chirps spring edition proof 1 - 3-19-2016

CHIRPS Building on our rich traditions and history, Germantown Cricket Club fosters an active and diverse community of members engaging in racquet, recreational and social activities WWW.GERMANTOWNCRICKET.ORG 215 – 438 - 9900

From the President…… As the weather warms and we quickly approach a new season, I wanted to provide a quick update on the state of the club. As you are aware, the club has gone through some transition with its governance model, membership year and strategic planning efforts. The board and I realize that these changes have been difficult as nobody likes change and as we position our club for future success this is not only necessary but critical to the long term sustainability of our club. I would like to share with you what the board has been working on and what its immediate goals for the future are. Strategic Planning – The club now has in place a strategic plan which has 6 strategic iniatives of which constitute the work and goals of your board of governors and management team. As each of these iniatives are completed they will be replaced with new ones to take us on a consistent path to achieve the vision of the club. The progress on these iniatives is as follows: 1. Implement a governance structure consistent with a GM model – This iniatives has been completed with revisions to the bylaws, setting the foundation for professional management of the club with oversight from the board of governors. 2. Membership development business plan that provides a full complement of members with the dues and capital income to sustain our club. a. The new governance structure added a board level position of a Membership Chair, this is due to the fact the lifeblood of our organization is membership and a constant effort must be made to maintain and achieve a full complement of members. This committee provides oversight to a newly formed department which will be implemented in 2016 of membership/marketing. The club will be adding a Membership director to the management team to manage the day to day efforts of recruiting and retaining members. The membership committee is up and running and is hard at work bringing new members into our great club, the director we are anticipating to have in place by May of 2016. b. Capital Income. The club entered into a strategy in 2012 which incurred some long term debt with a plan to amortize this until 2028. The monthly capital assessment which is currently at $55.00 per member per month is split into 3 different funds; Sinking fund = $8.00 per month which was established to pay the balloon payments of the loans, $25.00 per month goes to capital project fund which is used for capital repairs and enhancements and $22.00 per month goes to pay the principal on the loans we currently hold. The board has reviewed this plan and under the current conditions we face as a club, it would be remiss of us to not react to what we are seeing, which is; reduced membership which is placing a burden on capital funds, discounting which has eliminated needed capital contributions over the years through initiation fees, increased maintenance issues through -out the property, lack of reinvestment into the property to add amenities that will attract new members and retain current members. We are currently developing a new strategy to bring to the membership that will address these issues.

3. Develop a long range facilities plan to address current and expected needs – Along with the capitalization we need to look at our club in the long term so we can begin planning now. The new board committee, the strategic planning committee is now in place and is charged with the development and oversight of all the strategic plans of the club to ensure goals are met and updated appropriately. This process began in 2015 with the facilities committee who went through a process of identifying our goals and vetting firms to assist the club in its master planning iniative. The strategic planning committee has picked this up and is charged to bring to the board a completed plan, this work is under-way. 4. Develop a human resource strategy that focuses on staff development, recognition and performance management – The management team has made great strides in standardizing our staffing element. We now have a long-range staffing plan, each position needed to operate our club has been identified and a job description and performance evaluation schedule is in place for each employee. We have updated our employee manual and made changes club wide to become ACA compliant. We have also adjusted pay scales and skill set training is being conducted in each department. Every new employee now goes through an orientation to make their tenure at the club successful. New HR standards have been implemented through-out the club so the staff has standards to be judged against. This work continues. 5. Define operation and capital funding strategies that are consistent with the Master Plan - Once we have a completed master plan that is approved by the membership, the long term funding strategies will be developed to make sure we continue to improve our facilities adequately to the memberships expectations. This also ties into our annual operational budgeting, with the goal being to marry the master plan with our operational needs and standards of service. 6. Develop and follow a strategy to provide quality, transparent and timely internal and external communications – We have updated our website to give our membership more access to pertinent information, we are working on updating our newsletter to an electronic format which will be published quarterly. We understand in this area the leadership of the club must be diligent and consistently improve on. I would like to thank the over 90 club members that give of their time and their family’s time to serve on one of our various committees, bringing your expertise and experiences to the table to address and find solutions for some at times challenging questions facing the club. We thank you for your service to the Club! Our year-end financial picture. Our 2015-2016 fiscal year ended on March 31, 2016. We did not perform as we had hoped with food and beverage revenues not being realized, coupled with lower than projected dues revenue. We year end net operating revenue was behind budget by 56k and our net operating revenue behind 10k. The management team successfully shaved 57k in expenses through-out the year. We have re-forecasted our new annual operating budget to reflect the decrease in membership; this will put a strain on services and amenities until we realize enough new members. We have an exciting season planned for our membership and encourage you to partake in as many activities in dining, tennis squash and the pool as you can fit into your schedule. We are looking forward to seeing all of you at the club! Jim Sherman, President Germantown Cricket Club Board of Governors

Grounds We experienced a relatively mild winter for our area. The growing conditions where favorable in the early spring which brought some challenges as the freeze thaw cycles created an environment for weed germination early this year. We have applied chemicals to hopefully prevent this from being an issue later in the season. We have rolled; deep tine aerated the field and have been bringing our cut down to our standard. The test courts which are of a Kentucky blue low-mow varietal which replaced the Bermuda fared well over the winter and I am excited to hear from you about how this grass performs through-out the season. The hydro courts received 13.5 tons of material this spring in preparation for their opening and the red clay courts another 6 tons of material in their preparation. We are monitoring the water levels in the hydro courts hourly to maintain the best playing surface. The ambient air temperature and dew point are factors this time of year with dry times and saturation levels within the material. Some enhancements we are working on this year through- out the property…. We will be replacing the igloo water coolers with bottled water on the courts this year. We have extended the white picket fencing replacing the chain link fencing to enhance our entrance to the courts. We have also added AED’s and first aid crash bags on each of the starter boards for quicker response times. We will be repairing the gutters and sheet metal on the indoor tennis building and it will receive a fresh coat of paint as well as the grounds building. We have added a base of gravel on the drive-way leading to this building also making this area more presentable. And as always we will be adding color through-out the season in our planting beds around the property. The grounds team would like to welcome everyone back to the club and hope to see you all throughout the season! Tim Fleming Director of Grounds Maintenance

