By Shannon Lukens.
Loretta Conway has been removed from her job as executive director of the Steamboat Tennis and Pickleball Center. She and her husband, Bill, have been concessionaires of the facility for the City of Steamboat Springs since October of 2016. Bill has been the Director of Operations.
The decision to remove the Conways from their role with the Steamboat Tennis & Pickleball Center was decided Monday, Feb. 12, in a board meeting for the Court Sports 4 Life Foundation, which runs the indoor facilities for the City of Steamboat Springs.
Steve “Moz” Modzelewski is the chair of the board. He says the center has grown from being relatively small to having a capital base of $10 million dollars, so they want new leadership.
“The board felt two things. One was that we felt that the work culture had gotten a little bit frayed, partially because of the second feature, which was that there has been tremendous growth in the facility over the past years and in no small part due to the efforts of Bill and Loretta, but it had grown from a relatively small mom-and-pop kind of thing that they managed, where the city owned all of the facilities, was responsible for all of the maintenance, and they were running the operations pretty much on a cash-in, cash-out basis. But over those five years now, through the generosity of many donors in the community, have brought the capital base of the organization to about $10M so we have substantial facilities, a brand new facility that we’re very excited that will be opening soon, the brand new pickleball building. But with this has just brought a whole host of new challenges with regard to financial reporting, management of this, etc. And we’ve also felt now that we need move on to the next generation of leadership for the center to take it to the next stage.”
Loretta Conway tells Steamboat Radio News that she and Bill are headed out of town for a few days. She says, “It’s pretty cut and dry. The board of Court Sports 4 Life decided they wanted to take the organization in a direction that they didn’t think Bill and I would be able to lead them towards so they have let us go.”
Conway says she will still be at the facility playing tennis and pickleball, but that they are looking for other opportunities as they would like to stay in Steamboat Springs. But she says, “We’re also looking all over the country, so it is what it is. It came on suddenly, but we’ve accepted it.”
The Conways have helped extensively with the fundraising for the new pickleball building that is being built next to the tennis bubble. It is an $11 million Expansion Project that at least 400 donors have supported. It will open in May or June with 12 indoor pickleball courts.
Modzelewski said letting the Conways go wasn’t an easy decision for the board.
“This was a very wrenching decision. I told people it was painful. But we think that this will be for the best of the community and the center and we’re incredible appreciative of all that the Conways have done for this community.”
Ricky Jenkins has assumed the role of Interim Executive Director. Modzeweleski says Bill and Loretta have agreed to help with the transition until a new Executive Director can be hired. The Court Sports 4 Life Board will start a nationwide search for a new executive director immediately.
Here is an email sent to members Monday evening, that said, “Important Message from Court Sports 4 Life’s Board Chair, Moz Modzelewski.”
We hope you share the CS4L Board’s pride in the Steamboat Tennis & Pickleball Complex’s growth in usage and facilities, as you read about in the 2023 Year In Review report included in yesterday’s eNewsletter. Running and growing this “complex” has been complex indeed and we extend Loretta and Bill our deep and heartfelt thanks for their passion, expertise and hard work. Simply put, we would not be where we are without them.
Startup business ventures go through at least five stages of growth – existence, survival, success, take-off, and maturity. As Executive Director, Loretta guided us through the first three of those stages and positioned us well for the next. As part of the Board’s recent strategic planning retreat, we have looked carefully at how our organization needs to evolve in order to achieve her vision of local service and national prominence.
With an eye to our next five years of growth, we’d like to announce several significant organizational changes that are now underway –
Our expansion project – total renovation of the existing outdoor facilities and construction of a dedicated 12-court Pickleball Center – will be the capstone of Loretta and Bill Conway’s distinguished careers with the Steamboat Tennis & Pickleball Complex.
- Until a new Executive Director is hired, board member Ricky Jenkins will act as Interim Executive Director, bringing to this volunteer position extensive entrepreneurial and management experience, a passion for pickleball, and a long family history of playing tennis in Steamboat.
- Ricky has asked Business Development Manager Meg Tully to assist in the transition, especially to make sure that the needs of the tennis community are addressed and a top priority.
- Loretta and Bill have graciously agreed to be consultants to and ambassadors for CS4L throughout this transition, acting as they have always done with the best interests of CS4L and our community at heart.
Loretta and Bill had already put into motion the creation of two new positions within our tennis and pickleball staffs – Director of Tennis and Director of Pickleball. Each director will be responsible for creating and assessing programs and events, managing and training the other teaching pros, and running each Pro Shop.
- On Loretta’s behalf, we are delighted to announce that Head Tennis Pro Jason Scicchitano has accepted the position of Director of Tennis, effective immediately. Jason needs no introduction, having been our Head Tennis Pro for 2 years, during which he has proven himself an able leader, thoughtful program creator, respected high school coach, and popular teaching pro.
- We have asked Head Pickleball Pro Jayson Harris to remain in his role as Head Pickleball Pro indefinitely and he has agreed this would be a good fit. In his own words, “I am passionate about teaching clinics and lessons, and look forward to continuing to serve the Steamboat pickleball community.”
- The position of Director of Pickleball has been posted and we are already receiving applications. If you know of any qualified candidates who would like to receive the job description, please contact Ricky Jenkins at ricky@courtsports4life.org.
Ours is a close-knit and friendly community and undoubtedly there will be much discussion on and off the courts about these changes. We respect your passion and loyalty but I ask you not to allow rumors, hearsay, and outright guessing to color your reaction to these changes. Please, give me and the other members of the Board (listed below) the chance to address your questions as we all work together to achieve the next stage of take-off in the evolution of this wonderful enterprise we call Steamboat Tennis & Pickleball.
Best regards,
Steve “Moz” Modzelewski