Las Vegas Tennis Club

The Las Vegas Classic VIII tennis tournament was held on October 16-18 with 105 players participating.  It was a good turn out at all the apres tennis social events at Krave Nightclub on Saturday night!  Ending the tournament with cheap drinks at Charlie's on Sunday night.

Don't forget about the Monday night hitting session at Lorenzi Park from 6:30-9:00 p.m.  Cost is $6 per person including tennis balls for each court.  Please RSVP to Eric Recientes at EricRayLV@gmail.com. 

Keep posted for our next tennis club social at Eric Wang's house in November.  Come by and meet other members, have drinks and snacks...

The fall season has started with USTA league matches for our players in the Men's 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 teams.  It is the first time we have an all gay 3.0 team.  I want to encourage all of your to have fun and be competitive out there!  Congratuations to all on their first match wins!

It appears that we will continue with the hitting sessions at Lorenzi Park on Monday nights until end of the month since there are no fees.  There is a tennis director that has been assigned to Lorenzi Park.  We will be using those courts for the October tennis tournament.  We are hoping that we can work something out with the tennis director for future club use.

It was a long day at Sunday in the Park!  It was a hot day and just a handful of players showed up.  We believe that in the future, this event should be combined with another larger event so people have a reason to come out such as on National Coming Out Day.  I want to encourage your participation as much as possible and continue to grow our fun, social, competitive tennis club.

Lastly, I want to remind everyone of the October tennis tournament that is being held from October 16-18, 2009.  Please come out and watch some of the tennis matches and meet other players.  Also, come out to the social functions listed in the schedule.

The meeting focused on 3 items: 1) maintaining a consistent hitting session schedule for club members, 2) LVGA3 - Sunday in the Park, and 3) Fall Classic Tournament volunteers and sponsors.
 
The primary focus of the meeting was to discuss how to reach club members and to do so, we will attemtp to provide as much information as possible at the weekly hitting sessions.  The focus seems to work better on court.
 
We all agreed that Monday nights from 7-9pm will be the designated day for regular hitting session.  It will either be just regular coordinated hitting by pairing people up or provide lessons to beginners wanting to improve their skills.  I will be available for most Monday nights except for times when I am traveling for work or on vacation.  I will advise people of my schedule on a regular basis.  In addition, we are going to designate once a month, 3rd Mondays, a clinic day where we will split the group into 2: beginners and Int/Adv players to work on some court drills.  Nick Donath will assist in providing this clinic.  We also discussed the possibility of hiring a coach to supplement drills if players agree to pay for such expense.  We will discuss that on court.  Finally, any additional hitting sessions can be coordinated by adding onto the calendar or players expressing to hit with other people.  I am planning to get a player roster with their contact information out to each one.
 
LVGA3 - Sunday in the Park is scheduled on September 13th at Sunset Park.  Brent of LVGA3 said that the courts have been reserved but I was not sure what they had planned for.  I will email him to get more information as to coodinated events.  Our initial thought is to invite club members to the park and have some type of challenge courts to stay as king of the hill (4 courts).  It will set in singles or doubles format depending on how many people RSVP for this event.  The other courts can be used for people showing up to jus hit or even have 1 court for drills/clinics.  I will get more information on this...
 
Fall Classic Tournament is scheduled for October 16-18.  There are still many things to be completed with Jim and Jim's departure, but the draw party and some type of banquet event is to take place at the Luxor Hotel.  I will need to get more details from Jim Lash to make contacts with the suppliers who he has made arrangements so far...In addition, we talked about sponsorship for the tournament.  We need sponsors for donation of any kind to supplement tournament costs.  As a reminder, this is a non-profit event whereby most of the tournament entry fees collected will be donated to a local charity.  We still need people to donate food, raffle items, shirts, hats, etc.  We have a sponsorship brochure that I will bring out on court on Monday night.  Finally, we need to encourage local players to participate in the tournament as we need better showing than previous years.  Let's fill up our draws and compete with out of town players.
 
