APTA Annual Meeting & Board Meeting and Working Sessions

Friday, May 8 The Annual APTA Board Meeting was called to order at 12:45 p.m.

The APTA website – overview and ideas for next steps:
Paul Wiggin gave a detailed report on the website and led a general discussion on APTA priorities for the next 12 months. The site is off to a great start and continues to grow in size, quality, viewership and in contribution to both the APTA membership and to the sport.

The Board agreed with Paul’s prioritization of the future initiatives and, in addition, emphasized certain action items:
1. Having worked out most of the bugs in the on-line tournament registration procedure, the APTA now wants to encourage Tournament Directors to use the APTA site for tournament registrations, at APTA sanctioned events, to ensure that the waiver is signed.
2. Put a “passive waiver” onto the draw sheets (e.g., “By signing up for this tournament and appearing on this draw, you waive … …”).
3. Fred Gumbinner will solicit Chris Kelly to discuss the idea of using “Facebook” as part of promoting social networking for platform tennis.
4. The APTA needs a Juniors link on the site for the APTA Junior Tour (in lieu of Viking).

The Board Members praised the huge progress made over the last 12 months thanks to the monumental efforts of Paul Wiggin and Isabel Cabanne, and to Scott Bondurant for his leadership.

Grant Proposal – Atlanta:
Peter Lauer presented a proposal to the APTA to grant $20,000 for a platform tennis program and courts at the Racquet Club of the South in Atlanta to help launch platform tennis in this large “public” tennis facility and to further the growth of the sport in the Atlanta area. This proposal met the APTA’s needs regarding “public access” (low fees and open to anyone who wants to join) and the fact that the Club is essentially a not-forprofit organization. The following motion was made: It was moved that we issue a $20,000 grant to the National Tennis Foundation for the construction of two platform tennis courts at The Racquet Club of the South with a condition subsequent whereby, if the Club is ever sold, we would receive $20,000 back and that we want an Annual Report each year for the next 3 years so that we can monitor the progress of the Club. The motion was carried unanimously.

Budget:
Sally Cottingham reported that the APTA is in a very solid cash position with $343,000 as of 5/7/09. The numbers in the budget look skewed because this is the year that we transitioned from Cash Accounting to Accrual Accounting. 2008-09 Actual Income is $4,800 up from budget. Actual expenses were down $3,000 from budget and Net Income +$7,800. Final 2009-10 budget discussion will be on Saturday.

Sally also said that Aila Main will become the new Treasurer and that Sally would work with Aila throughout the coming year as needed to ensure a smooth transition.

Bonuses:
The Board unanimously approved year-end bonuses for Ann Sheedy and Isabel Cabanne.

Exhibition Tour:
Todd Ward gave a report on last year’s exhibitions which included: Atlanta, Minneapolis, Flushing Meadow, Buffalo and Charlottesville, VA. Currently, the focus for next season is on Atlanta (the new facilities at RCS), Chapel Hill (UNC), Washington DC and St. Louis.

Rules:
The following changes in the Rules were proposed and voted on:
Rule #2: Court Fixtures – The rule will now include “any diagonal corner support beams within the enclosure”. This change was approved unanimously.
Rule #3: The Ball and Paddle – Add “All paddles and balls used in APTA tournaments must have been approved by the APTA rules committee”. This change was approved unanimously.
Rule #11: Footfault – After discussion, it was decided that Fred Gumbinner would look at the USTA rules and make a recommendation on new language to the Rules Committee Chair who would then propose a change to be voted by on the Board on the next conference call.
Rule #22: Scoring — A proposal was made to make changes in the scoring for the 3rd set of all APTA tournaments — or in the Finals of such tournaments and the possible use of the “super tiebreaker”. These concepts were discussed and the vote was to leave this rule unchanged.

Sportsmanship:
Discussion included a proposal to write a “preamble” to be added to the very beginning of the Rules which would emphasize the importance of sportsmanship, and language for an actual rule was proposed which would give tournament chairs and the APTA more authority to mete out penalties or sanctions for unsportsmanlike behavior. Bill O’Brien will give his recommended wording to Fritz Odenbach who will be chairing the Rules Committee and Fritz will finalize a proposal to be voted on during the June 16 conference call.

Saturday, May 9 – Continuation of 2009 Board Meeting

Election of Officers:
The following slate of officers was proposed, moved to be elected and unanimously approved:
Tim McAvoy for President
Fritz Odenbach for Vice-President
Aila Main for Treasurer
Bill O’Brien for Secretary

APTA Direction:
Tim McAvoy said that his priorities included:
- Bridging the gap and mending fences
- Being an ambassador for the game
- Growing the game in any public venue
- Strengthening the APTA “brand” and promoting goodwill among players
- Strengthening roles of the committees

Next Meeting:
The next annual Board Meeting will be in Atlanta on May 7 and 8. There will be a conference call of the Board on June 16 at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) plus further calls
on September 15 and October 13.

