Read the August - The Berkeley Tennis Club

The BERKELEYTENNIS CLUBFiesta MexicanaA Tribute to the Food andDrink of Jalisco, MexicoSaturday August 24 6PM6pmCocktails on Deck with Guacamole,Queso Fundido, Salsa and ChipsTequila Flights with CEO BarryAugus of TRES AGAVESMexican Beers & Aguas Frescas,Live music - Trio Sahuayo7pmDinner in Ballroom -A three coursemenu by Leticia ChavezMole “Estilo Jalisco” con Pollo conArroz BlancoPescado “Salpicon” con ArrozAmarilloPozole Rojo de Puerco conCondimentosLive music – Reyna Santillan ySu Trio8:30pmDesert - Flan, Mexican WeddingCookies, Café de OllaDancing begins to the old-school,hard-swinging Salsa Group Mazacote,featuring Louie Romero on timbales.21 or older for this night$25.00 per person RSVP NowAmong other projects, a seismic structural analysis of the clubhouse has been plannedA Message From the House & Grounds CommitteeThe House and Ground’s Committee has been diligently at work forthe past year looking at a number of capital improvement projects and inparticular solutions to the ladies locker room. In doing so, it has becomeevident that over the last 10 years or so, building codes have becomethe building will trigger ADA code upgrades such as accessibility, newexit requirements and handicap features. These code required upgradeswould mean substantial changes to the clubhouse both inside and outAt the same time, we have been looking at potential usage requirementsfor the long term health of the club and future membership and associateddemographics. Should we eventually plan for things like: childcatedjunior’s room, enhanced orenceroom, re-usage of the ballroomand stage area, enlarging the canteenfacilities, etc.On a parallel track, the committeehas suggested to the board and(continued on page 4)In this issue:House and Grounds ......................... 1Mexican Fiesta .................................. 1Pro’s Corner ...................................... 2News and Announcements ............ 3The BTC Roving Eye ........................ 3President’s Message ......................... 4

From theManager’s DeskRigo Headley, ManagerThe month of August brings to usa bit of a slower pace with the summerseason starting to coming to aclose at the BTC. The Club is becomingnoticeably lighter with member usage in the Club-this summer, daily tennis court usage has been goingrather smoothly especially during our peak times. Asmentioned in the July 2013 newsletter, courts are mostcrowded (i.e. the 2-set light comes on an average of 3-4times during a certain period of time) on weekendsbetween 9am-1pm. During the peak court usage times,members have been extending great courtesies to fellowmembers by being mindful of when the 2-set light comeson. We have also seen more members taking advantageof court availability during the least crowded times duringthe week during the times of 2pm to 4pm and after6pm. Now that I have let the cat of the bag on some ofthe best times to come play tennis at the BTC, jump onthe online member directory, call a few members youhaven’t hit with in a while and invite them to the BTC toenjoy this beautiful weather!Have you been by the BTC Proshop lately? A shipmentof brand new BTC apparel recently arrived with a varietyof different items for you to choose from. Not only tennisballs are in the Proshop but BTC Visors, Hats, Men &Ladies apparel are also available for purchase. The nexttime you come to enjoy the Club stop by the Proshop andpick up a few items from the BTC Summer Selection beforethey are gone! You can never go wrong with havinga few BTC items in your wardrobe…I guarantee it.This BTC Club Calendar is full of social events for youto add to your own social calendar. In the next upcomingmonths we have a lot of exciting events planned for themembership to enjoy! Below is the list of social activitiesfor you to choose from for the August and Septembermonths. Event details can be found through out thenewsletter. We look forward to see you at our upcomingsocial events!Fri Aug. 2nd 5:30pm-7pm: Rhythm and Blues RoundRobin Member MixerFri Aug. 2nd 5:30pm-7:30pm: Friday Night Dinner w/ LiveFri Aug. 9th 5:30pm-8pm: Friday Night Dinner w/GuestSpeaker Geoff Marcy UCB Prof. of Astronomy.Sat Aug. 17th 3pm-6pm: Tittmann CupSat Aug. 24th 6pm-10pm Gala Mexican Fiesta Dinner &DanceFri Aug. 30th 5:30pm-8pm Friday Night Dinner w/ FamilyMovie Night in the BallroomFri Sept. 13th 5:30pm-8pm Friday Night Dinner w/ GuestSpeaker David TrachtenbergFri Sept. 20th 5:30pm-7pm Round Robin Member MixerFri Sept. 20th 5:30pm-7:30pm: Friday Night Dinner w/ LiveMusic by the Gary Crangle BandSat-Sun Sept. 28th-29th 9am – 6pm: Club DoublesTournamentThe Pro’sMessageLynne Rolley,Tennis DirectorSave the Date!Club Doubles TournamentSeptember 28-29Saturday and SundayWomen’s Doubles, Men’s Doublesand Mixed DoublesThanks and hope to have you play!!Tournament Directors: Lynne Rolley, Shawn Brown, Tony FrancoGeorge TittmannTennis and Sportsmanship Award EventJunior/Senior competitive event will begin promptly at 3:00 PM. Space will belimited to 3.5 -5.5 level players.Please sign-up to play the tennis portion by emailing lynnerolley@gmail.comAward ceremony for the Outstanding BTC Junior Player of the Yearwill be at5:30 PM. Everyone is invited to celebrate with our surprise junior winner.Complimentary food and drinksCongratulations to BTC Junior Sean HillSean Won Two National Events1. The USTA National Open Boys 14 Singles at the Harbor Bay Club in Alameda,May 11-132. The USTA Regional Tournament Boys 16 Singles at the Rio Del Oro RacquetClub in Sacramento, July 6-8 zNote: This a is National Level 3 tournament for ranking purposes.