Squash As we shift into our summer season with main season behind us, I would like to thank all the members for their participation in a very successful season. We hosted the US Squash Bronze, Silver, Gold and High school national tournaments this season as well as a very successful member-guest tournament. We are moving into our summer season which means Squash Camp, all the details are on line as well as registration, our camps usually sell out fast so hurry to reserve your spot. A congratulations to this seasons winners/placers & champions: Congratulations to Calvin McCafferty, winner in the BU19 at the Hunter Lott gold tournament and Elisabeth Ross, champion in the GU17. At the EA bronze, GCC had three fourth place finishes: Will Kendall in the BU13, Claire Dalinka in the GU15 and Lily McIntyre in the GU13, congratulations to all our players. Club singles champs results: Men's Open - Calvin McCafferty def. Matt Domenick 3-0 Men's B - Sandy Burnham def. Kenny Pollack Men's D - Scott Klein def. Paul McIntyre 3-2 Men's Novice - Chris Day def. Brad Abramson Women's B - Susan Thomas def. Barbara Overholser 3-0 Women's C/D - Barbara Overholser, winner Doug Whittaker Director of Squash

Tennis Spring is here! the clay court facility is open and we are anticipating the grass to open on schedule, time to get your racquets out, whites on and Play! We have an exciting Season planned for you this year, we begin with the USTA teams and Cup teams which will be playing through July. Adult and junior clinics and don’t forget about Tennis camp for the kid’s, we have also added a few weeks of sports camp this year! Our staff is excited to bring you the best tennis experience possible, so let us know where we can be of assistance to you! April 29 – May 1 Tennis Boot Camp May 27 – 29 Opening weekend with Adult & Junior Carnival May 30 Memorial Day Round Robin Social May 31 – June 12 Clay Court Championships June 9 Ladies Member-Guest June 10 Men’s Member-Guest nd June 6 – September 2 Junior Tennis and Sports Camps June 19 Parent/Child tournament June 20 – 23 PILTA July 1 - 2 Tennis Calcutta July 9 – 10 Wimbeldon viewing July 17 -24 USTA Senior Women’s National Tournament August 21 – 28 USTA Senior Men’s National Tournament September 2 US Open Bus Trip September 3 – 4 Tennis Boot Camp Detail on these and other tennis programming available on the tennis page of the website at www.germantowncricket.org Chris Sanni Director of Tennis

Pool We are looking forward to sunny skies and lots of pool time this season for our membership ! Our waiver swim program will begin on May 1rst for our adults and extend at the end of the season after th labor day until September 30 . We also are excited about the Sharks Swim Team, lead by Franc Lu, th beginning practice on June 1rst, this season will run through July 28 . This year we will be adding pool towels to the pool for your convience, but please remember in order to keep costs down, please leave these towels at the pool when you leave. We also are adding some shade umbrellas around the pool deck this year as well as tables for chaise lounges. The chef has a fresh new menu for the snack shop with a few member favorites and we will add chair side service throughout the season. Weekend family activities and games and our Saturday afternoon buffets will be here again this season as well as our movie under the stars events. Our goal is provide you with a safe and enjoyable experience each time you visit the pool and our certified lifeguard staff are here to serve you to that end! I will see you at the pool! Christy Stimmler Pool Director

Food & Beverage The food and beverage Team have a great season planned for you from ala carte dinning to special events. Patio dining will begin in early May and we have full months of planned events, see the website for full details on each event. Our catering team is also available to book and assist you with any banquet event you have planned. Our summer banquet calendar is filling fast, so let us know so we can reserve your date. Our food and beverage staff is committed to provide great food and service to our members and provide lasting experiences while you are at the club. We will see you at the club! Zatiti Lyles, Dining Room Manager Chef John Manzione, Executive Chef Chris Carnes, Catering Manager

Facilities Maintenance The facilities Maintenance and Housekeeping team have been hard at work over the winter, but our work is not done yet! We have moved to an automated maintenance system to better systemize our facilities maintenance needs at the property in an effort to get proactive about our maintenance. The team and I have painted and repaired grille room, reading room, men’s locker rooms, and will be working on the athletic lounge through-out the spring. We have been replacing all the valves in the restrooms and locker rooms, refinishing floors, re-strapping chairs, refinishing furniture, replacing compressors, windows and light fixtures and patching roofing. We have also been moving our lighting to led and placed timers in rooms to become more energy efficient. Our team try’s to work while you are not utilizing the spaces of the club as to not interfere with your experience as you enjoy the club, but if you do see something not working right, please let us know so we can address it in a timely manner. We welcome you back to your club after a long winter, we have many more projects planned this year to keep your beautiful historic facility in good working order. Tim Mitchell Director of Facilities Maintenance

GM I would like to welcome back all our members to the club after a long winter, I am excited to see the dining rooms and courts full of activity as we move through the summer. The staff has a fun season of events and activities planned for you and we hope you enjoy your time at your club. Thank you for allowing us to serve you! James Ivankovich, CCM General Manager Germantown Cricket Club