QCPC Membership Meeting, November 2, 2016

QCPC Membership Meeting

November 2, 2016

Madera Clubhouse Ballroom

The meeting was called to order at 10 AM by President David Kikel.

Treasurer’s Report- Pam Martin presented the Treasurer’s report. She first described income for 2016, through end of October.  We took in $6,195 for 2016 dues, and we have taken in $690 in 2017 dues.  We paid for T-shirts and hats, but amount is a wash because members paid money in for those.    Advanced play round robin players from outside Quail Creek have donated $370 for the year to help replace our balls.  Total income for 2016 is $10,045.83.  During 2016, we have spent $1085 on social events.  The biggest expense is court equipment, mainly balls.  We spent $1,926.64.  Total expenses for the year have been $6,817.20.  We have 10980.71 in the bank, of which we are keeping $3500 in reserve for future needs.  There were no questions on the financial report.

Membership- We have 346 members, 138 of whom were new in 2016.

Capital Improvements- The Ice Machine and Storage Shed have been approved.  Sun shades were not approved, but we should come back with the request next year.  The POA didn’t have enough money to fund those for this coming year.  At the last meeting, interest was expressed in getting a backboard for practice.  Sandy Veydt did research on this.  She came up with a recommended backboard which consists of  3- 4’ X 8’ panels for a 12’ X 8’ backboard.  We would need to mount it 1 foot off ground, so ½ of it would stick out above out fence.  The POA will not install or maintain a backboard if we purchase one.  Robson doesn’t recommend them because they say backboards aren’t used much, and they are a maintenance problem.  Many concerns about a backboard were raised at Board meeting.  We would need to install and maintain this.  David thought the eastern wall of Court 4 would make it least visible, and we could brace it with the slope going up.  The problem is that the installation manual says do not install in a west facing direction.  David indicated that it is difficult to keep the ball in play, unlike with tennis.  Mark Renneson, our Keynote speaker, was asked about backboards.  He said that the main benefit is for volleys, and there is a lot of volleying in pickleball.  You don’t need a pickleball court surface if you are volleying. Backboards are good if you don’t have people to play with.  There is also a noise issue with a backboard.  If it is in a court, that court is not playable.  David asked for a vote in favor of proceeding with a backboard.  The vote was overwhelmingly against proceeding with backboard.

Audience question- why are we replacing the ice machine?  Because we had difficulty with old one last summer.  It is a used one that was put in there.  The POA wants to put in new one, so they will.

Party Schedule- We will have a social on the 3^rd Wednesday of month, except for the December 14^th Birthday party, which will be on the 2^nd Wednesday because of  Christmas.  Volunteers for each party do the party planning with assistance from the Social Committee.  The Committee provides plates, plastic wear, cups, napkins, etc.  We will have special events on April 19^th (Farewell to Snowbirds) and on July 5^th (Independence Day party).  People were encouraged to sign-up to volunteer for a party.

Question from Audience- Can we ask for lighting rather than sun shades? David explained that the members voted for sun shades rather than lighting, but the POA approved lighting (although we asked for sunshades) last year.  Later, however, that money was taken for another project.  Now we went back in with the sunshade request, and it was not approved.  The new Board will need to decide what to ask for next year.

Tournaments- The Green Valley Firemen’s Tournament is on February 17, 2017, and the Senior Games are March 8-10, 2017.  We need someone to help coordinate the Senior Games.  This person would work with David.

Robson communities are going to have a monthly tournament.  We need two people to coordinate this rotating competition.  Contact Rich Pokorsky if you are interested in volunteering.

Member Training- Lenny has been doing a great job with Beginner I and II lessons.  George Mynatt is planning to do Transitional Round Robins for people who have completed Assisted Play but aren’t comfortable with regular Round Robins yet.  We will reserve 14 courts from 8-10 AM for Round Robins on Wednesday mornings.  Courts 15 and 16 will be available for drop-in play.

Intermediate Assisted Play- Denny and Kathy Myers have set up 3 sessions.  This is for people who have good solid skills and have played for 1 year.  This is a 1-time lesson, not a series of 3 lessons. 

Advanced Round Robin- Women 3.5 or higher- tournament or official rating; 4.0 Men or higher are invited to play.  Because there aren’t enough Quail Creek players at those levels, outside people have been invited to give competition for our players. These outside players contribute $1 towards balls when they play. 

Volunteers are needed for parties, assisted play, and round robins.  Sign-up sheets are available.  Pick a sheet to sign up for.

