Attendance - Board members George Lehocky, Bob Burkitt, David Kent, David Kent, Jim Krailler, Bob Hiance and Mike Reilly were present. Jack Dean was unable to attend. Jason Headings and Amanda Smith also attended part of the meeting.

Review of Minutes - The amended minutes posted on the website were approved.

Income / Expenditures / Current balance
Membership Report

David Kent
Jim Krailler

Income / Expenditures / Current balance - Current balance of the GCHA checking account is $ 11,175. Most of the month's financial activity was related to income from the membership drive and sale of merchandise at the state tournament.

Membership Report - Jim Krailler reported that the current membership roster is at 123 members.

3-Wall Court Maintenance
3-Wall Court Shelter
Enquirer Article
Mather Handicap and Spring Dance
Ohio Hall of Fame
Central Parkway YMCA membership offer

Bob Burkitt
Mike Reilly
Bob Hiance
George Lehocky
Board
George Lehocky

3-Wall Court Maintenance - The annual 3-wall workday will be held on Saturday, April 17th. Bob Burkitt presented a list of work items for this day, and the Board approved expenditures up to $300 for supplies and materials. All members are encouraged to attend and work on April 17th.

3-Wall Court Shelter - John Allen has been in contact with Fred Schlimm, of the Green Township Park staff. John will prepare some preliminary information to forward to the township, including a proposed drawing and budget estimates for the shelter. Mike Schaeffer, Green Township, has been assigned to the project by Fred Schlimm, but has been out the past couple of weeks. He is expected to contact John with a status report. There may be a need for GCHA representation at a Green Township meeting, to explain rationale, present drawings and pledge some financial resources. Tony Upton continues as Republican trustee, along with new republican member Chuck Mitchell. Steve Grote continues on the Board as Democratic representative.

George Lehocky will contact John Allen and suggest that he present the GCHA's list of priorities. (Developed at the Board's December 2003 meeting, and repeated here for convenience.)

Based on current needs and available funding, the following priority list was established.

1. Caulking and sealing of floor surface 2. Extension of drain tile to remove water from court / apron areas 3. Bulletin board 4. Permanent shelter behind court area 5. Sidewalk or paved walkway from basketball courts to handball courts 6. Shower 7. Webcam 8. Lights

Enquirer article - Bob Hiance reports no progress on this item.

Pete Mather Doubles Tournament - George Lehocky reports that everything is in place for the tournament, to be held Saturday March 27th at the Central Parkway YMCA starting at 9:00 am. Bob Lohmueller will set up the teams, the draw and assign handicaps.

Spring Dance - Spring Dance has been moved to April 17th. Carl Fisher has asked for financial support. After a lengthy discussion, the Board voted that the GCHA will support the dance with notices in the Spring ShortLine, both on-line and print versions, with website announcements and updates, and personal promotion and arm-twisting.

Ohio Hall of Fame - In response to Bruce McCormick's effort to revive the Ohio Handball Hall of Fame, George Lehocky contacted the current Cincinnati-area members of the Ohio Handball Hall of Fame. John Love has agreed to head a committee of Dayton/Cincinnati Ohio Hall of Famers with the purpose of setting up a process to nominate and select people from this area to be inducted into the Hall. Current area Hall of Fame members, Bob Lohmueller and Gary Reece, will also be solicited for help in the nomination process.

Central Parkway YMCA membership offerpring - Details of this offer were published in the February Board minutes. George Lehocky did not feel the need to further publicize the offer at this time.

Circle City Handball Tournament
State of Ohio Handball Championships
28th Annual Akron Open
Pete Mather Handicap Tournament
10th Annual Cleveland Invitational
Caples 3-Wall

February 13th - 15th (Fri.-Sun.)
February 20th - 22nd (Fri.-Sun.)
March 19th - 21st (Fri.-Sun.)
March 27th (Sat.)
April 30th - May 1st (Fri.-Sun.)
June 12th - 13th (Sat.-Sun.)

Circle City Handball Tournament - The results have not been forwarded, and no information has been posted on the GCHA website.

State of Ohio Championship - 2004 State of Ohio Handball Championships was held at the Severance Athletic Club in Cleveland over the weekend of February 20th - 22nd. Paul Baker, Jim Krailler, Will Straw, Jim Wohl and Doug Cox won their divisions to bring championships to Cincinnati! Results have been posted on the website and will be submitted to Handball Magazine. In response to the a question of how 3rd place winners were determined without a play-off, Jim Krailler received the following infomation. "Third place formula...I use the BCS from the College Football ....It's a complicated formula and I will share it with you someday....Mario Dolciato." Tournament directors are planning awards for 1st and 2nd place finishers, to be delivered at some future date.

Akron Open - Information and entry have been posted on the GCHA website.

Pete Mather Tournament - see Old Business, above.

Cleveland Invitational - Information and entry have been posted on the GCHA website.

Caples 3-Wall - Mike Reilly reports that the shelter at Veterans Park is not available for this event. Jim Krailler will pursue the "major sponsors" for the tournament prior to finalizing the information and entry pages for both the website and for the USHA's tournament listing.

