2018-2019 NYCC Accomplishments

Board/Overall 

• Hired a professional club consultant to guide us through significant future changes and plans
• Created long range goals and objectives for the board and club vision, enhanced NYCC 2020 plan
  • More strategic in our planning for the future, gathering more input from the membership, staff, committees and the board
• Hired a new General Manager, Clubhouse Manager and Communications Coordinator
  • Promoted Betsy to Membership Director
• Formed a long range plan, finance, governance, house and history committee that represents the diversity of the membership classes and applicable skill sets
• Enhanced communication and synergy by pairing many committee chairs with board positions
• Membership formally invited to board meetings, added member comments section to the monthly board meeting agendas
• Greatly enhanced communications and transparency by making awareness a top priority through quarterly member update meetings, recordings, emails and postings on the member side of the Club website
  • Encouraged membership to contact board and committee chairs with any and all feedback
• Began subscribing to Club Benchmarking 
• Shifted club operations focus from ROE vs. ROI
• Used the Club’s 1896 founding year for club specials, products, etc. 
• Updated the employee manual 
• Created a social media policy
• Successfully ran the Club for four months while searching for new general manager 

Long Range Plan & Facilities Enhancement Plan

• More than 50% of membership completed the member survey in April 2018
  • 70% voted in favor of the FEP
• Assembled a committee that represents wide Club demographics – from young families with and without children to older families with adult children and grandchildren
  • Interests of members include tennis, fitness, pool, yachting, and the clubhouse
• Passed the long range plan vote and member class changes with more than 80% voting in favor of it
  • Passed 2019 board and bylaw changes (44% of membership voted)
  • Voted yes to both governance changes and board slate: 88% of voting members
  • Voted yes to board slate: 94%
  • Voted yes to governance changes: 93%
• 71% paid FEP assessment in full
• Developed Acquiring Property Criteria List
  • HVAC and electrical survey completed
  • Maintenance survey of the piers completed 
• Conducted an asset replacement plan study – completed by a professional firm 
• Recommended that the Fitness Committee implement policy and pricing 
• Developed recommended Club policy to complete a specific component of the FEP before moving to another project phase
  • Specific case is completing the Tennis Pro Shop as part of the tennis facility project.
• Implemented policy to seek and receive at least three bids for all large projects 
• Recommended that Yachting/Junior Sailing develop a master plan that coordinates with the Pool, Fitness, and Main Clubhouse projects
• Recommended that any committee overseeing a new Club activity put together an introduction of the activity for the general membership
• Recommended that when a committee is investigating a major component change to the Club, the committee engages a professional consultant with expertise in the particular field
• Developed a LRPC charter
• Renovated staff locker room and loading dock area 

Membership & Communications

• Began dual membership with James River Country Club
• Restructured the membership class categories and dues structure after much research and input, ultimately resulting in increased membership numbers
  • Reduced the number of membership levels to reduce confusion 
  • 29% of new members are intermediate, 35% are service category (representing more than half of new members)
  • Offered lower initiation fees for the military and younger membership classes (under 40)
• Continued the trial membership program resulting in a 78% acceptance rate
  • 55 participants
• Record number of summer applicants (2019) following the launch of the LRP & FEP
• Prospective members came primarily from member referrals (51%) and 26% originated from general website research
  • Just short of 100 prospects gathered in 2019
• Enhanced our social media presence by:
  • Adding accounts, consistently posting content and creating a members only Facebook page, 
  • Created new Instagram pages (main club, sailing)
  • Created new Facebook pages (public page, members only, tennis, swim, sailing)
• Launched a Club app for mobile phones with the ability to make reservations, view the roster, menus, hours, and more
• Added online comment card option to website
• Went green with digital version of the monthly Ship and Shore (keeping print option for those who wanted it)
• Began collecting membership interests for personalized targeting in the future
• Held a successful membership drive and contest that offered free dues and products to sponsors 
• Held a “You’ve been spotted” bumper sticker contest to increase club awareness around town 
• Removed guest fees for immediate family members at the pool 
• Lowered the reinstatement fee
• Offered more prospective member events, opened up more events to guests of members and expanded youth and member programming 
• Participated in area tradeshows and events including wedding expos to increase Club awareness to the surrounding geographic area
• Added a second new member reception during the year 
• Offered new incentives to engage new members, updated the new member welcome packet
• Began a new member engagement campaign  

Health, Fitness and Pool

• 30+ staff
• In 2019 we:
  • Averaged more daily visits than the past four yearsHad the highest childcare usage numbers than the past four years
  • Set daily utilization records at the outdoor pool AND The Galley
  • Produced the largest swim team we have had in three years
  • The grand re-opening of the outdoor pool and The Galley hit record numbers
    • Rose all Day event over the summer was a smashing success
• Responded to the member and boards vision for the center by:
  • Evaluating and responding to the member survey, addressing top concerns
• Facilitated multiple fitness, group exercise and pool surveys and made adjustments based on responses
• Expanded childcare hours and created an unlimited monthly childcare rate option for those interested 
• Made investments to the fitness center and pool area in excess of $250,000, beginning the club’s long-range strategic plan project 
• All brand-new state of the art equipment; replaced all of the cardio machines and equipment with brand new, more modern machines
• Converted the indoor pool and hot tub from chlorine to saline, creating a healthier environment 
  • The only indoor pool in Norfolk and within 25 mile radius 
• Renovated the outdoor pool locker rooms, to include a family changing room and shower, and updated facilities
• Updated the pool deck by refurbishing all of the outdoor furniture, which included a new, bright and bold red and blue color scheme matching the NYCC club colors
• Renovated and rebranded the snack bar, now known as The Galley. The renovation included:
  • New flooring, furniture, fixtures, digital menu boards, design and layout
  • Made many changes to the Galley menu to provide healthier options
  • Added soft serve ice cream and snow cone machines 
• Added to the personal trainer roster bringing us to nine experienced, certified personal trainers
• Added group exercise classes based on member surveys and suggestions, bringing us to nearly 35 classes per week in more than 20 varieties
• The swim team had great season, with more than 100 participants in 2018.  The enhanced season included pep rallies and a biathlon
  • Swimmers broke several NYCC records and 100% of our athletes achieved personal bests in at least one event
• The fitness center held numerous member incentives including March into fitness, 25 mile swim challenge, burpee challenge, and top three group exercise participants 
• Staff continue to offer specialty workshops and personal training specials in response to member feedback
• Offered more youths programing 
• Purchased new kayaks and equipment for member use 

