President’s Letter August 2021

Dear Subscriber Name,

The world is unfolding as we speak, and as usual, it’s a mix. I’ve always loved the old Clint Eastwood film, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” partly because the title sort of covers the whole shebang, doesn’t it?

So the current mix is:

The GOOD…..It’s wonderful to be back playing again during this pandemic…the tournament scene is showing blossoming signs of life…The Larry Turville Classic in Asheville was a huge success due to the herculean efforts of Joe Rasgado…. Other NSMTA Team Series events by Mason Hill, Rich Bruer, and Noble Hendrix, are providing competitive opportunities for our members and prospective members…. Also, we have had some encouraging discussions with the National Women’s Tennis Organization (NWTO) exploring the possibility of some combined events.

The BAD…..We’re apparently not out of the woods yet, with the uncertain effects of the Delta Variant playing havoc with the fall events schedule.

The UGLY…..The failure of the USTA’s Serve Tennis computer platform (which replaced TennisLink) to perform as expected. It has been a disaster for Tournament Directors and both junior and senior tournament players to navigate.

Lastly, I recently attended the USTA Southern Annual Meeting and the Past Presidents’ Luncheon. In attendance was the current USTA President Mike McNulty, the USTA COO Mike Dowse, and USTA Board member Mary Francis. I brought to their attention that there has been a clear lack of USTA support for senior tennis over the last several years. If the USTA tag line is “A Sport for a Lifetime,” why haven’t there been more efforts in marketing, funding, and programming for seniors?

Surprisingly, their response was encouraging – they seemed to understand, and promised improvement in the future. We’ll see…Their primary concern at present is to get the Serve Tennis platform up and running efficiently.

We can all help take care of ourselves and our friends by getting vaccinated. Let’s help create a safe environment, so we can get out and enjoy this game we love so much!

Sincerely,
Steve Duffel
NSMTA President

Thank you to all of our members for their support! In just 3 years we have grown our tennis community to 1111 Members in 48 states and 6 countries. Use the NSMTA Member Directory to welcome your tennis friends to the team!

Welcome, New July Members!

Elizabeth Barnhill - Madison, WI
Guy Beasecker - San Diego, CA
Jan Bortner - Venice, FL
Ted Bowen - Hollywood Beach, FL
Charles Brock - Mills River, NC
Jack Cooper - Pompano Beach, FL
Jeb Courtney - Cornelius, NC
Richard Demuth - Honolulu, HI
Piero Desiderio - Fort Lauderdale, FL
Chris Dugger - Louisville, KY
Ronold Epstein - Ewing, NJ
Joe Flores - Port Charlotte, FL
Bill Flynn - Mendon, MA
Vikram Gupta - Maharashtra, India
Clive Kileff - Chattanooga, TN
William King - Atlanta, GA
Jan Kirkland-Cochran - Fayetteville, GA
Kenneth Luba - Rockville Centre, NY
Marco Osorio - Vero Beach, FL
Peter Pastor - Smyrna, GA
Allen Shifley - Asheville, NC
David Smith - Houston, TX
Gary Thompson - Brentwood, TN
Raymond Victoria - Tampa, FL
Tom Walker - White Plains, NY
Erik Witten - Gastonia, NC

July Renewed Members

Mark Bales - Sarasota, FL
Robert Chase - Old Saybrook, CT
Tom Christiansen - Flower Mound, TX
Jim Elder - Reston, VA
William Jones - Nashville, TN
Susan Kimball - Oak Bluffs, MA
William Marshall - Boulder, CO
Andres Morrell - Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Lester Sack - New Orleans, LA
David Schmeer - Evans, GA
Tom Scovil - Louisville, KY
Billy Scruggs - Hattiesburg, MS
Ted Underwood - Naples, FL

Interested in NSMTA Membership? Click here for more information.

Copyright © 2021 National Senior Men's Tennis Association, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because we have received your contact info as a senior tennis player from other sources who identified you as someone who may be interested in our organization or because you opted in via our website.