Five courts of payers showed up for the ATA November "Turkey Shoot" play day.  The weather couldn't have been better!  With rotation style play, Dave B. (who came all the way from Minnesota to win), Cameron, Dale, and Diane emerged as the top scorers, taking home the turkeys, that is, Cornish hens with a Lowe's gift certificate.  Patsy's apple bread and Ken & Neoma's apples were a hit, and play was followed by Nori and Pat's famous gumbo lunch at their home.  Thanks to Morgans and Gentas for a super play day.     

October News

October 2014 ATA Happenings

Well, we have a lot of information to relay to you so hope you have time to read all about it.

First of all we’d like to thank John and Evelyn Genta for their 4 + years serving on and assisting the ATA Board of Directors.  One, and usually both, of them has always been a part of our activities whether it was on or off the courts.  We know they would like to have a well deserved break but they promised to help as needed.  We greatly appreciate you, Evelyn and John.

Besides the Gentas, we also give kudos to James McCleland and Steven Bagwell.    This was the first time for both these men to serve on the board and they did a fantastic job.  They were given tasks that they weren’t sure how to do at first, but they stepped up to the challenge and proved to be contributing members of our board.  Thank you James and Steven and we look forward to seeing more of you both on the courts.

At our annual dinner and election of new Board Members the following were elected; Greg Richardson, Christian Schneider and Charles Powell.  The incoming and outgoing board members met and the new Board Officers were chosen. 

 President – Sintra Sampath, Vice President – Charles Powell, Treasurer – Greg Richardson, Secretary – Linda Gilliland and Member at Large – Christian Schneider.  This 2014-2015 board has started off strong with lots of promising good and fun activities for all.

The Closed Tournament turned out to be a fun and beautiful weekend.  There were many happy players leaving with ATA mugs and wine glasses.  We had 8 different events with singles and doubles being played on Saturday and Sunday.  Men’s Open Singles – 1^st Cameron Brace-Emmert, 2^nd Dennis Johnston,  Men’s Open Doubles – 1^st Brace-Emmert/Johnston, 2^nd Lazar/Murray,  Men’s Singles Vets – 1^st Robert Schreiner, 2^nd Christian Schneider,  Men’s Doubles Vets -1^st Gents/Sotak, 2^nd Gallent/Key,  Mixed Open Doubles – 1^st Brace-Emmert/Carey, 2^nd Gallent/Gallent,  Mixed Doubles Vets – 1^st Messer/Richardson, 2^nd Campbell/Messer,  Women’s Doubles Open – 1^st Gustafson/Messer, 2^nd Gallent/Richardson,  Women’s Doubles Vets – 1^st Genta/Waggoner, 2^nd Common-Pearce/Sampath.   We thank all the tournament players and fans.  We also would like to give big thanks to all behind the scenes helping to make this a fun and successful weekend for all.

Ok, now it’s time to start marking your calendars if you haven’t already done so.  Saturday, November 1 at 9:00am is our annual “Turkey Shoot” Play Day which will be hosted by the Gentas this year.  They have promised to make for some very interesting and fun play in the morning with TURKEYS to be given as prizes.  We hope you will all come out for this fun morning.

After the Play Day all have been invited to the Morgans’ for their famous Gumbo.  If you have not been fortunate enough to partake in this event, you do not want to miss it this year.  Their address is 2001 Amber Skies #154.  If you are unable to play Saturday morning, please join us around noon for the delicious Gumbo lunch.

Your new Board Members would like you to know that we are open to hear from you with questions, comments or suggestions that will be brought to the board meetings for our discussion/action as the board deems necessary.  Also, we can always be reached through our E-mail.

More news and information will be coming to you soon.  Please be watching for our letters so that you will be “up” on all the activities of ATA.

September Play Day

 We had a great morning for tennis for our September Play Day.  Thank you to those helping to make it such a success; Gentas, Joy and Bernice.  The food was refreshing and delicious!
We had four courts full of competitive matches but in the end, four winners came out on top.    

Nori had the most points for first place among the women and Gail was second.  

John G was able to take first place for the men and Allen Campbell was second.

Thanks to all who came out for our play day!  We had lots of fun and ended up with good weather and no rain.

Alamogordo Tennis Retains Title

ATA retains Roswell/Alamo trophy

Despite triple digit temps, ATA barely prevailed at the Alamo-Roswell challenge.  Four men and 6 women braved the hot temps and inched ahead of Roswell in the final match to retain the trophy.  This trophy was created by our own Harold Waggoner several years ago for this annual event.  Special thanks to Linda and Sammy for organizing this exchange.

Practice/hitting wall repairs!

 Thanks to John W., John G., and Rick S. for their repair and repaint of the tennis practice/hitting wall.  Next time you're at the courts go by and take a look at it.  Looks GREAT!

