March 21, 2018
Dear Summit County Pickleball Members,
Thank you so much for being a vital part of promoting pickleball in Summit County as a fun, social, and healthy activity for anyone living in or visiting our beautiful mountain community. We’ve come a long way since the Summit County Pickleball Club (SCPC) formed in 2011 with about 20 members who drew chalk lines on tennis courts.
Last year the club had 268 members, 112 of whom were new, along with many nonmember visitors. So far in 2018, more than 34 beginners have attended the club’s learntoplay sessions. For a growing cadre of players, dropin pickleball represents an increasingly valued part of daily life, as we share laughs and friendships bloom, while also challenging ourselves to improve and grow as competitors.
Our sport’s booming popularity, however, has engendered congestion during scheduled playtimes, causing some understandable frustration. And our advocacy for additional time on public facilities has encountered limits to what an informal group of citizens, lacking a legal/financial entity and liability insurance, can accomplish.
Therefore, a few members have taken action to incorporate the club as the Summit County Pickleball Association (SCPA) and applied to the IRS for taxexempt status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
SCPA’s initial directors are Lori Miller (president), Jerry Veazey (vicepresident), Julie Worthington (secretary), Linda Bush (treasurer), Dana Cottrell, John Riccolo, and Wendy Tilden. Regularly scheduled board meetings, open to everyone, will occur on the second Wednesday of March, June, September and December of each year at 6:00 PM at the Angler Ranch Yacht Club, 367 Fly Line Drive, Silverthorne (about a halfmile NE of Trent Park). The December meeting of each year will include elections for two or three expiring director seats.
Membership dues for the 6/15/18–6/14/19 season will be $15/person. Along with enabling continued purchases of equipment and consumables, the $10 increase over last year’s dues will fund legal and financial infrastructure, particularly the liability insurance needed to obtain local government approval for clinics and tournaments on public courts.
The benefits of converting our informal club to a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation include new abilities to:
- Obtain $1 million/occurrence liability insurance required of us by the towns;
- Replace the club’s use of my personal savings account/credit card with a corporate bank account and directly accept checks and online payments;
- Legally accept taxdeductible membership dues and donations, with which to buy additional and better equipment (e.g., a ball machine);
- Sell Tshirts and other fundraising items that require collection of sales tax;
- License financial software to accurately account for funds and generate reports to the State of Colorado and the IRS; and
- Devise a comprehensive and consistent member communications system, including a professional website, social media, and blast/targeted emails and text messages.
Most importantly, incorporating will enable us to pursue a more expansive vision for pickleball in Summit County, to the benefit of both players and our local economy. As a premiere resort community, Summit County has the potential to host regional and national pickleball tournaments and events, if we could partner with a town or ski area to build a minimum number of dedicated courts.
As in the past, anyone can join in play without becoming a member of SCPA, but we really hope you’ll support the association with membership dues, swag purchases, and volunteering. Please plan to attend or dial into an all membership meeting at 6:00 PM on June 13, 2018 at the Angler Ranch Yacht Club, 367 Fly Line Drive, Silverthorne. At the meeting, the initial directors will answer any questions you have, as well as provide more detail about the new association and how each of you can get involved by volunteering if you desire. We would really love to have you join us in enacting this exciting vision for growing pickleball with old and new friends in Summit County.
Thank you so much.
