Leadership Team Meeting Minutes - Monday, March 2nd, 2020

Submitted by admin on Sun, 03/08/2020 - 14:54
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Leadership team

Submitted by Marissa Evans

Leadership Team Meeting - Monday, March 2nd, 2020 at 5:00pm - Room 4 at Odell Weeks

In attendance were Joyce Noland,  Linda Blake, George Carr, Rob Bromley, Marian Garcia, Stephanie Wolfe, Megan Hollenbeck,  Faith Loeb, Mo Garcia, Leslie McCowan, Bebe Murphy, Pat Smith, Ron Nelson, Grace Vance, David Hoel, Jeff Beckner, and Marissa Evans.

Joyce called the meeting to order and introduced Megan Hollenbeck, then asked us all to introduce ourselves and describe our responsibilities in the leadership team.

Format, location, and date of next round robin

  • Location will be Gregg Park on June 27th.
  •  For this RR the format chosen will be Fixed Partner and this one will be mixed doubles.
  • There will be space for 12 teams per division. In this RR, the divisions will be 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0+. And we will keep a waiting list after the available positions are filled.

Drills

  • There was some discussion regarding schedule of drilling and singles time but it was decided that it stays as is – noon to 1pm.

Treasurer's Report 

  • No expenditures. Balance $638.00.
  • Additional discussion took place regarding refund of money when a player is unable to attend a RR.  It was decided that we will give back a refund provided the player retires at least 48 hours prior to the event. And we encourage people to sign up to the waiting list because there is always a good chance you will be included.

   Gregg Park

  • We have a new Player rep for Gregg Park in addition to Glorian Lynch.  Larry Howell has agreed to be a second player rep and Mo commented that Larry is likely to become our next North Augusta ambassador.
  • We are back to 6 courts - 2 reserved courts on Wed nights and Sat mornings, with the understanding that only when OW is open on Saturday they will be available for reservation.
  • Little Mo drills and lessons on Wednesday started the last week in February. Drills are 5:30pm to 6:30pm and lessons 6:30-7:30pm and 7:30-8:30pm. To schedule drills or lessons you must contact the Pro directly.
  • Stephanie asked about the break in that happened a while back. George replied that was a targeted attack and an isolated incident, but Joyce encouraged everyone to be cautious and not leave anything of value visible in your car. Mo added that they now have a guard on duty.
  • Seth has requested a clinic for the staff. Mo said it will take place March 6th at 6pm and they have 17 staff members signed up. We needed a couple of additional volunteers and Bebe Murphy and her husband volunteered to help.

Little Mo at Odell Weeks Update

  • A few of the sessions have changed location from Gym 1 back to Gym 2. They are filling up. Mo added that the drills are being very successful and that we have Megan's help.

Update on teaching Pros (Mo)

  • Mo said that we have 3 certified teaching Pros currently: Grace, Megan and himself.
  • Mo also added that Megan Hollenbeck has a lot of availabilities so if anyone is interested please contact her directly via phone, text or email. 715-505-5950 meghollenbeck@gmail.com.
  • Megan added that she will be conducting ladies only clinics and all levels clinics.
  • Mo added that Grace will continue to do the Intro clinics and will coordinate with Linda and Faith regarding new players.

Smith-Hazel reserved courts and lessons

  • These courts are not getting many people to come play but as always new playing locations usually start slow as people forget they are available. It is a nice facility and we should take advantage of it. It is available Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-3pm.
  • Joyce asked how we can let people know about this facility and Grace suggested an open house. Mo added that it is not a high risk, that there was a single incident of someone asking for money and if at all concerned, members of the staff will accompany you to your car.
  • Additional suggestions for encouraging traffic were advertising in Bella, a light social or little Mo drills once a month. Mo said that since it is new, sometimes it takes time to develop traffic on a new facility and suggested perhaps we could offer some youth programs at Smith-Hazel.
  •  Mo said they are expanding and building a pool and two additional tennis courts.

