Wednesday, January 20, 2010

WEEK OF JANUARY 18th, 2010

Hey Everyone! Ol' Man Winter has let go of his icy grip here in Gainesville just enough so we can get some tennis in! Everyone here at the Gazette would like to thank all of the players and most importantly, tournament directors Dwight Bailey and William Byrd, for dealing with the weather and still have over 120 participants in this year's Heritage Classic! Spring will be upon us shortly and with that, tennis season will officially bloom :) Our Adult Classes have now begun and USTA Adult league teams are forming for the upcoming season in March. In our Junior section, high school tennis and spring junior team tennis seasons will be starting in just a couple of short weeks! Phew! Too much to even begin to talk about, but if you keep reading, you'll be kept informed on what's in store for Westside Park! ON TO THE NEWS..............


JUNIOR NEWS AND NOTES....... High School season is rapidly approaching! In fact, most schools will begin their tryouts Jan. 26th. If your child plans on trying out for their respective teams, the instructors at Westside would like you to take full advantage of lessons, either private or group, and definitely use the FRIDAY FREE PLAY to get your child some match play in. The FREE PLAY is EVERY FRIDAY FROM 3:30 til 6 pm and your child will get instruction from one of our staff members on strategy, technique and mental toughness. All of us here at the Gazette hope your children make their respective teams..
Junior Team Tennis will be starting its spring season in about 3 weeks. If your child is playing junior varsity tennis, not getting enough playing time on varsity, or just wants to play more tennis, this is a great way of getting the benefits of match play, regularity, and the experience to play with peers all wrapped into one.. Coaches Robert Taylor and Jon Bongiovanni hope to have more children interested in JTT this season!! If you played before, bring a friend, the more the merrier!!!! Call us at 376-8250 for more information.
Clinics are growing thanks to you! We have all types of clinics for the beginner to the advanced student! Check out our website at www.gainesvilletennisacademy.com for more info and on the rates!!!

ADULT NEWS......... Our Adult clinics are up and running!!! Each Monday thru Thursday and Saturday morning, we will have a beginner and an intermediate class from 7:30-8:30 and have an advanced beginner class on Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30. These classes will give you the tools needed to gain confidence in your game and maybe implement them in an adult league!
We are currently taking names of captains looking to use our courts for practices for the upcoming USTA ADULT LEAGUE SEASON! Call us at 376-8250 to set up your time slot! Captains are also looking for Y O U!!!!!! Don't have a team yet, but would love to play? Let us know, we can help!
CARDIO TENNIS IS BACK WITH AVENGENCE!!!!!! Cardio Tennis, the fun way to get your body in shape on the court is on Wednesdays at 6:30 pm. Cardio Tennis is a new aerobic way to play tennis using agility and directional drills, set to fun, heart pumping, popular music!! Tell your friends!!

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS.................
Juniors: FEB. 6th- Designated Tournaments...12's-Daytona, 14's-Casselberry, 16's-Altamonte Springs, 18's-Orlando
FEB. 6th- Sweetwater Winter Rookie, Apopka
FEB. 13th- Gainesville Local- Westside Park
FEB. 20th- Matthew Cory Super Series- Tallahassee
FEB. 20th- Rookie Tournament- Green Cove Springs
FEB. 20th- Harry Gilbert Super Series- Daytona Beach
FEB. 27th- 300 Club Local- Gainesville

ADULTS:
FEB. 12th- Amelia Island NTRP (great gift for v-day!, tennis and great beach town)


GET OUT THERE AND PLAY!!!! : )

That's it for the week! Stay tuned for results from our day league matches and pics from this week's free play!!! Hope all your serves are aces!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

WEEK OF JANUARY 5th, 2010

THE 16th ANNUAL HERITAGE CLASSIC AT WESTSIDE PARK will be played January 15th-17th, 2010. This annual event embraces the ideals and values of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in the idea that we all need to embrace the idea of coming together as a community. Its tournament director, William Byrd, has graciously let Westside Park be the host site for the tournament and we are very greatful that we have such a great person in the community to share this tournament and partnership with. We here at the gazette would like to have EVERYONE participate in this great event. Adult singles and doubles is $30.00 per event and there is even a junior division with the cost being $15.00 per event.. The deadline to sign up will be Monday, January 11th... Nothing would please the pros and the gazette more than to see a huge turnout for the adult and junior sections!!! For the juniors, this is a great way to tune up for the upcoming Junior Team Tennis schedule and High School seasons and for the adults, this is a great way to meet new people, different competition, and play some great tennis!!! You can get applications at Westside or you can go online at http://www.heritagetennis.com/