To wrap things up, we need to continue to communicate to members the importance of our community organization.  So far, we have the largest numbers of gay athletes in the database for the Vegas Valley.  I encourage communication and offer other players the opportunity to get involved if they so desire.  Dan Beck is going to create information on Twitter, MySpace and Blog Space to connect to our club website with the intention to attract more gay tennis enthusiasts.  In addition, we are planning to post something on Craigslist to generate interest.
 
If you have any other tangible ideas or suggestions, please let me know.  Thanks for your support!

August 2009

It is a hot month in Las Vegas with temperatures as high as 100 degrees!  Players are still out there hitting tennis balls with full force!  Drink plenty of water and replenish those electrolytes!

Several players went to Vanvouver, BC to play the Vancouver International Open tennis tournament that took place from August 1-3, 2009.  Las Vegas players had a good showing with Jim Redding a finalist in the Open Men's division, Ricky Cosby and Eric Wang taking the Men's A Doubles title, Jim Lash and his Canadian doubles partner, Brian Bella taking the runner up in te same division, and Rob E. was a runner up in both Men's D Division consolation singles and doubles.  It was very hot and humid in Vancouver, but even hotter with the Canadians around!  Congratulation to the Las Vegas players making a good showing at the Canadian tournament!

In Chicago, at the Second CIty Tennis Tournament, Joe Sanchez represented Las Vegas with a good showing in the Men's B Division Doubles with this tennis partner, Mark Wasik, making into the semi-finals.  Congatulatons Joe!!

Eric Recientes is looking for players in the USTA 3.0 level to form a team to compete in the fall and spring season.  If you are the competitive type and want more match play, contact Eric Recientes for sign up and practice sessions. Please email Eric at EricRayLV@yahoo.com.

April 2009 

Easter is around the corner and spring is definitely in the air with warm weather approaching and players getting ready to head to Los Angeles for the LA Open.  Many players are playing in the USTA Spring Leagues in hopes to make Districts, to Sectionals, and dream of playing in Nationals.  Keep up the playing  in those league matches!!

We have found new tennis courts at a Middle School near Hacienda Ave and Rainbow, where many of our players are now hitting at that location.  Email us for more information or drop on by and check us out!

We are hoping to host the next tennis club social sometime in May or June.  Keep posted as to when and where it will be held...

March 2009

The spring is in bloom and weather is now warming up with trees and plants coming back alive.  USTA spring leagues have started with some of our members playing in leagues across the Las Vegas Valley in USTA Men 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5.  Wishing the best in league season to all our members!

Also, we are getting ready for the Club's Spring Classic tournament that will be held from April 3-5 and all divisions will be played at the Darling Tennis Center.  We look forward to many of our members to play in the tournament in a friendly competition with other spirited competitors from around the world.  The tournament draw party will be held the night of April 2nd at a TBD location.

Several other GLTA tournaments are held this month in Palm Springs, CA and Austin, TX. Both tournaments represented by players from our club.  Congratulations to Eric Recientes and Joe Sanchez in making the semi-finals of the Palm Springs B-Division Doubles!!!  Good luck to Jon Afalla who will be playing in the Austin tournament.

February 2009 

Love is in the air with Valentines Day falling on Saturday, February 14th!  Spend some time with your loved ones and cherish the loving relationships, or rekindle one.

We are planning to host a tennis social at the home of Jim Lash and Jim Redding.  Additional details will be provided and emailed to the members.  We will be discussing the upcoming April tennis tournament, looking for volunteers, local donations such as food, drinks, giveaways, etc., and having a chance to meet more members of our tennis club.

Jim Redding is offering his services to provide stringing of racquets for $15 plus the string of your choice; either you bring the string or he can purchase them for you.  If interested, please contact him directly at jred_07@yahoo.com.

