Happy Holidays
The Board of Trustees would like to thank each of you for being part of the STC community, and to wish you the happiest holiday season. We hope that you’ve successfully moved your game indoors for the winter and will be joining us again next spring when we reopen.
Year-End Survey Results
49 of you participated in the survey. Thank you – feedback is crucial to our learning how to best serve the club. There were two parts to the survey. Part One asked about the Reservation System Pilot and Part Two asked about the club in general.
Reservation Pilot. One third of the survey respondents used the system (This corresponds to the roughly one third of all members who enrolled with Skedda). The response was positive overall. Of the people who indicated an opinion, 75% thought that the reservation system made things better. For those who did use the reservation system, the average satisfaction score was 4.4 (out of 5). When asked how many courts should be reservable next year, the most popular responses were 2 or 3 courts, accounting for two-thirds of the votes.
General Questions About The Club. (all scores on a 5-point scale)
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Level of satisfaction with Court Playability and Maintenance: 4.1
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Level of satisfaction with Facilities Maintenance: 4.2
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How responsive is the Board to Concerns and Interests: 4.6
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Level of satisfaction with Communications from the Board: 4.8
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Overall level of satisfaction with How Club is Managed: 4.6
There were a number of specific comments and suggestions on all of these topics. The Board will carefully review these for next year. We are always looking to make things better and your feedback is key!
Season Summary
As evidenced by the survey, 2024 was a pretty good year at STC.
Club and Court Maintenance. The season started with some much needed TLC – significant tree work, clearing and expansion of the parking area, and some beautification of the entry path and seating area. During the year we focused more attention on some of the minor annoyances, such as pulling weeds and killing wasps on the courts. Mark, as always, did a great job keeping our hundred-year-old courts playing well. Mother Nature also helped – we were able to keep the club open right up until the week of Thanksgiving.
Website and Online Presence. In the spring we also launched a new website with an improved payment system. The vast majority of you chose to pay your dues online this year and we also collected significantly more in guest fees than in prior years (Thank you). In addition we set up a TeamReach group that was very active. For the first time, we invested in some online marketing and improved our search optimization. It is now much more likely that someone searching for a club to join will find STC.
Tournaments and Socials. Once again we ran four tournaments: Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Singles, and a Member-Guest tournament. Participation, as always, was robust. In addition to the Women’s Social, we added an Open House in the Spring and brought back the Fall BBQ. These were well-attended and appreciated. A huge shout-out to all of the tournament and social organizers, as well as those running the weekly round-robin groups.
Automatic Sprinkler System. In October we installed an automatic sprinkler system. This will allow us to thoroughly water the courts every night, and will give us the option, during the hot part of the summer, to water them again during the day. This was a significant financial outlay, but also an important modernization. A generous gift from the estate of Mike Posternak made this possible and will allow us to pursue some additional improvements in the spring.
Membership and Financial Summary. The Club ended the year with 186 memberships (for a total of 264 members including additional family members). This was up slightly from 181 memberships in 2023. This has put us in a strong financial position. We ran a surplus of approximately 11% of our operating expenses in 2024, and now have capital reserves equaling approximately 133% of our annual operating expenses. The biggest concern, as always, is membership attrition. We lose approximately 40 memberships each year (some of whom return in a subsequent year). Back-filling these lost members is critical to keeping the club healthy. We will continue to invest in marketing and in making the club a more desirable place to play. Our biggest source of new members is always referrals, so keep them coming!
Annual Meeting
We have not yet scheduled the Annual Meeting. We are currently reviewing the Club’s By Laws, which were adopted in 1958, and are sorely in need of an update. If possible, we would like to incorporate a vote on the Bylaws along with the Annual Meeting.
I will keep you apprised of the progress, and let you know about the schedule.
Coaching Opportunity
One last item: It has been brought to my attention that North Attleboro High School is looking for a head coach for their girl’s varsity team. This is a great opportunity to work with a talented and eager group of young tennis players. Obviously, a plus if you have prior coaching or teaching experience, but not a requirement. Contact Nick Schlierf at nschlierf@naschools.net.
Again, let me wish you a joyous holiday season and a happy new year.
All the best,
Dan
Dan Smith
President
dsmith9.stc@gmail.com
