VOLUME 1 NO. 3


FIRST TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR

Albany Tennis Club is running the first tournament of the year on May
11-13, and unlike any other local tournament, it is a celebration of
doubles play.

The ATC tournament will include men's, women's and mixed doubles, both
sanctioned (35's and 45's), and unsanctioned 3.0 and 3.5.

The tournament is only $10 a person, and ATC will work to get you a
partner if you need one.

The tournament is at Ridgefield Park, 316 Partridge Street, Albany,
and all matches are held on their magnificent red clay courts. All
matches will have backdraws allowing everyone to play at least two
matches.

You can sign up right on line by going to:

http://tinyurl.com/33qwuu

and clicking on the name of the tournament. From there you will see
the tournament description and an opportunity to enroll on line.

Any questions call 459-6212 or email atc@...


JENNY WHO?

If you just called your buddy to make your annual trek to the tennis
courts to hit a few balls at the local park Jenny Rizzo wants to talk
to you.

If you are organizing a get-together with some people at the office to
play a little round robin and following it up with beer and pizza,
Jenny Rizzo wants to talk to you.

If you are a new gal in town who loves tennis and can't find anyone to
play, Jenny Rizzo wants to talk to you.

If you always thought about playing tennis, but never made that first
step, Jenny Rizzo wants to talk to you.

Your question is, who in the world is Jenny Rizzo?

Rizzo's title is Tennis Service Representative (TSR). She gets paid to
connect with people and make them as excited about tennis as she is.

The Tennis Industry Association (TIA), a mouthpiece for tennis clubs,
racquet manufacturers, tennis instructors and others involved in
surviving through the selling of tennis products and services,
discovered that more people are participating in tennis every year.
The problem was, no one in the tennis establishment was reaching out
to them and pulling them into the tennis mainstream.

The USTA, the well funded flagship of organized tennis in the United
States, decided to create TSR's across the country to act as
missionaries for the sport.

If anyone fits the bill, it is Rizzo.

Going back a few years to when she went to college (she is in her 30's
now), Rizzo was introduced to tennis through the necessity of needing
a couple credits to graduate from the University of Albany. The tennis
course offered an easy way to complete her degree.

"I really liked it," she told me in a recent interview, "but I didn't
have the money to play indoors and I didn't know where I could go to
play."

The begining of her tennis career may well have been the end were it
not for a friend who asked her to fill in at a Billy Yaiser Learning
League. There she met other people, who introduced her to other people
and eventually she ended up at a clinic run in Troy by Larry Yakubowski.

"Tennis is so social, that it makes it very easy to meet other
people," she said. "If you are available, you'll get to play."

Connections at the Troy clinic drew her into a USTA team, her talent
for organizing was recognized, and she ended up as a coordinator for
the 2.5 entry level USTA women's league.


Working with Sue Wold, the Northern Region VP and Bev Hackett, the
USTA Women's league coordinator, she quickly learned how to promote
tennis and bring new people into the league. In the process she
doubled the size of the ever important 2.5 league. Before she left,
there were nearly 100 advanced beginner women competing on teams.

Her talents were obvious and her avocation became her vocation. A
coordinator's positon is strictly volunteer, but the USTA had bigger
things in mind. She was hired as a TSR in February 2006, and she's
been knocking down the walls between the sometimes closed society of
"competitive" tennis players, and the hackers that show up at the park
every month or so.

Her feelings of tennis are what really drive her. "Tennis impacted on
every aspect of my life," she claims. Now, most of her friends are
through tennis, and she lives and breathes it. Between long hours
travelling and pedaling the sport to anyone who will listen, she is on
the court playing with her boyfriend, or in leagues or in tournaments.

Initially, her area of responsibility was the Northern Region - from
Catskills north to Plattsburg and west to Oneonta and Utica. If that
weren't enough, the Southern Region was appended to her duties, which
includes Weschester, Rockland, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam,
sullivan and Rockland Counties.

It is hard to categorize what she does. Essentially she looks for
signs of interest and tries to grow and then organize it.

She is the point of contact for people looking to get involved. She is
a superb resource for helping fledging tennis associations get
funding. But she does more than simply react and respond.

Rizzo's most important job is to find players and programs and get
them together.

It's easy to get people to enjoy tennis. The tougher part is getting
them involved.

The people that who are drawn into special events "don't know where to
go and there aren't affordable opportunities," she explained. "We need
to find a program that people can get involved in after initial interest."

There are two such special events scheduled in May, which is National
Tennis Month. One of them is at Central Park in Schenectady on
Saturday, May 12th and another at Ridgefield Park's red clay courts in
Albany on May 20th. They are free and are designed to attract a lot of
curious would-be tennis players as well as those who have long since
relegated their racquets to the attic.

Jenny's goal will to help all these new people get connected to the
tennis community. She wants them to know that tennis can be an
important and fun part of their life.

For more information on these programs and those of other area tennis
organizations, call Rizzo 518-861-8782 or email
rizzousta@... and she will help you be part of our tennis
community.

Do it today, because....Jenny Rizzo wants to talk to you.


FREE TENNIS AND FREE FOOD!

There will be two USTA Block parties this month to help celebrate
national tennis month.

The first is at Central Park in Schenectady on May 12th and the next
is at Ridgefield Park in Albany on May 20th.

The purpose of the event is to interest new and returning tennis
players to the fun of the game. The USTA is hoping that you

will come and bring your friends and family. It's a big picnic with
tennis. There will be games and prizes for the whole

family.

For more information for the event at Central Park call Jenny Rizzo
518-861-8782 or email rizzousta@....

The Ridgefield Park event is being held in conjunction with the Albany
Tennis Club Open House. As with the Central Park offering, there will
be games, drills, prizes and food.

You can find out more by going to:
http://tinyurl.com/2xqy43

Registration is not required, but it will be helpful for the
organizers to have an idea of who is coming.

You can also email atc@... or call 459-6212 or 438-8846 for
more information.


CALLING ALL TENNIS ORGANIZERS

Are you organizing a fun tennis event at a local club or town park?
CSA can help you.

A visit to www.csatennis.com will reveal a very complete area tennis
site, including a local tennis calendar.

But CSA is now offering all non profit groups the opportunity to have
their participants register on line. This is free service provided by
CSA, and we hope that you will consider making use of it.

For more information, email bob@... or call the CSA number
at 518-459-6212.

In the near future, CSA will be offering an online payment option.
Stay tuned!



USTA MIXED DOUBLES LEAGUE FOR 4.0 PLAYERS

Our local USTA Leagues are trying to form an 8.0 mixed doubles league.
The 8.0 is the total rating of any two players on a court. Therefore a
3.5 and a 4.5 player can team up to form a 4.0 team.

The league culminates in a national championship in Orlando on
November 16-18.

For more information, email Cindy Kelly at: kelymail@... or
contact her via phone at: 482-0725.


USTA JUNIOR LEVEL 2 TOURNAMENT

The SRFC Junior Challenge, scheduled for Sportime Schenectady, has
been moved to Albany Tennis club on May 18-20. To sign up or to get
more information, email atc@... or call 459-6212.