75th Anniversary:
Paul Wiggin will lead an effort to promote the APTA’s 75th anniversary. Amy Halstead, Tina Kelley and Hendy Dayton will work with Paul.

Printed Rules Books:
A motion was raised to print 500 copies of the Rules, once they are revised, and include a copy with each Club Gift. The motion was carried unanimously.

Rules Committee:
A motion was raised to appoint Fritz Odenbach to Chair the Rules Committee and to have him select the Committee. The motion carried unanimously.

PPTA:
Todd Ward will continue to be theBoard Liaison to the PPTA.

PTM:
A motion was made to appoint Amy Halstead to Chair the relationship with Platform Tennis Magazine. The motion carried
unanimously.

Juniors:
Tom Safford will administer the APTA Junior Tour, sponsored by Viking, and Tom will be the Chair for the Junior Committee. It was moved that the APTA contribute $2,000 to support the APTA Junior National Tournament. The motion was carried unanimously.

Seniors:
Tim Mangan led a discussion which included the following:
- The APTA has a healthy participation in Seniors events
- Region 1 held all the Senior Nationals this past season. It was agreed that the APTA needs to move the tournaments around.
- Reiterating last year’s resolution, local tournament directors can choose which combined age groupings they wanted for their tournaments — 90+, 95+, etc.
- The APTA will not have any new National Championships for combined age groups

It was moved that Tim Mangan be appointed as Chair for the Seniors Committee. The motion was carried unanimously.

Coffee Table Book:
It was moved that, to encourage completion of the “coffee table book” on the history of the game, the APTA will financially support it with up to a $30,000 loan or other form of support with the proceeds of the sale coming back to the APTA until we recoup our initial investment and with a target completion of September, 2010. The motion was carried unanimously.

It was also moved that Tina Kelley will chair this effort and will choose her own team. The motion was carried unanimously.

Schedule of National Championships:
The men’s and women’s open Nationals are currently scheduled as follows:
2010 – Philadelphia
2011 Chicago
2012 – Long Island
2013 – New Jersey
2014 — Pittsburgh
2015 – Rochester

Region Presidents’ Committee:
The purpose of the committee is to share best practices, raise communication within each Region, and help RP’s do a better job of being the face of the APTA in their Region. It was moved that Rob Coster will chair the Region Presidents’ Committee. The motion was carried unanimously.

College Program:
Rob Coster will continue to be the point person on this effort.

“Branding” Committee:
It was moved that Hendy Dayton chair the Branding Committee and the members will include Amy Halstead, Tina Kelly and Paul Wiggin. The motion was carried unanimously.

Players’ Committees:
The Men’s Players’ Committee will consist of Jerry Albrecht, Scott Bondurant, Mark Fischl, Rich Green, Tom Mayes, Fritz 0 denbach, Mike Marino, Mark Parsons, Todd Ward and Fred Gumbinner (Chair). This committee is expected to deal with any issues that come up regarding players including enforcement of backdraws, foot faulting, sportsmanship issues, and so on.

The Women’s Players Committee will be chaired by Alla Main and she will select her team.

It was moved that, if the Players’ Committee has an issue it needs to deal with, it should recommend the sanction(s) it wants to the Executive Committee of the Board and, if the player(s) appeal, then the Chairperson of the Committee will bring it to the entire Board. The motion was carried unanimously.

During a discussion regarding whether players must play in the 16 back-draw, it was moved that playing in the 16′s will be required for all APTA tournaments (which
continues the practice now in place). The motion was carried unanimously.

Fred Gumbinner will organize a conference call to deal with the protest launched by two players who did not play the 16′s back-draw at the 2009 Nationals.

Regarding foot faulting, we are asking Fred Gumbinner to continue with the roving foot fault judge effort for next season and put together a protocol for how to do it by the June 16 conference call.

We also want to reinforce, or reinstate (if it is missing), that all nationally ranked players must play in at least one NRT in some other Region.

Budget:
It was moved that the APTA provide trophies to the winners and runners-up of the main draw of the Men’s and Women’s National Championship tournaments The motion was carried by a vote of 8 in favor and 6 opposed.

It was moved that the APTA budget $3,000 for Club Gifts which will include the Nationals DVD, a Rules Book, the 75th anniversary poster, etc. The motion was carried unanimously.

It was moved, that the APTA approve $5,200 for the promotional DVD, plus $7,500 for exhibitions and then remove the $5,000 item for “website videos”. The motion was approved unanimously.

Tournament Eligibility:
It was moved that all players in National Championship tournaments must be APTA members and, if they are not, they must pay the back dues or they will not be eligible to play in the upcoming tournament. The motion was carried unanimously.

Legal Advice to the Board:
It was moved that the APTA ask Beach Kuhl to serve as an ex-officio “of counsel” to the Board and he will be a non-voting, non-paid member. The motion was carried unanimously.

Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 11, Issue 1, 2009