By Bill Price, ALTA Board Chairman
I am honored to be the 2022 ALTA Board of Directors Chairman. My journey to this point has led me through virtually every aspect of the ALTA organization. I began playing ALTA in the early 90s and was hooked immediately. As time went by, I began to captain teams and even volunteered to be scorekeeper for our division. My ALTA volunteer journey continued as a coordinator in both the Mixed and Men’s Leagues. After several seasons, I became an overall coordinator and then the Mixed Doubles Vice President. As VP Mixed, I was part of the Executive Committee and ALTA Rules Committee. In this role, I learned the operations of the leagues and the rules governing them. Following two years as VP Mixed, I became First Vice President and then the 2019 ALTA President.
ALTA is a unique organization known to most for league play. League play is run by the Executive Committee, which is made up of the vice presidents of the various leagues and a few other members. The Board of Directors is made up of various committees that oversee the business of ALTA. These committees address initiatives such as IT, ALTA policy and procedures, and nomination of officers. Another area of board oversite is the ALTA Foundation. The foundation is the non-profit, community outreach arm of ALTA. It supports programs such as START, which is a tennis development program at Title I high schools; the L. Keith Wood Scholarship Program; Special Olympics; Special Pops Tennis; and much more.
COVID has made the past few years challenging for everyone, and this has been no different for ALTA. We’ve had to change the way we do things and remain flexible, and because we were able to do just that, we are in a great position coming out of COVID. We see membership growing in all leagues, especially with juniors. We’re looking at new ways of doing things for our members that we may not have done in the past; thinking outside the box can benefit everyone. Tennis, and particularly ALTA, benefits from people looking for safe, social and recreational activity. The board will continue to protect the great tradition and history of ALTA, while being mindful that change is not always bad, and new ideas keep us fresh and growing.
