LCWTL EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND LEE COUNTY TENNIS PROFESSIONALS
JANUARY 9, 2017 MEETING MINUTES
The semi-annual meeting between the LCWTL Executive Officers and Lee County Area Tennis
Professionals was held on Monday, January 9, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. at Lakes Regional Library. The meeting
was chaired by Maria Schmidt, Director of LCWTL, and called to order at 1:05 p.m. The following league
officers and tennis pros were in attendance:
LCWTL REPRESENTATIVES
Director
Associate Director
Maria Schmidt
Jill Denson
League Secretary
Webmaster
Jenny Clark-King
Elery Shaw
Kelly Greens
Landings
Legends
Lexington
Plantation
John Ramsey
Paul D’Amico
Todd Wise
Kimberly Jones
Mike Brandon
LEE COUNTY PRO REPRESENTATIVES
Breckenridge
CCRC
Gateway
Gulf Harbour
Gulf Harbour
Hideaway
Greg Hiers
Nancy Drury
Rick Hanover
Mike Curran
Paulo Barros
T.A. Niles
Introductions:
Maria introduced the League executive officers, as well as the League’s webmaster. The tennis pros
introduced themselves and designated the club/facility they represented. Maria asked the pros to give a
report on any happenings at their clubs.
Facility Reports:

Hideaway: T.A. Niles reports his facility is still undergoing renovation and will be open for business
this coming season. T.A. invited the League representatives to come and inspect the courts once
improvements are complete.

Plantation: Mike Brandon reports his facility is currently undergoing a homeowner takeover. With this
takeover, there may be a divide between the two communities within the club and should be complete
by March 1. Presently the two communities, Bridgetown and Somerset, share amenities. As of
January 10, Plantation will continue to take outside memberships, but in the future, this may change.

Gulf Harbour: Paulo Barros reports Gulf Harbour courts are full with no complaints. Mike Curran
reports at the end of April, the tennis and fitness facility will have a complete tear-down and hopes the
new larger and improved facility will be in the framing process by October. With this major rebuild,
next year’s men’s and women’s league seasons will come with challenges. He reports there will be a
construction fence around the perimeter of the tennis building with bathrooms only being available in
the main clubhouse; however, porta-potties will be located near the courts. Mike expects the tennis
program to flourish with the same number of courts being playable during the renovation process.

Breckenridge: Greg Hiers, reports in the spring their clubhouse will be renovated with the addition of
pickleball courts. He asks the League representatives if we can provide more flexibility in the Fall with
team requirements.

Kelly Greens: John Ramsey reports his club’s golf course renovation is complete. With this
completion, he hopes this will ease up time on the tennis courts. He states most his courts are booked
until 9:00 p.m. every night. John also reports that his 2.5 ladies are taking a ridiculously large amount
of time during games and changeovers.

Gateway: Rick Hanover, as well as other pros, voiced the same concern with the lower rated
divisions, mostly the 2.5 and Bronze players, loitering around and taking advantage of court time
management. Rick suggested the League considers no-ad scoring to remedy this problem. Maria
explained that procedurally a League member would need to propose a rule suggestion for no-ad
scoring to be taken to the Rules Committee for discussion and then to the Executive Board for a final
vote. Maria stated the executive officers would send an email to the division officers and captains,
especially the 2.5 and Bronze divisions, to address court time management at their Winter Captains’
Meetings. Maria suggested to Rick that he speak to his two captains and draw their attention to the
rules in the League rules book located on page 36. Maria states that if these two captains object to the
time allotted between changeovers, the executive officers will get directly involved to enforce this rule.

Cypress Lake: Alex Hermeto reports he has no concerns at his facility. He would like to express his
thanks to the many captains for their patience during their club’s construction and court renovations.

Landings: Paul D’Amico reports a pickleball facility with eight pickleball courts will be ready for use in
the Spring. He also reminds the League representatives and pros that Madisen’s Match has
scheduled an exhibition match featuring Mardy Fish on April 1. Paul reports the Landings has no
issues with court time management but will address this issue with his captains.

Cape Coral Racquet Club: Nancy Drury, club representative, has concerns about Beachview forfeiting
all four courts. Maria stated we would be discussing the matter of defaults later in the meeting.

Lexington: Kimberly Jones stated her club is also having issues with teams not following court time
management. She reports many of her teams object to having courts swept adjacent to their match
being played. For next season Kimberly reports she may schedule ladies’ matches at 11:30 p.m., to
facilitate the use of courts for non-League players through 11:00. Maria reminded the pros that last
year a new rule was put into place stating, all clubs have the right to allow non-League members to
play on adjacent courts during League matches. Maria states it is totally the club pro’s prerogative on
how to manage their own courts.

