Minutes for the February Leadership Team meeting

February 1, 2021 Leadership Team Meeting Minutes 

The Zoom meeting was called to order at 5:38pm by Joyce Noland after all  present were logged on and audio adjusted. In attendance were members of the Leadership Team,  Joyce  Noland, George Carr, and Harve Mobley; the 4.0 Player Rep - Cheryl Breidenbach; the 3.5 Player Reps - Robert Bromley, Chris Tubbs, Lleslie McGowan and Stephanie Wolfe; the 3.0 Player Reps - Ben Stevens and Bebe Murphy; the 2.5 and below Player Reps - Linda Blake and Faith Loeb; Ratings Team Leader - Ron Nelson; and Marissa Evans our scribe.  Marissa was late joining the meeting so Cheryl took the minutes.

First order of business was discussing the new player clinic which will be held at  OW this Friday at 9am with Megan Hollenbeck conducting the instruction. Faith,  Linda and George Wisz will do a free practice session with the participants later this month. 

Faith explained why the practice sessions exist. Aiken pickleball wants all  members to feel welcome and confident. These sessions provide answers to any  questions, discusses Aiken pickleball organization, review of general rules,  practice of hits/serves, explanation of kitchen, scoring, etc., and practice games.  Faith, Linda, and George have been doing this for the past 3 or 4 years and  everyone provides positive feedback after attending. Everyone appreciates this  free service. 

A new players clinic will be held at GP on the morning of Friday, February 12. Jose  Vega, a certified instructor, will be conducting this free clinic. Attendance was  limited to 12 people and was filled within 2 days. One person is on the waiting  list. Practice sessions will be held after the clinic with help from members from  Aiken Pickleball.  

Attendance at GP on Fridays are sparse. We want to be careful and use the time  allotted for pickleball so those time slots remain for our use. It was suggested  that lessons could be conducted on Friday mornings and perhaps doing a new  player clinic once a month.  

Again, it would be nice to have court availability at night for use of people who  work during the day.  

The OW court condition was discussed. Prior to this week, the courts were quite  slippery. This week courts were extremely better due to usage of a new or  repaired cleaner. If courts ever get dangerous again, please let team members  know so the facility can be made aware of the problem. Also try to wear a separate pair of shoes to the gym. At the very least, wipe shoes off prior to  entering the gym.  

Members have been inquiring about ratings and the lack of thereof. The rating  team is not comfortable at this time, due to Covid, being in close contact indoors  for the ratings to occur. Mo Garcia has volunteered, on a temporary basis, to  conduct these ratings, which would be official. Mo will rate with the “high” and  “low” designations. Please make people aware that the USAPA rating can always  be used. The rating system will be turned back over to Ron and his team when  Covid is manageable. 

Discussion of the Spring League was tabled due to Mo not being present. 

The implementation of a competitive ladder was discussed. This would work in a  partnership with two same people, as opposed to a single person changing  partners every match. There would be three separate ladders, mens, womens,  and mixed. This concept has been brought up before but tabled because no  decision of whether the ladder would be held indoors or outdoors was  made….and then Covid. Chris suggested trying to do an outdoor ladder, get the  kinks worked out and then perhaps set up an indoor ladder. Joyce and George  will look into possible software. Ladders are just something fun and informal to  do that do not take too much administration. Teams set up their own playing  time and place. Usually there is one free challenge and then a limit of challenging  2/3 teams above you. Results would be compiled with a central contact for  updating of the standings. Chris will also research spreadsheets. Harve asked  about the duration of the ladder. It’s usually just ongoing. Teams may drop out and  teams may be added at bottom of listing. 

Linda brought up that people may be having a hard time finding others to play  with. Drop in play, prior to Covid, used to handle this. On Sign Up Genius there is  a “partners list” that George will change to state “Looking for Games” to be more  explanatory. A designation of beginner/intermediate/specific rating/experience  level can be put in the comments section to better pair individuals up.  

Discussion of adding three courts for drop in play was conducted. Currently there  are two drop in courts during the week at OW from 9-11. Ben attends these  sessions quite regularly and says they are rarely full, especially on Thursdays. In  order to help beginners feel more comfortable, court 1 will be designated as the beginner court. Court 2 will be used as an intermediate court. Of course, if there  are no beginners both courts can be used for intermediate play and vice versa.  Ben will observe and make sure play is courteous with beginners. He says he’s  never seen it not be. The designated beginners court will be announced on the  website hopefully encouraging new ones to come and play in a less intimidating  atmosphere. An Eblast will be sent out as well.  

Ron gave the treasurer report which is the same as last month…a constant $556, and  holding.  

The 2021 tournament is being planned for September if Covid is under control 

There has been talk and a strong possibility of another outdoor tennis court being  changed into pickleball courts! 

Lots of people are currently playing outdoors. Hopefully in March there will be  more indoor time slots, including evenings and Saturdays.  

No player representatives had any additional information. 

Next meeting is scheduled for March 1 at 5:30pm on Zoom.