From the President – 2021 Q1
As I look back to last year’s message, I began it by addressing the pandemic that had begun and how it forced us to close down our courts for a stretch. At that time no one knew what was going to happen, when we would be able to play tennis again or how it would affect us.
Now here we are, still in a pandemic and playing tennis more than ever. Who would have guessed that tennis would be the one sport we could participate in while having very little social contact?
Reno Tennis Club is having its busiest year ever but sadly our membership is down. Our membership dues pay for the court resurfacing, windscreens, nets, benches, and chairs, etc. We could just stop, let our courts look like any other park in town … sagging, strapless nets, bare, uncovered fences to provide little contrast for seeing the ball, leaves, dirt, and weeds growing up through the cracks or, heaven forbid, let a flock of pickle-ballers take over.
We choose to have a great place to play tennis, on great courts, while providing everything needed so that serious tennis players have a place to play serious tennis. Reno Tennis club has been striving to keep our courts the best since the 1920s and we want to keep it that way well into the 2020s and beyond. Members, generous contributors, and volunteers are what make this club what it is.
Still, we did accomplish plenty last year: We resurfaced courts 5 & 6 and added a Cabana in the middle of the two courts, which to date hasn’t been used that much but come summer will be a popular resting place with the sun beating down.
We’ve replaced a number of nets and straps as needed and added new windscreens for the North ends of courts 1 & 2. Besides the material things you may or may not notice, a great deal of work goes on by volunteers behind the scenes in making ‘your club’ what it is. The cleaning of the courts, repairs to the nets and windscreens, emptying the trash, repositioning chairs and benches in their proper places after they get moved for whatever reason, picking up errant tennis balls every morning and putting them in the recycle bin, boxing up the recycled tennis balls to ship to the recycler, raking up and disposing of leaves in the fall, clearing the snow and water off courts in the fall and spring, mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, and on and on.
In addition to the activities above, we have other volunteers that give their time and talent generously:
- Managing membership and the USTA leagues
- Writing, editing, and publishing this newsletter
- Paying the bills, tracking expenses, and making deposits in our bank account
- Maintaining and updating the website
- Repairing our equipment and other mechanical work
Over the years numerous volunteers have given their time to plan and host tennis socials. These individuals make time to do this for the love of the game and the compassion they have for tennis and our facility. No one gets paid for all this. We are all self-motivated volunteers.
So, the next time you hear someone complain about something happening or missing at your club, how about asking them if they’ve paid their dues yet to help support the club, or if they’re willing to volunteer to help fix the issue or make RTC better? Or ask them if they have ever just said “Thank You” to one of our many volunteers.
For the rest of the year, we have a lot of exciting things coming; some of which are revealed below and others are in the development stage at this time. But from what I see and hear we’re going to have some fun times with lots of tennis coming your way! Stay tuned!!