Spring League (Mo)

  • We were hoping for 7 captains but ended up with 4 and 140 players.
  • League will start March 15th and at the moment we have enough players to play. We have 4 teams Augusta (captain Kathy Olsen), Sweet Gherkins (captain Mike Dickhart)    ), Lob Squad (captain. Nancy Vermilye) and Dill With It! (captain Megan Hollenbeck).
  • Gregg Park and OW will be options for inclement weather days but as much as possible all matches will be outdoors.
  • Times for games will be Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.
  • Mo gave us information regarding USAPA intention to introduce league play in SC. Will announce as it develops.

Local ratings based on Aiken Tournament

  • After a lengthy discussion regarding a rule we had regarding the Palmetto invitational, it was decided that because of the USAPA rating and the larger number of tournaments, the rule is no longer relevant.

Pickleball Rules (David Hoel)

  • David reviewed some of the changes to the official rules made by the USAPA.
  • The information regarding the changes is available at www.usapa.org. The changes are explained in a 47-page document. George will include a link to them in our website.
  • David also reviewed the only “local rule” we have for our tournament and that is that if a player crosses a court divider during play or if the momentum takes a player across the barrier, that constitutes a fault regardless of whether the ball was in play or not. This rule was established for safety reasons and our rule has been approved by the USAPA. David added that we should make players aware of this rule. It is apparent that most of them observe it as George pointed out with examples.
  • There was additional discussion regarding expanding the role of the court monitors to make calls on rules and after some discussion it was decided that monitors responsibilities remain as they are. Only referees can make rule calls. That it is the option of the players to request a referee for any non-referee match.

Referee recruiting  David Hoel)

  • We need 15 referees for the tournament. We currently have 7 volunteers and 7 maybes. We would like to focus on local referees for the tournament.  We are also looking for referee assistants at this time.
  • Linda asked if the monitors had the right to ask for a referee. And it is up to the players to request it.
  • David said that Mo, Grace and himself will have a referee session.
  • George asked if there were any courses available for referees. And Mo said yes, there are many courses available and also the USAPA had a great deal of information regarding referees on the website. He also added we could offer a session similar to the one that they attended at Hilton Head. Mo encouraged people to use the 90-minute tutorial available at The USAPA website.

Update on the 2020 Tournament (Jeff Beckner)

  • tournament is scheduled for Sept 11-13, 2020
  • The information is current, up and available. A lot of the same people are coming back and we need volunteers.
  • Marissa asked Jeff to please take a look at the afternoon monitors time slots since some of the sessions ran very late and made those shifts very difficult on the monitors.
  • Mo suggested to get in touch with the Houndslake Inn to perhaps consider a players’ rate during the tournament. It would be good for the tournament and excellent advertising for them especially now that they have practice courts available for visiting players.
  • Reception will be at the same place, Municipal Building, and we are working on entertainment.
  • Box lunches update. Lunch asked about getting someone different and Jeff said they are considering vendors at this time.
  • There was additional discussion regarding USAPA membership requirements for this tournament and it is not required for this year.
  • Also some discussion about making this a sanctioned tournament, and it was decided that it may be something to consider for the future since it is very close to nationals. But given the popularity of the event, this may be something we don't need to change.
  • We are looking for a volunteer photographer.

Clear and equitable policy of PB court use at Virginia Acres Park. Meeting with the city?

  • We currently do not have a policy in place for the use of outdoor courts. It is first come first serve. We encourage you to be polite, fair, and share.
  • We are considering approaching the city to establish some rules regarding outdoor courts as the population of pickleball players grows. A protocol or rules will have to be design in coordination with the city.
  • When the courts will be reserved for League Play it will be posted.

Strategy to approach Mayor, city managers and members of the city council to discuss conversion of idle tennis courts at Virginia Acres Park to pickleball courts.

  • Joyce suggested we need to talk about it and both Mike and Mo agreed with Joyce, we need to elect a group that will lobby the issue with the City Council.
  • Mo added that we have to organize ourselves.  Mo also said that there is a current trend where tennis coaches are embracing pickleball.
  • George asked about the cost of 4 additional courts and Mo believed it would be around $20K
  • There was some discussion regarding the facilities at Camden SC.

Input from player reps and other discussion

·       No input

Next Meeting will be Monday, April 6th, 2020 at Odell Weeks 5:00pm Room 4.