Legends: Todd Wise reports that four pickleball courts will be constructed very close to the tennis
courts. The pickleball court players will be using quieter paddles, and the club will be installing sound
screen barriers to help with noise control. Also, three courts have added LED which he feels is
amazing with three more adding LED this summer. Maria stated that if any of the pros would like
information on sound barriers to contact tennis pro, Jeff Timmer at Colonial.
Playing Strength:
The issue of playing strength was brought to the League’s attention by Dave Richardson, tennis pro from
Pelican Landing. His concern was captains weren’t using the player’s personal rating number with court
positions when determining the lineup. The League’s rule on playing strength is the players on Court 1 can
beat the players on Court 2; the players on Court 2 can beat the players on Court 3, and the players on
Court 3 can beat the players on Court 4. The numerical rating, especially at this point in the season, is not
as relevant as it was for the first match of the season, as it is carried over from last season. The League’s
position is the pros should not get involved with a captain’s lineup. The two captains have been educated on
League rules, and both have the right to question each other’s lineups; however, neither should feel
obligated to change their lineup. If a captain or player questions the strength of lineup and/or a player after
the match, Maria recommends that the captain contacts her division officers to report a possible infraction of
the “playing strength” rule. The player in question could be placed on a watch list, and be monitored for the
remainder of the season.
Ratings:
Elery reminded the pros that at our last League-Pro meeting held on April 18, 2016, the League reserved
the right to adjust the ratings of new players if the League felt they were wrongly rated. The entire point of
the ratings system is that players should be playing against other players with equal or similar playing
abilities. Elery encouraged the pros to bring any player that appears to be wrongly rated to the League’s
attention as soon as possible, as their rating can be adjusted in the system, at the request of the pro,
particularly with a higher re-rate. Elery suggests when pros rate a new player to rate the player with the
rating number of the team she is being placed on. For example, if the player is being placed on a 3.0 team,
the pro should rate her with a rating of 3.0 and not lower and only if he feels she is within those rating
parameters. Elery also stated that she felt this season’s trend is many players’ ratings have decreased,
possibly due to age or other contributing factors.
Proposed Rules for Next Season:
Maria suggests to the pros to check out the LCWTL website and review the proposed rule changes that
have been submitted and passed through the Rules Committee. These rule proposals will be voted on at
the February board meeting and placed on the website immediately if passed. One of the suggested rule
proposals is to raise the age limit of all senior divisions to 55 years of age. This may result in a redistribution
of teams within a club. T.A. Niles voiced concern about this possible rule change, explaining it could be
challenging for smaller clubs. Maria clarified one of the purposes for this rule change was to bring it in
alignment with USTA. She stated that all players that are currently playing in any senior division who are
between the age of 50 and 55 would be grandfathered in.
Defaults:
Maria reports many concerns have been raised regarding teams that are habitually defaulting courts,
especially teams defaulting all four courts. She stated there had been much club chatter that teams have
unfairly gained points each week for not playing a match. The league position is that if a player signs up to
play on a League team, she is making an implicit agreement that she will play all clubs in her division,
notwithstanding the type of court or location of the club.
The default issue was addressed by the Rules Committee. A possible solution came from the committee in
the form of a rules proposal sanctioning teams with a letter of reprimand. Jill explained the proposed rule in
its entirety, “If a team defaults all four courts they will immediately receive a Letter of Reprimand. The
Letter of Reprimand will remain on file for two League playing seasons. A Letter of Reprimand concerning a
second offense within two League playing seasons results in a hearing and possible suspension for the
season”.
Maria asked the pros to take into consideration when forming teams, that they will have an ample number of
subs to draw from if the need should arise. A suggestion was made to the pros to submit any special
requests regarding scheduling to our scheduler, Sue Ann Fahnenstiel. It should be understood, that it may
not be possible to accommodate all such requests.
Club Referral List:
Maria reports she receives calls from ladies who wish to play in the League and do not have a “tennis
home.” Maria asks the pros to send membership information to Jenny Clark-King, League Secretary,
including their club policy regarding taking outside members, as well as membership dues and any fees
associated with playing at their club. This club membership list will be posted on our website and be
provided to any player who makes an inquiry.
239Tennis.Org:
T.A. Niles, tennis pro from Hideaway, introduced 239Tennis.Org as a new organization coalescing
Charlotte, Collier and Lee Counties with event information for tennis enthusiasts, as well as creating
opportunities for businesses and players. T.A. encourages area pros and players to send information
regarding open and public events with photographs to [email protected]. The League will place
239Tennis.Org on the LCWTL’s website, as well as making an announcement at our next board meeting.
Next meeting:
Our next League-Pro Meeting will be Monday, April 10, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. at Colonial Country Club’s
meeting room.
Meeting Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jenny Clark-King
League Secretary