Robson Ranch Pickleball Club
Board Minutes 10/2/2014
Present: Ken McManus,
Larry Kraus, Dave Lawell, MJ Wong, Paula Steger, Steve Arther
Absent:
Steve Falek
Meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m.
First order of business was to set dates for the General
Meeting and the date for elections.
General meeting will be Friday, October 24 and elections will be
Sunday, November 23. Important addition this year is that voting
can be done by email – bylaws allow it.
MJ will just make sure people understand that their vote will be known
to her as she will tally the email vote.
We will continue to utilize a check off list to insure that no one votes
twice. There will be a short meeting
prior to the general meeting held on Tuesday 10/21 at 2:00 p.m. in the billiard
room as with ALL Board meetings.
It was decided that meetings would be the first Thursday of
the month at 2:00 p.m. The first ten
minutes will be open for any Club player to voice concerns/ideas/questions.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Larry Kraus presented the Treasurer’s report. At this time we have $10,488.92 in the
treasury. Mj moved to accept report,
Paula seconded. Passed unanimously.
Books need to be audited at year end. Dave Lawell will get 3 members to perform the
audit and results will be presented to the Board by the first Board meeting in
the new year.
OLD BUSINESS
Rating Process: Over the summer many people improved
dramatically. Many did not request a
rating change until October schedule came along. There were then a lot of request and the
committee members – Steve Larry and
Paula wanted to handle all requests in a consistent manner. It was said that they’d have a meeting as
soon as the last member, Mike Rains returned.
However, when it was pointed out that he wouldn’t be back yet for a
month, it was agreed that action would be taken now on the requests. Several points were addressed: intercommunity play does not allow you to
play at a level and then play tournaments at a lower level; a review process
needs to more firmly be in place as moving up at this point, should not be a
self evaluation; if a request for change is denied, the committee should
provide the member with the reason(s) why and tips for improvement; membership
forms should be changed so that only NEW members would self rate for the coming
year. Court captains can help with the problems of playing at the wrong level
during rated play.
Court Captains:
Ideally, there would be at least 3 court captains per day – one per
level playing. It’s really only during
rated play that the captain is critical.
Some duties would involve getting to courts early, setting out the sign
up sheet, guiding players to the correct level, be the moderator for court issues.. Captains would be welcome at the Board
meeting to talk about issues on the court.
We will be looking for volunteers.
Paula will contact Palm Creek to get background information on utilizing
court captains properly.
Social Committee: Paula reported that the Committee has already
sketched out activities for the year.
Starting out was a request for
$50 seed money for the Partner Play that takes place on Sundays. The Amans have been hosting but should not
continue having the burden. The proposal
would be that people take turns being the hosts, a donation jar would be set up
and the following week refreshments would be dependent on the weekly donations. The $50 is a one time request of the Club to
get things started. Ken moved the money
be approved, Steve seconded and carried unanimously.
As part of the Social Committee’s plan is to implement a
plan for some community service/fundraising.
Paula indicated that we will be doing a 50/50 raffle at each event, the
proceeds of which will initially go to purchasing equipment: nets, paddles,
balls for the Eloy Fire Department in gratitude for all their support and then
to purchase the same for Eloy middle school.
Club members could then go and teach the kids how to play. Steve inquired as to the possibility of a
USAPA grant and Paula will pursue that avenue.
The school will also be contacted to see what their actual needs/requirements are before we spend
any money. We also are considering a
swear jar.
A request was made to allocate $200/party for a total of
$1200. Approval was postponed until the
budget portion of the meeting. As this
will be the first full year of social activity, the money was being requested
with the understanding that it may be adjusted next year based on actual expenditures.
OCTOBER - to be held
in conjunction with the General Meeting
on October 24 – meeting to start at 3:00 with social to start after. Theme will be Octoberfest with the Club
purchasing brats and sauerkraut. Members
will have a potato salad competition and a baked bean competition.