May Play Day

May Play Day was a nice time with good weather, good food, and good tennis.  Four courts of players played a rotation format.

Thanks to Jose for hosting! 

We have received the following invitation from the Las Cruces association:


Attention: 2.5/3.0 WOMEN

If you are interested in playing in a weekend league starting sometime in May, there will be a meeting on May 1, 6:30 p.m., at Pat Martinez's house, 1079 Olla de Oro, to set up the league. Contacts: Ellen Michnovicz (522-7166), Rhonda Hemingway (382-7755), or Pat Martinez (571-4575).


Attention: 3.5 MEN

If you are interested in playing in an 18 & Over weekend league June 13, 14, and 15, contact Pat Martinez, 571-4575 or pathmartine@gmail.com. The format will be 2 singles, 3 doubles.

40th Annual Alamogordo Adult Open Tennis Tournament

The 40th Annual Alamogordo Adult Open Tournament was held April 12 & 13, 2014, at the Alamogordo tennis courts.  Fifty-eight players competed in sixteen USTA sanctioned and NTRP non-sanctioned categories in this 2 day event.  Excellent tennis, Rick’s pottery prizes, and pretty good weather made for a memorable weekend.

Grady Nicholson Day

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Grady & Nell Nicholson were honored Saturday  night at a buffet dinner at the 19^th Hole Restaurant.  Grady was presented with a proclamation from the mayor proclaiming April 12, 2014 as “Grady Nicholson Day.”  As the Master of Ceremony, John White arranged for several speakers and had Harold Waggoner present his photo show of ATA throughout the years.  Linda Gilliland was given a “crying towel” from Nell to use as she assumes the role of tourney director.  The Nicholsons were given a t-shirt signature quilt in appreciation for their 40 years of contributions to tennis in Alamogordo.

March Fun Friday

hello everyone. Yesterday was Friday the 21st and the first fun Friday for the ATA. There were three full courts of people, food, and plenty of laughs. Everyone had a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone that participated. If you wish to see some nifty pictures of the evening, click on the read more portion underneath this text.

40th Annual Open tournament entry form

It is time to fill out your entry to the 40th Annual ATA Open Tennis Tournament.  Click this link to access your entry form:
Tournament Entry Form

The form includes all instructions and tournament info.

March Playday

Everyone please thank Sabine and Wolfgang Fahl for their spectacular play day that they hosted. Four rounds of matches were played during the day. The winners for the girls were Pasty in first place and sandy in second and for the men, John G. came in first with Jess as the runner up. During the play, Sabine and Wolfgang brought some German cakes, coffee, tea and fruit for all to enjoy. Thanks to everyone that played and for those that did not have the chance, see you next time on the courts.

For pictures about the play day, click on the read more portion of the post.

March Events

To anyone that wants to play some fun tennis with friendly people, every Tuesday and Thursday. Play starts at nine and usually lasts for several hours.

Everyone get ready for the semi-annual Alamogordo tennis tournament. It is scheduled the 12th and 13th of April.

As always, everyone enjoy themselves and have fun.

Ladder Matches

A) There is an initial proposal to have Ladder Matches.  There are several events and would be 1) Womens Doubles, 2) Mens 45+ singles, 3) Mens under 45 singles, 4) Mens 45+ doubles, 5) Men under 45 doubles, and 6) Mixed Doubles Open.

B) These events would be carried out during the months of May,June, July, August, and September.  Tennis courts would be reserved.

C) The suggested fee is $10.00 per participant.

D) The question is if Saturdays or Sundays would be better.

E)  Would like to know if there is interest and which day would be better.

F) Please e-mail James K. McCleland at  mcclelandj@gmail.com or feel free to call at (575)491-6419.

This is the general idea.  Please respond, if interested.  

Thank you

 Thanks to Sandy, Janet, and Joe for all of their efforts to get endcaps on the bleachers!  Know we’ll appreciate these!

Senior Olympics Information

Sr. Olympics Summer Games
Roswell, NM July 15^th – 20^th

This is a qualifying year for the 2015 National Senior Games to be held in Minneapolis, June of 2015

Local registration will take place in March, (the local results have to be turned in by May 30th). Please note you must compete locally in order to attend State in July.

Registration Fees and Deadlines

·       Early Bird Registration: April 1 – May 16 - $45.00

·       Regular Registration: May 17 – May 30 - $60.00

·       Late Registration: May 31 – June 16 12noon - $75.00 (NO registrations will be accepted after this day).

How to Register

·       Online – go to www.nmseniorolympics.org beginning April 1, to register online. You will need an NSGA account number (DO NOT create a new account if you already have one), or register as a new participant. Please note: If you already have a member number, you will need to update your password. Payment must be made at the time of online registration with a credit card.

