Minutes for Nov 2021 Leadership Team Meeting

Leadership Team Meeting – Monday, November 1, 2021, at 5:30pm – Odell Weeks

The meeting was held indoors at Odell Weeks.  In attendance were members of the Leadership Team, Joyce Noland, George Carr, and Harve Mobley; also in attendance was Nelson Swartzentruber, Ben Stephens, Pat Smith, Cheryl Breidenbach, Mo Garcia, Marian Garcia, Chris Tubbs, Froggie Davenport, Steve Haertel, Linda Blake, Tonya Hoffman, and Faith Loeb.  Harve took the minutes.   Joyce called the meeting to order and welcomed new team members Froggie Davenport, Steve Haertel and Tonya Hoffman.  All members introduced themselves.  For the meeting the items discussed were:  

Leadership Team

  • Joyce will rotate off the leadership team in January 2022.  George will rotate off in June 2022.  Ben Stephens has agreed to be nominated for the open position in January.  Player reps were asked to present any other nominations for the open position in January.  If anyone else has an interest in serving on the leadership team, a selection will be made at the next meeting.  Nominations for consideration are due Wednesday of next week. 

Odell Weeks

  • Indoor play at OW has been closed this week due to floor maintenance.  Jeremiah will update the status of the work on Wednesday 11/3 and Friday 11/5.

  • The new players clinic was originally cancelled in November because of the work being done in OW, but has now been moved to Gym 1.  Because of basketball, which starts next week, there will be weekend play at Odell (either gym), until March..  Ben Lacy  is out January and February so Mo will conduct the new player clinic in January, probably held on a Friday morning (date to be determined).

  • A suggestion was made to reconnect with the Baptist Church to see if there might be evening play available.  Ben suggested we check to see if there is any interest.  USC Aiken has courts available for only intramural play (i.e., students only).  Aiken Tech also has courts available on a “pay for play” basis.  Smith-Hazel courts are reportedly getting good use, but that is only for Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Gregg Park

  • The installation for the  new curtain panels that were  to be installed Thursday, November 4th, has been delayed one week until Thursday,  November 11th.

  • The next Round-Robin is Saturday, November 6th.  New dividers have been requested at Gregg Park.  Spreadsheets are ready.  Please check start times for the events as some have changed.  

  • The equipment storage at GP has been reorganized.

 

Smith-Hazel

  • “Little Mo” is scheduled to start at Smith-Hazel on January 5th, and be every Wednesday thereafter until the middle of March.  Signup for the first four sessions to be available next week.

City Challenge

  • The deadline for sign-ups has passed.  Chris is organizing playoffs to determine who will represent Aiken where more than one team has registered.

Virginia Games

  • Bob Nibarger has proposed that the Aiken Tournament (or some other qualifying event) could be a feed-in event for the planned Virginia Beach Picklepalooza.  This will be the first ever four state event (SC, GA, NC, and VA) to offer pickleball play along with many other family type activities.  More to come on this topic.  Your input is welcome.

Socials

  • The October social was cancelled.  Other options are being considered for the next social.  Tanya presented several ideas on the topic including:

  •  a hot cocoa/chili/pickleball event,

  •  a men’s night (where the women cheer on the men and bring food to share), 

  • a women’s night (where men cheer on the women and bring food to share, 

  • a potluck or even a food truck night with food/social time at the courts during play.  The idea is to start small and see what will grow out of it.

  • Pat and Tanya to discuss possibilities of another social between now and the end of the year.

Treasurer’s Report

  •  Joyce gave the report in Ron’s absence.  No specifics were given but some good revenue was reported from the GP round robin this coming Saturday but several bills are upcoming: $400 for the gym rental, balls, printing, some amount for snacks and medals.  In December $150 will be due for the hosting fee.

Player Reps Reports

  • Steve Haertel: concern was expressed from some potentially new players about the $10 fee to play at GP.  Several good ideas were expressed to help with the matter.  Steve will follow up with GP.

  • The bulletin board at GP is virtually empty.  Steve asked if some literature was available.  It was suggested that Bebe may be able to provide some information.  Steve has since been provided with a copy of everything available at Odell that might be of some use at Gregg Park.

  • Pat asked about a December Social.  If the weather is good, a Saturday potluck with food indoors and play outside was suggested.

  • Hopeland Gardens:  This year a contact for those interested in volunteering has been put on the website.

  • Faith mentioned that pickleball has been featured on a couple of national morning shows.

  • Also noted that the 2.5 event was a big success.  There is talk of expanding to include other communities.

Next Meeting

  •  The next meeting target date is November 29th.