BIG DECISIONS FOR PAK

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A "come to Jesus moment" is an idiomatic expression that refers to a pivotal point when someone faces a harsh truth, makes a serious realization, or is forced to confront reality—often leading to a change in behavior, attitude, or decision.

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PAK is having its moment right now.  After almost five years of pursuing our mission to “…develop, operate, and maintain quality dedicated venues with the spirit of Aloha”, we are seriously questioning whether we will ever be able to fulfill our purpose. 

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At risk of alienating our Christian friends and/or our non-Christian friends, we use this expression to describe our discussion, because the definition is so appropriate.  We also will be using another religious term in our discussions:  “Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.”  What we are realizing is that almost no one objects to the concept of our mission, but not enough are willing to pay for what it takes to implement it.  In the five years since our birth, land prices have soared, construction costs have skyrocketed, operating costs have doubled, and available manpower have diminished.  We are now facing a minimum construction cost of at least $4 million for our proposed facility, plus lease rental of a site, and a million dollars per year in operating costs.  It is highly unlikely we will be able to collect enough revenue from our local population and tourists to support one facility, much less the multiple locations we had envisioned. 

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The good news is that our County seems to be responding to the needs of the pickleball community as best they can.  We still think that the missed opportunity is to develop a way to charge tourists for using the facilities and having a partner to organize and coordinate play at government-owned courts.  Our government does not agree with us, nor seems interested in a public partnership.

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Your board is now faced with making tough decisions about the fate of this organization.  First, we must decide if we wish to continue.  Second, if we continue, we need to decide on a new mission.  Third, we need to implement our decisions.

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Whether you pray or not we are asking for your spiritual support for us as we have our “come to Jesus moment”.  Stay tuned.

Until next month,

Nolan