Wow, what a way to end Week # 5. Who would have thought that the weather would be picture perfect after the way it started this morning.
Merging all clinics to begin at 1pm due to the overnight and morning monsoon, set the stage for an awesome afternoon of tennis. We ended week 5 with our infamous Serving Pinata Game. This Pinata was a stubborn one and it took over an hour to break it loose but thanks to Head Pro, , the kids got their well deserved candy and treats.
At 4pm, the parents started arriving in their tennis whites ready to partner up with their offspring in a fun but competitive Parent/Child Round Robin. We were at full capacity with 16 teams on all 8 courts. The teams were divided into 4 flights of 4 teams each. They would play each other and the winning team in each flight would advance to a Semis and Finals. When all the dust settled, the winning team of Steve and Stefi Geiger emerged. Last minute substitution of Nick Morgan and friend Kevin were finalist. Jack and Eric Schwartz came in 3rd place and Isabel and were a close 4th. The group enjoyed pizza, drinks and snacks afterwards and many continued to play more tennis before the sun went down.
Fun was had by all.
Just wanted to acknowledge our wonderful Tennis Staff who helped participate and run this event. Thank you Steve, Lauren, Robby, Mike and Zach. You guys were great!
"The Wayland boys had another tough match today, losing to Weston 4-1. Gene Barton had to shake off the dust for his season debut and was thrown into the mix at 1st singles, eventually losing to a talented Weston player. Despite being a bit rusty, it was clear that Gene's been playing in the off-season, and he remains an excellent competitor. Matt Cramer managed to win a closely contested 2nd singles by frequently hitting to his opponents' backhand, providing Wayland's only win for the day (10-6). Scott Becker made another appearance at 3rd singles, coming out on top in most of the long rallies. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to come away with a win, but Scott was able to identify his opponents' week spots and did his best to exploit them. Neither of the doubles teams, consisting of Mark Karlson/Aaron Goldstein and Jack Schwartz/Jack Fletcher were able to pull off a win, but did an impeccable job of volleying where their opponents were not. Mark Karlson in particular did an excellent job at net by being unrelentingly aggressive. Will Barton made played his first match of the season at the exhibition 4th singles, playing very well for such a new-comer to the WSTC team. We look forward to having him in the lineup again."
~ Robby Barnes
"The girls tennis team played great today. They played their matches under darkening skies, and were able to beat out the rain. They faced Weston Golf Club for the second time this season, both at their club. Four of the seven Wayland girls won their matches, but unfortunately the team still lost 3-2. At first and second singles, Grace Perkins and Hannah Kravetz gave it their best effort, but came up short. At third singles, Becca Gilmore played the longest match of the day, but was unable to get the win. The first doubles team of Hallie Cramer and Bailey Morgan won decisively in the shortest match of the day, against one of the same Weston girls who beat them earlier this year. And last but not least, Isabelle Schwartz and Sara Nuss won handily at second doubles. Isabelle found out she was playing in the match just minutes before our departure from WSTC, and did a great job with the sudden change in schedule." ~ Mike Perkins
Today’s Match Highlights vs. Weston Golf:
Girls:
Despite the dark clouds, Wayland girls tennis traveled to Weston for a make up match from last Thursday. Due to the weather, doubles and singles only played one set. Even though Weston took the win, all Wayland girls played great. Rebecca Kravetz made her first appearance in a match this season at first singles. She had great strategic play, utilizing lobs and short balls to run her opponent. The most consistent player of the day was Grace Perkins at second doubles, also her first match of the season. At third singles, Sarah Nuss, took four well-fought games. First doubles players Becca Gilmore and Hannah Kravetz had a final score of 5-3 before the thunder came, but their match was declared a win. Hallie Cramer and Bailey Morgan at second doubles were also unable to finish their match but had some great rally points with their Weston opponents. ~
Boys:
The boys team suffered another hard-fought loss today while doing their best to keep Weston at bay. Nick Morgan managed to salvage several games towards the end of his match in the face of a large deficit, but was ultimately outlasted 7-10 at 1st singles. Matt Cramer also fell at 2nd singles but took part in long rallies, doing his best to tire his opponent. Scott Becker made his career singles debut in a well-played marathon. Eventually falling after a tiebreaker (7-2) Scott owned the lead for much of the contest in the longest match of the day. Matt Edwards continued his dominance at 1st doubles with the help of Schuyler Fried giving Wayland its only win of the day with a 12-7 victory. For 2nd doubles, Wayland revived the tried-and-true duo of Aaron Goldstein and Jack Schwartz, who gave it their all, running and diving for every ball. While eventually being overcome by their opponents, they too played well and enjoyed a lead for much of the match - proving their effectiveness as a doubles team. ~ Robby Barnes
