2020 Q1 Newsletter

A Message from the President

I’m writing this on March 22nd, in the middle of the Corona Virus pandemic. As most of you know our courts have been shut down until mid-April, but hopefully not beyond. This crisis will pass, hopefully soon, and we’ll get back to our normal lives playing tennis at our unique, awesome tennis facility. I usually write this letter highlighting our accomplishments from the prior year and our direction for the new year to encourage you to support the club by sending in your dues. I’m sure by now everyone has seen our fabulous deck with the beautiful Pergola. Like the hitting wall, if not for some generous donations and your dues, we’d still have that ratty, old, sliver-ridden deck to sit on with no overhead cover. Most of us just show up and play with little thought of the expense needed to maintain the beautiful Reno Tennis Club courts. When you play elsewhere you may discover that your tennis balls turn a dingy brown color, but not when you play at RTC - our courts are cleaned on almost a daily basis. How easy it is to see the ball with the full, top to bottom, blue backdrops as compared to looking out to the horizon and trying to focus on that quick yellow ball. Our serene setting inside the golf course comes at no cost. However, there are other expenses required to make our facility what it is. Your dues are essential to fund these expenses. I won’t list them all, but just take a minute to look around and enjoy all you receive for such a nominal membership fee. This coming year will be no exception with the improvements planned. Courts 5 & 6 will be resurfaced. The Board of Directors approved the purchase of a Cabana Bench Awning to be placed in between the two courts after resurfacing. Our plan is to purchase one of these benches each year for the two courts that are scheduled to be resurfaced until all pairs of courts have one. Some of the backdrops are in need of replacing and nets will be replaced as needed. The court 6 net is in poor condition, but we elected to wait to replace it when the court is resurfaced. There are several smaller projects in the works that will spruce up the club and keep it Reno’s premier tennis facility. Even though we’re currently unable to play at RTC, this isn’t going to last forever. So please support your club by mailing in your dues so that we can continue the work to keep the Reno Tennis Club great!

Your 2020 RTC Board of Directors

Ray Woolley – President

Nick Tsoulfanidis – Vice President

Sandra Rolfe – Treasurer

Carol Tretten – Membership, USTA

Ron Cauley

Vickie Creelman

Gary Hammersmith

Pete Mastin

Lou Kemper

Jim Kumpel

Paul Lorring

James Williams

Newsletter Feature Links

• Court Shorts

• 2020 Social Schedule

• Holiday Party

• In Memoriam

• Membership News

• USTA News

• Tennis Rules & “The Code”

• 2020 RTC Membership Form

Please Don’t Speed

The golf course operators notified us that a few individuals are still speeding into the tennis parking lot. If this issue isn’t resolved, numerous speed bumps or other deterrents may be installed on the road to stop the speeding. The access road has a 15-mph speed limit and the county will place signs near the entrance. Please slow down!

Court Resurfacing

Courts 5 & 6 will be resurfaced this spring after RTC reopens following the Corona Virus Crisis. As we don’t know exactly when the courts will be reopened, the timing for the resurfacing activities are not yet known. The court 6 net will be replaced after resurfacing and a Cabana Bench Awning will be added between the courts.

Addressing the Homeless Issues at RTC

The Board of Directors are aware of the homeless situation at the courts and have been addressing it with the county. People have been spending the night at the courts, they have taken their dogs into the shower, doing their laundry and hanging it out on the deck furniture, leaving garbage and debris in the parking lot, and trashing the bathrooms. The latest incident; someone ripped the aluminum paper towel dispenser off of the wall and tried to cook bacon by lighting a fire inside it. It didn’t work. The makeshift stove was abandoned and everything was left behind. During this court closure the restrooms are locked.

