Minutes from the February 7, 2022 LTM Meeting

Submitted by GeorgeC on Wed, 02/09/2022 - 13:12
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Leadership team

Minutes for the Monday, February 7, 2022, LTM Meeting, 5:30pm, Odell Weeks

The meeting was held indoors at OW. In attendance were members of the Leadership, George Carr, Ben Stephens and Harve Mobley. Also in attendance were player reps, Marian Garcia (Representative Coordinator), Cheryl Breidenbach (4.0) , Tanya Hoffman and Leslie McCowen (3.5H), Bob Fogle and Heidi Abele (3.5), Froggie Rappoport and Jay Wilson (3.5L), John McCowen (3.0H), Nelson Swartzentruber and Judy Degregorio (3.0), Linda Blake and Faith Loeb (2.5H).   Also in attendance were Joyce Noland, Mo Garcia, Ron Nelson, Pat Smith and Lee Fox.

Meeting called to order by Harve. Minutes were taken by Cheryl. The items discussed in the meeting were:

Welcome new player reps! Leslie McCowen 3.5H, John McCowen 3.0H, Heidi Abele 3.5, and Jay Wilson 3.5 L.

We still need a player rep for 3.0. George Carr is leaving so we need this position filled too. Calendar person is needed because George has been doing this for the past two years. There is a commitment (opening/closing sign up genius) for Wednesday nights and Thursday mornings with this position.

I. Player Representative Input

 Marian- Discussed New Player Clinics (NPC). Current players at GP are complaining that new players choose and set up the better equipment leaving worse nets for established members. Bob Fogel said there is merit to having good nets for new players! It was decided we should have good nets for everyone. Ben has three extra nets. One of those will go to GP. Ben will talk to GP tomorrow about purchasing new nets. 

Heidi-People are wondering if court designation reservations can be reserved at 11 instead of 11:45. If times were changed open play would be from 9-11 (instead of 9-11:45). Reserved play is currently from 11:45-2:45. Jay commented that from 10:30-11 open play players are done playing and very few stick around. It was decided to keep times as they are and open play players can also reserve courts so they can come earlier than 11:45. Heidi will mention this to the players that questioned her. 

Froggie-Sent card to Chris Power for bereavement of her husband. 

All other player representatives had nothing new to report. 

 II. Old Business:

1. Personal ball machines can be used in doors at Gregg Park.

2. Social round robin moved to April.

3. Outdoor tourney. Mo stated that the City has money to build 6 new courts. So the outdoor tournament discussed last month can wait to be held until 2023.

4. RR is March 5. 

III. New Business

Communication this month:

A. Ball machine can be used at GP.

B. Net/Barrier Repair Process. GP is short court barriers. Mo/Ben will build new ones.

C. APB Planning Email (Soliciting for help). Ben issues emails with positive things we do but would still need more volunteers from all players.

A. Need Help 

  1. In need of a new Treasurer. Thanks to Ron for doing a wonderful job for a long while. Tanya Hoffman has volunteered to take over. 

  2. Bebe did bulletin boards and has decided to not do any more. Thanks to Bebe. We need a replacement. 

  3. Pat Smith has run the Social Activities. She and Ben will do the next social event but she would like to step aside and let someone handle the social events. We need a new coordinator for this.

  4. Need a host for City Challenge…volunteers. Joyce will run computers though. 

  5. We need another 3.0 player representative

  6. George Carr is retiring from the Leadership Team. We need volunteer for this position. 

  7. George Carr has done the calendar /SUG Maintenance…will need someone to take over this job. 

Ben stated that he has Aiken Pickleball business cards for any that desire. 

B. Skill Rating Session- Ron

February 21 is the next session. We have a spot for one more. Mike Howard and Brian Eberhard have volunteered to help others with these ratings. 

C. Odell Weeks

  1. February schedule 9am-2:45pm. No weekends

  2. New Player Clinic was conducted by Mo on Thursday, February 3. There were 8 participants with 4 on a wait list. Next one will be on March 19. 

  3. New Player Practice - Will be Thursday, February 17 with Linda and Faith. They had four participants last time. Linda is pulling a list from last year’s new player clinics for 2.5 RR on March 5. This 2.5 has been added from the original flier since under 50 on 3.0 has no sign ups. 2.5 will play at 9am-noonish. Linda has 8 players and will try to get two more for backup. 

  4. Lessons are every Friday at OW with Mo from 9am-2pm.

D. Smith Hazel

  1. Little Mo are Wednesdays. Going well. Most are full. Some may have 7. Eight is max. 

  2. Skill Rating session is on Monday, February 21. There is opening for one more person

 

E. Gregg Park

  1. February schedule T/Th 9:30-1pm; Friday 9-1230pm. Starting in March, new hours will include T/Th 930-1pm  plus Wednesday night, 5:30-8:45pm courts 1-6, and Friday night 5:30-7:45 courts 1,2, and 3.  We lose daytime on Fridays, but Joyce stated we should have Saturdays 9-1230pm. 

