National Capital Squash Rackets Association (NCSRA)

Board Minutes

September 11, 2007 (Tuesday)

Location and Time: University Club, 6:45 pm.

Officers Attending: Meherji Madan (President), Kemp Prugh (VP - Leagues), Hunt Richardson (Tournaments), Barry Wood (Juniors), Debbie Boehm-Davis (Women), Chris Zimmermann (Membership), AJ Copeland (Secretary), Kevin Haggerty (Treasurer), John Eisaman (web), Ghirma Meres (Immediate Past President)

Officers not present: none

Club Reps/Alternates (Attending):

Bethesda S&H – Shelly Nasworthy (Sport & Health management)

Metropolitan Club – Patrick Holley

Rio -Malcolm Jensen

University Club – Timothy Curry

Clubs not represented:

Arlington Y

Bethesda S&H

Episcopal HS

GWU

Pentagon

Potomac

Regency S&H

Results

Sports Club LA

Tenley S&H

University of Maryland

Worldgate

YMCA

Others Present: Merrit Moore, Mark Lewis (DC Squash Academy), Dave Dickieson, Howard Day

Regrets

Connie Barnes

Wendy Lawrence

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:50pm. At the start the Board observed a minute of silence for remembrance of the victims, families and loved ones of the September 11 terrorist atrocities on the Pentagon building. Introductions were made of Board members and guests.

Approval of the Minutes

The draft minutes of the NCSRA Board meeting of August 9, 2007 were reviewed. A motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously to accept the minutes as written.

OFFICER REPORTS

Tournaments

Hunt is compiling a list of tournaments to be posted on the NCSRA website. He will email AJ the document which will then be distributed to the Board. The list will include a tentative date for a referee clinic. Maj recommended that some others learn how this comprehensive, time-consuming schedule is prepared for the future, and that brief instructions be included on the website under Policies & Procedures.

Hunt also proposed that all local tournaments have an NCSRA “table”, manned at least intermittently by an NCSRA representative, possibly with information sheets or brochures and membership applications.

Finances

Kevin had not yet arrived at this point in the meeting, so Meherji briefly reviewed the Financial Statements for 2006/7 and the recommendations of Bill Freshwater, the accountant who graciously reviewed the organization’s finances last month. He noted the outstanding need for a vault in which to store hard copies of important documents such as tax returns. Chris questioned the total value of membership dues receipts, believing it should be substantially more based on the number of members.

Patrick reviewed the Budget Draft for 2007/8. He discussed taking $15,000 from the non-interest-bearing SunTrust account and putting it in a 3-year money market account. He listed several options for allocation of the net remaining assets of approximately $13,250 and noted that as an organization we need to decide how to spend that money.

The Finance Team will further examine investment policies and options and the Treasurer will report back to the Board. Write-ups will be included on the website under Policies & Procedures.

Membership

Chris is trying to prepare a summary of the number of members in 2006/07 to help reconcile the shortfall in membership revenue from US Squash.

Juniors

Barry confirmed that he will be the chief coordinator (captain's duties) for the Juniors FitzGerald Team. He reported that the “Fitzgerald junior” tournament is slated to be held January 5, 2008, at Bethesda Sport & Health. He expects to have 4 flights of U13, U15, U17, and U19, in both boys and girls, or eight flights total.

Barry also mentioned he would like to get more junior participation on the NCSRA website, i.e. profiles of junior players submitted by coaches. Debbie cautioned about privacy issues using full names and photographs of minors on a public website.

Women

Debbie reported that Washington expects to send 3 teams of five women to the Howe Cup in Boston this fall. She put forth a motion requesting the NCSRA continue to support Howe Cup at the previous level by paying half of the entry fee for each of the women representing DC, $75 x 15 women = $1125. The motion was seconded and passed, with twelve Board members in favor and two opposed.

Leagues

Kemp reported there will be 5 divisions in the Fall League.

Shelly Nasworthy from the S&H management addressed the issue of League play at the Sport & Health facilities. She asks that League team captains provide a list of all their players (including alternates) at the beginning of the season; S&H will create a special red non-member guest card which League players can use whenever they play at a S&H facility. The card will include a “do not solicit” designation. She asks for patience as the policy is implemented. If team captains find they need to have a substitute player for a given match, an email will need to be sent to both Shelly and Connie Barnes before noon on the day of the match so that a new non-member guest card can be created. Shelly also reviewed the reason for the S&H policy requesting that League players arrive no earlier than 30 minutes before play, so as to allow S&H members to have maximum access to exercise equipment and machines during what is prime time.

The issue of Women's League players at Sport and Health is being addressed by Shelly and she will get back to Meherji and Debbie.

Web

John has updated the membership list on the web. He is working on updating the referee list as well as the BOD member profiles and photos. He confirmed that the website ads are generating income. He requested that any material submitted to him to be posted on the website be fully evolved and formatted at the time of submission. John agrees that there is a need to find an Assistant Webmaster or additional support resources to help him bring the website promptly up to date.

NEW BUSINESS

New Mail Repository

AJ noted the new PO address for the NCSRA. She will notify the USSRA membership director of the new address.

New Operating Name and Logo

Hunt formally thanked Ghirma for his service as the NCSRA President, and presented him with a wall plaque and a gift on behalf of the NCSRA Board and members.

Hunt reviewed the options for a new name and logo for the NCSRA, and distributed drafts of different samples. The Board consensus was to favor the name “National Capital Squash”, with the silhouette of a traditional figure in the center striking a forehand. The figure will be within a circular representation of the new name National Capital Squash. A motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously to pay graphic designed Dayna Elefant $150.00 for her work in creating options for a new logo.

Fitzgerald Cup

Considerable discussion occurred since recommended options were not yet developed and put forward. Malcolm agreed to complete his research and analysis before the next Board Meeting and and provide guidelines for play and funding based on recommendations from his FitzGerald Cup Committee. Board action on whether to contribute to the funding of the Fitzgerald Cup party was tabled for the next meeting.

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 24 October, at Sports Club LA, at 6:45pm to be followed by Monkey Doubles with sodas and chips, Officers versus Club Reps.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:20pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Annesley W. Copeland