President’s Letter September 2020

 

Dear Subscriber First Name,

The US Open is in (weird) progress now, as is much of our world. Will there be another spike, when is a vaccine going to ride to our rescue, and is the world of sport undergoing transformational change? Daily grist for the media mill. In the meantime, we tennis junkies are left with a serious paucity of tournaments to play. But actually, much is afoot in the tennis world, with extensive rule changes being put forth by the USTA and the ITF to be implemented in 2021. Click here for more info.

I’m happy to see the USTA and the ITF tackling the daunting task of reconfiguring the tournament structure. They are responding to the decade-long trend of diminishing participation in tournaments. You can use our Forum to express your reactions to the new formats.

On the NSMTA front, we’re still in full swing. Our goal is to reach the 1,000-member mark by the end of the year, and each one of you can help us achieve this. If you’re already a member, please let your tennis buddies know about us. We want to do great things for senior tennis!

Your participation enriches the NSMTA, and there are a lot of ways to do that. If you’ve been to our website nsmta.net, you know that we have many pages made up of articles by our members. In Literary Lobs, you will find tennis related book reviews. There are great stories in Members’ Musings, accounts of interesting encounters in My Most Memorable Match and inspiring tales in Sportsmanship Stories. If you have a tennis related story to share, please send it to our editor. We also love it when you provide feedback on Tournament Reviews and get discussions going in our Forum.

Go to our Homepage and check out the variety and depth of our features. There are too many to mention all of them here! Members can always go to our archives for articles you may have missed. We also encourage you to shop in our Pro Shop and purchase our reasonably-priced apparel with the NSMTA logo. If there is something you’d like to see in the Pro Shop that we currently do not offer, please let us know.

Don’t forget that you can advertise on our website and make tax-deductible donations to further extend our reach.

We have inaugurated a new membership category that we are calling our Legacy Membership. It is a dues-free membership for those who have reached age 90! Anyone who is still on the right side of the sod at that age is eligible. Our first two Legacy members are long-time players who many of you will have heard of: Joe Beeson and Joe Russell. (For future reference, you do not have to be named “Joe” to qualify for a Legacy.)

I can’t close this letter without mentioning Larry Turville, who is in the fight of his life, battling a virulent cancer. Over many years, he has done so much for our game and has been a workhorse on our NSMTA Board of Directors. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and Kelli in this difficult time.

Sincerely,
Jimmy Parker

 

Visit NSMTA.net for tennis articles from our members as well as writers from across the tennis spectrum, important tennis news and tournament information.

The Many Loves of Hugh Burris
Ed Trost | September 2020
For our September Member Spotlight, Ed Trost introduces us to NSMTA Member Hugh Burris. Hugh has enjoyed many things throughout his life and continues to play National tournaments, but at 73 years old, his wife and fishing are at the top of his list. From 10 year old fisherman to silver ball winner, this “trained” southpaw’s engaging story is a must read.
Read More

Forum Topic: Comments About USTA Changes - Elimination of Indoor CAT 1's
Mas Kimball | September 2020
We have begun to receive comments from players about some of the USTA changes regarding Adult Age Group tournaments, those events in which we seniors play! The NSMTA Forum is the perfect place to express your views. Check out some thoughts from NSMTA members Fred Budde and David Nash about the elimination of Indoor CAT1s (renamed “Level 1” in 2021).
Join the discussion and share your feedback!

 

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