ClubTimes January/February 2023

tennis NOTES FROM JEFF CHANDLEY Director of Tennis

strive to meet each players needs when it comes to this growing sport. We had many successful events in 2022. Our annual Holiday events and Davis Cup on Memorial Day sold out. The LTA Member/Guest sold out in 6 minutes! We were able to fill the two-day event with 135 players. What a great event and a special thank you to our committee, Lisa Mannion, Julie Wright, Shannon Collins, Katherine Malone and Lori Morlan. With the celebration of the club’s 125 anniversary this year we have two special events that will be spotlighted for those celebrations. We are bringing professional tennis back to the AAC tennis courts May 8 – 14. We will be hosting the USTA Atlanta Women’s Professional Clay Court Championships. This is a $100,000 prize money event, that will bring some of the top international players to compete. We will have other special events that coincide with the event, look for details in our tennis publications. In September, we have a fun new event that will align with the club’s other anniversary celebrations over the Labor Day weekend. We are planning a charity event and will have both members playing and watching local professionals compete in a fun format. The event is a Tennis Jai Alai and a fun interactive for the members and players. I hope this will turn into an annual event for the club and local professionals. I also want to thank our tennis committee from this past year as we end up the year. The support of Kevin Case and Scott Levy at the board level has been such a huge help. I have felt confident that the tennis program has been reported with great support to the board. Thank you to

all our committee members. If you are interested in participating in the tennis committee, please send me your contact information. Winter brings multiple days of freezing weather which causes our clay courts to freeze. Many times, early in the morning, they will look as if they are playable because the frozen water is under the clay surface material. That is deceiving because as the sun hits areas of the court, it will begin to thaw, and the water expands and rises to the surface. This makes the courts unplayable for several hours, if at all, depending on the evaporation of the water and the sun moving across the courts. You will see the maintenance staff has rolled up the windscreens on the Southside of the courts. This is to help the sun’s ability to reach as much of the court as possible. The main thing for this is that the clay courts may not be playable in the early mornings during this time of the year. The staff will do everything they can to have your clay court ready, but when courts are not playable, they will be posted, and the nets will be lowered to keep players from trying to use the courts. Gentle reminder to all members: We have a strict cancellation policy for courts, lessons, and events. Our court reservation cancellation policy is 8 hours before the reservation time or the member will be charged a $22 fee. This also applies to those on the Indoor Court Plan. During this time of the year, when indoor courts are in high demand, it is not feasible for courts to be underutilized when others are wanting to play. You can always use the AAC App to cancel your courts. For events and lessons the cancellation policy is 24 hours. Thank you for your understanding.

It’s that time of year where I get to reflect on the past year and let you know what’s in store for 2023. Tennis and Pickleball continue to grow at the AAC. I know I say this every year, but it’s true and the numbers show it. League play drives so much of what our members seek in their tennis hours. This past year we filled 160 teams that competed in ALTA (91), USTA (55) and Pickleball (14). And, we had numerous teams winning the City Championships. I’m so proud how enthused the members are and their willingness to compete in a variety of leagues. Ladies ALTA with 54 teams is a lot to manage and I am thankful for Carmen Garcia Jersild and her organization of the lady’s program. She is an important part of the tennis centers’ leadership team. Mixed Doubles is our second group and is led by Seth Redelheim. He continues to promote and grow interest in the league. Pickleball remains the fastest growing racquet sport in the country. We have seen the classes and open play programs burst at the seams with new players. Pickleball 101 and 201 are a great way for players to be introduced to the game and meet players of like ability to start building our pickleball community. Enock Godi continues to