| Co-Presidents' Message 1. We'd like to welcome, Rajeev Kelkar to the position of MVTC/City of Mountain View Coordinator. This position is key in that it is the prime link for Club court reservations through the city. Your patience is welcome as we transition from Bing Seid & Kirby Drumm who did such a great job in this capacity. Rajeev is a long-time club member and fantastic volunteer. . .thanks Rajeev! 2. The MVTC Board is currently discussing with the City on how to best solve our resident/non-resident quota issue. We have ended up with several USTA roster members who are on the "waiting list" (until a Mountain View resident joins the club). The Club needs a better procedure on how to handle this going forward. Thanks to Kathy Wheeler for working so hard towards a solution for MVTC in this matter. Tony Note: Paul Chen went on an 8-day cruise with his family and was so relaxed upon his return that he had nothing to add for this space. We fully expect his stress level to rise before the next Court Report. Member Profile - Jere Schaefer Jere Schaefer has been a member of MVTC since its early days and is currently rated as a 3.5. Happy May birthday, Jere!
Q: When did you first hear about Mountain View Tennis Club? Jere: My late husband, Don, and some of his friends formed Mountain View Tennis Club 41 years ago. My MVTC membership came with the marriage license. I have been on the Board but mostly played supporting roles because Don worked for the city of Mountain View's Parks Department. Both Carol Tolen and Butch Logan were around then and are part of my fond memories of the Club. Q: What was the Club like at that time? Jere: It was a party crowd. Everyone was very social, kind of like a family. Cheering people filled the stands during tournament finals; players would go home and then come back for the finals of all divisions. We even had umpires and linespeople. Everybody volunteered to pitch in and we often helped each other with non-tennis things. The MVTC crew packed and moved many households. There were lots of marriages between players who met at Club functions. We used to provide scholarships to top area Juniors so they could afford to travel and play tournaments. That is still the nicest thing about MVTC - people are there for you when you need help.
Q: Where do you play tennis these days? Jere: I have a regular Sunday morning group at Cuesta Park. Some of us have played together for 30 years. I also play in the USTA Super Senior leagues. I've been to Districts many times and went to Nationals 3 years ago. I also play Interclub for Los Altos Tennis Club. Jere: Mary Jo Fernandez - I met her when she played in the USTA National Hardcourt Championships in 12s division at Cuesta Park. Don ran the tournament and I was support. Yvonne Goolagong, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer also rank high with me.
Jere: Chris Dateo and I coordinate the NetGain program for at-risk 6-8 grade boys and girls from Mountain View. Net Gain is a collaboration between Friends of Mountain View Tennis (FMVT), Mountain ViewTennis Club (MVTC), Mountain View Police Activities League (PAL), and the Mountain View Recreation Department. It is a six-week program held after school in November and December at the Rengstorff Tennis Courts. The children are nominated by their school principals and the police department. MVTC donates their used tennis balls from tournaments. We accept donated rackets, bags, and money. Some of our coaches are MVTC members. Net Gain is honored to have been selected by PAL to particpate in an additional four-week intensive program for at-risk kids this summer. We are looking for a few more helpers. Financial Donations can be made to: Mountain View Police Activities League 1000 Villa Street, Mountain View CA 94041 The Mountain View PAL is a non-profit organization. The tax ID number is: 23-7072928. Please note your wish for the donation to go to Net Gain. For more information or if you want to get more involved, please contact: Chris Dateo (650-968-5465) or Jere Schaefer (650-967-4799). Junior Team Tennis is a league for Mountain View players ages 18 and under. Players must have taken some lessons and attend a tryout to participate. The league runs eight weeks and then playoffs. Children are coached and play a match once a week, on Tuesday evening. Sessions are offered in both Spring and Fall. MVTC sponsors the program and league.
Q: Do you have other interests? Jere: In addition to my many volunteer duties (El Camino Hospital, Net Gain, Jr. Team Tennis, Challenge Team of Mountain View, YMCA, Kara, MV PAL, etc.), I like to hike, golf, fly fish, and travel with my family and friends. I recently hiked the Pinnacles. I've traveled around the world; last year it was Thailand; this year I'll go to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Yellowstone, Jordan and Syria. I used to run marathons; I did my last one for my 70th birthday. When I'm home, I take classes, go for walks and do training with my time share dog, Travis the Vizsla. Travis is almost 7 years old and splits his time between my neighbor's house and mine. He has 2 of everything and is a real sweetie. Remembering Laura Personal note from Carol Tolen: I just returned from Laura Bloomquist`s funeral at Oak Hill Funeral Home in San Jose, and it was lovely! The place was packed with her friends from Varian and teammates from MVTC and Avac along with Doug`s friends. She was originally from Eugene, Oregon, had served 11 years in the Navy and worked in engineering at Varian for 20 years. A number of her co-workers, two brothers, Doug, and 2 of her superiors at Varian gave speeches, which were highly laudatory. A slide show of her life also was featured and there were photos from Rengstorff and Avac included. In fact, one of the photos was from our March Team Tennis event on the steps by court #1. I believe it was a photo Deb Ryan had taken. At any rate, it was a lovely service, and those of us who knew her will miss her a great deal, especially her caring attitude, dedication to all of us, and her upbeat personality. April Mixed Tournament MVTC held its April mixed doubles tournament under beautiful sunny skies on the weekend of April 24-25. This year’s divisions reflected the recent upward trend in the ratings for many of our members and guests--Division I was for a combined rating of 8.0 and up as in the past, but Division II was for 7.0-7.5, and Division III for 6.5 and below. This alignment of the divisions seemed to work well, as there were very competitive matches at all three levels.