We had a fun time at Terribles Primm Resort - concert with the Villge People - featuring Sister Sledge and Rose Royce on January 10, 2009.  I want to thank those members who purchased ticket to continue building our tennis club.

Regular tennis sessions are being held on Saturdays between 12-2pm at the Darling Tennis Center.  Courts are reserved under Eric Recientes, but RSVP to Eric is highly recommended to ensure that we have ample courts for all players.

Congratulations to Jon Afalla who was a finalist in D Division Doubles at the recent GLTA Champions Race that was held  on a rainy weekend in Los Angeles.  John had a chance to play in the race as the division was short of a player.  The conditions were not the best and players had to play Pro-Sets to compete as well as the courts were not fully dried until late Saturday and Sunday.  We also want to acknowledge Ricky Cosby for making the champions race in the A Division.  It was tough conditions for Ricky to play on the wet courts and glad that he did not injur himself!

Palm Springs GLTA Tournament Results 

Congratulations to Jon Afalla being a finalist in the singles of D- Division and Jim Redding winning the consolation group of the  Singles Open Division!!!

  Check out the photos from the tournament in the photo gallery.

Annual Holiday Party to be held at the home of Jim Lash and Jim Redding on Sunday, December 7th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm with cocktails and hors d'hoeuvres.  Please join us and stop by to meet the club members.  This will be a great place for all members to meet each other and celebrate the holiday season!  Additionally, membership applications for 2009 will be emailed out to all who have signed up in our early membership drives or was provided your email information by your friend.  You can complete the membership application and bring it along to the Holiday Party.  If you need further information, please email us at LVGTC.

The LVGTC held the first social event with SinCity Q Socials on Novmber 11th at the Luxor Hotel.  We are glad that new members signed up as well as members in attendance.  We are continuing to promote our tennis club to our gay community to generate more interest.  Currently, we have almost 50 players in the directory.

Some of the members also attended the B-52s concert held on November 12th.  Some ticket sales generated some club revenue to fund our future events.  Thank you to Jon Jon and Paulo for assisting in the sales effort. For our next event, please try to attend or donate to our club funds for the concert with The Village People, Sister Sledge, and Rose Royce - see below.

Please check the schedule as we start to hold regular hitting sessions at the Darling Tennis Center on Sunday afternoons from 2-4pm.  You are more than welcome to drop in, but if you plan on attending, please email us so we can reserve ample courts.  Court fees are $5.00 per person.  We held our first hitting session on November 16th with about 10 players of all levels in attendance.  Come on out and hit and meet  with the other players.

In a  last minute entry into the Red Rock Fall Classic (USTA), Ricky Cosby played with Terri Weisbord in NTRP Mixed Doubles 8.0 with a 6-2, 6-1 win in the finals.  Congratulations to Ricky and Terri who played magnificently with a crushing win!

In a last minute entry to the Bally's Holiday Charity tournament, David Ellertsen partnered with Dan Holleman  won the 3.0 men's round robin doubles against Dion Vernazzarro and Rick Schuenemann.  Congratulations to all the players having fun in the Bally's tournament!

It's that time of the year again as we approach fall weather and the holidays!  Halloween is just around the corner with Jon Alfalla hosting that scandalous Halloween party! Check out the photos of some of the people in attendance.  It sure was a fun-filled event...

Congratulations to Dion Verazzarro with his doubles partner, Joe Chen in taking 2nd place in the D Division  at the LA Centre Court tournament over Halloween weekend!  Cheers for Dion!

We just finished another successful year of the Las Vegas Open with over 105 participating players.  Our tournament directors Jim Lash and Jim Redding ran another outstanding tournament with the assistance of our enthusiastic volunteers.  We also like to congratulate a local winner, Ricky Cosby, for winning the singles of A Division.  We are looking forward to Ricky participating in the Champions Race in January 2009 held in Los Angeles, CA.

Thank you to Gary Jackson of Tampa for providing us a video snipet of our recent Las Vegas Tennis Classic.  Check out the video via the link:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43362890