PASSINGSHOTS

The Cupertinotennis club newsletter, May 2013

On the Line

A message from the CTC President

Welcome! I would like to take this opportunity to give a hearty welcome to ourreturning CTC members, our new CTC members, our returning CTC Board members andour new CTC Board members. We allplay an important role in preserving a tennis atmosphere that embraces fairnessand kindness, along with a strong, competitive spirit. The 2013 CTC Board isalready hard at work maintaining existing tennis programs, planning new eventsand discussing ways to enrich our tennis experience. Our 2013 members are participating in all manner of tennis,including USTA leagues, Interclub, Socials (see page 4 & 5 for a report onour 1st Social of the year) and 1st-rate social tennis. Together, we continue to set the tennisbar high. Bravo!

As most of you know, USTA league play is verypopular with CTC members. So popular, in fact, that court availability for homematches has reached its peak again this year. CSC works side-by-side with ourUSTA Coordinator to allocate as much court time as possible during each USTAseason. Occasionally, after careful deliberation, CTC’s USTA Coordinator mustsay no to a captain wanting to form team because we have simply run out of courts. The “Intent to Play” policy wasput in place to give the captains and the USTA Coordinator the informationnecessary to make these decisions and insure that as many members participatein USTA league play as possible with as few “no’s” as possible. You, CTCmembers, can help make this process easier and more accurate by using the“Intent to Play” process in a timely fashion. May I suggest that as soon as you receive your email fromthe USTA Coordinators requesting that you “Declare Your Intent to Play” for thenext league start, just respond right away. Click on the link to the website provided and fill out theform. It’s that easy and it’simportant to do it.

Going forward, we will be working with theSports Center and the City to find viable solutions to manage our tenniscommunity growth.

Is everyone enjoying the new clocks on thecourts? With money from the CTC Improvement Fund, a budget for the purchase ofthe clocks was approved last year and Raymond Yan and Mike Wilkens have takenon the task of purchasing, building the housings, water--proofing andinstalling them. Thank you,Raymond and Mike for the outstanding job!

If you have an idea that will benefit our tennisexperience, please let me know. Send your idea in an email to President@cupertinotennisclub.org.

Wishingyou a Happy Spring and terrific tennis, Dotti Rado, CTC President

Norcal March20, 2013 Captains’ Meeting Report by Pat Frischmann, VP

I attended the Norcal Captains’ Meeting chairedby Anna Elefant, Adult Leagues manager, on March 20, 2013, along with about 20others.

The attendee’s chief concerns were the crowdednew calendar, the ever-shorter seasons, the difficulty in guessing how manyplayers to put on a roster under the new system, the rising cost of playing ona team and the odd structure of the Adult 40+ league.

Anna warned that next year “will be even morecrowded” since Norcal needs to schedule the leagues going to Nationals to fitthe USTA schedule for Nationals. Norcal must fit its’ leagues - Mixed55, 65+,Combo and 70+ - around that schedule. Anna expressed her opinion that since somany leagues now overlap, players and organizations may have to “pick andchoose” among teams next year. An example of an unexpected consequence ofovercrowding is seen in the 55 Mixed league: Norcal expected to have 30 teamsyet 100 teams registered!

Next on the agenda was changes to be aware ofthis year. (1) Captains must haveat least six “at-level” players on the roster. She noted that if the captain of a development team decidesto roster six “at-level” players but not play them, those players will not geta registration refund. (2) Togives leagues more matches and still fit within the USTA schedule, Norcal isconsidering doing away with or reducing the number of playoffs. This will be aquestion on the upcoming survey. (3) Players in the Adult 55+ league will besubject to the 3-strikes rule. (4) At Districts, if an opponent defaults aline, a captain of the other team may now change his/her lineup, in fairness tothe players who may have traveled far or given up a day of work to play. (5)National may tweak the self-rating questionnaire to cut down on the number ofplayers who are able to rate lower than their ability.

Rising costs of playing on a team werediscussed. Anna explained that the fees are a decision of the Norcal Board ofDirectors and are used, in part, to fund community and youth programs.

CUPERTINO TENNIS CLUBMEMBERSHIP NEWS

Making sense of the on-line roster: On the “Membership” page of the CTC website,there are 2 Membership lists. Thefirst has names only and anyone is able to access this list. If you want to know who the members areor if you need to check your membership status, check this list.  All current members are listed and thereis no need to sort - the list is automatically alphabetical.  The second list includes memberscontact information, including phone number(s) and email address. This“Contact” list is password protected and only current members have access.  Sorting of information, such as by NTRPrating, is available here. Check it to make sure that your contact informationis correct.

If you need to change your contactinformation, the process is simple. Go to the website and redo the “MembershipApplication”, agree to the waiver but DO NOT PAY AGAIN. By following thisprocess, your new information will be automatically updated in the ContactList. CTC emails will go to your new address.