·       Mail in – If you did not receive a booklet in the mail, you can go to www.nmseniorolympics.org and download and print the registration form or call them at 1-888-623-6676 to request one by mail. Payment must be made by check, money order, cashier’s check or credit card only. NO CASH WILL BE ACCEPTED. You can also pick up registration forms at the Senior Center, Jean Duncan is our local coordinator and she can be found at the Senior Center.

Participants will receive a confirmation after registration is processed at the State Office. Registrations will be accepted through June 16^th.

If you have any questions about “qualifying”, you can call the office at 1-888-623-6676 or 575-623-5777 or email at nmso@nmseniorolympics.org.

The tennis will be played at the NMMI Campus Tennis Courts – Wednesday, July 16 – 18^th starting at 7am.  Check-In starts on Monday, July 14^th at the Convention & Civic Center.

Opening Ceremony is Wednesday, July 16^th at 7pm at NMMI Alumni Park
Sports Health Fair will take place during the games, providing health information and free giveaways; some health screenings will be available as well.
Sports Banquet is held on Saturday evening, July 19^th at 6pm at the Roswell Convention & Civic Center, all attendees must purchase a banquet dinner ticket in advance.

***There is a new rule concerning participation: Athletes may now qualify at ANY local game site (these can be found on the website mentioned above) with the stipulation an Athlete MUST also qualify in one event at the game site he/she resides in.  This ruling is new; it keeps the existing sites from dying out, so even though the venue is not available at the athlete’s site, the athlete still must participate in something at the home site.

Call Janet Santackas 415-3634 for questions or Jean Duncan 439-4287 at the Sr. Center.

March Play Day!!!

 Put Saturday, March 8th, on your calendar for the next ATA Play Day.  Hosted by Sabine and Wolfgang Fahl.  Play will start up about 9:00, so hope to see you there!

3.5 Champs

Janet Santackas led the Heavy Hitters team to the championship of this year's Battle of the Clubs 3.5 competition!!

Alamo Chaos 3.5 team

Here is Sintra Sampath, the captain of the Alamo Chaos 3.5 team,  surrounded by her loyal team members.  The team played very well at the recent Battle of the Clubs, finishing in third place.

NTRP Ratings

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Many people have been asking what the different NTRP ratings mean.  Here is a description of the ratings from the USTA.

USTA Tennis Rating Scale

1.0   This player is just starting to play tennis.

1.5   This player has limited experience and is still working primarily on getting the ball into play.

2.0   This player needs on-court experience. This player has obvious stroke weaknesses but is familiar with basic positions for singles and doubles play.

2.5   This player is learning to judge where the ball is going although court coverage is weak. This player can sustain a short rally of slow pace with other players of the same ability.

3.0   This player is fairly consistent when hitting medium-paced shots, but is not comfortable with all strokes and lacks execution when trying for directional control, depth, or power. Most common doubles formation is one up, one back.

3.5   This player has achieved improved stroke dependability with directional control on moderate shots, but still lacks depth and variety. This player exhibits more aggressive net play, has improved court coverage, and is developing teamwork in doubles.

4.0   This player has dependable strokes, including directional control and depth on both forehand and backhand sides on moderate shots, plus the ability to use lobs, overheads, approach shots, and volleys with some success. This player occasionally forces errors when serving. Rallies may be lost due to impatience. Teamwork in doubles is evident.

4.5   This player has begun to master the use of power and spins and is beginning to handle pace, has sound footwork, can control depth of shots, and is beginning to vary game plan according to opponents. This player can hit first serves with power and accuracy and place the second serve. This player tends to over hit on difficult shots. Aggressive net play is common in doubles.

5.0   This player has good shot anticipation and frequently has an outstanding shot or attribute around which a game may be structured. This player can regularly hit winners or force errors off of short balls, can put away volleys, can successfully execute lobs, drop shots, half volleys, and overhead smashes, and has good depth and spin on most second serves.

5.5   This player has developed power and/or consistency as a major weapon. This player can vary strategies and styles of play in a competitive situation and hits dependable shots in a stress situation.

6.0 to 7.0   The 6.0 player typically has had intensive training for national tournament competition at the junior and collegiate levels and has obtained a sectional and/or national ranking. The 6.5 and 7.0 player are world-class players

Click the image above to view  the most current list of 2014 Southern New Mexico tennis events that are open to the the public.  Plenty of opportunities to get out and play!

 February Play Day brought cool but calm weather and some GOOD TENNIS!!!  Three courts of players (almost 4!) showed up to play a rotation set-up hosted by the Gentas. Joy & Nori tied for 1st place for the women; Darryl took 1st for the men with Joe & Grady coming in tied for second.
 

January play day

Here are the winners of the first Play Day of the year, Evelyn and Jess.let us thank everyone that Participated this month. There were three full courts of players. To see the winners with the host, click on the read more portion of the blog. As always, have fun!