GVTTC,

 

It’s been 2 years since we began our march forward and here we are.  A significant number of our original “Grow The Club” initiatives we put in motion several years ago have really accelerated and matured since our banquet.  The time has come and it’s about time.  We’re watching a sport like Pickle Ball explode nationwide while we saw nowhere near that growth here.  This significant step gets us moving at least in upstate NY.

 

As you’ve been informed, we will need to increase dues in order to manage the NEW NORMAL we plan on providing at GVTTC.  That new normal will include

• New high quality Table Tennis RUBBER Flooring - Same you see at top level clubs.  We should have this installed and ready by week one of league play.  

• Enhanced lighting project providing the appropriate "at table" lumens requirement for our sport.  Lighting is big in our sport and we are about to see a significant enhancement in that area.  RSG should have this installed by 1st or 2nd week of September.

• A New Director of Coaches (AJ Carney) starting mid September 2023 and whom we consider to be a top rated USA licensed Table Tennis coach dedicated to helping improve our regions quality of play and much more.

• 7 day a week GVTTC Open Schedule - Starting either Sept. 1 or Oct. 1, 2023.  Open times still being established BUT your ability to play and participate in open play, training and more will be 7 days a week!  This means the Yearly Memberships will allow you much more table time.  At the least we will be open when RSG is open BUT there are opportunities for GVTTC to be open before RSG through AJ’s availability.  More to come on that.

 

Everything above should be up and running by the time FALL leagues start so this requires us to make our fee adjustments now in order to maintain our new rent (which is now double) and some of these other projects to “up our environment” to top level standards.  AJ Carney will be moved to Rochester on or about mid September and available for trainings and more he plans on executing.  Stay tuned for that communication.

 

Our new fees are as follows:

 

• Adult Yearly Membership - $599

• Junior Yearly (Under 21)  - $349

• Seniors Yearly (Over 70)  - $499

• Family PLUS ONE (On top of Adult Yearly) - $349

• Family PLUS 2&3 (each member after plus 1) - $249

• Family PLUS 4+ - FREE (must be in same household)

• Disabled Yearly - $349

• Veteran Yearly - $349

 

Monthly Membership - $75 a month subscription (must be at least an ACTIVE monthly member to participate in leagues)

Daily Membership - $12 

 

Remember, the REAL value is on yearly members and we’re working on more perks that we’ll reveal after AJ settles in and works on things.

 

Furthermore, you cannot participate in a league without either being a Yearly or active Monthly member for the duration of the league at GVTTC.

 

League Prices

• Monday FALL - $50

• Monday SPRING - $50

• Wednesday FALL - $50

• Wednesday SPRING - $50

• Summer League - $50

• Classic (Tuesday) - $95

 

NOTE:  AJ Carney will be looking at the potential of more competition types and some adjustments to our leagues that have been successful for him in the past.  We’re excited and invite these ideas.

 

As I shared back on September 2021, I wrote …

Change is a tough talk yet necessary.

John F. Kennedy said “Change is a law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

 

In fact, that original note is below for your reference.

 

I look forward to this significant enhancement and to finally take that next LEAP forward to "Grow The Club.”

 

Sincerely,

Andre Maronian

President GVTTC

 

----------------------

 

Begin forwarded message:

From: Andre MARONIAN <andremaronian@mac.com>

Subject: Club Notice: Discussions and Execution toward a 5 Year GVTTC Club Initiative

Date: September 22, 2021 at 4:16:45 PM EDT

To: "gvttc.general" <gvttc.general@gvttc.com>

All,

 

Upon completion of our Sept. 1, 2021 EC meeting, this note serves as the first of many down a long road we will head toward better organizing our club.  A few things have been the catalyst for this discussion and initiative

• Desire to have a 7 Day facility with minimum 12 tables and 24/7 access

• RSG Rent Increases which cause league dues to increase.  We anticipate more coming!

