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The El Cerrito Tennis
Club is an independent tennis club operated in close association with the City of El Cerrito, California, intended primarily for the benefit of tennis players and not limited to El Cerrito residents.

Board of Directors

Board Meeting, January 25, 2011

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Minutes

Opening

Susan Brand called the quarterly meeting of the El Cerrito Tennis Club to order at 6:30 p.m. on January 25, 2011, at 6154 Bernhard Ave, Richmond.

Present: Susan Brand, Jan Bridges, Ellen de Neef, Bob Nowacki, Lori Staley, Darrell Staley, Margo Takemiya, Jan Wilkins

Absent: Charlotte Moon, April Tanalski, Louise Vogelsberg

A. Approval of Minutes

A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the November 2, 2010, meeting.

B. Treasurer's Report

Jan's report contained current expenditures and income. The report was accepted as presented.

C. Old Business

  1. Permit Status: Jan Bridges checked permits on the BALL teams and reported everyone is current. Ellen de Neef will check USTA teams for membership and permit status again when the new teams start their season.
  2. Web Status: Bob Nowacki checked the website hits through a service called Webalizer. This has been running for one month and recorded 125 hits in January. It is impossible to distinguish between live and robot hits. He will post the yearly team reports published in the winter newsletter. He will check and update website pages reflecting membership and permit fees.
  3. Report on Other Team Expenses: Margo Takemiya presented additional information on cost comparisons between ECTC and other teams originally presented at the November 2, 2010, meeting. The new data included Laney and Davie team fees. The discussion concluded that the comparison is difficult to make due to the range of different services provided by the different teams. A motion was made to increase a team's stipend to $150 for all BALL and USTA teams. The motion was seconded and carried.
  4. Recap of Red Eye Drop-in Annual Meeting January 1, 2011: The pictures of the wet courts are posted on the website. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the Annual Membership Meeting of January 1, 2011.

D. New Business

  1. Membership Status: Darrell Staley reported that new memberships and membership renewals are "trickling" in this month and currently counts 38 members.
  2. USTA Spring Season:
    • W 3.5 is registered with captain Rhoda Shaponik and cocaptain Lillian Carothers
    • W 4.0 is registered with captain Paul Kramer and cocaptain Karen Morioka
    • M 3.5 captain will be Henryk Kramek
    • W SS 60 captain will be Charlotte Moon
    • W SS 65 captain will be Jan Strauss (?)
    • M SS 65 captain will be Gib Cattanach (?)
    Most likely there won't be a W 3.0 this year because nobody has stepped forward to captain the team.
  3. Report on EC Community Center Budget for Court Resurfacing: Margo Takemiya reported that the resurfacing project for the Cerrito Vista courts will go ahead in the spring 2011. Jerry Bradshaw at the community center reported that there is $8,000 – $12,000 in their budget each year for court resurfacing. This year Cerrito Vista will get the deeper resurfacing and ECTC will cover expenses that go above the community center's budget for this project, not exceeding $5,000. Bob Nowacki will take pictures of the courts after the next rainfall to record the location of puddles and poor drainage.
  4. ECTC Improvement Association: Jan Bridges announced that the ECTC Improvement Association will dissolve, and the money will be placed in an account only accessible by three people. The use of this money (about $23,000 – $26,000) is dedicated to improving tennis in El Cerrito. A QuickStart court with a backboard next to the Cerrito Vista courts has been proposed. More details will be reported in future meetings.
  5. Membership Drive 2011: Susan Brand recapped the discussion from previous meeting on January 1, 2011.
    • It was decided that Susan Brand and Charlotte Moon will proceed with a membership survey to assess preferences and possible activities that would attract new members.
    • The possibility of an evening drop-in Round Robin at Cerrito Vista was discussed. It was decided to start this in April 2011 and have at least six weeks as a trial. Ellen de Neef will look into current court reservations on Cerrito Vista courts and determine if there is one weeknight most suitable for such an event. More details will be discussed in future meetings.
    • Charlotte Moon will explore possibilities for workshops to attract new members.
  6. ECHS Tennis Team Coaching Request: The posting of the request from ECHS parents for assistance in coaching their boy's tennis team on the ECTC website and the email to the membership were very successful. Several people stepped forward to volunteer their time. One very good candidate, Liu Thao, responded and was contacted by ECHS to consult the ECHS boys' tennis team. ECHS will decide if this person is a good fit for assisting their coach. The parents from the ECHS boys' tennis team thanked ECTC for our quick response to their request for assistance. Ellen de Neef will contact all those interested to help and keep in communication with ECHS.
  7. QuickStart Junior League: Margo Takemiya will launch a new season for the QuickStart program. Registration will begin March 3 from 5–8 p.m. and March 6 from 12–3 p.m. in front of the El Cerrito Community Center. She will have a small QuickStart court set up for the kids to use during registration. She would appreciate assistance from ECTC members during registration. She will send a message to last year's coaches to solicit their renewed interest in coaching again. She expects about twice the number of kids interested in signing up. The Club may want to consider raising the registration fee of $65, which is considered very low compared to other junior leagues.

    The USTA has a grant available for USTA NorCal 10-and-under junior teams in the QuickStart program. The requirements are:
    1. Permanent lines for QuickStart courts on a minimum of four 36-foot and two 60-foot courts or a combination of both.
    2. Facility must pledge to continue the QuickStart program for three years.
    3. Facilitators must attend a QuickStart workshop hosted by a certified USTA QuickStart trainer.
    4. Form a six-to-eight-week-long spring Junior Team Tennis league with 10-and-under teams.
    5. Require USTA membership of all players in this JTT league.
    6. Hire a high school or college student as an assistant coach for the league.
    Benefits for the ECTC would be, besides promoting and developing growth of junior tennis in El Cerrito:
    • $500 per court for painting the lines.
    • $500 reimbursement for purchasing equipment for the 10-and-under teams.
    • Reimbursement of $10 for every new USTA member registering in the spring league.
    • $10/hour salary for two hours a week over the course of a six-week league for an assistant coach. This is a total of $120 per team.
    Concerns were expressed about the requirement of permanent lines on the courts. Margo will ask the USTA for pictures of courts that were painted according to those specifications, and the board will be able to have a better idea of what is involved. Requirement #6 was discussed as well, and Margo has already a person in mind she thought suitable.

    Further discussion will be needed, and this topic was tabled to future meetings.
  8. Items to Discuss with Monica:
    • Lights at Cerrito Vista seem to burn out quickly. Discuss possible solutions.
    • Discuss option to improve light in parking lot at Cerrito Vista, possibly one reason the lights are not turned off after play.
    • Check center strap anchor at Canyon Trail.
  9. Next Meeting: The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 6:30 p.m., at the home of Susan Brand, 6154 Bernhard Ave., Richmond, 94805.

Respectfully submitted by Ellen de Neef.