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RTC 2020 Social Calendar Social Date(s) Time

Cinco de Mayo Social Saturday, May 2 11 AM – 2 PM

Fridays in July Drop-in Tennis & Pizza, $5/person Friday, July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 5 – 8 PM, bring your own drinks

Mini-Compass Tournament Sat & Sun, September 19 – 20 8 – 5 PM

Octoberfest October 18 11 AM – 2 PM

Holiday Party Saturday, December 5 6 PM

As a member, you may have participated in one of our socials last year or in past years. Did you have fun?

We hope so. We’d like to offer the opportunity for a member or a group of members to hold a tennis social at

the RTC courts. Last year Julie and John Moore ran the July Patriotic Social and had a great time doing so.

If you’re up for it, please contact Jim Kumpel. RTC Board members will be happy to assist.

Holiday Party

A very big Thank You goes out to Lou Kemper for organizing the Holiday Party at The Shoe, December 14th.

There were friends, food and drink …

And there was a raffle … Thank you to Ray Wooley, Lou Kemper, Dave Kette, and Vickie Creelman for contributing raffle prizes.

James Smith won the grand prize of a new Babolat racquet

Soren never could pick his own raffle ticket number

Eveyone had a good time

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Membership

New First Time 2020 Members Supporting Members ($200) Contributing Members ($300)

Karen & Darryl Abraham Dave Crump Steve Flanagan Lexi Fox Wesley Ott Pamm Ryder Dennis Sanada Aesoon Victor

Jeannette Berry Jack Claar Sherry & Paul Dugan Steve Flanagan Pat Ghezzi Debbie & Jim Kumpel Jessica & Bill Rosemark Carol & Brad Tretten

Alan Coghlan Buzz Ruby Jack Saik

In Memoriam

William Hamilton Gregory IV, "Bill," died unexpectedly on December 14th at age 66 of complications from Wegener's

Disease diagnosed last May. Bill served on the RTC Board for many years and ran several tournaments out of the RTC.

USTA

USTA (United States Tennis Association) League is the country’s largest recreational tennis league, helping more than

900,000 participants nationwide get on the court, have a good time, and step up their game. USTA League is

organized into teams by level and gender for team match play.

Teams are made up of a minimum of five to eight players, depending on the league. You must be a USTA member to

play in the USTA League, see the USTA website for more information.

The USTA has instituted new rules for the 2020 adult leagues.

The rules impact the use of USTA certified referees or umpires at sectional or lower championships, the appeals process for players age 60 & 65+, and the definition of local playoffs as championships.

Click here to see the rules in their entirety.

Currently the Reno Tennis Club has the following planned USTA team:

• 65+ Men’s 8.0 team (James Williams/Ron Cauley Captains) • 18+ Men’s 4.5 team (Ryan Johnson Captain)

Below is the original schedule for the 2020 USTA leagues. However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all match play has been suspended for all leagues, including Adult 18 & Over, until April 20, 2020. In addition to the suspension of play, the publishing of league schedules will also be postponed until we are able to determine an accurate timeline of when play will resume. You can expect to hear from the Adult League Staff regarding all dates for local league play in mid-April when we are more confident play will resume.

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Adult 65+ Daytime Registration: 1/13-2/10/20 Season: 3/2-5/8/20 Local Playoffs: 5/18-22/20 Sectionals: 6/15-17/20 Invitational: Jan 2021

Mixed 55+ Registration 11/11-12/9/19 Season 1/6-3/22/20 Local Playoffs 3/26-29/20 Sectionals 4/10-12/20 Nationals TBD

Adult 40+ M/W Registration 11/11-12/9/19 Season 1/6-4/5/20 Local Playoffs 4/16-19/20 Districts 5/1-3/20 Sectionals 5/15-17/20 Nationals Oct 2020

Adult 18+ M/W Registration 2/3-3/2/20 Season 4/6-6/28 Local Playoffs 7/9-12/20 Districts 7/31-8/2/20 Sectionals TBD Nationals TBD

Adult 55+ M/W Registration 4/13-5/18/20 Season 6/8-8/23/20 Local Playoffs 8/27-30 & 9/10-13/20 Sectionals 9/18-20/20 Nationals Oct 2020