Our next Membership Meeting will be on February 16, 2017.  At that Annual Meeting, we will need to approve the budget and next year’s activities.

At this meeting, we hold elections.

David thanked the officers and committee chairs who have helped make the Club run smoothly.

David presented the slate proposed by the Nominating Committee:

            Jean Bustard, President

            Karen Morse, Treasurer

            Linda von Felder, Secretary (1-year term to complete Ruth Maki’s term)

            John Hughes will continue as Vice President

A motion was made to approve the slate of nominees.  A voice vote indicated that everyone was in favor of approving the new officers.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:26.

A Keynote Address followed by Mark Renneson who explained what observers should look for when watching the National Tournament in Casa Grande next week.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth Maki, Secretary

QCPC Board Minutes, November 1, 2016

QCPC Board Meeting Minutes

November 1, 2016

1:30 pm

Kino Conference Room

Present: President, David Kikel; Board Members John Hughes, Pam Martin, Ruth Maki, Marie Still.

Members:  Karen Morse and George Mynatt

1.     The meeting was called to order by President David Kikel at 1:30. 

2.     The Minutes of October 10, 2016 meeting were approved. 

3.     Treasurer’s Report (Pam Martin)- Our income in October was $730.07, mostly from membership dues, and expenses were $86.75 for the Halloween social.  We have $10,980.71 in checking, of which $3500 is in reserve.  As compared to last year, we started the year with about the same amount of money.  The new Board can discuss what we want to do with our money.  We are spending about $2000 on balls, which is about 1/3 of what we are taking in. 

4.     Committee Reports

a.      Membership (Marie Still)- We have a 346 total members, of which 138 were new members in 2016.  We will lose members who don’t renew next year.  We don’t know how many we will lose and how many more will come in.  We need to budget less in membership income because we will lose members and won’t necessarily gain the same number. 

b.     Communications/Website (Ruth/Bill)-  We plan to use an integrated system for the website and the newsletter.  This site would also have static pages and could be linked to the court reservation system and to Sign-up Genius.  The new domain will be qcpickleball.com.  We would have to pay for the new domain, which costs about $12.  By January 2017, we will have the new website.  David asked “Who will reserve the courts for Club play?”  David has been doing it.

c.      Court Management (Rich Pokorsky)- AAA, the landscaping firm, has been good about responding to our requests.  They have pruned some plants as Rich requested.  We put a new flag on the west flag pole.  The flag is more durable than the windsock, although the windsocks are cheaper.  There are some problems with the flags wrapping around the pole, which isn’t a problem with the windsocks.  There are no flags on Courts 15 and 16, but the Club rarely uses these courts.  We had 2 new boxes of balls in September and we have gone through over ¾ of them.  We will get 200 of the new Pure 2 balls, which should be delivered about Nov. 7.  We need to write QCPC on the balls with a Sharpie.  These balls seem more durable, although they do get a bit spongy as they get older.  We need about 100 to stock the tubes on all the courts.  We don’t need 7-8 balls per court.  We will concentrate the Pure 2 balls on Courts 5-12, and put old balls on the other courts. 

5.     Fall organized play

a.      Status of assisted play- This is going well. 

b.     Plans for future beginner lessons- Lenny wasn’t here, so we don’t know about plans for beginner lessons.

c.      Expansion of Round Robin play (George Mynatt)- There were 40 people last week, and it’s not yet the peak of the high season.  George anticipates more people when we go into the high season.  George requests that we add more courts, or split with men on one day and women on the other.  If have men on one day and women on another, we still we have women wanting to play on the men’s day and vice versa.  George doesn’t want to go to 2 days a week.  If we go up to 14 courts, almost no one else can play. The plan for now is to keep men and women in the same 2-hour window on Courts 1-14.  We will use two of those courts for a Transitional Round Robin for people who are done with Assisted Play but not yet ready for the regular Round Robin.  Let George organize it as he wishes. For now, Round Robins are scheduled for Wednesdays 8-10 AM.  We will move it to a later time as it gets colder.  The Transitional Round Robin should be advertised in the next newsletter. 

d.     We will change Club Organized Play to 8-12 now that it is getting colder.

e.      Advanced mixed doubles will continue on Saturdays.  Rich and Cindy want to start separate Men’s and Women’s advanced doubles also at a time when it does not conflict with Club activities.  Any QCPC member who qualifies is welcome to play in the Advanced play. The criteria are 3.5 for women and 4.0 for men.  Ratings can be Club ratings, Tournament rated, or play in a tournament at that level. Eventually, ratings will become a necessity.  Advanced play is now under the umbrella of the Club, which means that David reserves courts for them.  Waivers may be necessary for non-Club members who play on our courts. 

f.      Intermediate assisted play- Denny and Kathy will be leading 3 sessions to help intermediate players who have at least one year’s playing experience.  Each of these sessions is the same class, so different people should participate each time.  The next Board should have an Education Committee that can plan a sequence of programs to develop players’ skills.

