Ken Naylor sees a brighter future for the tennis club.
This brighter future is the result of the club having a voice, something he claims it hasn’t had in Penticton for several years. Currently, Penticton’s tennis club is partnered with the yacht club to form the Penticton Yacht and Tennis Club, but the relationship, Naylor said, “has existed as a weird marriage.”
“We have never had the opportunity to forge ahead without the OK or authorization of the board directors,” said Naylor, who acts as the tennis members’ spokesperson, along with another member, Kevin Berar. “We never had proper representation on the board (other than Commodore Vince Rabbitt). A change required a meeting of total membership to change one little thing.”
Naylor and Berar said the plan is to form their own society separate from the Yacht Club.
Naylor and Berar met with the board of directors last week to get their blessing to register the society as the Penticton Tennis club, which the board near-unanimously agreed to.
In becoming their own society, membership fees will go into a bank account organizers can access as needed. As well, the club can build a relationship with the city, which holds the lease on the tennis courts.
“We will have total control over our own destiny,” said Naylor. “The advantage of becoming a society is we become a credible tennis club.” By becoming a club, they are eligible for funding through Tennis B.C. and Tennis Canada.
The next step is to fill out applications to become a society, which can takes up to 60 days to process.
“We have been restricted in growing the club,” said Naylor, adding that they have lost members due to the political fighting within the two sides.