Mixed 18+ M/W Registration 4/13-5/18/20 Season 6/29-9/20/20 Local Playoffs 9/24-27/20 & 10/1-4/20 Sectionals 10/9-11/20 Nationals Oct/Nov 2020

Combo Doubles Registration 7/6-8/3/20 Season 9/21-12/13/20 Local Playoffs 9/24-27/20 & 10/1-4/20 Sectionals 2021 TDB Nationals 2021 TDB

Early Start Mixed 40+ Registration 7/6-8/3/20 Season 9/14-12/13/20 Local Playoffs TBD Sectionals 2021 TDB Nationals 2021 TDB

Tennis Rules and “The Code”

When the professionals play tennis, the chair umpire and lines people officiate the match using the official rules of the

International Tennis Federation (ITF), of which the United States Tennis Association (USTA) is a member. The ITF rules

can be found here.

But when we play for fun or even competitively, we don’t have officials to help us. Therefore, we should follow “The Code” contained in the USTA’s “Friend At Court” to ensure that we are playing fairly. Question: Playing Doubles, my partner returned a very wide serve and hit the net post. The ball bounced into the court at an odd angle and was unreturnable. We claimed it as a winner. Our opponents disagreed, claiming the net post is outside the double’s lines and therefore not in play. Who was right?

Answer: Your opponents were right that the net posts are outside the lines, but Rule 25.a, A Good Return, states a shot is good if it touches the net post and lands in the correct court. If the ball strikes a permanent fixture attached to the net post, e.g. a scorekeeper, the ball would be out.

Question: In a recent match, my partner attempted to lob over our opponents, but mishit the ball, leading to an easy shot for them. She yelled out “Oh no!” in frustration after the shot went awry. Our opponent, at net, missed her shot, hitting the tape. She then claimed a hinderance and the point. What’s the right call?

The Players’ Guide To Fair Play And The Unwritten Rules Of Tennis, known as “The Code,” addresses this in item 34; “Talking when the ball is in play.” “Doubles players should not talk when the ball is moving toward their opponent’s court.” However, “If the opponent chooses to play the shot and misses it, the opponent loses the point because the opponent did not make a timely claim of hindrance.” You win the point.

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2020 MEMBERSHIP DONATION FORM

Membership categories:

Note: Memberships begin on March 1, 2020 and end on February 28, 2021

___ Individual $100 (all ages up to 65)

___ Junior/Student $30 (ages 18 to 21 with student I.D.)

___ Individual Senior $80 (age 65 and over)

___ Family $150 (includes spouse & children)

___ Supporting Member $200 (includes recognition in the newsletter)

___ Contributing Member $300 (includes recognition in the newsletter)

Please enter your name as you would like it to appear in the RTC Directory:

Last Name __________________________ First Name ________________________

Tennis Rating ______ USTA Member Yes / No

Home Phone ______________________

Cell Phone ________________________

Email Address _________________________________________________________

Additional Family Member(s):

Last Name ___________________________ First Name _______________________

Tennis Rating _______ USTA Member Yes / No Spouse / Child

Last Name ___________________________ First Name _______________________

Tennis Rating _______ USTA Member Yes / No Spouse / Child

Last Name ___________________________ First Name _______________________

Tennis Rating _______ USTA Member Yes / No Spouse / Child

Send this application and check for dues to: Reno Tennis Club Attn: Membership 3495 Lakeside Drive, #56 Reno, NV 89509 Check payable to: Reno Tennis Club

You may also pay your dues with Zelle – send to renotennisclubwashoe@gmail.com

For club information please visit our website at: www.renotennisclub.com Return to Features

80% of your membership donation is considered a charitable

contribution under IRS code 501(c){3) and deductible from

your Federal taxes. RTC Tax ID No. 88-0239103.

Any additional donation for Supporting or Contributing

Memberships is 100% deductible.