6.     Capital improvements—shade awning, shed, ice machine—status.  The Finance Committee approved the shed and the ice machine, but they did not approve the shade awning.  If that is approved for 2018, we will need to contribute to the purchase of this. This could cost $2000-$4000. We will also need to replace the nets in a few years.  This should be 50/50 with POA and QCPC.  16 nets cost about $2400, so our cost should be $1200.

7.     Future events

a.      December 14 “Birthday Party”- The plan is to do a social on the 3rd Wednesday each month.  We will have a Good-Bye to snowbirds in April.  Then we will have a July 4th party. 

b.     Green Valley Firemen’s Tournament—Friday, February 17- Problem with this date?  No one had any problems with date.  

c.      Green Valley Senior Games—March 8-10. David needs someone to help out with this.  He has been the on-site coordinator and he would like someone else to take this over.

8.     Status of Mark Renneson lessons on November 2-3?   There were few sign-ups for 2.0-2.5 Clinic; but lots for the 3.0-3.5.  There have also been few for the 4.0-45 level because there is a big tournament in Phoenix, so many of our better players are there and haven’t signed up.  Mark will speak at the end of our Board Meeting and also give a demonstration on the courts from 12:30-1:30.  

9.     Annual Membership Meeting—November 2--10 am, Ballroom- Pam will give a Treasurer’s report;  David will report on our Education programs, our Capital improvement requests (Shed, Ice Machine approved; Shade Awnings not approved).  He will discuss our research on the Backboard and ask for member feedback.  Volunteer sheets will be put out.

10.  New Business- Night play- should the Club reserve Mon. and Thurs. night for Club Open Play from 6-8.  Now all lit courts are reservable at night.  If it is Club open play, then people need to be able to rotate in, which is what is happening now.  All players must be Club Members.  Courts 9-12 are lit; Courts 1 and 2 would be reservable for other play.  It was decided to ask Karen to see how many play on Mon. and Thurs. for the next month and also to see how many are members. She should find out if they plan to continue through the Winter?  We will then re-consider this issue at the December meeting.

11.   Date and time of next board meeting –December 12—1:30, Kino Room.

Meeting adjourned at 3:05.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth Maki, Secretary

QCPC Board Minutes, October 10, 2016

QCPC Board Meeting

October 10, 2016

1:30 pm

Kino Conference Room

Present: David Kikel, President; Board Members Pam Martin, Ruth Maki, Marie Still (John Hughes, Jo-Anna Kikel, and Rich Pokorski were unable to attend)

Members:  Joan Fava, Denny Meyers, Kathy Meyers, Jean Bustard, Lenny Friedman, Ron Granz, Larry Hyde, Sandy Veydt, Linda von Felden, and Brian Liekhus

1.     The meeting was called to order at 1:30.

2.     The minutes of the September 6 meeting were approved.

3.     Pam Martin, Treasurer, reported September was a slow month in terms of income and spending. We have $10,487.39 in our bank account.

4.     Committee Reports

a.     Marie Still, Membership Chair, reported that we have 324 members, 123 of whom were new in 2016.  She commented that new members are instructed to look at the website, but the information there is not always correct.  In addition, new members want to have a Beginner’s lesson, so they can attend Assisted Play sessions.

b.     Communications/Website Chair, Jo-Anna Kikel, was not present, but the Board suggested that she work with Bill Maki who has agreed to take over the website.  Out of date information should be updated.  It was also suggested that we add an obvious link to a website describing the basics of pickleball and the rules.

c.     Court Management Chair, Rick Pokorski was not present but others suggested that we need a new flag or windsock for the upper courts.  There may be one in the closet and, if so, it will be installed.  Otherwise, we will buy two windsocks.  In terms of balls, the present supply will be used up before putting out new balls.  However, David is concerned that we may need to back-order balls, so he asked Lenny Friedman to buy 100 or 200 of the new Onix Pure 2 balls, whichever seems most economical.  Court Management can decide where to put the new balls once we start using them. The filter in the ice machine has been replaced so the water and ice should have a better taste.

