USTA NorCal Junior Council Committee Meeting Monday, December 4, 2006, 6:30 pm

Transcription

1 USTA NorCal Junior Council Committee Meeting Monday, December 4, 2006, 6:30 pm NOTE: All minutes are final after approval by the committee and all committee decisions are subject to final approval by the Board. Committee Members Present: Andrea Norman, Chair, Lisa Berg, John Dicconson, Mark Manning, Vince Owens, Bill Patton, Jennifer Pitzen, and Tamara Ramos, were present when the meeting was called to order. Wendy Chow joined the meeting at 6:45 pm. Rick Kepler joined the meeting at 7:10 pm. Hunter Gallaway joined the meeting at 7:15 pm. Committee Members Absent: Liz Blum and Francisco Ruiz USTA Staff Members Present: Jim Coyne and Steve Leube Andrea Norman, chair of Junior Council, called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm. There being a quorum present, the Committee commenced its business. 1. Approval of October 2, 2006 Minutes. The first order of business was the approval of the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held October 2, Upon motion duly made and seconded the following resolution was unanimously approved: RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on Monday, October 2, 2006 be approved as presented. 2. Staff Report - Jim Coyne, Director of Junior Tennis. Jim distributed his written report that included the following items. Items discussed at the meeting are so noted: Junior Handbook: The Junior Handbook has been compiled, edited, and reviewed, and should be in the mail the week of December 4, It was noted that several new Family Tournaments have been added to the schedule. Constant Contact Blast s: Constant Contact sent out promoting 6-TENNIS, the fall Jamboree at Harbor Bay and Peter Herb Cup. Constant Contact is an excellent form of communication as we can monitor what articles spike an interest with our parents and players. USTA Girls 18 National Team Championships:Laurent Lecellier, tournament director for the USTA Girls 18 National Team Championships, notified NorCal that the event wil be played at Rolling Hills Racquet Club in Marin. U10 Player Development Exchange in San Diego: Jim Coyne and Coaching Commission chair, Jeff Southwick, led the U10 team (6 boys and 6 girls) to the Barnes Center in San Diego. This event was well received by the families who traveled to San Diego. Peter Herb Cup: Thanks to Andrea Norman, the Cup will take place at the Almaden Valley Athletic Club on December 9, Volunteers are still needed and should contact Jim Coyne if they are available. Play will begin at approximately 9:00 am Pacific Cup - Portland, OR - December 2-3: NorCal competed against teams from Pacific NW, British Columbia, and SoCal in this weekend event. NorCal took second place behind SoCal. Coach Dexter Fong reported that the team was very easy to coach and that the team members had outstanding sportsmanship and were outstanding fighters. Team members: B18 Thai Tu, B16 Sky Lovill, B14 Shaun Chaudhuri, B12 Nicholas Hu, G18 Stephany Chang, G16 Ellen Tsay, G14 Breanna Bachini, G12 Kassidy Jump. USTA Staff Development Workshop: All junior department staff attended the workshop held November 8 12 in Phoenix, AZ. Player development sectional and national staff met twice during the workshop. Discussion included the zone teams, 8/9 yr old girls talent development program. Toured the Penn ball manufacturing plant. Over 300,000 balls produced daily. Big Bold Bash - January 27, 2007: Kevin Carroll, a motivational speaker who was an integral figure in the Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG yellow wristband, is the headliner, and Jeff

2 Greenwald will be one of the speakers during the daylong event. A Tournament Director Workshop is scheduled for the Big Bold Bash on January 27, Junior Sportsmanship Award winners will be recognized at the dinner. Don t miss this event! PE In Service - Alameda Unified School District. Staff assisted with the Alameda Unified School District PE teacher in service on October 30, Thirty teachers were in attendance and were very interested in the progression balls and portable mini nets. Fall Team Tennis Jamboree: Fall Jamboree attracted 100 players to Harbor Bay in Alameda. One team traveled from Kingsburg to join in this fun and growing team tennis event. Team tennis tournaments are a great vehicle for our junior tennis player to compete in a fun yet competitive environment. Safeway Sponsors 6-TENNIS: We are pleased to mention that Safeway is a sponsor for the Oakland 6-TENNIS program running out of Davie Tennis Stadium. New Community Tennis Coordinator: Welcome our new community coordinator for the Central Valley, Rosalie Escamilla. She will be working from her home in Jackson, CA. USPTA Fall Conference - November 5, 2006: Jim Coyne spoke about the need to apply an Extreme Makeover to Your Tennis Business. One of the main points of the presentation was to understand the market potential and the need to work together and network with fellow professionals. SAP Open Planning Meeting - November 14, 2006: Staff attended SAP Open planning meeting at the HP Pavilion. Discussion involved the Free Junior Tennis Clinic, junior exhibition with one of the 6-TENNIS teams, fast serve booth, and possible exhibition involving 10 yr olds. Player Contact Information in TDM: It was reported that Tournaments will no longer be receiving telephone and information on tournament entrants UNLESS a player has specifically provided such information during the registration process. It was suggested that this be an added discussion point for Tournament Director Workshops. Staff will also be looking into the feasibility of posting a note to all junior home page encouraging players to provide this information so that tournaments can contact players, if necessary. 3. Chairman s Report - Andrea Norman Budget Requests: Andrea reported that she had been notified that $20,000 in new funding had been approved by the Board of Directors for the 2007 Junior Department as follows: Novice & Challenger Player Clinics & Parent Education Workshops...$1,750 Competition & Regional Training Center Support...$4,800 Excellence Workouts...$6,200 Sectional Team Workouts...$3,250 Pacific Cup...$4,000 Mark Manning expressed concern that this might not be accurate information. His recollection from the Budget Committee meeting, a committee on which he serves, is that approximately $15,000 in new funding was approved and that funds for next year s Pacific Cup were not included. Because of the confusion, the Chair informed the Council that she would request the Budget Committee chair to clarify what funds are in the 2007 Budget for expenditure by the Junior Department. Update on Junior Council Committee Decisions: Andrea reported that the following Junior Council resolutions from the October meeting had passed the Committee Decision Process at the board level: - Selection of Players for Maze Cup Team - Selection of Players for USTA Junior National Team Tournaments - Seeding of Sectional Championships The new seeding rule now appears in the 2007 Junior Tournament Rules posted online. The new selection rules will appear in the new Junior Handbook. SAP Open Fast Serve Booth: The 2007 USTA NorCal budget obligates Junior Council to generate $3,000 in revenue at the SAP Open Fast Serve Booth. Volunteer sign ups by

