Board Meeting — 10/10/22
Call to Order: President Dolly Robinson called the meeting to order at 5:31 PM.
She welcomed all Board members in attendance, and they included the following: Laura Hunter-Null, Linda Williams, Joe Hinkle, Tara Bell, Lisa Viplav, Dolly Robinson, and Mike Null.
D. Robinson also welcomed special guests: George English, USTA FL Tennis Service Representative and Ty Wolter, USTA FL Adult Local Play Coordinator.
Approval of Board Minutes: M. Null made a motion to approve the Minutes of the September 12, 2022 meeting and T. Bell seconded the motion; the motion carried unanimously.
Special Guest Reports:
G. English reported there will be a USTA FL tennis training for counselors on UF’s campus in in Gainesville on Monday, October 17th from 3:30-5:30 PM for “Aces in Motion”, under-served children interested in playing tennis.
In addition, Special Olympics tennis training will be held at Westside Park in Gainesville on Saturday, December 10th from 3:30-5:30 PM.
G. English confirmed with L. Viplav that both she and CHS Girl’s tennis coach, Brandi O’Neal, applied for USTA FL Equipment Grant and their applications have been accepted. The tennis equipment for Columbia High School will be forthcoming.
T. Bell reported to G. English that she received tennis equipment and has already conducted two afterschool Net Generation Programs for the afterschool 2nd-5th graders at Belmont Academy.
T. Bell has a total of twelve children playing on Wednesday afternoons and expects to complete the fall program within the recommended 6 weeks, with an additional week to conduct a Red Ball Team Challenge.
T. Bell plans to begin the Spring Net Generation Program after the Christmas holidays.
T. Bell completed the online USTA Safe Play three-step process and submitted a certificate to L. Williams. However, G. English said teachers may waive the USTA Safe Play certification process in the future, as the school districts provide their teachers equivalent training to work with children.
L. Viplav reported to G. English that Epiphany Catholic School (Rita Klenk) will contact him regarding their Net Generation Program.
Ty Wolter reported that on October 22-23, 2022 there will be an NTPR 55+ Qualifying Event for adults not already involved in USTA leagues. It will be held at the Fort King Tennis Center in Ocala.
T. Wolter suggested LCCCTA try to get interested tennis players on four teams in a single division to play against Alachua County teams.
G. English asked T. Wolter if Tri-Level events might be an option for LCCCTA, explaining there could be three lines of play (3.0, 3.5, and 4.0) with 2 players of each ability level—making a total of 6 doubles players comprising a team.
T. Wolter agreed that might be a better option for LCCCTA getting started and there would need to be a decision of whether the team will be mixed doubles or male / female doubles.
T. Wolter will forward upcoming information regarding USTA FL adult leagues to LCCCTA. He said there will be different starting dates and that information will be important to know.
L. Williams provided T. Wolter some LCCCTA brochures and business cards, as well contact information for LCCCTA’s Adult League Play coordinator, Debbi Carter.
L. Williams previously provided D. Carter with contact information for Ty Wolter.
President D. Robinson expressed gratitude to all the volunteers assisting with the October Fall Youth Tennis Clinics on Tuesday afternoons from 5-6 PM. She reported 15 children between the ages of 7-16 attended the first clinic on October 4th and there is a possibility older players will join on October 11th. The cost for each participant to play in the four-week youth camp is $15.
L. Viplav is directing the Fall Youth Camp and she reported everything is going well. There will be an adjustment made to split the large green ball group to create an orange ball group.
No changes will be made to the red ball group or yellow ball group.
Old Business:
D. Robinson provided an update on the pro shop interior. She believes it looks good, but would like to see trim work added where the walls meet the ceiling, and around the windows.
D. Robinson has already obtained a quote of $200 to include labor and materials for the additional work.
M. Null made a motion to approve up to $200 to have the pro shop interior completed.
L. Williams seconded the motion; the motion carried unanimously.
D. Robinson previously submitted a grant application to First Federal requesting available funding and spoke with a representative who said our LCCCTA application was received late in the cycle, but can be considered for 2023. In addition, D. Robinson was told not all First Federal grant funding will be
distributed to a single entity.
Therefore, D. Robinson suggested our CTA laminate fundraising signs (to include shade structure photos) and post them on the center bleacher fences, directly in view of parents/tennis spectators.
This would be in hopes that tennis spectators will see the need to contribute funds to LCCCTA toward the cost of a bleacher shade awning.
President D. Robinson summarized the September 14th TDC Master Plan for Columbia County’s 500-acre Regional Park. It is a long-range plan which will cost 95.5 million dollars to complete. LCCCTA has been included in the sports hub plan to have 6 tennis courts. The TDC chairman said this is a preliminary presentation; there will be additional discussion with LCCCTA before moving forward.
