Upcoming Events:

June 20- Senior Mixed Tournament

June 21- Mens Doubles and Womens Singles

In this Issue:

1. •Pres. Letter
   

2. •May Tournament Write Up
   

3. •MVTC Members Everywhere
   

President’s Letter: “Just Out”

June 09                          Kathy Wheeler                          2009 MVTC President

The May tournament is newly completed and like its predecessor in April, the Mixed Tournament, was extremely well attended and well played.  The weather was perfect, the competition was of the highest level and everyone got their money’s worth.  As the Tournament Director with Heidi Sloss, I have a number of learning’s from the experience that I would like to share with the membership.

I’ve been asked by some why the increase in fees for the tournaments.  One of the reasons is that the board voted to fund the use of the software program TDM and hosting the tournament online on Tennislink.  This does not come without a cost (big surprise) and the extra fees are intended to defer the convenience of the using the program to organize the tournament.  This is the first tournament that I’ve had the pleasure of using the software (I did the October 2008 tournament by hand, so to speak) and the reports, auto draw and score entry system made my life as tournament director infinitely easier.  Any help we, the club, can give the tournament directors to ease their job is well worth it.  Also, Tennislink and the special software that Roger Okamoto wrote allows entrants to see who is signed up for the tournament.  I think of it as bait to lure in hesitant players.  We’ve had large draws for all of this year’s tournaments and this feature is helping make it happen.  The extra fee money is being spent wisely for these conveniences, in my opinion.

We’ve not had large turnouts in recent years for the Women’s Singles tournaments and it was decided by the board to do some active recruiting for the May tournament of women players.  And, we got some!  Lori Cruz-Spray signed up but her schedule prevented her from playing (darn!).  We had three women playing in Div III singles: Tatjana Polyakova, Janelle Sallenave and Katherine Altemus.  I had a lot of men mention to me that it was great that they were playing in the tournament.  The women all had a positive experience and were very competitive in their matches.  Coincidently, there was an article in the NY Times today, 6/1, about a high school girl playing on the boy’s tennis team in New York and getting rival’s complaints: “She’s too good”.  Her record is 16-2.  The coach on one team complained that she was “an unfair advantage in the match, in part because her presence was unnerving to the boys.”  “It’s a lose-lose situation,” he said. “If he wins, he’s supposed to win.  If he loses, he lost to a girl.”  I’m tempted to write the Times and use our tournament as an example where this kind of thinking didn’t even enter into the equation!  Maybe it’s because we play on the “Left” coast.

Finally, on a more serious note, I need to bring up an important subject that needs to be thought about by every single member of the club.  When we host our monthly tournaments we do them without a referee.  We rely on every player to use The Code to play their matches; that is, the matches are refereed by the players, using the guidelines of The Code.  If you have never read The Code you can find it online at http://dps.usta.com/usta_master/sitecore_usta/USTA/Document Assets/2008/05/29/doc_13_22409.pdf

We, the Tournament Directors, are not the first line of authority for administering The Code, the players are.  However, when there are egregious, observed violations of the code by the Tournament Directors, they should intervene.  Players will be warned on the first violation and they will be defaulted for the second.  In the future, all tournament entrants will be informed prior to play that The Code is to be used during their matches.  Please take some time to read and think about The Code.  In an ideal world, all matches would be a pleasure if these simple rules were followed.  Let’s continue to strive to make the MVTC tournaments an oasis of sportsmanlike tennis.

See you in June at our next tournament!

May Tournament Wrap Up

May Tournament Attracts at BIG Draw!

Kathy Wheeler – Co-Tournament Director (with Heidi Sloss)

The Men’s Singles / Women’s Doubles attracted one of the biggest turnouts in recent memory, with 70+ players turning out for a perfect weekend for tennis.  With the temps in the 60’s-70’s, overcast in the morning and lovely sun in the afternoon, it was a fantastic tournament.