3 Committee members will be needed February from approximately 6:00 pm each day to the end of the evening session (approximately 10:00 pm). A sign up sheet was distributed. Additional volunteers will be solicited by in the coming weeks Subcommittees: Information on the subcommittees proposed for 2007 was distributed. The proposed subcommittees are as follows: NorCal Team Subcommittee Combined Doubles Ranking Subcommittee Marketing Subcommittee Rules Subcommittee Committee members were asked to let the Chair know the subcommittees in which they are interested no later than December 15th and whether they are willing to serve as a subcommittee chair. Members were asked to prioritize three choices. All members will serve on at least one subcommittee, and possibly two Meeting Schedule: A 2007 Junior Council meeting schedule was distributed. There being no objection, the meeting dates for the coming year are as follows: February 5 March 5 April 2 May 7 June 4 July 9 August 20 October 8 December 3 4. Participation Report. The participation report through November 30, 2006 was distributed to the Council. The Chair announced that, year to date, the KPI for increasing non-unique participation by 1,800 had been met and exceeded - it is currently up 2,498. While this may go up or down by the end of December, it was exciting news that juniors had played tennis in greater numbers, especially during the summer, than last year. Additional numbers in the report included: Total Unique Singles Entrants for January-November 2006 was showing improved progress (+9%, 478 additional players) as compared to the previous year s period. Total Unique Doubles Entrants for January-November 2006 increased 21% (445 additional players) as compared to the previous year s period. Singles Non-unique Entrants for January-November 2006 was also up (+6%, 1,300 additional entrants) as compared to the previous year s period. Doubles Non-unique Entrants for January-November 2006 increased 27% (1,198 additional entrants) as compared to the previous year s period. Total Non-unique Entrants, the number tied to our KPI of an 1,800 increase, are up 2,498 over the previous year s period. Singles Match Play for January-November 2006 remained up (5%, 1,249 additional matches) as compared to the previous year s period. Doubles Match Play for January-November 2006 increased 22% (372 additional matches) as compared to the previous year s period. As of November 30, NorCal has 20 players ranked in singles in the top 50 nationally, down slightly from a year ago, but up from two years ago. As of November 30, NorCal has 28 players ranked in individual doubles in the top 50 nationally and 36 doubles teams in the top 50 nationally. This numbers are up from a year ago and from two years ago. 5. Sportsmanship Awards. New Bag Tag Sportsmanship Awards: Jim Coyne showed the Council the new Sportsmanship Award that will be distributed to players recognized for outstanding sportsmanship in Mark Manning questioned where the funds for purchasing these awards came given that the Budget Commitee did not approve the Council s request for additional funds earlier in the year. The Chair explained that the Budget for Awards included funds in 2006 that were to be spent on the Maze Cup and the Sportsmanship Awards, although at the time it was believed that all of these funds were to be allocated only to the Maze Cup. At about the time the Budget Committee rejected our request, not on the merits of the program, but on because they felt the award we had selected was too expensive and because we needed better safeguards against waste, Staff discovered that the Maze Cup Awards cost less than the full budgeted amount. Approximately six weeks ago, Jim and the Chair determined that these funds should be used to purchase new bag tags. The balance of the funds budgeted for Awards was spent on these new bag tags. It was noted that while these new bag tags are very nice, they