Questions should be emailed to Membership@CupertinotennisClub.org.

-John Sperinde, Membership Chair.

USTA News

by Kweiping Wong and Irwin Horowitz

The 2013 Adult 18 season has begun!

The season runs from April 1st until July 14.CTC is fielding 15 teams. On the women’s side, teams include one 3.0, three3.5, three 4.0 and one 4.5. For the men, three 3.5, two 4.0 and two 4.5 teamsare playing this season. Goodluck!!

Next up is Adult Mixed 18+ and Adult 55+leagues. Hopefully, everyonewanting to play in these leagues received their “Intent to Play” email from CTCand has signed up on the “Intent to Play” form on-line. An email identifyingthe captains chosen for the summer leagues has been sent (to all CTC members)and these captains are currently registering teams. Registration ends on May 19th.If you are looking for a team, please make sure to contact the captain beforesigning up on the roster. The season runs from June 17 - September 8 for bothleagues. As you can see, the Adult18+, Adult 55+ and Mixed 18+ overlap for 4 weeks. Please be sure you are committed to playing on any team(s)you join. Plan ahead so that yourcaptain is not put in a position to default a match because of unavailableplayers. Having insufficient players for a match is one thing every captainworks hard to avoid.

A look at the 40+ Adult league

The 40+ Adult season is over and the results arein. Congratulations to all 16teams for a great season.

55 + Mixed - a great season! Six teams played in thisleague with two teams in the local playoffs. Cheers to a first-rate season!

Level Captain Season finish

3.0 Pat Perry Inlocal playoff (6-3)

3.5 Linda Chen

3.5 Debbie Argabright

3.5 Sukkin Fong

3.5 Julie Brittis

4.0 Sharada Labadie In local playoff (8-1)

4.0 Analiza Dolor

4.0 Nanette Vidalis

4.5 Analiza Dolor

4.5 Jessica Ma

3.5 Fred Tierney In local playoff (7-3)

3.5 Irwin Horowitz

3.5 Raymond Yan

4.0 Gorti Brahmanandam

4.0 Richard Chuang

4.0 Kevin Ong In local playoff (9-2)

4.5 Ravi Shankar

7.0 Linda Chen

7.0 Raymond Yan In local playoff (4-3)

7.0 Pat Frischmann

7.0 Luanne Greyson

8.0 Cindy Jeung In local playoff (3-3)

8.0 Robert Ku

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

Our 1st CTC Social, “A Little Bit ofEverything” was a resounding success!! The schedule allowed for a total of 36 membersto participate in 2 clinics, a number of round robins and a session with theball machine. Before the tennis began, there was also a fitness workshop forthose interested in a good warm up.

Thefabulous Lifetime Tennis Director, Dana Bargas, along with hiswonderful Pros, ran 2 clinics throughout each round. Members received feedback from Dana and Tennis Pro, Oliver,during a strokes clinic geared to fine tune your forehand, backhand, volleysand overhead. Next stop was the adjacent court, where members got a chance tochallenge Pro Parul and his very capable assistant Joshua, playing singles anddoubles points. A few of themembers even won!!

Round Robins ran continuously through the evening. Men’s, Women’s andMixed doubles were played with teams being matched as close to even skilllevels as possible.

The ball machine got aworkout, too, as members waiting for the next round robin or clinic were encouragedto spend 1 round practicing their strokes.

Soup’s On!

At 8:30 PM, tennis ended and supper began. Healthy and delicious soups (made byLynne Stark), bread (made by Grace Haig), a variety of homemade muffins andcookies, and beverages were served. To be environmentally healthy, everyonebrought his or her own soup mug, spoon and water bottle.

“Agood time was had by all”!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION:

Why do I have to join the Cupertino TennisClub, too? I have already paid for an annual pass at the Sports Center.

My answer: I just returned from the Sports Center, where I enjoyed a socialmatch, sitting under an umbrella purchased by the Cupertino Tennis Club, on abench provided by the Cupertino Tennis Club, occasionally checking the time onclocks newly installed by, yes, the Cupertino Tennis Club, and kept score onscoreboards (guess who purchased them). Although I no longer play USTA league tennis, I am pleased to hear of mytennis friends’ USTA success, made possible because the Cupertino Tennis Cluborganizes all league play for Sports Center/CTC members. As you know, because you are readingthis, the newsletter comes to you courtesy of the Cupertino Tennis Club.  Throw in my ability to play Interclubon any one of the 3 women’s teams, plus periodic socials, for a whopping$20/$25 per year. My dues areworking hard for me. But if youthink CTC can do more, email your ideas to the CTC Board at Board@CupertinoTennisClub.org.We are a congenial bunch who are always on the outlook for new projects.

Candace Danielson, CTC Secretary