The tournament began on a very somber note, as longtime MVTC member Laura Bloomquist died suddenly just a few days before the event. Laura was entered to play in Division III, and the draw had even been published before we were aware of this very sad occurrence so it had to be redone. A moment of silence for Laura was held before the start of play on Saturday, and the tournament was dedicated to her memory.
A total of 46 players fought it out for the title in the three divisions. Division III was a round robin, and the team of Doug Anderson and Cynthia Newton won both of their matches to take the prize. Runners-up were Hide and Noriko Sugizaki.
In Div. II, Rajiv Khilnani was a last-minute sub for the injured Madan Venugopal, and Rajiv and his partner Jo-Ann Proudian ended up winning the title, earning a very close 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Ronnie Ostrow and Noah Banks in the final. The consolation winners in Div. II were Robert Inocencio and Namita Mehta.
Division I had the largest draw, and some very outstanding teams. Howard Giles and Suzie Hayes-Jochner were the champions after fighting through two extremely tough three-set matches in both the semis and final on Sunday. Leslie Nguyen and Ben Le were the main draw finalists, and Kirby Drumm and Cherisse Thomas were the consolation draw winners.
All in all, there were lots of fierce, competitive matches, but also plenty of fun and laughter, win or lose. Many thanks to club tournament coordinator Kathy Wheeler, food chair Safdar Ighanian, and registration coordinator Roger Okamoto. Carrie Bell and Philip Stromer were the tournament directors. May Singles Tournament Hey! All of you singles warriors! This is a great warmup tournament for marathon French Open TV watching. Get out on the Rengstorff hard courts and we'll provide the red dirt so you can pretend you're at Roland Garros! This is a Men and Women's singles tournament. Women who sign up will be playing in the same draws with the men. For instance: if you're a 4.0 woman you'll be playing against 3.5 men. A consolation round guarantees you two matches. Entry fees: MVTC members $22 , non-members $25. Tournament Director: Kathy Wheeler Food Chair: TDB (need a volunteer) Division I is 4.0 and above Division II is 3.5 Division III is 3.0 and below Saturday, May 22, 8 am to 3 pm Sunday, May 23, 9 am to 1 pm Continental breakfast on both days and lunch on Saturday. Sign up here. USTA News Rajeev Kelkar is our new USTA Coordinator as Bing Seid and Kirby Drumm have decided to step down. MVTC has 6 teams registered for the upcoming Adult season. Their standings as of May 2 are listed below. Women's 3.0 A (Patsy): 5-1 Men's 3.0A (Douglas/Douglas): 4-1 Men's 3.5A (John/Mike): 5-1 Men's 4.0A (Qiao): 0-4 Men's 4.0B (Dana/Louis):3-1 Men's 4.5A (Tony/Paul): 1-3 Tennis and the World Dear Diane and Bob, Last Saturday, I overheard two tennis players talking about Ayn Rand’s epic novel Atlas Shrugged. It’s so huge that I’ve been using it successfully as a doorstop for years, but their conversation prompted me to pick the book off the floor and give it a quick read . . . as if anyone could ever read a 1000+ page book quickly. Anyway, I found this passage about a tennis match on pages 104-105 and thought you might be interested: She saw Francisco’s mocking glance again, across the net of a tennis court. She did not remember the beginning of that game; they had often played tennis together and he had always won. She did not know at what moment she decided that she would win, this time. When she became aware of it, it was no longer a decision or a wish, but a quiet fury rising within her. She did not know why she had to win; she did not know why it seemed so crucially, urgently necessary; she knew only that she had to and that she would. It seemed easy to play; it was as if her will had vanished and someone’s power were playing for her. She watched Francisco’s figure—a tall, swift figure, the suntan of his arms stressed by his short white shirt sleeves. She felt an arrogant pleasure in seeing the skill of his movements, because this was the thing she would beat, so that his every expert gesture became her victory, and the brilliant competence of his body became the triumph of hers. She felt the rising pain of exhaustion—not knowing that it was pain, feeling it only in sudden stabs that made her aware of some part of her body for an instant, to be forgotten in the next: her arm socket—her shoulder blades—her hips, with the white shorts sticking to her skin—the muscles of her legs, when she leaped to meet the ball, but did not remember whether she came down to touch the ground again—her eyelids, when the sky went dark and the ball came at her through the darkness like a whirling white flame—the thin, hot wire that shot from her ankle, up her back, and went on shooting straight across the air, driving the ball at Francisco’s figure. . . . . . . He was playing, not to win, but to make it harder for her—sending his shots wild to make her run—losing points to see her twist her body in an agonizing backhand—standing still, letting her think he would miss, only to let his arm shoot out casually at the last moment and send the ball back with such force that she knew she would miss it. . . . Just once more, she thought, even if the next one would crack the bones of her arm . . . Just once more, even if the air she forced down in gasps past her tight, swollen throat, would be stopped altogether . . . . She won. . . . Sincerely, Juliet Capulet Dear Juliet, Wow. That seemed more erotic than accurate, but thanks for sending it our way. |
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May Court Report |