Metro District Ambassador
The Bylaws of the Des Moines Metro Pickleball Club states the following:
Article VI – Committees
Committees and/or chairpersons will be appointed by the Club Board.
In the Board Meetings of November 29, 2017 a Matrix Organization with geographic based Leadership was approved. Subsequent Board Meetings on December 13 and January 9, 2018 reviewed ongoing revisions of this concept. The Organizing Principle was stated in our Organizing documents:
- A Metro District of 500,000 people spread across 5 counties is too large and diverse to share a sense of community.
- Play and socializing will develop more naturally when “close to home”.
- We envision 5 organized districts as the ideal size to justify large court complexes with sufficient players over a 5 year period.
- Grow membership, organize play and social interaction in their district.
Metro Districts as Defined as of January 9, 2018
North Metro (Ankeny, Bondurant, Johnston, Polk City, Saylorville, Perry, Woodward)
Jose Blanco is Metro District Ambassador
East & Southeast Metro (Altoona, Carlisle, Mitchellville, Norwalk, Cumming, Indianola, Pleasant Hill)
Open - no Metro District Ambassador
Central Metro (Des Moines 100%)
Open - no Metro District Ambassador
Southwest Metro (West Des Moines, Adel, Desoto, Van Meter, Waukee, Earlham, Stuart, Winterset)
Open - no Metro District Ambassador
Northwest Metro (Clive, Dallas Center, Granger, Grimes, Guthrie Center, Lake Panorama, Panora, Urbandale, Windsor Heights)
Kathleen Kelly is Metro District Ambassador
This Volunteer Opportunity (VO) is for Metro District Ambassador (MDA). Also on November 29, 2017, the Board approved in "bullet form" the activities of each MDA. For MDA, those included:
- Are special leaders who are motivated to organize a manageable area of people that includes their neighborhood, town or city.
- They develop places to play, manage membership, organize types of play, accommodate training needs, stimulate social networking and leverage best in club technology solutions.
At the present time (January 14, 2018) our membership by district is: North 5, East & Southeast 3, Central 6, Southwest 15, Northwest 10. Total DMMPC 39. While we envision that in 4 or 5 years we will have 50 to 60 players in each Metro District, at the present time the MDA's role is organize 3 to 15 players and develop a plan to improve their Pickleball experience. The MDA can do this by collaborating with Committee Chairs and other MDA's. All MDA's will be members of the Executive Committee, which meets only 4x a year. They are also required to provide a short one paragraph brief to the Board each month. Please consider signing up for this most commitment of time.
Some of the desired qualities needed on this team are:
- A sincere interest in improving the quality and availability of Pickleball play in your district. (Optional: Join USAPA and enroll as an Ambassador. Talk to John B. or Jose B.)
- Basic knowledge & skill of the game of Pickleball and a willingness to learn more via USAPA, studying other "Best in Class" metro clubs.
- Teamwork Skills in a Matrix Organization (Listening, Questioning, Persuading, Respecting)
- Organizing skills and Social skills, especially for pulling together "neighborhood play" defined as groups of 4, 6, 8, 12 players for recreational round robin events in your district. Also supporting "metro play" to get your players the best options for their skill and interest level (promoting club interests, influencing with reason and respect, building relationships)
All of our MDA's must work together in an effective and harmonious way. Metro District Ambassadors must work with Committee Chairs to facilitate better play now and adequate options for the future.