Minutes from the Leadership Team Meeting held on April 7, 2:30 PM. Members Present: Lori King, Jay Wilson, Marian Garcia, Linda Blake, Heidi Abele, Christy Pritchard, Sally Sergio, Jody Madden, Dean Cheatham, Joyce Noland, George Carr, Brian Eberhard, Cheryl Breidenbach and Mo Garcia.
1. Feedback from player Reps:
Linda-Young people are participating and she is encouraging them to come to Groovy Tuesdays.
Sally-A person is parking illegally on the grass outside Virginia Acres courts. Advised to ask him to move if he will not, report to front desk or talk to the city police.
Players are also bringing dogs on the courts by the benches. It was suggested to report this to the front desk next time it happens or suggest to the owners to tie their pet outside the fence. All agreed this would be the best practice, even for “good pets”, so a precedent is not set.
Gregg Park - Brian will talk to Dalyn about replacing two nets that have seen better days. The courts will need retaping soon.
2. Benches: Mo-Ready for shipment. Will take 21 days for arrival.
3. Business License: - Jay said if it’s a charitable organization we don’t need it. If we have vendors we would need license. Mo states it is $100/year. All agreed this was cheap enough to just purchase in case we are selling tshirts or other items. Faith purchased it last year. Dean will get the license renewed this year.
4. Palmetto: Joyce-29 people from Summerville signed up on the first day. Currently we have 51 registered. Signed contract is due back to city by April 10. Dean will sign and get the paperwork back to the city. Joyce-volunteers are still needed. Sign up sheet needs to be updated and put out on internet. Jay-Suggestions for goody bag: Pickleball stringer cable chord. Carabiners. Balls. towels.
Jody-Lowe’s has new manager. Gave run down on who she has contacted for fund raiser.
Jay will get inventory of balls and medals and coordinate with Mo so balls/medals can be ordered.
Medals/Logo will not be changed.
5. SRNS: Mo-Tournament will be in late September. Met with Ethan. Their expectation is 120 players. Mo is encouraging them to help out with the Palmetto physically and monetarily. Maybe a two day tournament instead of one.
6. Groovy Tuesdays:
A. Drawings-Brian purchased Friday paddles for drawing. Sally and Marian will do raffle. Gift Certificates for lessons with Mo or Harve. Players are only eligible to win once per all of April.
B. Schedule- 4-5:30 free play. 5:30-6:30 Clinics. 6:30-8:30 free play. Note: Lori emphasized we can always use more volunteers.
Marian and Sally are handling welcoming players and ordering/set up/plates/etc for pizza/drinks. Christy brought a huge plate of homemade brownies. First session on April 8 was huge success.
7. Player Rating Session: George-Started with 6 participants. Ended up with 3. Harve is still tweaking the methods according to Lori. Three people are signed up for the next scheduled time. Date yet to be determined.
8. New Players’ Clinics: George-No NPC in April. Next is May 10 scheduled at OW, May 17 at GP, and June 5 at OW. Little Mo will start up in May - Wednesday evenings at 6pm and Saturday mornings.
9. Financial Update:
Dean- We still have to pay for benches. After that we should a balance of approximately 10K.
10. Tree for Rita Turner: Mo-Tree was $250 and paid for by API community so funds do not have to come from business side of API. Val is arranging for plaque. George wondered if a fence was needed to protect the new tree. Note: After the meeting he checked out the location behind bleachers by pickleball courts and determined that a fence is not needed. Tree is beautiful. Lori stated that Saturday April 12, 9AM, will be dedication day. Jody brought up that perhaps round benches around the tree might be an option.
11. League:
Mo-great success of 230 participants. TopDog is charging 7%. We pay the city $3.50/person. Monies are being run through MoPowerSports.
There are 4 new foot brushes by entrances at outdoor courts at Virginia Acres to clean shoes. Gates were upgraded.
Resurfacing will occur in 2026. Courts 1 and 2 are in bad shape.
Next year 12 courts will be put in at Generations Park. Note: The City of Aiken has put forth various proposals to include 6-12 pickleball Courts at Generations Park and has called for public comments and recommendations.
Smith Hazel will eventually have 4 outdoor courts.
Eustis Park. Tennis Courts will be turned into pickleball courts the next time Eustis is redone.
12. Closing Comments: Lori stated that Jean Villa does a wonderful job with the bulletin board.
Next meeting will be Wednesday, May 7. 2:30 PM.