September Leadership Team held at Odell Weeks on Monday September 8th. Members Present: Brian Eberhard, Jay Wilson, Lori King, Mo Garcia, Dean Cheatham, George Carr, Cheryl Breidenbach, Marian Garcia, Seth Holley (city representative), Linda Blake, and Harve Mobley.
A. Feedback from player Representatives:
Jay asked why the league cannot reserve Virginia Acres courts on Saturday and Sundays. The reason is because we already have an agreement with the city that league play will be held on weekdays only. If league players need to play matches on the weekends, Woodside has agreed to let us use their facilities.
Brian stated that he heard grumblings that too many courts are being reserved for league play on the weekdays. Cheryl stated we can let them know about other courts such as Eustis Park and indoor play inside at OW. League play is only 2 months. 10 of the courts are reserved for reserve play. 4 are left for public play. If some of the 10 are not being used the league does give them up for others to play on.
B. Memorials:
George stated that the city wrote an email stating rules and regulations pertaining to memorials. If any one desires to see this document, notify George. He will happily supply a copy. If we desire more benches we will need to check with the city. Name tags can be attached to benches without city approval. The city was familiar with installing pavers. We can probably do discreetly as a paver walkway. The African American Museum and Hopelands are examples of paver usage. Linda asked who could be memorialized, just pickleball players or their family members/friends? A definite answer is not certain but Mo would guess if someone wants to pay for a paver in the name of a family member, that would be fine. In SC ashes can be spread in public places. City gave approval for this. George will put this memorial information on our website for all to see.
C. Gregg Park:
Friday evenings will be changed to open play instead of designated play since no one is signing up to reserve the courts. GP has been monitoring the usage of the courts closely and is doing what is best for all members. Cheryl and George will talk to Dalyn about GP court usage tomorrow.
D. Smith Hazel:
George stated that the current 1.5 hour slot time available at SH is not sufficient time for some players. Some of the advanced players want at least a 2 hr time frame. Currently SH is not able to extent these slots to 2 hrs.
E. Odell and VA:
Ice machine will not be available for Freaky Fridays.
The City has asked API to pay for a room for the food (pizza/cookies/drink) during the Freaky Fridays/Groovy Tuesday events. $60 small room. $75 for a large room.
Members did not think this was reasonable since API pulls in many new participants to pickleball who will be customers of OW. We feel we are in collaboration with the city and don’t understand why we should incur this charge. Seth will talk our concern over with city managers and hopefully rectify this issue.
Outdoor lighting is on at OW 7-10PM. Mo will check with Allison to turn lights on at 6PM since it is getting darker and the time will change.
F. Skill Rating Update:
Ratings are for designated play, league play, and tourney play. They are ongoing as needed. Separate meeting is needed to discuss ….
G. New Player’s Clinics: Eight players attended the last clinic.
H. New Players Practice Are being held as needed.
I. 2025 Fall League
Jordyn sent out a letter which will be attached to this report. 150 players for fall league.
City takes 30%
API gets $10
Dean and Mo will discuss getting a Stripe account set up so Mo Power Sport will not be involved.
2.0and 2.5 players are playing in the league.
J. Freaky Fridays
OW has suggested a costume party for last Friday. No one was in favor of this idea due to tripping hazards during play.
K. Toys for Tots & Golden Harvest Outdoor Event-Nov. 22
Mike can head up Golden Harvest. We need someone to volunteer to run it.
L. Financial Report
Dean stated after all our bills are paid we a balance of $7K. This is $5K lower than last year.
$2K was given to Hospice
$3K was for remaining benches
M. Aiken Ambassador
Chuck has retired. Need a volunteer. Mo is actively searching for a replacement.
N. What else is happening?
OW court resurfacing is scheduled for the end of Oct.
Generations Park 12 covered courts.
Smith Hazel 4 lighted outdoor courts.
Mo said people are trying to fix equipment themselves. George is putting a note on the website to ask players to notify API or front desk so repairs can be scheduled and done by city maintenance.
O. Final comments.
We need Rating/grievance committee. Problems have arisen in leagues where the director has made decisions and not agreed upon by an individual. DUPR ratings are not the only determining factor for play for league. We feel it necessary to have a group of non biased individuals to look into any discrepancies that may arise for the league or other instances where API is involved.
Next Meeting Monday Oct 6, 5:30 at OW