Spring Tennis is in the air!

Country Club leagues are finishing up. USTA leagues are underway. The Mixed Doubles Club Championships which is our first Grand Slam Tournament event has been played. And now, we are anticipating the big one…”The Steeg” Member/Guest.

Sign ups begin March 20th for the “The Steeg” Member/Guest, our biggest event of the year! The event is named for the late great Commodore Stewart B. Steeg. The tournament will be held April 23rd thru the 25th. Due to an early Easter, the date has been changed from the traditional 1st to the last weekend in April. The warm up clinics will be held on the 21st and 22nd. Please start looking for your guest (partner) and sign up for the clinics in advance so that we can accommodate everyone. Sign ups are limited and the tournament has filled up quickly for the past few years. Sponsor opportunities are available. Please contact me for more information.

We are fielding 8 USTA adult teams this year. Since many of our 14 Country Club teams’ seasons are still ongoing, we have a very busy court schedule. The average team requires 5 courts for their home matches. Saturdays are already a very busy day. Now we are facing the task of trying to schedule open members’ play, men’s clinic, private lessons and 12 teams, all on 10 courts!! As usual, on behalf of the Tennis Committee, we ask you to be patient and flexible so that we can accommodate everyone during this extremely busy time.

The Mixed Doubles Club Championships were held last month, February 10th thru the 12th. There was a nice turn out; 5 divisions with a total of 25 teams. As of this writing, the tournament has not been completed. Look for the results in next month’s newsletter. Congratulations to all of our zone team juniors who have made their high school teams. We have over 30 juniors competing. They will represent 8 to 10 different area schools. Great job and good luck!

See you on the courts!

Louis Ballantyne
Director of Tennis

St. Patty’s Day Social

March 12th, 6:45 - 9:00pm

Sign up with or without a partner—either way, you won’t be playing with that partner all night! We will play a round robin where you change partners every round. Every time you win a game, you will get a “Kiss me, I’m Irish” button. The player with the most buttons at the end will be the winner!

THE BEST GREEN OUTFIT WINS AN AWARD!

Cost: $10 per person, Includes green beer, margaritas, balls, snacks and prizes.

For more information, please call the Tennis Pro Shop at (904) 389 - 4281!

FYC Junior Winter & Spring Schedule

Sign up your child for the fastest growing sport in the country…Tennis!

Our after school program begins January 5th, 2010 and accepts all ages (from 4 - 18 year olds) and levels. We are excited about launching a new program called Quick Start Tennis that is endorsed by the USTA. Quick Start teaches children (10 and under) with modified equipment, nets, rackets, balls and courts to best fit the age and size of each child. These techniques helps the child to achieve faster skill development and fall in love with the sport!

Schedule:
Quick Start Level 3 – (Ages 4 - 6 year olds)
Tuesday - Thursday 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Quick Start Level 2 – (Ages 7 - 8 year olds)
Tuesday - Thursday 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Quick Start Level 1 – (Ages 9 - 10 year olds)
Tuesday - Thursday 3:30 - 5:00 pm

*Grand Prix Intermediate Level – (Ages 7 – 14)
Tuesday - Thursday 3:30 - 5:00 pm

*Junior Training Tournament Level – (Ages 8 – 18)
Tuesday - Friday 4:30 – 6:30 pm

* Children will be divided according to age and skill level.

FYC is very proud of our Junior Tennis Program which has earned over 30 Collegiate Tennis Scholarships at 20+ Universities! Ask Louis for more information and maybe your child can be next?

For more information, call the Tennis Pro Shop (904) 389 - 4281.

FYC Junior Tennis News

CONGRATULATIONS to our 18 & under team that recently returned from Lakeland, Florida, after competing in the USTA Summer Team Tennis Sectional Event. They finished in 1st place out of twenty teams!! They qualified for the National Event as a result, which will be held in Mobile, Alabama, October 29th - November 1st. Representing the Yacht Club were Elizabeth and Katherine Jones, Marijke Boers, Angelica Inclan, Butler Braren, Cameron Colvard, Hunter Geddes, Thomas Kent and John Kirby. This group played great tennis over a three day period, defeating teams from all over the state. Way to go team and good luck at Nationals!

FYC AFTER SCHOOL JUNIOR TENNIS BEGINS
Tuesday, September 1st. Sign your child up for one of the junior clinics that have produced several local, state, national and collegiate ranked players!

SCHEDULE:

Tiny Tots, ages 3 - 5 yrs old.
2:45 - 3:30 pm Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Grand Prix, ages 6 - 14 yrs old.
3:30 - 5:00 pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays.

Junior Training, ages 10 - 18 yrs old.
4:30 - 6:30 pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays.
For more information call the Tennis Shop (904) 389-4281.

Ladies’ Pre-Season Camps

The 2009/2010 season is upon us. Why not get off to a good start and spend a week working on your game and getting in shape at one of our camps.

Who: All team members from A to D are welcome. Players will be grouped according to their level.

When: Two weeklong camps will be offered August 11-14th and August 18-21st. Camps will run from 9am till noon

Cost: $140.00 per week includes Fruit & Gatorade. No more than 5 to 1 student to pro ratio.

Sign ups are limited to the first 24 each week

Shop Talk

Visit our tennis FYC pro shop and start crossing those names off your list!

We have assorted logoed gifts and apparel that would be perfect for that someone on your list who has everything!

A new tennis racket and of course our gift cards (available in any amount) make a perfect gift for the tennis enthusiast in your family!

And remember....Free gift wrapping is available!

The following courts are blocked off for tennis play and clinics

1. You may reserve courts 48 hours in advance.

2. You may request a court, but may not necessarily get the court you requested. The tennis staff will do their best to honor your request, but may need to assign a different court according to maintenance, teaching schedules, team matches, and events.

3. Court reservations are for 1 1/2 hours. You may play longer if the court is not booked after you. The staff will do their best to make sure the courts are not booked on top of each other.

4. You must sign in at the pro shop before going on court. If you have a court reserved during a time when the pro shop is closed, the staff will let you know your court assignment and you can go straight to that court.

5. All guests must be signed in before they go on court!