• Potential ownership change at RSG puts us in jeopardy of having agreements change and potentially rapidly

• Space Limitations:  Limits league size, coaching clinics, tournaments, long wait times for league and open play and ultimately our growth as a whole.

• Losing Open Play fees: Many players either don’t pay, forget to pay or think they are under a league umbrella when they’re in fact not

• What is a Member?  Our model where league players seems to be defined as the true member creates a cap to our growth potential tying our club size to max league capacity.  With this model, the club’s max “membership” is stuck at 96 people (60 Monday and 36 Tuesday players).  The only way to grow that base is to add another league.  This is backwards and limits us.

Overall Thought:

    We’ve been talking about getting our own place for at least 25 years and we’re no closer today than we were then.  If nothing changes nothing changes but now we’re being forced to take a serious look as we experience rent increases, space decreases (in some cases) and more.  RSG/Mike Johnson has been a GREAT partner and friend to us but the facts are the facts.  Mike loves having GVTTC in his place at his club and appreciates our long relationship BUT he clearly makes more money per square foot with every other sport he has in the place.  Follow the bouncing ball as this has been a big catalyst for our recent increases already but we’re still not close to his revenue with the other sports.  It’s his heart that keeps these prices reasonable but that could change when he passes the torch and suddenly.  Maybe yes and maybe no but it is a big risk for GVTTC.  We’re also watching clubs in different markets start within the last 5 years and far surpass what we’ve done in 100 years.  There is a method to the madness and a significant opportunity for us to become a big name in this corridor of the United States if we play our cards right.  We could attract/partner with USATT for bigger tournaments and more.  As all this plays out, it's our time to put a strong 5 year plan together to have our own place and maximize our growth ability.

 

So, this email serves as a notification that the Executive Committee is engaged in ongoing discussions to take a deep dive into this effort.  

 

The goals:

• A true 5 year trajectory to get our own facility

• Further invest and evolve our coaching program which is a KEY FACTOR in our future and increasing members

• Increase space:  12 table setup minimum at all times

• Buy/Sell 4 tables per year!  No old tables

• Redefine GVTTC Membership model:  Membership Plus Model.  Become a  member and add appropriate extras (league, tourney, coaching, etc.) and adjust the pricing scheme all together.

• Hope to announce these changes prior to the 2022-2023 season.  There are factors that could push this out a bit but it is a goal we’d like to meet

 

In order to handle the eventual rent increases coupled with an "attacking mentality" toward getting our own place, we anticipate fee increases that are coming anyway.  That said, by adjusting our model, these increases end up spread over many more people which makes it much more tolerable.  To date, all increases have only really impacted league members that may only play a portion of the year.  We’re open much more than that and have some players that don’t play in a league that actually play more than league players do.

 

A few commonly asked questions I can think of?

 

• What changes this year?  Nothing

• When will we know?  I’ll send progress as I get it but hope to have this clearly defined by Jan. 1, 2022

• When would this start?  We will start no earlier than September 2022 but could delay to 2023 depending on unknowns

• How is Membership Plus different?   By making the “Membership” the doorway into GVTTC, we would price leagues much much less than you see today.

• Membership Types?  To be continued but we’re going to make a Yearly Membership the main draw with greatest savings and added benefit

• Why not start this season?  The main reason is because we want to properly go through the process.  This allows members to provide their input, allows the EC to circle up based on them, and make sound decisions.  We want to do this once and then be done with it.  If we rush, I anticipate mistakes and needing to make many more adjustments.   It’s a ready, aim, fire mentality with a stress on aim.

 

Anyway, this is enough for a first email.  Change is a tough talk yet necessary.

 

John F. Kennedy said “Change is a law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

 

As always, if you have any questions or input, feel free to send me a private note and we can make sure to incorporate your thoughts into our EC discussions.  Stay tuned and thanks for your attention to the matter.

 

Sincerely,

Andre Maronian

President GVTTC