Tennis Club Executive Board Meeting
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
In Person Meeting in Cribari Patio Room
In Attendance: voting members: President Ruth Liu, vice-president Gene Mariani, Tina Parsley, Nancy Domingo, Andrea Alvarez, Roy Pennington, Cheryl Diltz, Jayme Dickson, Lynn Dickson, Don Clarke, Marty Funcell, plus non-voting members Brett Foreman, Phyllis Seeger, Betty Olsen, Wendy Ferguson, and Jim Murphy.
President Ruth Liu called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m and presented the February minutes. Roy, club secretary, noted that he had been informed that the term “Scholarship Foundation” should be Scholarship Fund. Roy explained that the term “Foundation” had been used to reflect consistency with the agenda outlines, but going forward the term “Fund” will be used. Minutes were subsequently approved as submitted.
Communication: Don had nothing new to report.
Court Manager: Marty submitted a written detailed summary of the month’s activities. This summary is filed with the minutes. In summary, Marty reported that the umbrellas are up on each court for the approaching warm season. Still no response has been received for the 911 signage. A work order had been submitted but subsequently rejected, and then was forwarded to Clay Curtin. Marty had a brief conversation with Clay about the electronic digital clock, the 911 signage, and about the cracks in the courts. Board members discussed several options to replace the inoperative clocks. These included digital clocks, lack of longevity of batteries, sun exposure, and the possibility of painted decorative clocks. Marty will investigate each as to installation and cost. Marty and Peggy recently cleaned out the Lost and Found container. A few items remain to be claimed. Suggestion box was found to be locked, and the key is apparently not available. Marty will determine the best means for members to submit suggestions. A new rope has been installed on the bell in the viewing area. No expenses were incurred for the month, and Brett will submit the expenses for the ball machine’s storage unit’s shelves. This is expected to be around $150. Brett recommended that the defibrillator be moved from the storage shed to the bleacher area and another placed near courts 5 and 6. Recommendation is for the defibrillator to be near the display case in the viewing area. Marty will submit a work order for a new unit and location for each. A resident complained about the sign for the Open House that was posted on the fencing. The individual stated that this obstructed their view. The sign was subsequently removed.
Members at Large: Lolovic Shaw was not in attendance. Jayme (Open House chairperson) reported that this event which occurred earlier in the day was overall very successful, and he had received numerous favorable comments. Some participants had registered as new members to the Tennis Club (and received a can of balls) and several registered for Jump Start. Brett had the on-court activities very organized with 8-10 individuals rotating through drills and activities on each of the four courts. Andrea and Nancy (Hospitality Chairpersons) were recognized for the tasty refreshments.
Membership: Cheryl stated that she had registered 1 new member at the Open House and an additional 2 later in the day. Two others expressed an interest in the club and Jump Start. Cheryl also reported on the Prescott Tournament. All courts were full with players, and board members that had participated remarked that the event was very successful. The Hospitality
ladies had provided breakfast and lunch items. Cheryl stated that over $700 was raised for the VMA and the event was on budget. Cheryl and Joy Rem (event coordinators) had updated the notebook which can be helpful for next year’s event.
Treasurer: Tina submitted a detailed written summary of the financial report dated 2/29/2024. This summary is filed with the minutes. Expenses totaled $428.02 and income was zero. Following this treasury period, funds of $6005 were received from memberships and dues, and it will be reflected in next month’s report. Scholarship fund totals $23,596.93. Tina and Wendy Ferguson had researched the possibility of means to invest the funds. Contacts indicated that with the club’s current status, any interest earned would have to be credited to an individual for tax purposes.
Master Scheduler: Jayme discussed 2 issues with court scheduling. One is that while the YourCourts program indicates small blocks of time are available to the user they are in increments of 1.5 hours. Activities that may exceed this block of time by a small amount would require that the entire next block be reserved. Solution is not apparent at this point. Secondly, Brett Foreman (club tennis professional) has concerns about a means to avoid dead time when his tennis lessons did not consume an entire block (1.5 hours) time. In addition, Brett indicated that there were days where he needed to reserve a court during the morning and another in the afternoon to accommodate those that requested lessons. The current structure of YourCourts prevents an individual from scheduling courts more than once per day. Brett’s solution has been to request that the student reserve a court for one of the time periods. This is a bit cumbersome and Brett was looking for a possible solution. Both of these issues, from Jayme and Brett, will be referred to Anahid Gregg (YourCourts administrator).
Hospitality/Social: Nancy and Andrea had not encountered any major issues with recent events. Both had some concerns which were discussed. They felt that some attention could be given to those with dietary issues. They inquired is it possible to obtain an estimate of the number of attendees to prevent a shortage or excess of food. That is certainly possible for some events where registration is necessary while those that are open to all with no registration becomes more difficult. Organizers will attempt to provide this information.
Tournaments: Karen was not in attendance. Betty Olsen reported that Peggy Seidel will be The Mixer lead person. Sharon Bartels and Cheryl Heusser are organizing refreshments for this event scheduled for Friday, July 19.
Old Business:
Rossmoor: Gene reported that The Villages team is organized and ready to play. Gene has been in touch with the Rossmoor contact who is organizing their team. The matches will be held at Rossmoor on Saturday, April 20.
VTL: Roy reported that the season has been underway for a few weeks. Except for one rain-out all other matches have been played. More matches have been played than at this same point last spring. Numerous subs have been needed and used. The captains (Jim, Sherry and Betty) have had to scramble at times to complete their line-ups due to team members being unavailable. Ruth reported that she had received a complaint/comment from an individual about playing against someone who was much better. Roy commented that he would take this as “sour grapes”. The league coordinators worked very hard to try to categorize individuals as to skill levels and arrange matches with players of similar abilities. Playing against those that are better or worse is the nature of tennis.