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FROM THE PREZ Welcome to a new challenge and new president T Tony Menke his is my fi nal Tennis Times article as President of the USTA Pacifi c Northwest (USTA/PNW) Section. I now move on to the challenges of Section Delegate which involves more responsibilities at the USTA national level. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our entire USTA/ PNW Section tennis family for giving me the opportunity to serve as your President for two terms. I have deeply appreciated the support and confi dence of our Board of Directors and section membership and it has been an honor to provide leadership. I’d like to share an important quote from Arthur Ashe which has been a compass for me: “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” I am happy to report good news in the tennis world at both a local and national level. Th e USTA/PNW has been very fortunate to experience a membership increase in 2008. We currently have the second highest percentage increase among all 17 USTA Sections. Since January 2006, section membership has increased 2,033 total members to the current total of 23,540. In National news, the 2008 US Open had the biggest year in its 40 year history. Th e event set records in many areas including revenue, attendance, website traffi c, and sales. Total visits to the offi cial website USOpen.org topped 39 million for the fi rst time, an increase of 33 percent from 2007. Unique website visitors, from more than 200 countries, topped 9 million for the fi rst time, an increase of 26 percent over last year’s record total. Television ratings for the women’s fi nal were up 57 percent from last GREATER PORTLAND TENNIS COUNCIL Support those who support the tennis community Giving the gift of tennis provides many rewards By Peter Kram, USTA/PNW Volunteer I t has been my pleasure and privilege to serve on the USTA Pacifi c Northwest (USTA/PNW) Section Board of Directors for the past 12 years. I came aboard as an Area Vice-President for Southwest Washington in 1996. Th ereaft er, I served as Section President and Section Delegate. In those positions, I had the opportunity to serve as USTA national chair of both of those groups. My service on the board has amazed my friends and annoyed my enemies. During my tenure I have worked with dedicated, capable board members, a terrifi c staff working tirelessly to promote tennis and countless volunteers and players around the section. Mentors including Mike Kohlhoff and Annice Seelig have helped me improve and better serve the USTA/PNW. In the past 12 years, the section board and staff have grown tennis in this region and throughout the country. Measurements include the growth in USTA membership, increased community tennis funding, sales of racquets and balls and the rise of youth and adult team participation. A conscious decision made by the board in consultation with our staff and stakeholders was to focus on growing tennis in communities. Doing so allowed this section to raise its membership levels and its quality of service. TITLE SPONSOR PRESENTING SPONSORS Allen Trust Company Atlas Track and Tennis California Products ASSOCIATE SPONSORS HEAD/PENN Racquet Sports Player’s Racquet Shop of Beaverton www.greaterportlandtenniscouncil.com 4 TENNIS TIMES WINTER 2008/09 � www.pnw.usta.com year and were the highest since 2002. CBS’s ratings for the men’s semifi nals were up 16 percent from 2007. A new all-time attendance record of more than 720,000 fans topped last year’s record. Th e US Open remains the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world! At the USTA/PNW Annual Meeting in October, Gwen Ramras of Alaska was elected as new President of the Section. As mentioned above, I was elected to the position of Section Delegate. I’d like to extend a very special thank you to Peter Kram who has very capably served in that position for the last four years and as a volunteer for the last 12 years. It was a privilege for me to present to Peter my fi nal President’s Award. Th is award is presented at the discretion of the President to recognize outstanding contributions to strategic priority programs that help develop tennis within the section. Also recognized at the Annual Meeting were the very deserving students who were awarded the Glenn Lovett College Scholarships in 2008: Holly Darnell, Monica Kendall, Micah Leo, Richard Muszynski, III, Max Nelson, Katrina Schwab, Sharavan Sriganesh and Krishnaveni Subbiah. I want to take this opportunity to remember my good friend the late Glenn Lovett for his volunteer service to our section and his wife Sally to thank her for volunteering to serve on the Scholarship Committee. I’d also like to thank everyone for their support over the last four years in my service as President. I am looking forward to continuing to serve as your Section Delegate and seeing you throughout our great Pacifi c Northwest at tournaments events, and other tennis activities. � Current USTA/PNW Secretary-Treasurer Mike Temple observed that in his previous board service the focus was on tournaments. Th e focus now is on growing tennis at the grassroots level and developing a wider range of tennis activities. But we still are well-represented on the competitive tennis side as national champions have recently come from this section in junior and adult tournament play as well as USTA League team competition. I sometimes feel like the character in the Dr. Seuss book when he said, “Oh, the places you’ll go.” I have enjoyed meeting people around the Pacifi c Northwest and across the country who continue to grow tennis in their communities. I have been lucky enough to attend the US Open for several years as one of your representatives. At the US Open we see the world’s best players in a great setting. Th ere is a lot of excitement and plenty of tennis. But the heart of tennis is here at the local level – it is in your community, at your park, high school or on your league team. Your participation in and support of tennis continually demonstrates that heart. I came from a large family and one of the gift s our parents gave us was tennis. We learned to play on public courts and played the sport with one another as well as with neighbors and in our schools. Th e beauty of this gift of tennis is that I can continue to give it to others and the well never runs dry. Accordingly, I challenge our young players to contribute in