  2. Next NPC will be Friday Feb. 25

  3. NPP will be Thursday or Saturday. George/Ben will schedule. Froggie, Steve and Bob have done a wonderful job with NPC and these newbee players are playing. 

 

F. Financial Report

Ron. Needed printer and ink to support Round Robins. Mike Howard donated a new printer. $1220 is our bank balance. Will need to purchase balls. GP needs to supply their own equipment. Soooo the net that Ben was going to give to GP will not be given to GP. Ben will talk to them about keeping up quality equipment. 

 

G. Gregg Park Round Robin, March 5

Over 50 filling up. Low signup under 50. Under 50 3.0 will be changed to 2.5 Women’s as discussed above. We will need volunteers. Linda and Faith are working to ensure these spots are filled. 

St. John has a court but is only for parishioners and a small number of their friends. Mo has volunteered to do a special clinic for them. 

H. 2022 City Challenge, June 11

Joyce reported that we are not getting a good response for the try outs.  Six cities are committed to playing. People should sign up with the level they are designated at. We do not have time that day to have age groups. We could create two tournaments…Under 50 and over 50 in future. Planning on having playoffs and practices if enough people sign up. Team selection was going to be in March. Practices would have been in April. These times can be moved to future dates since we are having slow responses. Could advertise Open Play after the tournament to help bring in more individuals.

I. Palmetto Tournament

Bob Fogel, the tournament director, reported his team. Jeff Beckner is assistant. Beth Eberhardt is Check in Desk lead. Nelson Spitnale is event Desk Lead. Charlie Neill Court Monitor Lead. Michele Bullington is Communications Lead. Ben Lacy is Ref Lead. Mo is senior advisor. Larry Howell and David Hoyl are ad hoc. Thinking of adding a junior tournament or social event. Open registration is May 1. Inventory…we are good with medals. Six new nets will be needed. Prices are being looked into for hats, tshirts, etc. Mo stated that a Mexico team will be sent a letter from the city inquiring if they can come and participate in the tournament. This may draw more participants. The tournament is slated for September 9-11. Sept 7/8 may be a clinic/social events/exhibition. Volunteers will be needed.

J. Social

Chili and future events - Pat Smith. Chili cook off will now be in March. March 19 is the only Saturday available. Fridays open are 11 and 18. Inside courts would be available until 8:45. Past socials have been held on Fridays and attendance has been good. Pat/Ben will initially see if March 18 is available. If not, plan B. 

K. Ambassador Report - Mo Garcia

PB continues to grow. Larry Howell, N Augusta ambassador, has resigned. Ben Lacy will pick N. Augusta up. Barnwell will add 4 PB courts. Lexington tennis club will convert tennis courts to 8 outdoor courts. Lighting for the 8 outdoor OW courts may be better in the near future. The plan is to convert the remaining two tennis courts to 6 PB courts, giving us 14 PB courts. Once the handball courts are removed (2-3 years), the city has promised to give us 6-9 more PB courts. A good outdoor tournament would require 20 courts. We can always tape the nearby tennis courts to get the magic “20” for us to host a sanctioned tournament. 

Camden is hosting a tournament and requesting our help as volunteers. 

Froggie has asked if a PB rep from the city has been appointed. Mo replied that the city likes what we are doing so there is not a need for this person. 

There was a lot of discussion about becoming a club. If we became a club we would have access to grants. Joyce has stated that if we become a club the city could charge us to use OW gym. Big question is where does Aiken PB want to go in the future. There are pros/cons to staying as is or becoming a club. Mo keeps stressing how fast and big PB is growing. Others are not sure this is occurring in Aiken though. Mo stated that so far we have stayed above the curve. 

Augusta has not established a club. Nor has Columbia. Camden hasn’t either. 

Woodside is building four purpose-built pickleball courts. Reserve is building purpose built courts too.

Court fees are always negotiable, according to Mo. 

L. Final comments.  

Pat Smith had a concern on PB etiquette. Music box was playing. Can we request no playing? Can we ask people to clear out after they are done playing? Do we still have a 6 person court limit? Common courtesy would say that you can ask others to hold conversations elsewhere off of the court they just finished on. Music can be played if it is not bothering others. Six person limit was only during the peak of Covid.

Froggie brought up the center pole on the new nets that are breaking very easily. Froggie made a new sleeve to remedy the problem. She will continue to make these new pieces as the nets break. Thank you to Froggie. 

No closing comments from anyone. Next meeting is March 7, 5:30, OW. Meeting adjourned at 7:12 pm.

 

Cheryl