Quarterly Meeting
The new GCTA President, Jim Hendrix, called the meeting to order.
1. Approval of Minutes
Jim asked for an approval of the July minutes, indicating that copies were on the tables and that the minutes had been posted to the web site. Janet Craycraft moved, Jane McMeekin seconded, and the motion passed.
2. Treasurer’s Report
Jim then asked for the treasurer's report. Doug Snapp said that Jake was unable to attend and that he would give the report. As of 8/31/06, the checking account had $207, the flex fund had $74,145, the junior fund had $5,488, the Margo Mansfield fund had $1,502, for a total of $81,342. Jake indicated to Doug that after all expenses, Jake projected a cash balance of around $61,000. Jim asked for a motion to accept the report. Rita Brown so moved, Shirley Neibauer seconded, and the motion passed.
3. Women’s Leagues and Champion of Champions
Erin Ortman was unable to attend, but it was indicated that the season had been very successful. The Women's Board is presently working through the details of moving the entire league to tenniscores.com. Though no October meeting of the Women's Board is planned, they will be working with Nancy Biggs of tenniscores.com to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Janet pointed out that the movement of the 4.0 play-day could cause a problem as it will be the same day that most area golf clubs have their women's play. It was indicated that the Women's Board would look into this as a potential problem. Shirley Neibauer said that the Champ of Champs tournament had run smoothly at New Albany Country Club and Worthington Hills Country Club. Shirley thanked Beth LeCorgne for her work with the Champ of Champs.
4. Men’s Leagues and Champion of Champions
Doug Snapp gave the report. He indicated that the 3.5 and 4.0 leagues had just completed their play-offs and that everything was set for the Awards Ceremony. The Champ of Champs had been played at Champions Tennis Club; John Campbell had run the tournament on-site. Doug took the entries and put them into a draw. He said that the numbers were up slightly from last year. This was the second year for running the tournament in August. Previously, it had been run in early-to-late September. The Men's Board was giving some consideration to running the tournament the weekend of July 4th. A decision would be made by the April captains' meeting. Doug indicated that without Jake's efforts, there would have been no men's leagues this summer. Doug and Fred Duy had helped Jake with different aspects of the organization of the league. Fred had done all of the scheduling; his efforts were invaluable. Doug had put together all of the contact information and added that to the standing's page on the web site. Doug noted and thanked the other members of the Men's Board: Andy Alexander, Joel Madenwald, and Al Walker.
5. USTA League
Terri Jones gave the report. She said there were 631 participants; the number of women players has grown; the number of men seems to go up and down. Terri suggest that rather than putting money into the awards for the league winner, that money should be put toward the district entry fee. It was suggested that she run the idea by the captains to see what feelings are out there. Discussion continued about the $3,900 that is budgeted for entries to the USTA adult district tournaments. In the past, this amount has been shared with the indoor teams; this will no longer be the case. The entire $3,900 will be used to defer entry fees for the summer league participants.
6. Ohio Valley Tennis Association
Harvey Beahm gave the report. He indicated the OVTA Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, November 5th, at the Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati. All USTA members and GCTA Trustees are welcome to attend. There will be a continental breakfast, an meeting, an awards presentation, and a lunch. Contact Harvey or Dave Engle if interested in attending.
Harvey indicated that grants from the OVTA and USTA are available.
Doug Snapp asked Harvey to pass along our GCTA award winners as nominations for OVTA awards.
Harvey added that USTA fall leagues are set to begin. He concluded by saying that the Midwest Section Annual Meeting is set for the first weekend in December; it will take place in Indianapolis.
7. Columbus Recreation and Parks
Denica Bruce provided Doug with the following report; copies were on the tables.
Columbus Recreation and Parks Department
Tennis Report
Denica Bruce
Youth numbers were slightly lower than last year. The Tennis Pro's went to each site twice a week to encourage more players. Some sites increased numbers where a small few decreased. Some possible reasons: Change of staffing at recreation centers, weather, marketing of programs within the centers, turn over of age groups, and time of lesson was not productive for a particular site.
The Tennis staff did like the two a-week program. We saw different kids at each practice days along with players who attended both lessons. This season, our players' skill levels were at the true novice level. We had very few older players, I would say 75% were 8-9 year olds. Those older players have moved on to school tennis or are now taking private lessons. In this aspect, our program has been very successful through the years. I believe we are now at the re-building stage---which is a good place to be.
Our year end tournament had good numbers: 48 players.
