Greetings!
Wow - the summer has flown by quickly. The Pell Cup marked the end of the 2014-15 season in style with a full draw and lots of action both on and off the court. If you missed out, don't worry the best is yet to come as the 2015-16 season begins in a few short weeks. Boston, Tuxedo, New York, Aiken, Washington and Philadelphia will all be hosting events in the next few months - so check out the calendar and plan accordingly.
Player Development continues to be a major focus through the USCTA/USCTPF Player Development Fund. Congratulations to Erik Barker on winning the 2015 Under 16 British Juniors in August. Erik had a stellar season winning numerous U.S. junior titles and successfully competing in several "adult" tournaments. Meanwhile on the women's front, sixteen players gathered in Tuxedo for a very successful first annual women's development weekend. Look for more progress in the junior, women's and top amateur games over the next year.
The Charleston Court is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality. Please take the time to visit their website and/or talk to Greg Van Schaack or Charles de Casteja about making a donation. Together, we can make this happen!
As you enjoy your upcoming Labor Day weekend, take a minute to think about your footwork...small steps are key. Have a great weekend.
Until next month....
Sincerely,
U.S. Court Tennis Association
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UPDATE FROM CHARLESTON
By Greg Van Schaack
Charleston Court Tennis is steadily moving forward towards its goal of raising $1.6 million to begin the construction of a new court on Daniel Island in Charleston. To date the committee has raised $1.3 million and is getting ready to collect those pledges. If you have generously made a pledge you will soon be receiving a letter requesting your check, credit card or appreciated stock as payment to the US Court Tennis Preservation Foundation. Remember, all donations are tax deductible if made through the Foundation. Collection of all funds is targeted for November 1, 2015.
For those of you who have not pledged, we truly need your support now more than ever to get us over the finish line. Please visit our website, www.charlestoncourttennis.com, and make a pledge today. All amounts are welcome and greatly appreciated.
The project itself is in the permitting phase in anticipation of beginning construction when all the funds are collected. Architectural plans have been finalized and engineers and contractors have been selected.
Ladies and gentlemen, this project is no longer a pipe dream, it is really happening and everyone should be able and proud to say "I helped make it happen"!!! Please donate today so that you can come and play in Charleston tomorrow.
The Charleston Court Tennis Committee is named below. Please contact any of us and we'll help you make your donation:
Gregory Van Schaack - President
William Blalock - Treasurer
Mathew Sloan - President, Daniel Island Company
Greg Keating - General Manager, Daniel Island Company
Charles de Casteja
Archie Gwathmey
William Hall
PJ Yeatman
Mike Noll
Camden Riviere
Bill McLaughlin - ex-officio (President, US Court Tennis Preservation Foundation)
Jeremy Wintersteen - ex-officio (President, US Court Tennis Association)
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Josh Dodgson & Nick Howell
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2015 PELL CUP
by John Murphy & Skip Elliot
The fierce competitive drive of Clarry Pell pervaded matches in all divisions of the 2015 Pell Cup tournament at the National Tennis Club in Newport. For its premier doubles tournament, the NTC hosted sixty amateurs and eight professionals, divided into six divisions, over five days, August 12-16.
Matches began on Wednesday evening and resumed for the first full day on Thursday. Competitors and their guests were treated to cocktails and snacks at the Club that evening. On Friday, after a full day of matches, everyone got together for a clambake, with lobsters, at Kempenaar's in Middletown. Speeches were kept to a minimum, as fun prevailed. There were horseshoes pitching matches, badminton, and bocce before dinner.
On Saturday, matches continued to be hard-fought. Among the notable competitors was the low handicap amateur Pat Winthrop, mentoring his partner, a newcomer to court tennis, retired lawn tennis star Todd Martin.
Finals began late on Sunday morning, with a full breakfast provided in the NTC clubroom, cooked by Beth Winthrop and Frank Oliveira. All had a great time. Much of the credit has to go to event chairman Skip Elliott, and the hard-working markers, Nick Howell, Sergio Lopez, and all the others who pitched in make the tourney most enjoyable for competitors and spectators alike.
The results are posted below. The divisions were well crafted, as demonstrated by the match results, which were often settled by a third set, and sometimes by the very last ball.
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Erik Barker - U16 Winner - with Finalist Vaughn Hamilton
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2015 BRITISH JUNIOR SINGLESby Bill Barker
The 2015 Neptune British Open Real Tennis Junior Singles Championships were held at the Queen's Club in London between August 21-23, with nearly 50 competitors entered into the U12, U14, U16 and U18 flights. Prince's Court's Erik Barker, playing in the U16 division, was the sole attendee this year from the States.
The U16 field was quite deep this year, with four competitors handicapped between 30 and 37. In the final round robin division, Barker squared off against Nick Milton, Vaughn Hamilton and Henry Stevinson. Milton was a U16 finalist last year, and had won the U14 division two years ago. He made the trip earlier this summer to play in the US juniors, entering in the U17 and U19 divisions, and lost in the U19 finals to Barker at Newport in July. In the round robin featuring one six game set, Barker beat Milton, but lost to Hamilton (6-2), with Milton beating Hamilton creating a three way tie of competitors with a 2-1 record, as all were successful against Stevinson. Milton was unlucky to lose the most-games-won tiebreaker (15 to 14 to 13), and thus just missed out on finishing in the top two. Click here to read the full story.
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2015 TUXEDO WOMEN'S WEEKEND
The USCTA/USCTPF Player Development Fund sponsored a women's development weekend in Tuxedo on August 28-30. Organized by Petra Napolitano and run by Tim Chisholm and Josh Dawson, the weekend was a great success. The world famous court tennis scribe - Dawson Lane - will have all the details in next month's
Chase the First.
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SEPTEMBER
24-27
BOSTON
Doubles round robin for pros & multiple amateur levels
U19, U17, U15, U13
Junior Doubles
16-18
JIMMY KNOTT
BOSTON
Top amateur level singles
23-25
HADDEN TOMES INVITATIONAL
TUXEDO
Invitational Handicap Doubles
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TIPS FROM THE PROFESSIONALS
Footwork, footwork, footwork
One of the most underrated aspects of the game is the footwork required to properly cover the court. A person's footwork, or lack thereof, can be a direct cause of misreading a ball in the corner, or making an unforced error. One of the easiest ways to work on your footwork is to concentrate on taking smaller steps when running. Too often we are caught making big strides and lunges towards a ball, eliminating the ability adjust, as well as making it tougher to step into the ball. These smaller steps will allow you to adjust quicker as well as properly time your step into the ball by helping to keep your balance while moving across the court. Small steps also tend to help prevent you from getting too close to the ball, which is the main cause of problems like racket errors and lifting balls onto the penthouse.
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RTO STATS
Matches recorded in
Real Tennis Online in the last 30 days. Remember, it's important to record match scores to have an accurate handicap!
(as of 8/28/15)
NEWPORT 123
WASHINGTON 74
NEW YORK 47
CHICAGO 36
PHILADELPHIA 24
TUXEDO 24
BOSTON 2
AIKEN 1
LAKEWOOD 0
Compared to:
RADLEY 198
MELBOURNE 279
CAMBRIDGE 78
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