Highlights – Boys Team Match vs SS&T – Tuesday, June 30, 2009
"The boys team brought forth a valiant effort in their first match of the season despite a 3-2 loss. Nick Morgan won handily at 1st singles with a score of 10-2 by running his opponent all over the court to the point of exhaustion. Matt Cramer was eventually bested, but fought hard throughout the duration of his match at 2nd singles. Jack Schwarz wasn't able to get the best of an opponent six years his senior, but was able to take five games and never hesitated to dive for a ball at 3rd singles. The 1st doubles team of Henry Reynolds and Matt Edwards cruised to a 12-7 victory with the help of great communication and solid serving performances. The 2nd doubles team consisting of Aaron Goldstein and Schuyler Fried weren't able to hold off their opponents, but shook off the remaining off-season dust and are clearly ready to play competitively for the duration of the season. " ~ Robby Barnes
Today’s Team Match Highlights vs Swim & Tennis: Thank you Eric Schwartz for driving the boys with Robby to SS&T and Thank you Janet Cramer and Carole Morgan for bringing snacks for the girl’s home match. They were very excited to have snacks waiting for them after their matches. I think this will be a good tradition to continue and hopefully the other clubs will follow suit. Another idea to offer is bottled water. Perhaps next time a parent can also pick up a 24 pack. I’ll have a cooler available to keep them cold. Thanks…
The WSTC GIRLS tennis team had their first match of the season today at home versus Sudbury Swim and Tennis Club. Despite their loss of 1-4, all the girls played good, hard-fought matches. First doubles team Hallie Cramer and Bailey Morgan were able to defeat their opponents with aggressive net play and strong returns. Isabel Schwartz and Heather Wright worked as a great second doubles team and will see match time as a team again. First singles player, Hannah Kravetz had exceptional points and was able to return her opponent's hard serves and shots. Becca Gilmore, at second doubles, had a very close match. She moved around her 16 year-old opponent with well placed balls and grabbed 6 games. At third singles, Caroline Mellon and her opponent had some of the best rallies of the day and her consistency gained her 6 games. ~
As of 9:15 PM, I do not have highlights from the Boys team to report. Robby Barnes will get back to us on that.
MakeUp Clinics due to Rain: In order to accommodate as best as we can we need to plan ahead to make sure we have the staff on hand to manage the larger numbers. I can accommodate extra children this Friday, July 3rd. If you child was rained out on Monday morning, and would like to double up on clinics on this Friday, please confirm. Another makeup option next time when the morning is rained out is to have a NEW Afternoon Rain Schedule which would be: The 9AM and 1PM clinic groups, (Quickstart, 10-under) would merge at a given time, (let’s say 1pm) for an abbreviated clinic of One Hour. The 10:30 and 2:30 (plus Team) groups would merge for a 2:15 to 3:30 clinic time. That is one option that I will try next time. There is an issue of kids who are already in both clinics and for those children I will present a few options at the end of the season to help make up for lost time due to rain. Be patient. I will see what we can do to accommodate you.
Drop-Ins: I would like to propose a mid-week drop-in rate for any child who is already registered with me but not participating in that given week. (ex: If I have a registration form on file for your child and they happen to be at the club during a week they are not scheduled to play, I will allow them to participate (with your consent) at a drop-in rate of $20 if I have room available. They must have sneakers to participate. No Flip-Flops are allowed. Generally Tues, Thurs, and Fridays are the best days.
T-shirts: I’m sorry that some of your children were unable to pick up their T-shirts today. Turns out I under-estimated our youth sizes and we ran out. I placed another order this afternoon (50 more) and they should be in on Friday or Monday. Please check back with me if you ordered a Youth Small, Med or Large.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON CLINIC TIMES: I would like to propose that our Fantastic Friday Afternoon clinics all be scheduled for the same time. Which means the 1:00pm and the 2:30pm clinics will merge and all begin at 1:00pm. This will allow for a giant Afternoon Davis Cup Competition and Pinata Serving Game to end the weeks festivities. The morning clinic times will remain the same but this is a good opportunity to use some Rain-Make-Up Certificates or perhaps just join in for the drop-in rate if you are not normally scheduled at that time.
RAIN MAKE-UP CLINICS -- I will continue to offer rain make-ups during the week, if I have advanced notice and space is available. I need to make sure I have enough staff on hand before I can allow walk-ons. Since the 2:30 group today got rained out, I will make a note that your child is allowed one Rain Makeup (with advanced notice) Since the 1pm group today did get some play time, there is no rain-makeup scheduled.