By Lamar Scott, 2025 ALTA Board Chairman
I am deeply honored to be ALTA’s 2025 Chairman of the Board. My journey began with serving as a coordinator, followed by serving as an overall coordinator, league vice president, first vice president, and president. The board serves as the governing body for ALTA’s policies and business practices. It is comprised of a dedicated and diverse group of individuals to include the chairman, 2023 ALTA president, 2024 ALTA president, 2025 ALTA president, ALTA Foundation president, 2025 elected member, 2024 elected member, treasurer, and first vice president. Each member brings an array of ideas to the table, as well as his or her specific skill set.
A few years ago, ALTA opened the door to pickleball and hosted several socials events to introduce the game to our members. During her tenure as board chair, my predecessor, Debbie Gaster, continued to move things forward with expanding the pickleball league to two seasons. She also successfully piloted the extension of our boundaries to include areas which were growing in new communities and those with strong interest in tennis.
This year, the board will continue to focus on expanding our leagues and growing our membership. The membership committee will evaluate ways to increase participation, bringing in more adult and junior players and creating more teams. We also will continue to enhance our website/technology. We expect the IT committee to be the most active this year. Since much of the interaction between members and the organization is through the website, we will continue to invest in this area with a plan to enhance the user experience, providing more services and features for better accessibility and usability. Along with the Executive Committee, under the leadership of President Rita Maloof, the board will continue to support and assist the league vice presidents in streamlining some of their essential duties. We also look forward to examining ways to enhance our services to various organizations and individuals through the ALTA Foundation.
The ALTA Foundation is an important part of what we do, but often this activity is not widely known. The foundation was created to support juniors and amateur athletes/programs to include those for the disadvantaged and physically/mentally challenged players. Under the leadership of Cameron Turner this past year, the foundation issued $116,500 in grants and scholarships to deserving students and various programs that provide opportunities to grow and expose the game to our youth. We aim to support and serve even more within the community in 2025.
ALTA would not be as successful without the passionate people working hard behind the scenes. We have 149 volunteers and just five paid staff members. The time that so many of our volunteers dedicate is immeasurable and so appreciated. I would like to thank every one of them for their dedication and support!
2025 will be an exciting year as we continue to expand our horizons. Your ALTA Board of Directors will work to ensure that ALTA maintains its position as the greatest community-based tennis organization in the world.
