Board Meeting – May 13, 2019
Call to Order: President Dolly Robinson called the meeting to order at 5:32 PM. Members in attendance included the following: Dolly Robinson, Mike Null, Joe Hinkle, Nelson Rivera, Laura Hunter,Laura Null, Recie Davis, Liza Viplav, Linda Williams, and USTA Florida representative George English.
Welcome: Paula Martin introduced herself as a tennis player and former tennis coach who recently moved to Lake City. She attended the board meeting to learn more about our community tennis association and offered to volunteer in upcoming youth tennis activities. Ms. Martin was warmly greeted by all attendees.
Approval of Minutes: Motion was made by M. Null to approve the minutes of April 8, 2019 as presented; seconded by R. Davis. The motion carried unanimously.
Old Business: Liza Viplav and G. English reported on their communication and engagement with schools in Columbia County, sharing the USTA SHAPE PE tennis curriculum lesson plans. Summers Elementary has an after-school program, with L. Viplav conducting the lesson plans. She plans to gradually turn it over so after-school personnel can conduct the program.G. English shared that New Generation Christian School is in the process of getting registered for the SHAPE PE tennis program. M. Null offered to follow-up with Belmont Academy’s new PE instructor to explain how the program works.M. Null gave a brief outline of the proposed schedule for tennis court construction planned by the City of Lake City. Based upon his report, the courts will not be ready by September, when our CTA has plans to conduct several fall programs. He reminded the members that Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida (YTF) is awaiting a detailed grant request by early June to review, before providing funding for our scheduled Youth Team Tennis program to begin in early fall.D. Robinson suggested M. Null make contact with the City Manager to set up a meeting to discuss the important timeline necessary for available tennis courts.The group is hopeful that two new and two renovated tennis courts will be ready for play by early Fall.M. Null expressed appreciation to tennis professional, L. Viplav, for her skills, knowledge, and dedication to teaching youth tennis in our community. He also let the group know we will be fortunate to have CHS’ boys team Coach Tom Moore also available to assist with the summer tennis camp.
New Business: G. English shared the geographical area his USTA field representative position covers in Florida. He told the group that Leigh Chak, USTA Florida Adult Player Coordinator, was not able to attend the meeting. However, she is continuing to promote Love to Learn/Love to Play for beginners who will need 6 weeks of instruction and then mentor-ship while playing tennis and gaining experience the final 6 weeks.G. English said USTA’s Florida section will be promoting the State Special Olympics by hosting adaptive tennis on the USTA national campus in Orlando.G. English reported the 20th Annual Tally Tennis Challenger Tournament was held in Tallahassee the end of April and he was happy to see LCCCTA board members, M. Null and L. Null at the event.G. English answered group concerns about the recent Safe Play renewal notification required for volunteers. He explained the Federal Government requires that USTA, as the governing body of tennis, implement the 90-minute Safe Sport online course for anyone associated with the USTA who is working with youth tennis players.M. Null recommended that all LCCCTA volunteers go to netgeneration.usta.com to access USTA’s Safe Playlink. He also suggested that volunteers helping teach tennis at Columbia County schools complete the necessary clearance on the CCSD website, listing all Columbia County schools.D. Robinson also asked that our volunteers complete the Columbia County Sheriff’s Dept. background check prior to our summer tennis programs; a clean background check will be necessary for any volunteer working with City of Lake City youth programs.L. Williams provided the following 2019 Summer Tennis Camp dates for the Boys/Girls Clubs, Richardson Community Center, and the general public: 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, and 7/12.The location will be Youngs Park and the times are as follows:
9-11am for the Boys/Girls Clubs
11am-12pm for the general public
1-2pm for Richardson Community Center participants (who will be transported to Youngs Park)
A final Team Challenge event will be held from 9-11am on July 19th for all the summer program participants.D. Robinson asked LCCCTA volunteers to go ahead and commit for each of the program dates; L. Williams will contact Marcia Kazmierski as to her availability to volunteer for the summer programs.L. Williams has registered the 3rd Annual James Montgomery Junior Tennis Camp and Team Challenge event on the Net Generation website, and also advertised these events in the Lake City Reporter, on the LCCCTA website, as well as Facebook. In addition, a Calendar of Events has been posted on the LCCCTA website so upcoming events can be viewed by the public.L. Viplav and her husband, Anjan, will host the Adult Tennis Social set for May 19th at 4pm at Tennis Forever. All participants will bring appetizers/beverages for the event.
Treasurer’s Report: J. Hinkle reported that the account balance is currently $1,703.63.A $70 check covering the cost of the 2019 Annual Report is outstanding.J. Hinkle reported the cost of two benches to be placed at the Fort White Community Center tennis courts could possibly be provided by the Columbia County Landscape and Parks, should funds be available at the end of their fiscal year.Next meeting is scheduled for June 10, 2019.President Robinson adjourned the meeting at 7:02 PM.
