For those who were unable to get court time this winter,here is an alternative. A new winter League is being held at Total Tennis in Saugerties on Mon/Tues/Thu/Fri from 7 pm. In fact some courts may be available as early as 6 pm or even earlier !
Price is $20.00 per person/session for a MINIMUM of 2 hours of play---and you can even choose your opponents !
Contact Vic Ricci at 917 449 8296 or email him at :
vic_ricci@yahoo.com
Enjoy your winter tennis !!
The Wrath of the Gods
In fact Greg Tellier aka The Terminator was playing on that very court -at that very spot- a few hours earlier.
Was it a lightning bolt from Zeus ?Or was this a work of a time traveler out to get The Terminator ?
At least we know The Terminator can never be destroyed.
The good news is that it might light a fire under their (use appropriate anatomical metaphor here) and make them pay attention to renovating the courts !
Thank you,Zeus -or was that Thor ?
*************
Wish you all the best for this Joyous Season and the New Year.
As League Players know, the Christmas Spirit (like tennis)
starts with love :
And now.......
an 'all inclusive' carol dedicated to President Donald Trump:
Is tennis dying in Ulster County ?
Let's look at the following facts :
1. Empty Courts:
There was a time when there was a volunteer hanging out at Forsyth Park taking down names of waiting tennis players and allotting courts. Such was the demand. These days you can pretty much walk in and get the choice of 2-4 empty courts .
2. Reduction of courts:
In a recently published document, the recreation board of Kingston felt that Kingston needed just 6 courts based on demographics,population migration and general interest in tennis. That means there may be further reduction of courts.
3. MJM courts might be removed: The Kingston High School has not produced a single advanced caliber player since the mid 1990s. Part of the problem is the emergence of other user friendly sports like soccer and lacrosse competing for the season and also a general parental lack of interest in tennis. There has been discussion to eliminate the Kingston High School courts and use the Forsyth Park courts for the fledgling tennis program at Kingston High.The measure failed to pass last year but the fact that the measure was even brought up for discussion is worrisome.
4. Forsyth Park courts in bad state of disrepair : This has been discussed in detail on this site. It is unlikely if the town is going to be overly enthusiastic to shell out money to repair them. They might eventually do that but no divulged plans are in the works in the foreseeable future.
5. League Matches: 2015 was an unique year for the League. In the past we have had over 500 matches played in a season.
For 2015: 37 ! Yes only 37 matches played and reported !
Here are the divisions where ZERO matches were played:
Women's B Singles
Women's B Doubles
C Singles
C Doubles
Super Senior Doubles
Out of the 37 matches played 21 were A Singles and 7 were A Double.
B Mixed,one of our popular divisions in the past,had a grand total of 4 matches !
Of course,there may be several reasons for this including injuries and dwindling desire for competition,but if the League is used as a barometer of tennis interest,this year was revealing.
6. Finally,look at this picture:
This picture was taken on a warm December morning this weekend with the temperature in the 60s.
What is missing in the picture on these courts ?
Is tennis dying in Ulster County ?
Caso cerrado.
Case closed.
Construction workers!!! Building the community new courts. That's what's missing in this picture!!! I've played 4 or five times outside on my local courts while the weather has been in the mid 50s or higher. The county (Ulster) cleans the leafs of our courts. So why is the largest city in our county not doing the same here? For a State that has the USTA headquarters we are doing a terrible job promoting this sport. And having courts that look like these doesn't help. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteConstruction workers!!! Building the community new courts. That's what's missing in this picture!!! I've played 4 or five times outside on my local courts while the weather has been in the mid 50s or higher. The county (Ulster) cleans the leafs of our courts. So why is the largest city in our county not doing the same here? For a State that has the USTA headquarters we are doing a terrible job promoting this sport. And having courts that look like these doesn't help. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! One reason is that if they had the skills to play a complicated sport like tennis,they would be overqualified to be a town/county legislator !
ReplyDelete