NOVEMBER in
conjunction with the election, we will hold a pancake breakfast at 11:00 a.m.
with play offered afterward. We will not
charge for food but advance tickets will be required - $1 to play this
weekend. This will allow us to gauge how
much food we will need.
DECEMBER – Holiday party – return of the popular white
elephant gift exchange and holiday cookies/appetizers
JANUARY – In house tournament celebration. Club will provide pizzas.
FEBRUARY – Valentine type theme – we will have a sock hop
and utilize a band or a d j
MARCH – Post tournamant thank you party for volunteers also works as end of season celebration
MJ requested $200 per event for a total of $1200 plus the
$50 start up for a total of $1250. Her
rationale was these events are extremely popular with the membership, works out
to $1/member per event, we have the money.
Additionally she stated this is the first year of the full slate of
events. Actual cost will then be
utilized in determining budget request for next year. Actual approval was postponed until budget
discussion.
Schedule: Discussion ensued about adjustments to the
fall schedule. We will solicit input
from the membership and at the pre-meeting meeting. Firm up a schedule that will be presented to
the membership. Ladders will return with
Larry establishing a cut off date of Sunday to register for Tuesday. Ladies only Ladder is a thought. Larry is trying to find the right time to
offer instruction – he can be flexible but wants to find a time best for the
members. A 4.0 Rated play slot has never
been on the schedule and will tentatively be on Friday with Beginner Lessons
being moved to Monday, Weds, Saturday.
That is tentative based on when Steve and Dave and the other instructors
will be available to teach.. Paula also
mentioned that prior to tournaments it would be nice to offer partner practice
times.
In House Tournament
: MJ thanked the Board for its strong
support of the tournament last year. She
has spoken with Mike and they believe they are in good shape for this year’s
extravaganza. Dave Lawell offered Board
assistance at any time it is needed and Mike and MJ are appreciative and will
let the Board know as they need assistance.
MJ indicated that there will be a t shirt design contest for
this year’s t shirt with the winner getting free entry into the event.
Additionally, using monies spent last year to purchase
lunches, this year lunch will be provided to participants and referees. She is thinking sloppy joes, chips and a
dessert, perhaps a piece of fruit.
Referees– Jerry
Steger is working on getting his USAPA Referee Certification. When he does, we can conduct our own training of refs. Several tournaments now require that players
also ref games so for those members interested in being in tournaments, this
will be essential for them to receive training. We also need more people to be trained to
help with our tournaments. It would be
wonderful to get more people trained who could then assist with the in-house
tournament.
2015 BUDGET:
Needs for next year’s budget were discussed. Rollers are going to need to be
replaced. WE will look into whose
responsibility those are to purchase.
Dave Wong will talk to Betty about supplying some balls for beginner
training as balls are a huge expense and will probably top $1800 this
year. $100 needed for first aid
supplies. Ken is going to see if perhaps
we can get a sponsor to provide the ice packs.
We would like to budget for a LARGE fan similar to Palm Creek’s - cost being approximately $500-$600. The Social Committee’s request will stand at
$1200 – see breakdown listed above in Social Committee notes. Larry suggested we project a 10% increase in
membership and so will work up the budget accordingly for presentation at the
general meeting along with a dues rate recommendation.
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT: We have no official word on
hosting a national tournament so it was felt that no announcement should be
made.
ODDS AND ENDS:
Steve Arthur said he will take orders for club t shirts
again this year but is waiting for more people to return.
Need someone to check the first aid box. MJ will send out an email looking for volunteers.
Court awnings – would like to pursue lower awnings to help
block the sun. Betty Murphy and/ or Jack
Sarsam will again be contacted about this.
It was mentioned that perhaps detachable ones would be a good way to go
so that there’d be less chance of ripping during a wind storm.
Larry also indicated that we need to request the benches be
moved back. That will also be pursued.
Meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m. after in excess of three ,
count them – three hours. Everyone was
too mentally exhausted to make a motion to adjourn – we just all left.
Respectfully submitted
MJ Wong
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