 

Spring ShortLine, deadline March 15th
ShortLine story publication
Support criteria
Other?

Jim Krailler
Jim Krailler
Board
Board

Spring ShortLine - The deadline to submit articles for the upcoming Spring Edition of the ShortLine is Monday, March 15th.

ShortLine story publication - George Morano has submitted two stories for publication in the upcoming ShortLine. "Doubles Anyone" profiles Doug Blankemeyer and Denny Dupps and their doubles career, which will be included. Jim Krailler questioned the appropriateness of the second submissions, a story titled "Friends" focusing Mark Ashley and his dog Roscoe. Ashley is a member at Camargo Courthouse, but is not a GCHA member and the story has absolutely nothing to do with handball. After Board discussion, George Lehocky agreed that prior to making a decision about publication, he would contact Morano, ask for substantive changes to the article and to seek membership from both Mark Ashley and Roscoe.

Other?

National Collegiate Tournament - The following series of emails below were exchanged regarding the National Collegiate Tournament. Jason Headings and Amanda Smith did attend the Board meeting, to share results of their victories and show us the trophy presented to the Miami University team. In response to their request for financial support, the Board voted unanimously to present the team with $150 and David Kent presented the check to them.

Jason: Yes. Please attend the meeting at the Club in Camargo (Don Parkers). Bring your gear and play if you can before the meeting. We welcome you and your ideas. See you tonight. George Lehocky 243-0075 -----Original Message----- From: headinjd@muohio.edu [mailto:headinjd@muohio.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 12:25 AM To: George.Lehocky@ae.ge.com Subject: Nationals Hey George, I wasn't sure if you received my last email asking for any ideas on people who may be willing to make a donation to help us go to Nationals, but I just thought I would send you another quick one. We are still gathering up finds to finish paying for the rest of our expenses for tournaments this year, and we are begining to try to think of ideas to raise money for our Collegiate National Tournament next year. The tournament is at the University of Minnesota next year so it will cost us considerably more then it did this year. If you have any ideas of anyone I should talk to, they would be greatly appreciated. Also, I was wondering if it would be ok for me to attend the meeting tomorrow night. I have a couple ideas and issues with our club that I would like to bring before the board to get some feedback and hear your ideas. Just let me know. Thanks for everything, Jason Headings President of Miami University Handball Club 529-6859

email from Ryan Klein, UK, 3/4/04 Just to update you on how the University of Kentucky did at the collegiate nationals last week at SMSU. The men's team finished 9th out of 34 teams. We were not included in the combined due to the fact that we have no females on our team. To our knowledge, this is the best any male team has finished in our area, which is good for only our 3rd time to the competition. On an individual basis, A.J. Arem and Ryan Klein were finalists in the B doubles, but unfortunately fell short to the Irish team. Josh Middleton took home the gold with his dominance in the Novice division. Just thought you all would like to know how we did. Thanks again for all you help.

Collegiate Support - In addition to financial support, Jason and Amanda explained that, in order to take their team to the level of play that they see from teams like Lake Forest and the University of Southwest Missouri, they would like additional support and instruction. They're looking for volunteers to come to campus and play with their team members, and/or put on a clinic for players. They typically play on Wednesday evenings, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. In response, Bob Hiance offered to write a ShortLine article seeking volunteers for this activity, and would take on the task of organizing the visits. George Lehocky proposed that, in exchange for this support, the individuals on the team become members of GCHA, (like the UK team, the $10 membership fee will be waived) that the team members participate in local tournaments, volunteer to referee at tournaments, participate in GCHA activities and promote handball.

Support criteria - As a follow-up to February's Board discussion of support for both collegiate teams and the spring dance, it was suggested that the Board consider adopting a set of "support criteria" and procedures. An email was sent to all Board members, requesting that each have ideas formulated, hopefully in writing, prior to the March meeting. After some discussion, the Board decided that, at this time, formal policies and procedures are not needed to address requests for support, and they will continue to be addressed on an ad hoc basis as they're received.

Summer 3-wall league - Jim Krailler will again organize the summer 3-wall league. The same format will be used as last year's: A-league and B-league, with a round-robin format playing into a 4-team play-off for 1st and 2nd place. Members of the Board felt that it is still best tocontinue with league play on Wednesday evenings. Details will be announce in the upcoming ShortLine, along with paper and on-line entry forms.

Blood Donations - Bob Burkitt suggested producing shirts to promote blood donations to the Hoxworth Blood Center, and suggested that GCHA fund the purchase of shirts for this purpose.

Reds Game - George Lehocky has acquired tickets for the Reds versus the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, July 27th. Right field bleacher tickets will cost $15 and the event will be publicized on the website and in the ShortLine.

Next
Meeting

Scheduled date: Wednesday, April 12th, 7:30 pm
Location: TBA

Board

Due to schedule conflicts for a number of Board members, the April GCHA Board meeting will move from it's standing "1st Wednesday of the month" time slot.

The Board will meet on Monday, 4/12/04, at approximately 7:30 pm after 3-wall. Anyone wishing to attend should be at the Veterans Park courts at that time.

Open to all members