President’s Message…Bruce GurganusWimbledon is Mecca to tennis fans. Asummer trip to England requires a visit.I was skeptical ten months ago when Ientered the All England Lawn Tennis Association’slottery for the hoards seeking tickets. As expected,I did not win the right to any tickets. I never even got thecourtesy of a response.After arriving in England I discovered tickets selling in thethe early rounds. The only other way to get in was to wait inline for a grounds pass, which provides access to all the outercourts. I decided to show up at the All England Club andone. Demand is much greater than supply.After a uneventful ride on the underground I arrived atthe All England Club grounds just after 7 a.m. The tennisstarted at 11. The English are experts at the art of queuing,something about their civility and sense of order. New arrivalswere divided into two queus: one for those with ticketsand the other for those without. Those of us without ticketswere each given a number. My number was 7,415. Thatmeant that a queue the size of a small town was ahead of mein line for tickets at 7 a.m. One usher told us that 8,000 walkups had been admitted on Tuesday.Waiting for hours was made pleasant by the lush greengrass in the park like setting and surrounded by tennis fans:a family from San Diego on the last day of their three weekvacation, a young woman from Taiwan hoping against hopeto get into Court One to see T.H. Lu, her countryman, playthe local favorite Andy Murray. Morning papers, hot tea andmorning buns were for sale by vendors. Slowly the massiveline inched toward the gates of the All England Club.At 2 p.m. our group was admitted after seven hours ofwaiting. With the long hours of English day light there wasstill plenty of time for watching tennis. This was the day theBritish press labeled “Wounded Wednesday” in which someof the top players dropped out with injuries: Tsonga, Isner,Jankovic, and Azarenka. Some others suffered surprisingupsets: Sharapova to De Brito and Federer to Starkhosky.Once I got through the gates I went straight to Court 18 andsets. A plaque on Court 18 marks it as the sight of the 70-68set between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut a couple of yearsago. On Court 19 Hantuchova and Kirilenko were beatingtwo Argentine women handily. So I moved over to Court 12to see Tommy Robredo defeat Mahut in a third set tie breaker.On to men’s doubles where I had a courtside seat on Court 8seat to see the number two seeds, Granolliers and Lopez fromSpain, lose to a team of Columbians, Cabal and Farah in afourth set tie breaker. This close to the court you get a goodidea of the pace of shot and the quickness of the world’s topdoubles players. By the time play was stopped by darknessat about 9:30 p.m. I had spent seven hours waiting and a littlemore than that watching tennis.On the middle Sunday of Wimbledon I represented the BTCat a banquet at the Roehampton Club of the Centenary TennisClubs from around the world. One of the ideas proposedthere was that each of the centenary clubs would get four ticketsfor their members to attend Wimbledon each year. I thinkthat is an excellent idea.House & Grounds(continued from page 1 )analysis of the entire main clubhouse building. Thisstudy, prepared by Peter Yu, P.E., who prepared thestructural analysis for our new deck, is completed withbe started this August. Much planning has been doneto ensure that none of the seismic work would need tobe redone due to future remodeling and improvements.It became evident to the H&G committee, that theneeds and code compliance of an aging clubhouseare complex and should not be done piece meal butrequires a more thorough, overall program/study.Therefore the committee recommended to the Board,to prepare a ‘Feasibility Study” which would analyzeand prepare sketches, all within the footprint of ourclubhouse and ballroom, to re-do current usages andmodernize the facility. The committee selected theand visiting their respective projects.the committee’s intention to continually inform the membershipof the progress. Also, we would like your input,ideas, and thoughts as the process unfolds.In the meantime, interim improvements are planned forthe ladies locker room including painting, better ventilationand lighting, all which are planned for August.In addition to these future planning issues, your committee,with Rigo’s help, was able to get two of our courtsIn the upcoming year, the committee will considerupgrades to the court one fences and installation of a newbike rack. The committee welcomes any suggestions, eitherwritten or verbal, regarding any or all of the aforementionedsubject areas.Respectfully your H&G committee.