5.     Fall Organized Play

a.     Assisted Play is off to a great start.  The volunteers running that have been encouraging “graduates” of assisted play to move up to Open Club Play and to participate in the Round Robins.  Linda von Felden asked that we request more volunteers, so that those who have been running Assisted Play can step down.  She also said that it would be nice to have Assisted Play for intermediates, which would involve more advanced players offering suggestions to intermediate players.

b.     Lenny Friedman said that his beginner lessons have gone very well.  David asked him when the next lesson will be, and Lenny decided to offer a lesson on Oct. 26 from 6-7:30 PM.  This will be advertised in this week’s newsletter.

c.     George Mynatt conducted the first Round Robin for intermediate players on October 5^th.  There were 14 women and 12 men.  Other Round Robins will be on October 12 and 26.  George has several volunteers who are helping him.

6.     Although David did not know about the status of our capital improvement request at the meeting, he e-mailed the board the next day with the following information.  Our requests for funding for a storage shed and ice machine have been approved, but our shade awning request was denied--apparently the new minimum wage costs have put a pinch on the budget.  The shade awning project was not rejected on the merits--we were encouraged to apply again next year for shade awnings for 2018.

7.     Backboard Status- Sandy Veydt did a lot of research on pickleball backboards and selected one that seems to be most suitable for our purposes.  David wrote to General Manager Mike Taylor to ask if there are any problems with Robson concerning backboards.  Mike wrote back and indicated that the concerns were aesthetics, maintenance, and low usage after the first month.  David asked if we buy it ourselves, would the POA staff install it.  The answer was “no,” we would have to buy it, install it, and maintain it.  Installation would require pouring concrete and dropping support posts into it.  Few people in the Club have used a backboard, but advanced players indicated that it is very difficult for a beginner to get the ball to come back rather than dropping.  The Board decided to give a presentation at the Membership meeting giving the pros and cons of a backboard and asking for interest both in obtaining a backboard and in installing it.

8.     Future events

a.     The Halloween party will be from 6-8 PM on October 19.  An announcement and sign-up request have already gone out to the Membership. 

b.     The 3rd Birthday Party for the Pickleball Courts will be on December 14. The Board requested that a newsletter go out with a “Save the Date” for this party.   

c.     The Green Valley Fire Department wants to have a pickleball tournament again.  David suggested that they do it late March or early April.  The Board approved use of our courts for this tournament.

9.     Lenny Friedman talked about progress in bringing in a professional pickleball player to give clinics and lessons.  He suggested that we invite Mark Renneson on Nov. 2-3.  Our Member Meeting is on the morning of Nov. 2, so the Board said that the clinics could be in the afternoon and evening of Nov. 2 and also on Nov. 3 (this is the date of the Rally for the Cure event, which involves many women, but they could participate on Nov. 2). It was suggested that we have our Member Meeting at the Ramada and that Mark play a demonstration game.  The Board decided to have a short meeting in the Clubhouse Ballroom and then to either have Mark give a 30-minute talk or to play a demonstration game on the courts.  If Mark gives a talk or plays a game, the Board will give him an honorarium of $75.  Lenny will work out the details with Mark. 

10. Linda von Felden reported for the Nominating Committee.  They have identified a candidate for each elected position:  President- Jean Bustard; Treasurer- Karen Morse; Secretary- Linda von Felden (1 year to fill present term).  A notification will be sent out to the members on Oct. 15^th identifying this slate, as required by the Bylaws.  Ruth Maki will resign her position as secretary to become the Communications Chair.  The Committee has also identified an individual for Membership Chair, but has not yet identified anyone for Court Management Chair. 

11. The Annual Membership Meeting will be in the Clubhouse Ballroom on Nov. 2, beginning at 10 AM.

12. New Business

The Nominating Committee raised the question of whether we should add a statement in the Bylaws that those holding elected offices should be full-time residents.  The Board felt that this would limit possible candidates and decided not to pursue this Bylaw change at this time.

The question of visitors using courts was raised.  Quail Creek residents can reserve several courts and bring non-resident visitors.  David indicated that the POA policy is that any resident can invite guests to play on our courts.  The Club has no control over the courts, except during our scheduled events.  Only Club Members can participate in events, such as Club Open Play or Assisted Play.  The Club has priority in reserving courts of events, but there is not much we can do about residents bringing in guests. 

13.  The next QCPC Board meeting is November 2 at 1:30 PM in the Kino Center    Boardroom.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth Maki, Secretary