JUNIOR NEWS..... The new year has begun and with it our junior programs are looking to expand. Junior Team Tennis will start next month and we are looking to improve on our season and even have more teams playing as well! Check with Coach Robert Taylor or Coach Jon Bongiovanni about the upcoming season and for what team(s) your child would fit into. Junior Team Tennis is a great way to get more match play and organized strategy for your child! HIGH SCHOOL SEASON IS APPROACHING!! If your child is in high school, the season will start in appoximately 3 weeks!!! It is imperative that if they would like to try out for either junior varsity or varsity, that they get quality group instruction and match play in to be ready for the season. The Tuesday/Thursday Clinic will be operating at our normal times from 5-6:30 p.m. starting Jan. 5th. These clinics will be geared specifically to get your child ready for the upcoming season. Junior Team Tennis would also be a great supplement to the high school season with more match play so that your child improves his/her strategy, mental toughness, and overall game play. If your child is younger, we have our Monday/Wednesday clinic from 5:30-6:30 starting Jan. 6th and our Saturday Clinic from 9:45-10:45 that starts Jan. 9th. Private instruction is also available if you would like your child to have more individualized instruction. Friday FREE PLAY begins Jan. 8th. We would like to see lots of kids take advantage of this opportunity to play at our facility and tune up their match play skills for free, especially for the impending seasons that are coming for high school and junior team tennis!!! Email rt4tennis@gmail.com if you would like to be set up for matches against other players!!



ADULT NEWS...... Our Adult programs are beginning!!! Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Clinics are being formed as we speak! We currently are accepting clients and looking at starting on Monday, Jan. 11th. Cost would be $12.00/clinic.. Times will be: Monday 7:30-8:30 (beginner and intermedate), Tuesday 7:30-8:30 (beginner, intermediate, advanced), Wednesday 7:30-8:30(beginner and intermediate), Thursday 7:30-8:30(beginner, intermediate, advanced), Saturday 8:30-9:30 (beginner and intermediate), 9:45-10:45(advanced)..
USTA LEAGUE PLAY WILL BEGIN IN A FEW WEEKS!!!!! We are currently taking captains requests for practice time and accepting all players looking to join a usta team! Please email rt4tennis@gmail.com if you are looking for a team to play on or possibly forming your own team!! We would like to see a westside team in all divisions of play for both men and women, so WE NEED YOU!!! It's a great way to get to know different people and play some great tennis! Matches are on the weekends so it will not interfere too much with work schedules! Sign up today!!!


WOMENS DAY LEAGUE UPDATE: We are at the halfway point of the season and we are doing well in each of the leagues!! Congrats to you ladies for a job well done. The 4.0 team is currently in 3rd place with a 3 match winning streak! Personally, this reporter thinks they should be in second based on win loss percentage, but the USTA thinks sets won is the marker for what position you are in...Oh well! Their next match is Jan. 12th. Come out and support the team!! Check out their last match here with this lovely slideshow: http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/tt27/gvilletennisacademy/Friends%20of%20Joyce/?albumview=slideshow
The 10 s Nuts, our 3.5 are in a close race in the middle of the pack with 3 other teams... C'mon girls and pass them up and get to the upper tier!! Their next match is Jan. 7th at Jonesville... Cheer the girls on to a "w"!!!! Our newly formed 3.0 team is working hard at the inaugural year of play. Their next match is Jan. 13th at Westside.. Take care of the home court team!!! As always, we are looking for new players to join and play in the league.. Contact Mike Oransky at oranskym@bellsouth.net for more information.


NEW PROGRAMS: DARTFISH, a new interactive computer program to help pinpoint how to effectively improve your game is at WESTSIDE PARK!!!! The only facility to have it, it uses video footage to pinpoint the exact frame where your game can vastly improve!!! Whether its a certain shot of just overall game play, DARTFISH CAN DO IT!!! If you are looking to greatly improve, this is the way to go! Contact us at 376-8250 to set up a session!!!


SPRING MIXERS: We are currently in the process of picking a date to do our first tennis mixer for adults. Food, drinks, music and of course tennis to provide everyone with a laid back feel and introduce new tennis groups into Westside and the community... Keep checking back for dates!!!

Thats it for now! Check back next week for the week in review and pro spotlight on Skip Deist.. Take care and hope all your serves are aces!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!! The past month has been quite a whirlwind from holidays and vacations, to rain and downright bitter cold! However, as we turn the page to a new year, we here at the Gazette are ready to give you some new information on the spring schedule for the Gainesville Tennis Academy at Westside Park! Hope everyone's new year is fun and prosperous! Now on to the news......


News and notes.....Plans are going smoothly for the new pro shop! We hope to know the contractor and break ground by the end of the month! Plans to make the first PERMANENT Quickstart courts are under away as we are anxiously waiting on our wonderful city employees to pressure wash and paint the wall area with new lines designated for the quickstart season. NEW LEAGUES ARE FORMING....Junior Team Tennis, ADULT LEAGUE, and QUICKSTART Programs are looking for you to play... Inquire at 376-8250 or email rt4tennis@gmail.com or oranskym@bellsouth.net for more information. The Friday FREE PLAY will begin again this friday at 3pm.. Matchups can be organized by Robert Taylor, Abdoulaye Toure, Jon Bongiovanni, or you can schedule your own match. Take advantage of this opportunity to improve your game and play matches!! NEW GROUP LESSONS FOR ADULTS ARE FORMING! Beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups will be available for adults looking to improve their game or meet people to play!! Inquire at 376-8250.. Now for a closer look at each program, check out what our field reporters have to say!!!!!