An added bonus to the summer program---We took 28 players to the Cincinnati Western and Southern Financial Group Masters Tournament. These children had the experience of a lifetime. Those players were selected due to their practice attendance, attitude and sportsmanship exhibited during the 7 week program.
We fielded many phone calls from our website information. Next summer, we will be adding an on-line registration opportunity. This may increase numbers at more locations.
Champions Tennis Club increased membership even with the loss of the women's team. We increased our weekly participation counts. Grandview men were a nice addition to the club. We hope they return next year. We held a Middle School/High School Camp with 6 attending. These 6 had very little tennis experience and expressed a desire to play for their schools. We've asked them to return to camp next year and to become volunteers at Champions.
I would like to thank John Campbell for conducting the GCTA Men's Champ of Champs tournament. Minus the rain, the tournament ran rather well. Congratulations to the winners and finalists. We welcome the tournament back next summer. I would like to thank John Campbell, Charlie Weisent and others in their dedication and commitment to Champions Tennis. I am very grateful to the work they have done at Champions.
Question: How can we acquire a GCTA banner to keep at Champions? The banner we had for the men's tournament was eye catching and informative. I would also like one to use at the youth tournaments and weekly match play. This would be a great way to show the GCTA's involvement with our program.
On behalf of the youth tennis players of Columbus Recreation and Parks, I would like to thank you for the continued support of our grassroots program. Without your contribution our program would not be possible. Last year, our program received an Honorable Mention in the "Programming for Youth" Category at the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association's annual Awards for Excellence ceremony. This is possible because of your continued support. Thank you.
NJTL Program 2006
Budget / GCTA
Bobby Redmond 295 X $11.50 = $3392.50
Jarrod Wagner 224hrs X $12.00 = $2688.00
Steven Seeberg 208hrs X $11.00 = $2288.00
Total Spent 727 Hours $8368.50
2006 Participation Numbers Total for Season:
North Division
Brentnell NJTL 0 (Site closed)
Carriage Place Tots 126
Carriage Place NJTL 66
Feddersen Tots 3
Feddersen NJTL 5
Linden NJTL 12
Tuttle Tots 38
Tuttle NJTL 19
Whetstone Tots 149
Whetstone NJTL 73
Woodward Tots 24
Woodward NJTL 43
North Total 558
Southwest Division
Glenwood NJTL 5
Holton NJTL 36
Indian Mound Tots 2
Indian Mound NJTL 11
Marion Franklin Tots 2
Marion Franklin NJTL 10
Schiller NJTL 48
Sullivant Gardens 41
Westgate Tots 71
Westgate NJTL 52
Southwest Total 276
Southeast Division
Barnett Tots 67
Barnett NJTL 55
Beatty 25
Blackburn NJTL 20
Driving Park NJTL 13
Far East Tots 78
Far East NJTL 47
Krumm NJTL 82
Sawyer/Milo Grogan 0
Southeast Total 387
Tennis Camp
Whetstone Recreation Center 55 campers
Wolfe Park 48 campers
Champions Teen 6
Total 109
Champions
Adults 1485 weekly counts
Children 158
Total Children 1779
Total Adults 1485
Campers 109
____
3373 Total # of summer participants
End of Denica's report.
Doug indicated that a banner had been provided for the Champ of Champs Tournament at Champions; that banner can stay at the club. Kelly Hoffman asked for an additional banner. It was thought that it could be provided.
Harvey Beahm questioned the accountability of the CRPD programs in light of recent events within the department and decisions by the department. Kelly indicated that, as Denica had outlined, the costs were clear: $8,368.50 had been spent on instructors for NJTL programs. The costs for instructors for the adult programs would account for most of the remaining budgeted amount. Kelly stressed that they were doing everything they could to run quality programs. He added that without the help of the GCTA, the tennis programs within the CRPD would likely be drastically cut, if not dropped. Harvey persisted, and after discussion it was decided that a group should get together to discuss the situation.
Kelly continued that the adult programs continue to grow. He was pleased with their new registration program. Kelly concluded by saying that the Central Ohio Tournament continues to improve.
8. USTA Junior Team Tennis
Rebecca Hancart gave the report. She indicated that 52 teams participated in the summer program. This provided 414 USTA memberships. 12 teams went on to compete at the next level. Doug indicated that Rebecca had given him information and that it had been posted to the GCTA web site. There was discussion as to the lower numbers in the junior program. Rebecca said that some of the decline in participation is due to some country clubs running their own programs. Rebecca indicated that grant money from the Midwest is only going to newly formed teams. Rebecca would like to see more done with a recreational league. There should be grant money available for that since it would be new.