D. Robinson reported that name placards to sponsor courts one and two will be forth coming from Action Signs. The sponsorship for each court is $250 per year; there are two available court sponsorships for 2022-2023.
Ty Wolter said he has Gainesville sponsors who want to build tennis in communities and may be interested in sponsoring the courts. He will check and let D. Robinson know.
L. Williams provided Ty Wolter LCCCTA business cards and brochures to share with potential sponsors.
New Business:
Vice President M. Null reported he has been very busy with work, but he intends to volunteer with tennis activities whenever possible.
M. Null stated LCCCTA’s renewal of annual insurance through USTA is coming up in early November.
LCCCTA will need to complete the online renewal for both General Liability and Professional Liability.
Coverage begins in January 2023.
LCCCTA’s teaching tennis professional, Mark Mansbach, carries a PTR liability insurance policy to provide
coverage for him, individually.
L. Williams requested the Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida’s (YTF) $1,000 funding for LCCCTA’s youth
tennis programs (conducted between July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) and she provided the YTF check to
LCCCTA Treasurer, Joe Hinkle.
L. Williams announced that longtime Board Member and Immediate Past President of YTF, Pierce Kelley,
was recently selected by the USTA Florida Awards Committee to be inducted into the USTA Florida Hall of
Fame on November 12, 2022 in Orlando, FL.
Mr. Kelley will be honored for his many years of contributions to the game of tennis—advocating and
volunteering countless hours for youth tennis programs.
M. Null suggested our association send a congratulatory gift to express appreciation for the many times
and ways P. Kelley has helped LCCCTA.
G. English said he will obtain some ideas on how to best honor him and then provide those ideas to D.
Robinson.
T. Bell suggested an idea of LCCCTA board members creating a video clip expressing individual/group
appreciation to Pierce Kelley.
M. Null made a motion that President Robinson be granted authority to spend up to $200 to officially
recognize Mr. Kelley. L. Williams seconded the motion; the motion carried unanimously.
L. Williams previously created flyers and publicized LCCCTA’s “Fall Back into Tennis” Social event for ages
12 and up at Young’s Park. She reminded the group it needs to be rescheduled and M. Null suggested
having the Social at 6pm, immediately following the Tues., Oct. 25 th youth tennis clinic.
The individual entry fee is $5, with a maximum cost of $15 per family.
Refreshments and drinks will be provided by Board members.
G. English said using the USTA low compression orange balls will be a good idea, used as ‘equalizers’ for
the varied ability levels in playing tennis.
L. Williams will revise the flyers and post them at the Young’s Park tennis courts. She will also promote the
event on social media platforms and in the LCR Community Calendar.
L. Viplav asked L. Williams to provide a couple of extra flyers to post at another location.
J. Hinkle provided the Financial Report. The current balance in the bank account is $1,401,76, with no
outstanding checks.
The current fall youth camp brought in $225; a $15 cost for each participant for the four-week program.
L. Williams reported that Coach Mark Mansbach, resumed volunteering his time teaching tennis to nine
local veterans, as well as two administrators, at Young’s Park on Mon. Oct. 3rd at 10am.
L. Williams took some pictures of the group of veterans and submitted those, as well as a brief article to
the Lake City Reporter. Teaching tennis to veterans is particularly newsworthy to our community.
L. Williams received a copy of the Oct. 5 th Lake City Reporter newspaper article and will send the same
information to George English for their USTA FL newsletter.
G. English confirmed Coach Mark Mansbach will be teaching tennis twice a month, although the veterans
are asking to play every week.
The partnership tennis program between Veteran Affairs and USTA Florida continues to be very successful
—with continued demand and love of tennis from our community veterans.
L. Viplav reported her daughter, LizAnne, will be participating in the Special Olympics to be held in Hilton Head, SC from October 12- 15. The board members and guests wish her much success!
L. Viplav said she would like to conduct a Tuesday / Thursday 3-week boy and girls’ tennis camp beginning on November 29 and finishing with an open tournament on Saturday, December 17 . She added that she would like to include eight graders.
Ty Wolter suggested using the progression of developing players, as in Youth Team Tennis (YTT).
L. Viplav would like to get the tennis camp publicized soon; she will provide content and images to L. Williams.
M. Null recommended posting flyers with reasonable notice to reserve all four courts.
D. Robinson asked M. Null if the Columbia High School (CHS) courts can possibly be utilized for future events.
He stated that an application (containing the request for a specific date / time) must be submitted to CHS to be approved / authorized to use the high school tennis courts.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 14, in the same location.
President Dolly Robinson adjourned the Board meeting at 7:07 PM.
