Racquet Sports Rates Debated

Lakernick, Farr holding tight on consolidated membership

By CINDY HOFFMAN - Ocean Pines Progress Contributing Writer

The Feb. 5 townhall meeting on the 2025-26 Ocean Pines Association budget was packed with racquet sports members opposed to the proposed change from one sport membership fee to an annual all sports membership fee.

About 75 out of 80 people in attendance were there to make it clear that many racquet sports members are not in favor of this policy change. Four OPA members spoke during the Public Comments segment of the meeting, which began with a detailed budget presentation by General Manager Viola and his management team.

Several members of the OPA Board of Directors were in attendance. In text messages to the Progress after the meeting, OPA President Stuart Lakernick and Vice-president Rick Farr indicated they were solidly behind the latest iteration of the 2025-26 budget that includes the consolidated membership including all three racquet sports.

Terry Underkoffer, director of racquet sports in Ocean Pines, spoke to the audience about his research, which showed that even with the proposed change to an all sports membership fee of $295 per individual and $495 for a family, the cost remains lower than other racquet centers not only in the area but also on the Eastern Seaboard.

He also stated that the membership fees should have increased over the years to keep up with the costs of running the Ocean Pines facility.

Ocean Pines is trying to stay at a level that is affordable and encourages people to play more than one sport, Underkoffer said.

Members of the pickleball and platform tennis clubs showed up in significant numbers to protest the proposed single sport membership to replace individual sport options.

Club members presented a survey of racquet sport club members showed that 84.3 percent are not interested in playing more than one sport.

According to the survey results, 82.3 percent play pickleball, while 12 percent play platform tennis and 11 percent play tennis.

According to the latest version of the 2025-26 budget posted on the OPA Website, there are 302 pickleball members, 59 tennis members and 67 platform tennis members. The proposed increase would amount to an approximate 50 percent increase in the new combined rate over what pickleball and platform tennis members are now paying for individual memberships.

Non-resident pickleball and platform players would see a 35 percent increase in membership fees. Individual tennis members who have paid $295 for this year’s membership would pay the same amount next year for the combined membership. Family tennis members would see a $30 increase from $465 to $495, or about a 6.5 percent increase.

“We are concerned that a fee increase of this size will decrease membership,” OPA member Jim Fergusen said during the Public Comments segment of the Feb. 5 townhall.

He also voiced concern that the drop-in fee increase from the current $8 to $10 for OPA members and from $11 to $13 for non-residents could cause people to go to other facilities in the area.

According to a handout provided by Fergusen, the drop-in fees for pickleball alone generated $30,000 for this fiscal year, or 20 percent of the overall revenue generated from pickleball.

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America for the third year running and has had a growth rate of 223 percent over the past three years, according to the Sports and Fitness Industries Association.

OPA member Carl Vincent recommended that OPA maintain the current rate structure.

“Adjust the rates as needed, look at the capital expenditures, modify the courts, adjust the fees or keep them lower for those who come in from Ocean City or wherever else on an ad hoc basis. We want to spur the membership growth of all three sports and continue to be competitive. We should stay ahead of the growth curve,” he said.

“My big concern is fairness,” OPA member John Tutoro said. He said he did not think the disparities between the increases for pickleball players compared to tennis players is fair.

Pickleball players brought in at least $100,000, “when you consider the family and individual membership,” Tutoro said.

“The amount of money that pickleball brings in is something that needs to be considered. The fairness of it. Even 15 percent is high because the rate of inflation is around 3 percent,” he said.

According to the latest version of the budget posted on the OPA Website, for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2025, pickleball is expected to generate approximately $150,000 in revenue with a resulting $68,000 in net operating profit, while tennis is expected to generate approximately $49,000 in revenue with a resulting net operating loss of approximately $62,000.

Platform tennis is projected to lose about $7,200. That works out to a combined loss of about $1,200 for the current year, very close to break-even.

