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Dear Subscriber First Name, Hello Everyone! This being my first Prez’s letter of the decade, it seems like it should be more auspicious, compelling, and full of augury than usual. Sorry if I got your hopes up! But what I will do is give you an idea of what your NSMTA has been doing for the last year. We inaugurated an Invitational Team Series, putting under one umbrella some already-successful doubles events like the Jerry Kirk Memorial and the Mountain Team Doubles Invitational with new ones like the Gatlin Cup and the Rasgado New Year’s Doubles Team Cup. We hope to develop more of these fun team doubles events in the future. Made available a free extensive Tournament Directors Handbook as well as Friend at Court on the website. Gave an NSMTA award shirt to any member who won a Category I or II singles or doubles title in 2019. Awarded Perpetual Trophies named for our distinguished Honorary Members to winners of our NSMTA Doubles Championship. Inaugurated a Triple Crown concept that we partially underwrite, linking groups of three existing tournaments into a grand prix format. Longboat Key, Naples, and St. Pete Cat II’s, and the Wilson in Palm Desert, Pacific Southwest, and Fiesta Bowl Cat II’s are now set up as Triple Crowns, with more to come. Increased our traction with the USTA by providing input relating to senior tennis; NSMTA Board Member Mas Kimball also sits on the USTA Adult Competition Committee. Will soon be recognizing members who attained a US Top Ten singles or doubles ranking in 2019 with an attractive award medallion that can be attached to a racquet bag (for braggin’ rights!) Inaugurated a Community Outreach Program to raise money for local tennis organizations helping underprivileged kids and seniors. Set up a grant program to assist clubs in obtaining AED equipment. Have provided financial assistance to tournaments that agreed to follow some of the NSMTA guidelines, which include using the round-robin doubles format. Expanded our Tournament List with convenient filters, Tournament Reviews, and Places to Stay. Continually added features to our website – articles by leading tennis writers, various blogs, stories written by members, instructional and health-related articles relevant to seniors, reminiscences, tournament news/photos, and book reviews. And for a small fee, you can now advertise your tournament on the website.
Finally, we would love for you to participate in our 2020 membership drive. Most of us know some tennis buddies who are not yet members of the NSMTA. We will send you $10 for each new member that you recruit between now and March 31. (They will need to enter your name as their referral when completing their NSMTA Member profile.) If you refer five or more new members, you will qualify as an NSMTA Ambassador, and will receive an embroidered vest with our gratitude. It’s been gratifying for us on the Board to get so much positive feedback from you, our members. We much appreciate your support, and welcome your input! Jimmy Parker
NSMTA President
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