Tennis & Racquet Sports Complex

• Completed a total overhaul of the tennis courts and built a brand-new racquet sports complex
  • All new courts, lighting and sprinkler system
• Installed a brand-new tennis dome with clay courts; the only one in Norfolk
• Introduction of Pickleball (more than 350 different members have tried pickleball to date)
• Introduction of Platform Tennis (more than 100 different members have tried platform tennis)
• Tennis lesson revenue continues to increase significantly every year
• Camp revenue has increased 59% since 2016
• Winter camp revenue increased 300% in 2019 due to the new tennis dome
• Inaugural Santa Slam doubles tournament had 52 participants
• 33% of NYCC memberships have used the racquet facility over the past two years, meaning at least one person in the household has used the facility.

Yachting

• Phase I of the marina electrical repairs were completed
• Additional staff were hired for maintenance work in the marina and good progress was made on deferred maintenance
• The Pier A boat ramp platform was re-decked
• “Drive on” Jet Docks were made available in the marina for members as a docking alternative to lifts
• Rates for lift slips were adjusted, the wait list was updated and we are now at 100% capacity
• The dock house got a facelift, including new interior and exterior paint, and it was redecorated
• Increased member participation at Yachting events throughout the year
• Increased participation at the Wolcott Memorial and Labor Day regattas
• The club became certified as a US Sailing Keelboat training facility
• The Yachting Committee developed a long range plan focusing on programming and physical plant improvements 
• A national search for a new Waterfront Director was conducted and the club hired Scott Norman to begin in January 2020
• Hosted new yachting events that reached more of the membership, including
  • Pints and paddles 
  • Commodores cruise
  • Progressive yachting dinner at member homes
  • Annual Boat lighting 
• Moved the event from the dock house to the Skippers Lounge in the main building; added a parade, Santa, fire pit, s’mores and more
• Began a burgee swap program with other clubs throughout the US and world  

Junior Sailing

• NYCC Junior sailors sailed in Argentina, Italy, Florida, Alabama, California, and Louisiana
• Youth sailing safety was enhanced greatly
• A youth sailing protection policy created and implemented, which was also adopted by the entire Club
• All summer staff were background checked and drug tested for the first time
• All staff had US powerboating qualification
• One staff member went to the US Keelboat instructor course and another went to the US Powerboating instructor course 
• Purchased 6 Opti Cubes to replace 6 of the 25-year-old fleet
• For the first time NYCC was responsible for running the HYC / NYCC joint race team and it had twice the participation as the previous year
• St. Patrick’s sailing club had another successful year, for the second year in a row
• Fall Opti sailing was active for the first time in years.  NYCC sailors sail four days a week
• Hired a fulltime head coach
• Replaced head coach and part time waterfront director positions with a full-time waterfront director.  He starts in 2020.
• A 420 was donated to Coastal Virginia Youth Sailing Foundation and it will be used to help develop our 420 race team next year
• Two of the old Opti docks were replaced by JetDocks
• One JetDock was purchased for the zodiac rib

Finance

• Established a more robust committee representing the diversity of the Club’s membership
• Put out RFP and interviewed banks for FEP loan
  • Stress tested loan amount, made adjustments based on financing and other metrics
• Began an optional online automatic bill pay system 
• Greater interaction with other committees and implemented more processes for stronger efficiency and oversight 
• Obtained long-term financing for the FEP plan
• Established a Replacement Reserve Fun (which is still being enhanced)
• Practiced more informative and succinct financial reporting
• Began posting Club financials on the members section of the website, posting the past 10 years of audited financials
  • Began posting the Club’s monthly financials 

Governance

• Reviewed and revised the Construction and Bylaws, all changes approved by membership in 2018
• Revised draft charters for the following committees:
  • Entertainment
  • Governance
  • Health and Fitness
  • House
  • Junior Sailing
  • Membership
  • Nominating
  • Tennis 
  • Yachting 
• Prepared and revised draft charters for the following committees:
  • Construction
  • Long-Range Planning
• Prepared draft of the NYCC Board Policy Manual 

Food and Beverage

• Reviewed all member comments from the membership survey
• Hired a club house manager, John Williams, who has many years of F&B experience and exciting new ideas
• Changed the member dining chef
• Formed a new, diverse food and beverage committee
• Began sending weekly emails highlighting fresh and local ingredients, and chef specials were implemented
• Completed a major review of the Club menus and menu overhaul was implemented after reviewing member orders and trends; used focus groups and held taste tests to get it right
• Weekly pizza and pasta night implemented and very successful
  • Added kids eat free and wine deal to help boost patronage
• Began monthly complimentary wine tastings and Friday night happy hours, which continue with strong patronage 
• Began quarterly wine paring dinners
• Implemented healthier options at The Galley, paired down the menu for faster service 
• Began undertaking the renovations of The Deck and the new “1896 Grill” for the clubhouse renovation
• Planted a club vegetable and herb garden