The latest budget proposal projects a loss of $33,248 for racquet sports next year, even while an increase in memberships is projected from 428 currently to 489 in the proposed budget, 34 more, a 7.47 percent increase.

Pickleball club members suggest there will be a drop in memberships if the proposed single rate is approved, a decline in revenue compared to budget, and operating deficit for racquet sports that exceeds the budgeted $31,000 loss. The Fergusen handout said that “under-performing sports programs should have a plan to minimize deficits rather than increasing fees on the most successful program.”

The speakers also raised concerns about the number of courts dedicated to tennis when pickleball players have to wait 20 minutes during peak playing times.

Tennis courts tend to be underutilized, especially when compared to activity at the pickleball courts. There are eight clay tennis courts and two multi-purpose courts for tennis members.

It was suggested by one of the speakers that a more balanced approach would be to convert some of the underused tennis courts into multi-purpose courts, which could benefit both tennis and pickleball and better reflect demand.

One tennis court can be converted into four pickleball courts.

Karen Kaplan, president of the Platform Tennis Club, noted that the proposed percentage increases in membership rates that pickleball and platform tennis members will pay far exceeds that of other Ocean Pines amenities, with proposed increases for the marina at 12 percent, aquatics at 3 percent, and golf at 5 percent.

“In my opinion, the elimination of the single sport membership and the 50 raise raise in fees should be reconsidered. Why are multiple memberships and low rate increases good for aquatics and golf, but not for the racquet center? I urge you to merge the three racquet center budgets and maintain the membership offerings,” Kaplan said.

In a follow-up email to Viola and the Board, OPA member and former OPA director Amy Peck pushed backed on Underkoffer’s benchmarks.

“I appreciate that our racquet director presented additional benchmarks at today’s townhall. As I have mentioned previously, it is unfair to compare our facility to Wallingford and Sea Colony.

“I would like to share some information on today’s presented benchmarks,” she wrote.

According to Peck, Greenwich, Conn., has an exceptional country club with eight full-time professionals and indoor facilities, with median income of $195,047; at the Easton, Conn., Racquet Club the membership includes access to a pool.

Their country club, which has a long waiting list, features locker facilities, a bar, kitchen, and a recently renovated, upscale clubhouse, with a median income of $212,459; and the Tennis and Racquet Club of Boston, Mass, is a state-of-the-art facility offering a fully equipped fitness center, bar, and billiards, with a median income of $113,313.

Also the Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Center that provides indoor pickleball, a platform tennis pro, and platform tennis tournaments, with a median income of $134,838, and the Kingsbury, Mass., Club and Spa features 6 indoor tennis courts and a 25x25 yard pool.

The fee covers access to a two-level fitness center, sauna, steam room, locker room, and more, with a median income $111,341.

“In making pricing decisions it is important to know your customer base,” she wrote. “Ocean Pines Racquet Club has a customer base that is made up of 94 percent the members only playing one sport, 74 percent of the members being over the age of 65, members who are on a fixed income and a demographic that is much different than the benchmarks we are being compared to,” Peck wrote.

Viola closed the townhall by saying that the membership rates for racquet sports are still reasonable compared to others in the area.

He thanked all of the speakers for their comments. “Good comments today,” he said, but it’s clear he won’t be changing any of the racquet sports membership rates contained in the latest iteration of the budget.

The OPA Board of Directors will make the final decision. A number of the directors were in attendance at this meeting.

In response to text messages from the Progress, both OPA Lakernick and Farr indicated that they were continuing to support Viola’s most recent proposed budget with the consolidated racquet sports membership.

“100 percent support,” Farr said. “This is an outstanding budget and John and his team did a great job putting this together.”

Lakernick said he was not expecting changes in the budget from the latest iteration before the Board votes later this month on it.

As for the vote count, he declined to predict. But he indicated that he “didn’t think” that Director and OPA Treasurer Monica Rakowski was a solid no on the consolidated membership despite a comment at a budget review meeting in early January that eliminating single sport memberships would be akin to Ocean Pines “shooting itself in the foot.”