It has been quite and interesting fall here at the gazette and at Westside Tennis.. Tennis has picked up quite a bit in the past couple of months and we would like to thank everyone who has come out and played, taken lessons, or joined league play! Without you, our goals would not be possible.. As you may noticed, we have taken a bit of a break from our weekly blogs.. The gazette and the instructors at Westside Tennis have been brainstorming over the past couple months on creating a new and innovative way to bring tennis to the community and will unveil their plans in the new year, so stay tuned!!!! ON TO THE NEWS......
NEWS AND NOTES.... Thanks to some generous donors, Westside now will have internet capability and computers on site to help our customers with payments, balances, court reservations, etc.
***Gift Certificates are available in the pro shop... Give the special gift of tennis to someone that you care about.. It is a lifelong sport!!!
*** Tennis gifts are also available in our pro shop. Stuffed animals, pouches and more are available.. Check out their websites at www.stuffedanimalfarm.com and www.etsy.com/shop/nink1019.
*** We will be doing an online chat forum weekly in late January so we can get ideas from the most important person...YOU!! NOW ON TO THE JUNIOR PROGRAM NEWS.....
JUNIOR NEWS: What a wonderful fall for juniors this was!! Junior Team Tennis has just finished up and two teams from Westside finished in first place!!! The under 12 Intermediate team led by Coach Robert Taylor went undefeated and dropped only 3 individual matches! They competed in sectionals where they would play the best teams from all over the state and finish 4th! A great accomplishment was rewarded as the top 4 teams received an invitation to play at nationals...GREAT JOB KIDS!!! Coach Robert said, "I loved working with the kids and all of their hard work and dedication to the sport showed this weekend. I hope that we can do it again in the spring!" The Under 14 Intermediate team also placed first in their division. Coach Jon Bongiovanni led these young men and women to victory with great chemistry and solid strategy. Coach Jon said, "Having the kids come to clinic and work together really made them come together as a team. They knew each other and so that helps when it comes down to crucial points and crucial matches."
****HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS: Yes it is that time of year again! This year is a little different however because the governing body for Florida High School Sports has made this year the earliest start date for tennis practices. The first official start date of practice is MONDAY JANUARY 17th... To all potential players interested in playing high school tennis, the time is NOW to get on the courts and get ready for the upcoming season! Don't hesitate to call one of our experienced instructors to brush up a few pointers for you, or even set up a match or two. It is important that you get into the best conditioning you can to compete for a position on your team. We at Westside Tennis understand that playing is important so... all juniors who would like to play "challenge matches" will pay no court fees. Stop by for any of our junior clinics during the week as well to get some hitting in!
****JUNIOR CHALLENGE LADDER: Our ladder has been a hit for our younger juniors this fall... We have 25 or so players involved and more keep popping in, just to hit! We were so excited with the response, that we have extended the ladder for one more month, through the end of January! Remember, the top 3 kids get a super prize (1st-racquet/lessons, 2nd-tennis bag, 3rd-gift certificate), so keep playing!!! The rules are listed on our blog, so get those bonus points!!!! We are hoping to extend this ladder to the high school level players to give them more match play and incentive to want to play more. After the end of our fall session, we will have a 2 week break and begin a spring season for the younger junior players and continue it throughout the rest of the academic school year.
****WINTER CAMP: Every year for the past four years, we at westside tennis have done a winter mini-camp for kids to keep them playing while they are on winter vacation. This year is no exception as we will have two weeks of camp this year! The camp will run MONDAY-THURSDAY from 9-12 (off christmas eve and new years eve). Prices and flyers are available in our pro shop or pdf format on our website. HOPE TO SEE YOU ON THE COURTS!!!
****TOURNAMENTS: As with any budding junior, tournaments are needed to sharpen their skills and become match tough as they begin their journey into enhancing their tennis game. Here are a few tournaments that are near our area that you may want to check out. Remember if you are in the ladder, you get BONUS POINTS for playing tournaments (HINT HINT).... and here they are:
New Year Super Series (Lake Cane, Orlando)- January 1st
New Years Local Kickoff (Tampa)- January 8th
Clearwater Junior Rookie (Clearwater)- January 8th
Lake Cane Winter Rookie (Orlando)- January 8th
Gainesville January Super Series (D.B. racquet club)- January 15th
Tallahassee Winter Super Series (Tallahassee)- January 15th
Fort King Local Tournament (Ocala)- January 22nd
Julington Creek Plantation Local (Jacksonville)- January 29th
ADULT NEWS: This fall showed a dramatic jump in play for adults out at westside tennis. We had USTA combo teams practicing practically every night! Thank you all for your participation in the league and considering us your home site for your matches! We will do our very best to keep our standards of serving you high and providing the best tennis service around! That being said, Congratulations are in order to Libby Smith's 7.5 Combo Team who won their division and did it in style, going undefeated for the season! They will play in sectionals this january at the Florida Tennis Center in Daytona Beach. GREAT JOB LADIES!!!!
****CLINICS: Westside Tennis has a number of great clinics to choose from. No matter what skill level, from the very basic beginner to the highly skilled advanced player, clinics are available throughout the week. Check our website to see which clinic is right for you. New to our clinic format is Head Pro Robert Taylor's MALE AND FEMALE DOUBLES SPECIFIC CLINICS.. Coach Taylor has designed a 90 min class specifically shaped to help with all your needs on the doubles front. Strategy, technique, positioning, this clinic has it all.. Times are still being determined for our winter/spring season. Please check with Robert at 352-216-9318 or 352-376-8250 for more information. Also coming will be a CO-ED singles clinic and a beginner women's 2.5 clinic. STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEW PROGRAMS!!!!!!
****LEAGUE PLAY: At Westside as most of you know, we have two programs of league play. There is our weekend USTA League that has been tremendously successful. The new season is coming shortly, where it is singles and doubles play. Our other league is a women's day league. It is women only playing in a series of doubles matches against other teams in the area. Matches are in the morning based on the level of play. We are looking for more players to either get back into the game or just learn how to play. Call us at 352-376-8250 for more information on how to sign up for a league.
****MIXERS: That's right!!! Westside Tennis is thinking about YOU!!!!! We are going to begin having monthly mixers for players who just wanna get out and play with some friends and have fun, people who want to get to know new players, or for people who want to learn how to play! So we will have our first annual mixer near the end of January. It will be an open mixer with food and beverage and co-ed.. Signups will be in the pro-shop. We will have different events each month so be on the lookout!!!!
As I have mentioned before, we will be running special ads if you read our blog, so...here's our first couple... 10% off your racquet stringing if you mention the word WILSON when you bring your racquet in.
REFER-A-FRIEND...If you refer a friend who has not played tennis before and they mention this blog, you receive 10% off your next lesson...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND SEE YOU IN 2011!!!!!!!!