9. Awards Ceremony
Deena Snapp gave the report. She indicated that all is ready for the event. The award winners have been selected. She feels that the committee picked some very deserving award winners. Deena thanked the committee: Harvey Beahm, Janet Craycraft, Erin Ortman, and Doug Snapp for their efforts. She indicated that the award recipients have all responded with biographical information, and that information will be printed in the program. The awards have been purchased; the refreshments have been ordered. Carol Alexander and Carolyn Focht will be helping on Sunday at the event. Janet Craycraft will host the event.
10. Umpires
Both Mark Anderson and Art Haus commented on recent tournaments. Both emphasized the need new umpires. Doug Snapp indicated that the GCTA is very aware of the problem. A stipend is offered to anyone who gets training. A poster campaign was launched at the clubs to get more umpires. Geri Schlegel put time and effort into this. Preliminary certification can be done on-line. Umpire information is available on the GCTA web site. Doug concluded by saying that that quality umpires are very much needed; no tournament can operate successfully with them. It just doesn't appear that people are interested. Andy Alexander added that during the era of the Buckeye Tournament with top players participating, there was no shortage of umpires. Everyone wanted to be involved. With the loss of that tournament, there is no big event to maintain interest. The question was asked if any new umpires had been brought into the program by the poster campaign. Mark and Art said they were unaware of any new participants due to that program.
11. Old Business
Jim shared that the Girls' 16's District OVTA Tournament needs to be sanctioned by us if we want to continue to host it. Jim asked if we have someone who will take charge of it. Janet explained that she had run the tournament after Carol had stepped down. Carol Alexander's commitment to this tournament was recounted. Janet feels that we should make every attempt to keep the tournament in Columbus and that the GCTA should keep control of it. It has been very convenient for our local players to have this tournament in Columbus. Janet continued that she would be willing to run the tournament one more year. Jim indicated that he would take care of the sanctioning process.
Jim said that OSU would again be hosting the ITA National Indoor Collegiate Championships. He further noted that his club would again be the host site. He read a letter from Chuck Merzbacher, OSU Women's Coach and GCTA Board Trustee. The letter stressed the importance of this tournament and the desire to again have the involvement of the GCTA. The dates for the tournament are November 2nd through the 5th. Jim reminded the group that the commitment last year had been in the form of $1,000 to help with the cost of the hospitality room and in the form of gathering volunteers for the various jobs that go along with a tournament. Doug pointed out that the actual financial commitment last year had been $1,300. Jim felt that that amount was not enough to do justice to a hospitality room for an event of this size and importance. Others commented as to the high level of play and the fact that the GCTA is being allowed to be a participant in this event. However, others felt that this commitment to this tournament is beyond the scope of the GCTA. Still others said that as a tennis event, it deserved our support. Jim talked with regard to the financial commitment that he and his mother had committed to this event. Jim was asked what he thought was a fair amount. He responded that $2,500 would be an appropriate amount. There was a motion to fund the hospitality room with the amount of $2,500. There was a second. Further discussion showed that there were several who were decidedly against the motion. After lengthy debate, a vote was taken. The motion passed. It was not unanimous. Discussion followed then as to who should coordinate the event. Harvey Beahm volunteered Deena Snapp. She respectfully indicated that she would not be available on those dates and that Rebecca Hancart had coordinated last year and that she, Rebecca, should be given the position if she desired it. Rebecca indicated that she would coordinate; Deena said she could help with the preliminary work if Rebecca wanted her help. Rebecca said that would be fine and that the two would be contacting others for help.
12. New Business
Jim made note of next year's meeting dates: 1/18/07, 4/19/07, 7/19/07 and 9/20/07.
Janet Craycraft again thanked the members of the Board of Trustees for their efforts in her time as president. She also again listed the names of the new members and their positions. She personally introduced the new member who was present: Doug DiRosario.
Mark Anderson commented on the summer ITA tournament at OSU. He made note of the excellent level of play, the organization of the event, and the work that the umpires had provided. Doug Snapp echoed Mark's comments.
Doug continued with a statement that the web address, gcta.net, has been paid for the next five years.
Doug concluded by thanking Janet for her work as president of the GCTA. He noted the sincere effort on her part to make tennis important in central Ohio. She willingly stepped in to organize the Jr. Davis/Wightman Cup Tournament; she took over the Girls' 16's District Tournament; and much, much more.
13. Adjournment
Jim asked for a motion to adjourn; such a motion with a second was made. After a voice vote, the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Snapp
GCTA Secretary