the same manner that your parents, neighbors and coaches contributed. Th ey provided opportunities for you to play and gave you the gift of tennis. I ask that you give it to someone else and I hope to see you on the courts sharing that gift . I am sure that you will receive more than you give and that your life will be richer for it. The GREATER PORTLAND TENNIS COUNCIL thanks the sponsors of THE 110th NIKE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS OF OREGON BRONZE SPONSORS Evans Metal Fabricators, Inc. Homestead Studio Suites Tap Plastics Cold Stone Creamery SUPPORTING SPONSORS Lake Oswego Tennis Center/Anni Miller Lindsay Littlejohn Prudential Maletis Distributing Rossman Nichols PC Ultima Replenisher Tennis Week TOURNAMENT SPONSORS Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District West Hills Racquet & Fitness Club Mountain Park Racquet Club LOCAL SPONSORS Capital Pacifi c Bank Clif Bars Crown Trophy Elk Cove Vineyards Fast Signs of Beaverton Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza Haggen Reser’s Oregon Physical Therapy Association Starbucks Oregon Foot & Ankle Specialists Subway Sweet Tomatoes
AREA REPORTS Alaska Compiled by Mona Yarnall Quickstart Tennis with Anne Davis Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau were blessed to receive a visit from acclaimed USTA National Trainer Anne Davis this fall. Anne led an invigorating four-hour Quick- Start Tennis Workshop in each of the three cities. Participants received on-court training where they learned how to work with different age groups using appropriatelysized tennis equipment and courts. Thanks to Allen Clendaniel in Anchorage, Lee Lemay in Fairbanks and Mona Yarnall in Juneau for coordinating the QuickStart Tennis Workshop in their respective towns and helping to grow the cadre of volunteers in their communities. � USTA National Trainer Anne Davis looks on as Andy Pekovich tries his hand at skills learned during the QuickStart Tennis Workshop held in Juneau. Fairbanks Report from Diane Kardash The Fairbanks Tennis Association (FTA) concluded another successful season of summer programming with a 19.5 percent increase in overall enrollment numbers since 2007 (50 percent increase since 2005) resulting in 81 adult and 215 youth participants. Fairbanks reported another successful high school season for its six high school tennis teams. The season concluded at the Alaska State High School Tennis Championships held in Anchorage with all around great play. Forest Owen and Ken Sample of West Valley High returned to Fairbanks with the boys’ doubles title while Monroe’s Eric Ringstad placed third in boys’ singles. The FTA hosted their first annual “FUN- Raiser” with great success. The festivities were held in September at Pikes Waterfront Lodge and attracted over 100 attendees who helped raise over $10,000. Activities included Ping Pong, a Texas Hold’em Tournament and a Learn to Play table. The proceeds will directly support the association’s summer and elementary afterschool tennis programs as well as middle and high school tennis programs. Juneau Report from Mona Yarnall The fall season began with the arrival of Hassan Bani Saaid from Houma, La., where he serves as Co-Director of Tennis at the Renaissance Fitness and Racquet Club. Bani Saaid came to Juneau for 10 days as a visiting pro to lead high school workout sessions and offer lessons to adult and junior players. Bani Saaid’s visit helped to jumpstart the season and create a lot of excitement for the adult and junior players. Also this fall, the Juneau-Douglas High School tennis players hosted a fundraiser tournament that attracted over 90 players and helped raise close to $2000. The tournament featured players from Juneau, Anchorage, Texas and the Canadian sister-city of Whitehorse, Yukon. Thanks to all the families for feeding the tournament players and a special thanks to Laurel Messerschmidt for her many hours serving as tournament ddirector. The high school sseason for the JJuneau-Douglas � �� Fairbanks Tennis T Association experienced e tremendous t growth in i 2008 as both their youth y and adult programs p increased in participation. p High School tennis team featured over 50 players. Coach Amy Skilbred leads a no-cut tennis program and did an incredible job to ensure players received quality instruction, valuable match time and plenty of opportunity to improve their game. The Juneau-Douglas season concluded at the Alaska State High School Tennis Championships with the team taking third overall. Merijke Coenraad and Steffan Wilcox won the mixed doubles title, and Aaron Cohen and Brian Vandor finished second in boys’ doubles. Alaska State HS Tennis Championship Report from Gwen Ramras The 2008 high school tennis season ended on a high note with the second annual Alaska State High School Tennis Championships in Anchorage. The four-day adventure started with the arrival in Anchorage on Thursday. The Interior schools bused over the Alaska range (home of Denali National Park) while Juneau and Kodiak could only travel by plane. Kodiak is an island and there are no roads from Juneau to Anchorage. Twenty-two high school tennis coaches benefited from a training with USTA National Trainer Jason Jamison who flew to Alaska just for the training and to consult with coaches. All the coaches received information and a DVD featuring valuable tennis drills and other tools to help coaches instruct their players. After the training, the coaches met to review the tournament rules and then met the players for a social hour [ Continued on page 6 ] www.pnw.usta.com � WINTER 2008/09 TENNIS TIMES 5
Page 1 and 2: Volume XXVII VII / Number 4 INSIDE
Page 3: contents 18 IN THIS ISSUE 4 From th
Page 7 and 8: Photo by Anne Schachter American te
Page 9 and 10: Wofford and U.S. team reach final o
Page 11 and 12: Ritzville Project 56: A grassroots
Page 13 and 14: Apply for a USTA college scholarshi
Page 15 and 16: PRO UPDATE As of 11/19/08 Kendrick
Page 17 and 18: I NY that US Open Ballperson: Chand
Page 19 and 20: 2008 USTA LEAGUE YEAR-END Computer
Page 21 and 22: Cassin, Ann Portland 3.5 Casson-Tay
Page 23 and 24: Lemmon, Denise Graham 3.5 Lemoine,
Page 25 and 26: Vandenbrink, Beth West Linn 3.0 Van
Page 27 and 28: Harrington, Bryan Portland 4.5 Harr
Page 29 and 30: Schulze, Robert Redmond 4.5 Schumoc
Page 31 and 32: Tournament Schedules SCHEDULES ARE

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