March Leadership Team Meeting was held at the Aiken County Library, on March 4th, 2024. Members present: Kathy Reiter, Heidi Abele, Faith Loeb, Linda Blake, Lori King, Jody Madden, Joyce Noland, George Carr, Dean Cheatham, Jean Villa, Bill Bourbeau, Jay Wilson, Brain Eberhard, Jeremy Crowe and Kay Machado. Meeting started at 5PM.
1. Feedback from player reps: There was a long discussion about mixed level and court designated play. Difficulty in obtaining court reservations was also addressed. Only solution for court reservations would be to limit players to one court reservation on Thursday and an additional registration on Friday which would pretty much eliminate group play. There was not enough interest in this proposal to bring it to a vote
2. Pacer Life - Kathy gave us an update. Everyone agreed that when she needed anything to support the program, whether it be pickleball equipment or volunteers, to just let us know.
3. March Gladness, held last Saturday, was a huge success. Joyce thanked everyone that helped to make it happen. Gave special thanks to Brian Eberhard who been doing extra work keeping the courts in great shape. He and Bob Fogle replaced the lines on courts 2 & 5 getting them ready for the RR.
4. Drop-in play - Everyone liked the extended hours but unfortunately they were only for the last week in February and the first week of March. Next week and for the foreseeable future mixed level will be 845-10, court designations 10-11, court reservations 11-1230 and 1230-2pm.
5. New teaching pro. Harve Mobley is certified as a teaching instructor. He will be doing Saturday afternoon clinics at Odell and possibly something at Gregg Park. Keep checking the website for details.
6. Ongoing/upcoming
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Drills with Little Mo are back - every Wednesday and Saturday morning starting March 23rd and running until the end May
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New Players Clinic March 9th at Odell is booked.
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Linda’s New Players practice will be on the following Saturday.
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Rating Session is scheduled for Saturday March 23. Currently 10 players are signed up to be rated.
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Smith-Hazel -’The Gym is going to be the last area renovated. Courts will probably not be ready until September
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Gregg Park- Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings are available again.
7. Palmetto update -
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Registration opened on March 3rd, but has not been advertised as we are trying to insure everything works properly. This is an USAP Sanctioned Tournament with prize money for six open events - Men’s, Women's and Mixed Doubles open and Seniors 60+.
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Sponsorships- Jody handed out sponsor packages to all the play reps asking for their assistance in obtaining sponsors. There is a signup genius sign up sheet so individuals can state which organizations they will be contacting for sponsorships. We need more than just sponsorships…we also need in-kind donations….instead of money perhaps donate items to goody bags, silent auction and raffles.
8. Possible CanHope tournament in October - outside at Virginia Acres Park - date to be determined. CanHope of Aiken is a nonprofit organization that provides help to anyone affected by cancer in the Aiken and surrounding communities.
9. Safety Glasses - Strongly recommended that all players start wearing safety glasses. We had an incident last week where safety glasses prevented a serious eye injury.
10. Spring Social- Friday, March 22 we are having a Spring Social from 5-6pm, followed by indoor play at Odell. See article on website for more details and sign up.
11. Court Bench Update - Four benches are on order. Delivery 4-6 weeks. Jay has agreed to assemble them
12. Security bond - Members of the Leadership Team that have access to the organization funds are now covered by a Security Bond.
13. Closing Comments: Next Meeting on April 1st, at 5pm. Venue to be determined