Board Meeting — 2/8/21
Call to Order: President Dolly Robinson called the Board meeting to order at 6:01 PM.
Members in attendance included the following: Dolly Robinson, Mike Null, Laura Null, Nelson Rivera, Liza Viplav, Linda Williams, Joe Hinkle, Marcia Kazmierski, Bridgett Van Aller, and USTA Florida representative, Leigh Chak.
Approval of Board Minutes: M. Kazmierski made a motion to table the approval of the Minutes of the January 13, 2020 meeting, pending verification of the Treasurer’s Report.
M. Null seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
Nomination and Election of Officers: M. Kazmierksi submitted a proposed slate of Officers for the new year:
President - Dolly Robinson
Vice President - Mike Null
Secretary - Linda Williams
Treasurer - Joe Hinkle
Motion was made by L. Null to approve the slate of officers; seconded by B. Van Aller.
Motion carried unanimously.
Guest speaker: Leigh Chak reported for George English. The Net Generation tennis equipment for PE teachers in the school system is backordered until April.
D. Robinson suggested our CTA allow participating schools to use excess bags of equipment (tennis rackets, balls, etc.) until more is shipped. L. Chak clarified Special Olympics equipment will not be affected by the backorder.
L. Chak suggested using the green ball whenever there will be varied playing abilities of participants within a tennis program. D. Robinson suggested LCCCTA conduct a hybrid program, “Love to Return to Play”, but L. Chak recommended we use a different name for a social clinic; possibly a branding issue may arise.
L. Chak reminded the group that USTA is always looking to promote upcoming tennis events and tennis activities or stories from local electronic and paper publications. Eventbrite can be linked to the CTA’s Facebook page and is a good online tool for an event registration not requiring an online payment (fees may be collected at activity location).
For upcoming events, L. Williams will ensure Eventbrite is linked to the LCCCTA Facebook page.
Old Business: L. Williams reported that M. Null, L. Viplav, and she met one-on-one with the middle school PE teacher at Belmont Academy Charter School on Feb. 10, 2010. Both the middle school PE teacher and the elementary PE teacher are interested in the USTA training and are excited about having access to the SHAPE PE tennis curriculum lesson plans. The coaches will be in the process of signing the Net Generation partnership agreements and L. Williams will ask USTA representative, George English, to follow up with both of Belmont’s PE teachers.
New Business: L. Null requested a member contact CHS to see if our CTA can utilize their tennis courts for special tennis activities during the time Young’s Park courts are under construction. M. Null said he will check on this.
D. Robinson asked L. Williams to post a list of available Columbia County community center tennis courts on both Facebook and our LCCCTA webpage. This information will be helpful for tennis players looking for locations to play while the Young’s Park tennis courts are under construction.
L. Viplav reported she is awaiting participation numbers for Special Olympics. The County tournament will be held the end of March and the State tournament will be held in May.
L. Williams told the group she spoke with Richardson Community Center (RCC) in regard to setting up an afterschool activity on their new tennis court. Basketball season will be occupying the interest of their youth through the end of April, so RCC will be contacted again in early May.
For now, D. Robinson and L. Williams have plans to play on the new court afterschool and hope to attract interest from young spectators who would like to learn how to play tennis. D. Robinson also invited other board members to join in.
L. Viplav discussed hosting Junior Team Tennis (JTT) at Tennis Forever, however, she is concerned about safety if out of town travel is required. At this time, she is considering only local challenges between the young participants.
L. Chak said 4-6 players per team with a broad range of abilities (middle school and high school) can qualify to go to the USTA sectionals. She also provided the USTA contact name for JTT—Amanda Miller.
D. Robinson added that once the new tennis courts are constructed, LCCCTA will begin Junior Team Tennis with the special grant funding from Pierce Kelley of Youth Tennis Foundation (YTF).
L. Williams will contact the City’s Director of Recreation and the Boy’s/Girl’s Clubs to let them know of our CTA’s interest in continuing with the 4th Annual James Montgomery Summer Youth Camp once the Young’s Park tennis courts become available.
D. Robinson suggested LCCCTA conduct “Racket Fundraiser Clinics” twice a year; spring (possibly in May) and also in the fall. She added that these upcoming clinics should be publicized in our local magazines.
M. Null reported there is a serious delay in resurfacing the high school tennis courts and the tennis season has already begun for Columbia High School. The coaches will be concerned about the displacement of their Boys and Girls tennis teams while practicing and playing home matches, until this project is completed.
D. Robinson tentatively scheduled the next LCCCTA Adult Social to be held at Tennis Forever on Friday, March 20 th at 5 PM.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2021 at the same location.
President Dolly Robinson adjourned the Board meeting at 7:00 PM.