The Div I draw (4.0+) had the largest number of competitors and the highest seed, Will Griffiths, at 5.5.  Will is getting back into social tennis after having played in college (thus, the 5.5 rating).   Predictably, he and Alain Raynaud (4.5) ended up in the final, with Alain winning 6-5 after Will had to withdraw due to injury.  The workhorse award goes to Nathan Bach and Luciano Martins who played three matches on Sunday in the consolation round.  Nathan defeated Luciano, 7-5, 6-2.

The Div II draw was won by the 2008 Most Improved Player, Josh Tyler.  He defeated Rob Laing in a really tight match, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.  The consolation title went to Corey Powell, the #4 seed, defeating Michael Puzon, 7-5, 7-5.  Michael may be the new nominee for the 2009 MIP.

The Div III draw had three woman entered for this tournament and were very competitive!  The division was won by Robert Inocencio who defeated Steve Tsai, 6-1, 6-1.  The Consolation title went to Ray Salazar who defeated Janelle Sallenave, 7-6, 6-1.  Janelle was really excited about doing so well in the tournament and there were very positive comments from the men about the women entrants: “Bring ‘em on!”.

We finally had a large turnout for the Women’s Doubles with a full draw.  The final had Mary Dateo and Gail Broderick facing last year’s winners: Kathy Nichols and Liz Chambers.  Kathy and Liz are this year’s champions again, winning 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 in a very long, close match.  Sherleen Ong and Catherine Puzon defeated Karla Seid and Eileen Pendley in the Consolation Round, 6-1, 6-1.

We didn’t have a huge turnout for the Div II Women’s Doubles, but the participants had a great time.  Lisa McMillan and Debbie Ryan won the round robin.  Melanie Homan, Rita Brand, Carrie Fischer and Laura Rosenzweig.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped monitor the courts in the morning when we had a tight schedule.  The players not only did all the work on the courts, but many of them brought salads, fruit and dessert.  A big thanks to Heidi Sloss for all her help on Saturday and to Bing Seid for staying on Sunday to record the last few matches.   And as always, thank goodness for Heather Brown, our always-upbeat Tournament Director!

It was an outstanding tournament…I expect to see everyone on the courts for the rest of the summer schedule.

MVTC Members Everywhere

Ever wonder who makes up our membership? Our current membership stands at 243, with 137 men and 106 women. RESIDENTS = 129, NON-RESIDENTS = 114

1 from each: Ben Lomond, Fremont, Kihei (HI), Milpitas, Newark, Oakland, Redwood City, San Francisco, Union City

2 from each: Cupertino and San Mateo

3 from each: Hayward, Menlo Park, Saratoga 

4 from each: Campbell, Palo Alto

5 from each: Los Altos Hills, San Carlos

7 each: Santa Clara

16 each: San Jose

25 from: Sunnyvale

26 from: Los Altos

Umbrella Tennis

On Friday, April 3rd, Umbrella Tennis will start its 2009 season from 6-8pm on courts 11 and 12 or 5 an 6 at Cuesta Tennis Center. These courts will be reserved every Friday until the end of September. This time is open to all MVTC members for drop-in casual doubles play. MVTC covers the court charge, so it's free for you! Please note that any CTC or USTA match scheduled on these courts will take priority. Highlight of the Umbrella Rules follows:

1. First-come, first served

2. Each group plays one no-ad set, then rotates in those waiting, or switches with players on the other court.

3. Depending on who arrives, at least one of the courts should be mixed doubles

4. Courts are not be be used for ladder matches or team practices

5. Emphasis is on friendly, social play to help members meet each other

Membership List Online

The Phone/Email Member List for MVTC is password protected and is updated regularly. To receive the password and id send a request to webmaster through the MVTC website. Please Note! to receive the id and password your membership needs to be up to date. Public Links below:

1. •2009 MVTC Members - no contact information
   (No password needed)
   

2. •Waiting list for MVTC membership (for captains to verify club status)

Umbrella Tennis Rules

1. • First-come, first served
   

2. • Each group plays one no-ad set, then rotates in those waiting, or switches with players on the other court.
   

3. • Depending on who arrives, at least one of the courts should be mixed doubles
   

4. • Courts are not be be used for ladder matches or team practices
   

5. • Emphasis is on friendly, social play to help members meet each other