4 are less expensive than the tags handed out in Additionally, the Council was given a copy of the new correspondence to Tournament Directors explaining the important role they play in recognizing sportsmanship and their responsibilities under our Junior Tournament and Sanction Rules for selecting players and awarding the bag tags. It was also noted that funds for Sportsmanship Awards are in the 2007 budget and will be spent, as needed, on new bag tags during the year so that unlike 2006, in 2007 the program will be in place for the entire year. Selection of 2006 Sportsmanship Award Winners: Jim Coyne distributed a list of players who had been recognized for outstanding sportsmanship throughout the year. The Council reviewed the list of players for each division, gave additional input, and by consensus, selected the following players to be recognized for outstanding sportsmanship at the Big Bold Bash: G10 - Taylor Hoppe G10 - Brookey Villanueva G12 - Kathryn Bartel and Giuanna Ong G14 - Julie Leong, Michaela Nachtigall, and Jamie Pawid G16 - Kelly Chui, Jasmine Nachtigall, and Kellie Ventimilia G18 - Kerrie Kumer B10 - Andy Zhou B12 - Logan Staggs and Maksim Tsukanov B14 - Beau Frank and Nicolas Talbott B16 - Roupen Arzoamunian, Ben Borad, Nicholas Lautoa, and Sam Wong B18 - Adam Davison Scafidi Award - Eric Ramos National Bill Talbert Award Nominee - Nick Lopez Each player will be invited to the Big Bold Bash dinner. All other players considered for the awards will be sent letters from NorCal congratulating them on their display of outstanding sportsmanship throughout the year. 6. Tournament Improvement Program. Tamara Ramos and Lisa Berg reported on their experiences. They both shared that many Tournament Directors did not reply to their s, however those that did were very gracious and responsive to her suggestions. Common errors included absence of match formats, failure to list a Referee, and listing the Referee and the Tournament Director as the same person. These problems are all being addressed with the tournaments in the hope that they will be corrected before entries open. Tamara suggested that it would be very beneficial if TennisLink developed a tournament home page template that included all of the information required to be communicated to players by a Tournament. The Chair stated she would communicate this idea to the TennisLink staff. A TIP schedule for 2007 was distributed and Council members were asked to list preferences for the time of year to be assigned tournament to monitor. The Chair will take tournament at the beginning of the year and will distribute assignments in by the next meeting. 7. Player Development Proposal - Bill Patton. Bill Patton presented his proposal to develop a 5- year plan for junior player development that recommended the following: Identify the problems that limit junior player potential and analyze the root causes of the problems Brainstorm solutions to the problems identified Identify resources to solve the problems Strategize efficient solutions, including prioritization and selection of problems to solve Examine current policies to determine if they support the new goals Implement solutions The Chair thanked Bil for his work and stated that this was in line with Margie Peterman s goal to have Committees develop more long-term goal setting. She announced she would work with him and Jim Coyne in the coming months to develop a strategy to begin work on a longer-term plan for player development. 8. Sanction & Schedules Update - Tamara Ramos. Tamara Ramos updated the Council on the recent decisions by the Sanction and Schedules Committee that impact junior tennis. A handout summarizing their decisions was distributed. Tamara was thanked for her efforts in representing 4

5 the Junior Council on the new Sanction and Schedules Committee and asked to continue to keep Council informed on their decisions. 9. Sportsmanship Issues - Hunter Gallaway. Hunter Gallaway brought to the attention a sportsmanship issue that had occurred at his tournament the previous weekend and asked the Council s advise on howto handle it. The Chair and Staff recommended that his Referee follow the established procedure for recording violations of the standards of conduct on a Code of Conduct Form, which includes sending that form to the Sportsmanship Committee and the player. 10. Technology Ad Hoc Committee - Wendy Chow. As representative from Junior Council on the new Technology Ad Hoc Committee looking into how Active.com will impact NorCal as well as any other TennisLink technology issues, Wendy asked for the Council s input on any issues they are aware of that relate to Active.com and Tennis Link. Mark Manning raised the issue of whether the entry fee and the processing fee charged by Active.com would show as one total fee or as separate fees that total what a player is charged for entering a tournament. The materials provided by the USTA state that the entry fee and processing fee will be shown as one fee. Mark expressed concern that in order to generate more income tournaments would encourage players not to sign up online and then charge the total fee, which includes the entry fee and processing fee. The Chair noted that this was in violation of the USTA Regulations. The rules state that a non-refundable service fee may be charged for the receipt of electronic entries, not manual entries. Tournaments that charged the additional electronic processing fee to manual entrants would be in violation of this rule. Wendy was asked to look into this issue and Jim Coyne was asked that this restriction be communicated to Tournament Directors. 11. Announcements. Next Meeting. The next regular meeting of Junior Council will be held at the USTA NorCal office on Monday, February 5: 6:00 pm dinner: 6:30 pm meeting. Update on Stipend Tournament Assistance Reimbursement Proposal. Mark Manning stated that he had not yet presented the pilot for consideration by the Budget Committee. This proposal was presented to Junior Council at the August meeting and was voted down, due in large part to the Council believing it would enable the Sanction and Schedules Committee to reduce the number of tournaments. Andrea thanked the Council members for their work. There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 9:34 pm. Recorded and submitted by Andrea S. Norman, Acting Secretary of the Meeting 5